Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

PART ONE

Chapter Two: Consequences

"That was a little unnecessary," Kakashi muttered, shaking his head at the ANBU as they gathered the Uchiha to return him to his cell. The Uchiha's chakra restraints clinked against the cement floor as they dragged him away. Kakashi brought a hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

The doors slammed shut with a bang.

"Thank you so much Kakashi-sensei, I was worried you weren't gonna help for a second there." Naruto smiled, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "And thank you Shikamaru and Hinata-chan. I donno what I would have done without your—"

"Do not thank me for that, Naruto." Shikamaru grimaced, his face scrunching up in a painful way. "I do not feel good about what I just did here, and I already regret it…" Shikamaru trailed off. He stood quickly and exited the chambers—sparking up a cigarette as he went.

"Well… Then thank you Hinata-chan. I really appreciate that you came here today to help Sasuke. It means a lot." Naruto grinned. He felt uncomfortable with his outburst at Sasuke now. He'd been right to defend Hinata, but it felt like he'd overstepped in a way. Especially since…

"There's no need to thank me, Nar–Uzumaki-san." Hinata forced a smile. "I came here to ensure that no harm came to a fellow shinobi because of my clan. Plus, Hokage-sama requested my presence anyway…" Hinata trailed off. She was starting to feel incredibly uncomfortable. Despite all the time that had passed, she still felt awkward around Naruto. There were so many things that were left unsaid, and that would remain that way.

"Hokage-sama." Hinata bowed and took her leave. She did not want to stay in those chambers any longer than she had to. Not when it felt like the air was being sucked out of it. She had to get home and deal with some incredibly angry Hyuugas anyway.

"H-Hinata-chan!" Naruto feebly called after her, but she had already flickered away.

"Let her go Naruto-kun." Kakashi solemnly shook his head, eyes downcast. "That wound still needs some time to heal."

Naruto looked helplessly between Kakashi and the open door. Making a move like he was about to dash after her.

"Don't, you idiot. Leave the poor girl alone." Tsunade hissed. "Give her the space and time that she deserves."

Naruto nodded. Looking rightfully chastised. "Hai, Oba-chan." Naruto sighed. Somethings weren't going to be changing anytime soon, even with the Uchiha back in Konoha.

Hinata made her way to the Hyuuga compound, taking her time to savor the sun's rays. Even though she was sure that the elder at the council meeting would have told her father what she had done by now, and she needed to act quickly to do damage control, she was in no hurry to reach the Hyuuga compound.

She wasn't sure how to explain her going against the clan's wishes to the elders, let alone her father. The truth would probably be the best course of action but they most likely wouldn't believe the truth. She still didn't full believe the truth. Hinata wouldn't even have gone today if it wasn't for Kakashi asking her to.

After Neji's death, Kakashi had passed on some comforting words and been understanding with her family while they were in mourning. Which was appreciated. Hinata was taking Neji's loss incredibly hard and had refused several missions. At first, Kakashi had been polite and accepting. Letting her grieve, when in reality she just didn't trust herself to be a competent shinobi. Her cousin had jumped in front of her to take a fatal blow. How could she be trusted to do what needed to be done when she didn't even trust herself?

It wasn't until Kakashi had told her that she was disappointing Neji's memory and letting her friends down, that she realized she needed to keep moving forward. She owed it to Neji to be the best shinobi she could possibly be.

Most days though, Hinata felt like she was walking around with a hole in her chest. She was still having nightmares…

Hinata shook her head. She didn't need to think about that right now.

Going against the clan was never a good idea, but she had been honor bound. Surely they would understand that. Hyuugas were nothing if they weren't prideful.

The Hyuuga compound was a sprawling estate, tucked away close to the Hokage's tower. The estate was large, with enough space to house all of the Hyuuga's important events throughout the years. From housing dignitaries to throwing weddings for their main house members, the compound was built for it all.

As a child the estate intimidated Hinata. The gardens were her only area of comfort outside her room on the compound. Nowadays she rarely visited the garden. She was usually found on the training grounds if she wasn't sleeping in her room. The place no longer intimidated her, she just disliked it. It always felt too sterile to be a home, but lately it felt unfamiliar and cold. She had always felt a disconnect, no matter how hard she tried to fit in. Now it was exasperated.

Closing in on the main house, Hinata saw Hyuuga children running about the grounds.

One of the children screeched, making Hinata flinch, but the screeching quickly turned into laughter. Hinata shook her head. It was only children playing.

Hinata continued her path to the main house, knowing her father and the elders would certainly be waiting for her to arrive. The pathway which normally brought her peace unsettled her. The mid-afternoon light was causing the shadows to stretch and the area to seem unfamiliar.

The front door was already open in anticipation of her arrival. "Hinata-sama," Hyuuga Hiyori, a branch member who worked in the main house, greeted her.

"Hiyori-san." Hinata greeted, bowing her head in return. Hinata made to remove her shoes, but Hiyori grabbed her wrist, halting her movement.

"Hiashi-sama requests your presence at once, Hinata-sama." The woman's face twinged in sympathy, her voice taking on a soft and comforting tone.

"Hai. Thank you, Hiyori-san. I will be there shortly." Hinata forced a smile, but continued to remove her shoes. Taking them in her hand, she walked around Hiyori and headed for her room. She needed to change before meeting her father and the elders. She had been training when she received Kakashi's message, and her dash through the roof tops to the council chambers had left her covered in dust.

Plus, changing would provide her with some additional time to gather her thoughts.

Hinata's room was large and bland. The few things that marked it as her own were the pictures that adorned the wall opposite her window. A majority of her pictures were with Team 8 with a few of her family scattered through. It brought her comfort to see the pictures and they remind her what she was working for, and why.

The rest of the room was a bland beige. Beige walls, wooden floors covered with a beige rug, a large bed with a white comforter engulfing it, and three large windows lining the east wall.

Moving quickly – fully aware that her father would know that she was home by now and expecting her – Hinata dashed into her bathroom. She tore of her black training outfit and turned on the shower. Briefly glancing at herself in the mirror, Hinata noted that she would need to trim her bangs soon in order to avoid them covering her eyes. Her father couldn't stand when her bangs covered her eyes. For some reason it was a serious pet peeve of his.

Light purple like bruises were beginning to form under her eyes. She needed to get some better sleep soon, or she would start to scare children.

Six minutes later she was freshly showered and dressed in loose fitting black pants and a long sleeve shirt. Braiding her damp hair to one side, Hinata opened her door and headed to her father. She had decided to tell them the truth. It was up to them as to whether they would believe it.

Hinata's face twitched. That genjutsu had been bizarre. It had been incredibly comforting, but incredibly unreal. Sasuke had barely tried to hold her.

"U-uchiha-san…" Hinata murmured, struggling to pull herself up. Her ribs still ached from the explosion, and her shoulder felt out of place from when the Uchiha had flipped her over. She was just so tired…

Hinata shook her head. Her ears were buzzing too. She didn't remember hitting her head, but perhaps she had when she fell down when Sasuke cast the genjutsu. Blinking the grogginess from the genjutsu out of her eyes, Hinata squinted. Trying to focus on the space in front of her.

"Damn you, Sasuke!"

Hinata shook her head again.

"You're going to pay for what you've done! You bastard!"

Hinata saw Sasuke standing in a field with Kiba, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Shino charging at him. Behind him she saw the flickering of a genjutsu that was wearing off. He was getting what he wanted.

"Then come and kill me."

Hinata gasped from the pain of standing. She needed to stop them. Naruto would never forgive himself for killing Sasuke, especially when the reason was because of some genjutsu. Stumbling her way over to her fellow shinobi, Hinata called out to them, hoping that hearing her might grasp their attention.

"N-naruto-kun! Kiba-kun! Sh-shino-kun! Shikamaru-san! D-don'—" Hinata fell, her ribs landing on a fallen branch and knocking the wind out of her. She gasped and struggled to stand once more. She hated feeling so damn weak. If she wasn't so feeble she could help. She'd actually be useful, and maybe Neji-nii-san…

"N-neji-nii-san…" Hinata sobbed. He was dead. The pain hit her in her chest. Taking what air was left in her lungs with it. "N-neji-nii-san is…" Hinata shook her head. She needed to focus. If she didn't she'd lose more than just Neji.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata sobbed, "Stop! Please!"

Her shouting didn't reach the field and Naruto was charging at Sasuke. She pulled herself along the ground and she could see a glimmer around the edge of the field. Sasuke must have put a barrier so that no one could interfere.

If she didn't stop him now, he was going to do something he'd desperately regret.

Gathering what strength she had left, tears streaking her face, Hinata pulled herself to her feet. She shoved a hand in her pack and retrieved an energy pill. She'd need the boost if she was going to try and catch up to Naruto.

Sasuke groaned.

He was really getting tired of waking up with headaches, and in a cell. The chakra restraints really didn't help. He was fairly certain that the restraints made his headaches worse. Especially since he was never given the opportunity to restore his chakra reserves. He'd been running on empty since the war, and they were all too happy to keep him that way.

Two months like this seemed excessive, but he imagined it provided the citizens of Konoha with a sense of security.

Sasuke sat up and crossed his legs. Trying to relax while being in a cage was proving tedious, but attempting to meditate was the closest he could get. He breathed in and out deeply, and closed his eyes. He needed to make a plan for how to handle this.

Sticking around to see how things went could be entertaining. Watching the dobe try to become Hokage would be interesting on its own. He could follow through and try to restore his clan, but what was the point? All of the women in Konoha were afraid of him at this point at best, and at worst, there was Sakura. She was smart and a strong shinobi, but… She was Sakura. She felt more like a sister than anything else.

His feelings of wanting to die weren't as strong as they were two months ago. It had settled down to more of a feeling of meaninglessness. He no longer had a purpose, and bringing back the Uchiha clan seemed futile. History would only repeat itself, and he didn't want to be a part of it.

Killing himself was out of the question on principal.

Just because he wanted to die didn't mean he wanted to be the one to do it. Self-destructing seemed more entertaining anyway. It wasn't an option though any longer. The chakra restraints made it next to impossible to be considered a threat. They made it hard for him to stay awake most days. He had tried overwhelming them in hopes of breaking them, but that only made him pass out for a day and a half from chakra depletion.

Sasuke drummed his fingers against the back of his other hand. It seemed he would have to wait and see how things would play out.

Or, worse case scenario, he'd have to find another purpose to pass his time.

Naruto charged at Sasuke, rasengan forming in his hand and eyes bleeding red. Kyuubi itching at him in a way that it hadn't in a while.

Sasuke's chidori was crackling in his hand. The closer Naruto got, the more it dissipated. He didn't want to actually fight the dobe. He just wanted to make him angry enough to come at him full force. Killing a friend was certainly doing the trick.

Naruto was close enough that Sasuke could feel the winds of rasengan slashing his skin. He realeased his chidori, flickered his sharingan back to his charcoal black, and relaxed. He was ready to die. This was it, and he couldn't be—

"Naruto-kun! Don't!"

Naruto stumbled, startled by the shout. His rasengan shooting off to the side, blasting trees away in its wake. "Hinata-chan…"Naruto whipped his head around, watching Hinata stumble onto the field. "Hinata-chan! What happened!"

"Goddamit," Sauke hissed, taking a step forward. "Stupid Hyuuga!"

"Naruto-kun! I donno what genjutsu he put on you, but it's not real! H-he just wants t-to get you mad enough to kill him!" Hinata lunged, diving in between Sasuke and Naruto. She scrambled to her feet, spreading her arms out. "Don't, Naruto-kun! You'll regret it!"

Naruto faltered, confusion all over his face. Hinata had just been screaming at the tree line, he saw her bleed, and now she was here and fine? What?

"Sasuke-teme! That's disgusting! Trying to save yourself by manipulating Hinata's image! You sick bastard! It wasn't enough to kill her, but to use her image as a diversion…" Naruto snarled. Kyuubi's chakra bleeding out, consuming him. "You'll pay for this Sasuke," Naruto said, his voice sound hollow and detached.

Sasuke smirked. "Dobe."

Naruto charged at him again, rasengan blazing again. "You bastard!"

"Naruto-kun! No!" Hinata shouted, throwing herself in front of the Uchiha. She knew Naruto would never forgive himself if he killed Sasuke for a lie. He was already losing control, it was unlikely that they could reign him in if he killed Sasuke. Naruto would fall apart, or worse, be consumed by the Kyuubi.

Hinata closed her eyes, waiting for the impact of the rasengan to tear at her skin, but it never came. Just a bizarre sense of floating. Hinata opened her eyes to Sasuke holding her above his head with Naruto's fist through his shoulder.

Naruto came to himself quickly. Beside himself at his own actions. He almost killed Hinata. He would have pushed rasengan right through her skull if Sasuke hadn't grabbed her out of the way.

"That," Sasuke rasped, "was definitely unnecessary."

Then, Sasuke collapsed, and Hinata fell with him.

"So you see," Hinata struggled to find the words after completing her story. "I owed Uchiha-san a life debt."

The elders groaned. Hinata wasn't sure that she had ever heard them make such an undignified response, but they groaned. They whispered amongst themselves while Hinata on her knees, her feet pinned beneath her, and sweat beginning to form at the base of her spine despite the fact that the room was exceedingly cool. She was used to speaking in front of large groups and appearing dignified after a great deal of practice, but it still made her feel like she was under a microscope. It made her skin crawl.

"Hinata," Hiashi grimaced, "I understand and appreciate your dedication to uphold this clan's honor, but I wish you had come to me with this information first." Standing gracefully from his seated position across form Hinata, Hiashi gestured for the elders to leave. "That should appease all of you for now."

Amidst their shuffling feet and grumbling, Hinata stared at the floor in front of her. Head slightly bowed and eyes downcast, she did not wish to see the look in her father's eyes that she was sure sat there.

Disappointment.

As the last elder shuffled out of the room, Hinata heard the sliding wood door softly close. She started fidgeting with her hands. Hiashi would surely have a lecture waiting for her now, and she really didn't want to hear it.

Deciding to break the tension first, Hinata began. "Otou-san let me—"

"Hinata, look at me."

Hinata hesitated. Taking a breath, she looked up into her father's eyes and found that he was not disappointed. He looked pained, with furrowed brows.

Hiashi sat back down in front of Hinata, within arm's reach this time. "You should have come to me with this information before going to the council meeting, Hinata." Hiashi griped. "This mess would have been handled better if you had warned me." Hiashi narrowed his eyes, studying his daughter's face.

"I don't understand," Hinata murmured, leaning forward.

Sighing, Hiashi patted her knee. "I sincerely hope that you won't have to understand. We will have to wait and see." Hiashi trailed off, his eyes glossing over slightly. "Now, I'm sure your sister is waiting for us to come to dinner. You go ahead, I will be there shortly."

Hinata nodded uncertainly. She didn't understand what her father was speaking to. He was being much more cryptic than he normally was.

"We will speak on this tomorrow, after I have reviewed clan documents to determine what your punishment will be."

Hinata nodded again. "Hai."

Carefully, she stood and left Hiashi to his thoughts. Hinata softly shut the sliding wooden door behind her and started down the hall, but not before she heard her father mutter to himself. "You have no idea what you have done." Which unsettled her greatly, filling her stomach with dread.

Kakashi sat in the Hokage's office stewing. Tsunade had made some choice words, after everyone else had left, and they weren't sitting right with him.

"So you decided to go easy on the boy?" Tsunade sighed dejectedly. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Kakashi. "I don't think that was the wisest decision." Her voice was full of judgement and irritation.

"I thought you supported the idea of keeping Sasuke alive?" Kakashi queried, not making eye contact with the Sanin.

"I support keeping him alive," Tsunade hesitated, choosing her words carefully, "but I would have punished him publicly." Tsunade stood and crossed her arms beneath her bosom. "The council will not stand for it. The people will not stand for it. They will say that you were lenient, and favored him—And they will be right."

Kakashi sighed.

Perhaps he had been too lenient on Sasuke. He couldn't help it though! The boy still felt like his responsibility. Staying confined to his house, being heavily sealed, and watched at all times will irritate him. Going further than that and physically punishing him would likely cause issues with Naruto, which he couldn't afford while they were all still trying to heal.

Three months was likely where he had made a mistake, but that was only for this stage. When Sasuke inevitably broke his required restrictions, he would double his time. Then his restrictions would be slowly removed. Sasuke wouldn't end up back on the roster for missions for at least a year if not more.

The end goal though, and his reasoning for not punishing him more harshly, was that he hoped that Sasuke could still lead a normal life someday. Itachi and the rest of the clan's deaths had more than paid for a chance for Sasuke at that.

Kakashi stood and looked out the windows to view the village. There was sure to be uproar over his decision with Sasuke, whether it was with the council, the public, or both. He'd have to plan for what he would do then in order to appease them.

He was really starting to regret taking this position at all.

Author's Note:

Hello everyone! Thank you for all the kind reviews! I hope that this flashback and present sequence wasn't too confusing.

Any comments or criticism? Review!

Thank you!