Author's Note: I'm taking some liberties. It's a fanfiction. So this is no longer following the guidelines from the show or the movies. If something that happened in the anime, manga, or movies is relevant, I will go through that in the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

PART ONE

Chapter Three: One Cage for Another

After last night's quiet dinner with her father and Hanabi, Hinata had gone to bed early. The day had taken a lot out of her. Her bed had been welcomingly soft and warm. Definitely a safe haven for her. At least it was until she woke up crying from her nightmares and crying out for "Neji-nii-san!"

The maids used to come running when she woke up crying and heaving, but they knew to leave her alone now. Two months of the same nightmare, with no reprieve, made it so she had a routine when she woke up.

Hinata pressed her hands to her face and forced herself to calm down. It was a memory. It wasn't happening right now.

After calming herself down, Hinata carefully extracted herself from her sweat soaked sheets. She had fallen on her face trying to hastily get out of the covers more than a couple times. Apparently she thrashed around enough in her sleep that the sheets wrapped themselves around her like seaweed.

Quickly, she stripped the sheets from the bed. It helped give her a sense of control to clean her room herself, and the maids were more than happy to let her.

Tossing the sheets in the hamper inside her closet, she quickly changed into black training clothes. She was already sweating, so she might as well continue to sweat and go train.

Hinata glanced at the digital clock on the small nightstand beside her bed. It was just before 4:00 a.m., so she still had a great deal of time before the rest of the house would be awake. Nodding to herself, Hinata jumped out her bedroom window into the dewing morning. It had rained last night and was still drizzling this morning. This time of year was always like this in Konoha. Rains late at night and early in the morning, until the sun broke through around mid-morning, creating an ultimately warm and sunny day. It wasn't particularly her favorite time of year, but she appreciated the cool mornings for training purposes. Sometimes there was even fog, which allowed her to practice more interesting techniques.

At the training grounds, Hinata took the first field she came to with three logs standing up straight to act as practice dummies.

First stretching herself out on the muddy grounds, Hinata made sure that her fitful sleep had not tightened up any muscles. It took a while, but she warmed up all of her joints and worked out all of the knots that she had made in her sleep.

Sighing, Hinata centered herself.

"Byakugan!"

And proceeded to tear apart the training grounds for the next four hours.

Sasuke was extremely irritated. They were finally letting him out of his cell for good today, and now the bastards were stalling.

"What's the hold up!" Sasuke snapped at the ANBU guards just outside his cage.

The two blatantly ignored him, and continued to stare straight ahead at the blank wall in front of them.

The cell was relatively small – small enough that Sasuke could touch opposite walls while laying down. There were no windows to his cell or to the entire floor level they were on as far as he could tell. The air was cool and musky, suggesting that they were deep underground. Most likely under the Hokage monument. There were no other prisoners locked up around him either. He wasn't sure if that was a safety concern and they had moved them, or if Konoha just had that little crime.

He had a feeling it was the later, but his pride wanted to believe it was a safety concern. He hadn't been much of a safety concern lately, especially since his chakra has been so low. Most of the time he just felt extremely ill, and he could feel the dark circles that were definitely forming under his eyes.

Sasuke glanced at the ANBU guarding his cell.

Whenever he made eye contact with people, they flinched away. His sharingan weren't even able to come forth, but people were still terrified. That included the ANBU. At the very least, they were wary of him, which was saying a lot for an ANBU. Nothing was supposed to bother them.

He figured his face looking the way it did probably didn't help too. Definitely put people on edge.

He was used to that, of course, and he most certainly did not care what anyone thought of him, but sometimes it got old. People constantly flinching away or staring at him, looking horrified. It was annoying and tedious. People were so very tiring.

Sasuke sighed.

Once he got out of here, he would be confined to his compound until it was deemed he was no longer a threat to the village. That would likely take longer than 3 months, no matter what Kakashi said. But then what? What would he do after they decided he was allowed to be in their village? Be some sort of weapon for the village? That's most likely what the village would want. That, and more sharingan children for their future. He could hold off on marrying and having children though. To the point that he could truly be the last Uchiha.

That thought made his chest twinge. Being the last of his kind had been painful when he was a child, and thought the only other Uchiha in the world was his brother, but now…

Now he truly was alone.

The ANBU outside Sasuke's cell began to fidget. "Are you planning to let me out sometime today, or what?" Sasuke hissed. Being in a cell for two months before his trial had made him more irritable than usual. He figured he'd be dead by now though, and done with the whole cell thing. Now they were just making him wait for however long they wanted again, and it was infuriating. Sasuke did not enjoy being left to the whims of someone else.

"Actually, Uchiha, that's exactly why we're here." Tsunade interrupted, a smug look stretching across her face. Sasuke hadn't heard her coming or felt her chakra. He really needed to get these chakra restraints off. They were starting to make him look bad.

"Well it's about time." Sasuke snapped.

Tsunade's smirk grew as she approached his cell door. "Oh, now you're eager to be a part of Konoha."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm eager to get the hell out of this cell."

When Tsudnade didn't show any intention of unlocking his cell, Sasuke tensed. "What's the hold up?"

"We're just waiting on one more to join us," Tsunade replied, smirk wide as ever.

Sasuke grunted. Not wanting to provide Tsunade with any further satisfaction. He tried to seem aloof about the whole situation, but he was growing more tense as the time went by. What's taking so long? He did not like to be left waiting. Kakashi's habit of being late when Sasuke was a genin left him with a mild obsession with promptness. Sasuke couldn't stand being late, and he especially couldn't stand it when other people were late. It always felt like a play at superiority. As if the person leaving him waiting thought that wasting his time meant that they had some power over him, or that their time was more important.

Sasuke certainly believed that his time was the most important time, and whoever they were waiting on, was wasting his very precious time.

"Ah, Hinata-chan. Thank you for joining us," Tsunade chided.

To the Hyugga's credit, she had the good sense to look embarrassed. Her face flushing bright red at the mild admonishment from the former Hokage. The bright blush across her face caused the Hyuuga's eyes to stand out even more so than usual. The Hyuuga eyes were something Sasuke remembered as unyielding and hard to look at. This Hyuuga's eyes just looked sad, empty, and rather pitiable.

The thought made Sasuke somewhat uncomfortable.

"My apologies Tsunade-sama."

"No matter," Tsunade waved off the Hyuuga's apology. "Hinata-chan will be assisting me today in sealing your chakra and eyes, Uchiha."

Sasuke flinched. He did not want to feel any more weak than he already did. Being in Konoha wasn't safe for him, especially to be stuck here and so hindered. He wouldn't be able to protect himself when someone came looking for him to try and kill him. Whether it was a ninja who was hired to kill him or a villager who felt wronged by him—he wouldn't be able to fully protect himself, and that made his skin crawl.

"How…extensive will this sealing be?" Sasuke snarled, his voice low.

"That depends on you." Tsunade deadpanned. "The more you behave, the fewer seals you will have. Until then, you will have several seals, for as long as we see necessary."

"So, essentially, you're moving me from one prison to another." Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Yes. That's precisely what's happening." Tsunade smiled wide, her eyes lighting up with mirth.

"I'm surprised the Dobe's ok with this." Sasuke muttered to himself. Normally, he wouldn't have actually said that aloud, but he was absolutely exhausted, and his filter was failing him.

"Naruto had no other choice. This was the only way." Hinata replied, her voice sounding hollow.

"Tch. Figures." Sasuke snorted. Of course Naruto would take the first offer they gave to keep Sasuke around.

"Well, shall we?" Sasuke asked lazily, already tired of this conversation.

Tsunade tapped the shoulder of the ANBU standing next to her, and the cell opened with a lurch. The front bars descending into the floor. Evidently there was some sort of chakra network in the cell that allowed the ANBU to open it that way. Sasuke had wondered how that had worked. He hadn't seen a door or a latch, and he hadn't been awake when they transported him. A part of him thought that the cell had simply been built around him, but apparently not.

Sasuke stepped out into the hall, to stand between the Hyuuga and the former Hokage, his chakra restraints clanking with every movement he made.

"Follow me." Tsunade commanded, turning around and motioning for the group to fall her further into the prison.

"Where are we going?" Sasuke probed, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"You'll see." Tsunade called back to him, a smile in her voice.

Sasuke glanced at the Hyuuga next to him. A part of him was still mildly surprised that she was a shinobi, let alone an ANBU. She only came up to his chest, definitely shorter than Sakura, and her frame was not an athletic build. She did carry herself in a way that made it clear she was toned, even though her two sizes too large jacket would suggest otherwise.

Sasuke tried to gather whether the Hyuuga new where they were going from looking at her face. Her eyebrows were raised and slightly together, her lips slightly pursed.

She had no idea.

Sasuke sighed. "After you."

Hinata caught up to Tsunade quickly. Their footsteps echoed in the hall, rebounding off the cement walls and floor. Being this far underground made Hinata mildly uncomfortable. Which is why she had been late in the first place. She claustrophobic or anything. She was just uncomfortable with the idea of being buried alive.

"Tsunade-sama, why am I here, exactly?" Hinata asked quietly, not wanting Sasuke to hear that she wasn't aware of what was going on.

"You are here to assist me today, Hinata-chan." Tsunade replied, as if that was supposed to make sense to Hinata.

"To assist with…wh-what?" Hinata hesitated, cursing her stutter. It only came out every now and again nowadays. And only when she was nervous or extremely tired. She had worked very hard for the stutter to fade away, but it still lingered.

"With the sealing, of course."

Hinata flinched. Hard.

"Tsudnade-sama, I cannot—"

"You can, and you will." Tsunade curtly replied.

"But I—" Tsunade cut Hinata a narrow eyed glare, and Hinata's words died in her mouth. "H-hai. Tsunade-sama."

Hinata followed Tsunade the rest of the way, just a step and a half behind the former Hokage, with Sasuke and the two ANBU bringing up the rear.

Hinata's gut twisted and turned the whole way. She was not comfortable with this situation. Not one bit. She has always been very sensitive to the seals that her family is known for, and she doubted that she would ever not be sensitive to about the subject of the caged bird seal. Hinata despised this piece of her family's heritage. It was cruel, demeaning, and painful. The turmoil the caged bird seal had caused her cousin Neji made this a particularly sensitive subject for Hinata.

She knew all too well all the pain and suffering it caused, and she did not feel comfortable bestowing that upon someone else.

In an effort to eradicate the archaic family ritual, Hinata had studied it thoroughly. She had hoped that she could come up with a way to not only avoid using the seal in the future, but to reverse it. Hinata had hoped to one day remove Neji's seal, but…

When Hinata had been a child, she had vowed that she would make certain that her little sister, Hanabi, never wore the seal. And that she would do everything in her power to take away Neji's. One of those things came true, but through no help from Hinata. Hanabi had earned her fate the hard way. Through blood, sweat, and, Hinata imagined, most likely tears—though she could not remember ever seeing Hanabi cry.

"Here we are."

Tsunade's voice tore Hinata from her anxious musings.

Refocusing on her surroundings, Hinata took in the room they were now in.

The room, if you could call it that, was the size of the arena Naruto and Neji had fought in during their first chunin exams. The ceilings were so high, and the room was so dimly lit, Hinata couldn't see where the vaulting cement ceiling ended.

There were flickering torches that lined the room at just above eye level, causing the room to feel shrouded in mystery and rather spooky. Even though it actually appeared to be rather sterile, if stuffy. The lack of windows certainly didn't help, but that was to be expected this far underground.

"This doesn't feel human-sacrifice-y at all…" Sasuke muttered. Hinata wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not. She had to agree though. It certainly did feel like a place to sacrifice a body.

"Don't be ridiculous." Tsunade snorted from the center of the room. "If I remember your file correctly, Sasuke, you've been here before. To seal the cursed seal mark you have on your shoulder."

Hinata's eyes widened. Tsunade sounded so nonchalant mentioning Sasuke's cursed seal mark, as if it was supposed to be common knowledge. Hinata glanced back and forth between Sasuke and Tsunade, sensing the uncomfortable air between them. That definitely sounds like something that Sasuke wanted to keep to himself.

"Forgive me, I don't completely remember what happened after being bitten by your psychopathic ex-teammate. I do remember being in a great deal of pain, and being confused, but that's about it." Sasuke sneered.

Trying to cut the tension, Hinata interjected. "Why are we here, Tsunade-sama?"

"This is where we will be performing Sasuke's sealing." Tsunade replied, circling the room, dusting the floor with her foot as she went. "ANBU, will you come over here and lend me a hand?"

Hinata heard two yeses and the ANBU that had been behind her a moment ago were now in front of her, helping Tsunade clear off the floor. Trying to understand what they were doing, Hinata watched Tsunade and the ANBU. Confused, Hinata opened her mouth to ask, but quickly realized she had missed something.

The floor was covered in paint. The room was a giant ring, with smaller rings inside it, until there was a small enough ring at the very center that was only big enough for one person to sit in. They would be creating seals by hand for Sasuke, and placing them on him slowly. This was some advanced jutsu that Hinata had not yet performed on a living person.

The hair on the back of her neck went up.

She was not comfortable with this at all.

Hinata glanced back at Sasuke, trying to evaluate his comfort level with this. He appeared as stoic as ever, a little grimy and irritated, but that made sense. Given his being in jail for two months. His hair was unkempt and needed a trim, and he looked as if he had lost some weight. As far as Hinata knew, they had been feeding Sasuke well, but she wouldn't be surprised if he had been refusing to eat. It was either that, or he had lost that much muscle mass, but Hinata seriously doubt that.

"Come here, Uchiha." Tsunade gestured for Sasuke to come to the center of the room, it was the only area without markings on the floor.

Sasuke begrudgingly obeyed.

It was clear from the way he moved and his lips forming a thin line that he did not appreciate being told what to do. Tsunade being rather smug about ordering him around didn't help either. Hinata wasn't sure what particularly grated the two about each other. Sasuke had left shortly after Tsunade became the Fifth Hokage. That didn't seem like enough time to create such animosity, but Hinata guessed it had more to do with all the events that followed after Sasuke's leaving the village.

Naruto had been devastated at first, but found determination in getting Sasuke back. Sakura had been beyond distraught for years, and in some ways, she still was. Sasuke wasn't the same boy now that he had been when he left Konoha. He had been through far too much since then to be the same. The two were some of Tsunade's important people, and that surely affected her opinion of Sasuke. Plus, there was all the trouble he had caused for Konoha while serving Orochimaru and his own personal endeavors.

Sasuke walked towards Tsunade at a sluggish pace. His eyes were narrowed and his features were pinched. He was trying to evaluate the situation and come up with a solution, but he didn't have a clue what was being sealed or how. Plus, he had little to no chakra running through his body. Hinata could see that without activating her Byakugan. Sasuke's chakra was seriously and dangerously depleted.

"Sit down, Uchiha." Tsunade hissed, placing a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and pushing him to the ground.

Sasuke grunted.

Tsunade gestured for the ANBU to remove Sasuke's restraints. "He won't be a threat during this. I need him to be able to move and create chakra after this. He's weak enough as it is, I don't want this sealing to push him over the edge and kill him." Tsunade grumbled, crossing her arms under her chest. "I'd never hear the end of it from Naruto if he died now." She muttered, shaking her head.

The ANBU moved quickly in unison. Removing the shackles from Sasuke's ankles and the Chakra restraints from his wrists. The restraints fell, banging against the cement ground. Apparently the restraints had been weights as well.

"Hinata, come here." Tsunade beckoned, dismissing the ANBU in the same gesture.

The two masked figures jumped out of the way and to the edges of the sealing circle. Removing themselves so that they were no longer in the way, while remaining close enough, that if necessary, they would be able to intervene.

Hinata carefully maneuvered to the center of the circle, avoiding stepping on the markings along the floor. She still did not feel comfortable with this. From what she could see, it appeared that they would be setting several seals simultaneously. Sasuke would undoubtedly pass out from the pain, if not from the abrupt loss of chakra.

Standing next to Tsunade, Hinata's anxiety began to wane. This was necessary if Sasuke was to remain inside the village. That was what Naruto wanted. So, Hinata would do what she could to help make that happen.

"Remove your shirt."

"Excuse me?" Sasuke turned, glaring at Tsunade.

"I said remove your shirt. It's necessary for the sealing."

Sasuke sighed, obviously annoyed by the request, but did as she asked. It was necessary for the sealing, and Sasuke didn't seem like the type to play dumb and ask why they needed him to. He moved slowly though, showing his irritation by doing everything at a leisurely pace. It was pretty much his only way of rebelling at this point, so it made sense that he was doing it.

It's almost childish… Hinata thought. It's like that childish rebellion where you know that you have to listen to the adult, but you make sure they know you don't want to do anything they say. Hinata vaguely remember Hanabi and Neji behaving this way with the Hyuuga elders at times. Neji was somewhat iffy, with how rigid and focused he was. It didn't make sense for such a stoic person to behave in such a way, but Hinata remembered a time when Neji was bitter and unwise. It was only after Hizashi's death that Neji behaved in such a way. It was short lived, but Hinata remembered Neji moving slowly to fetch things for the elder's, or taking his time to train when he was capable of moving much faster.

Watching Sasuke behave that way made her feel a little sad. It made him seem like a wounded animal with too much pride. Plus, thinking of Neji still made her chest ache.

Hinata shook her head. Ridding herself of the negative thoughts that were creeping in. This sealing would take several hours. She needed to be beyond focused. Especially if Tsunade was asking for what she feared she was.

Looking down at the now shirtless Uchiha, Hinata felt her cheeks redden from embarrassment for the Uchiha. He looked vulnerable in front of everyone, and not in the healthy way. Being imprisoned did not suit him. Hinata had been right, he had lost weight. His bones were much more pronounced than they should have been for someone of his build and age. Hinata could have counted his vertebrae running down his back like jagged rocks they protruded so badly.

It made her uncomfortable to see him this way.

It made her feel bad for him.

Sasuke's cursed mark seal that Hinata had heard about was no longer present. She remembered one of the Rookie 9 mentioning that it was on his shoulder, but she saw nothing that looked like a sealing tattoo there. She did see that Sasuke was riddled with scars. Some looked as though they were the results of training too aggressively, while others looked like they were seriously close calls. There were some angry looking scars along the left side of his body, covering his ribs, chest, and arm, with a summoning tattoo that ran up his left forearm.

Hinata's eyes roamed Sasuke's body, searching for other possible seals that could interact with the seals they were about to create. She made it to Sasuke's neck when she realized that he was staring her down.

Hinata felt her face and neck heat up from embarrassment. She wasn't doing anything that she shouldn't have been. Evaluating the person about to be sealed was standard. Making sure that no conflicting seals are present ensures the wellbeing of the person about to be sealed.

Sasuke raised an unamused eyebrow at Hinata, then moved his gaze to Tsunade.

"Face forward, Uchiha," Tsunade hissed. "Now, Hinata, this is what I was planning to do." Tsunade said, taking a scroll out from her sleeves. "Familiarize yourself with this. Quickly, please."

Hinata nodded, taking in the sealing explanation and directions quickly. "So, this is a seal that you have created specifically for Uchiha-san?" Hinata questioned, eyes never leaving the scroll as she quickly caught up on the material.

Tsunade nodded her head, marking the floor around Sasuke, creating a circle of writing around him. "You'll notice that there is more than one seal there." Tsunade hummed, beginning lines of writing towards Sasuke.

"If I understand…it appears that there are four seals that we will be creating today." Hinata looked up to judge Tsunade's reaction. Four seals was excessive and would be life threatening to the last Uchiha.

Tsunade seemed unbothered by the uncertainty in Hinata's voice, simply nodding as she began writing on Sasuke's body. "Well, one of them is more like…five individual seals to create one large seal, and then there are three separate seals from that."

Hinata's eyes widened. That was definitely excessive. Eyes bouncing between Tsunade and the Uchiha, Hinata waited for Sasuke to protest.

When Sasuke didn't say a word, Hinata's stomach churned.

"Tsunade-sama, I don't doubt your judgement, but—"

"Then don't doubt my judgement." Tsunade grinned. The smile didn't reach her eyes and felt much more like a threat.

"Ts-tsunade-sama, this is extremely unsafe. There is no way—" Hinata's words died on her lips when she saw the expression on Tsunade's face. She was going to do this with or without the Hyuuga's help, but it would be safer with the Hyuuga's assistance.

Hinata took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Does the Hokage know what seals we are about to attempt?" Hinata quietly asked, her eyes remaining closed.

"More or less," Tsunade shrugged, finishing up the writing that now covered a majority of the Uchiha's right arm, back, and chest. " I hoped to create these seals simultaneously in order for them to ensure their effectiveness." Tsunade's eyes narrowed, assessing her handywork.

"So," Hinata tensed, not wanting to suggest something worse for Sasuke, but she needed to be sure. "We are not performing the caged bird seal today?"

Tsunade snorted.

"No, we are not performing anything nearly as permanent…" Tsunade paused, arms folding under her chest. "One of them is derived from the caged bird, so in a sense…" Tsunade trailed off, shrugging. "That's why I asked you here today Hinata-chan. You know so much about the caged bird seal, you're the perfect assistant for this."

Hinata's insides squirmed. She did not feel comfortable assisting with this. In order for the sealing to be successful and not result in Sasuke's death…

Hinata's eyes trailed to the back of Sasuke's head. She stared at the Uchiha's mess of inky hair, and contemplated the consequences of refusing to assist Tsunade against the guilt of performing a seal so similar to the greatest shame of her clan.

"How can I help?"

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading and please review!