…hello ._.

Summary: In everyone's eyes, Hinata has remained the same, even after so many years have gone by. She's still the same innocent, gentle, caring young woman. Even when the news of Naruto and Sakura hitting it off, the village felt incredibly sorry for the girl who had been in love for so long. But to Hinata, that was just what she had wanted everyone to see. Deep down, concealed behind her mask, Hinata is a completely different person. And only one person has been able to see behind the lies… and now he's more than determined to reveal the truth.

Pairing: Sasuke and Hinata

Rating: M to be safe

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the Dream Overseer concept

With Eyes That See the Bigger Picture

Episode 13

Hinata woke up in a stupor.

Sweat dripped down her forehead as her chest rose frantically. It felt as if the room had started to collapse on her as she tried desperately to keep the walls at bay in her head.

A nightmare. Just a nightmare.

Beside her, Hinata felt the gentle rustling of a hand that lazily brushed against he thigh. Dull eyes, still in a haze, gazed back in confusion at her distilled composure. "What happened?"

Hinata took in a deep breath to calm the nerves. Slowly she began to regain sanity as she mustered enough words to reply, "It's just me being stupid. Bad dreams. Go back to sleep."

Sasuke shrugged and dug his face back into the pillow before light snores filled the room once more. Hinata looked at her wall clock that now read "2:07". She frowned at the situation. How childish to wake up to a nightmare at this age.

Yet, she couldn't help to stop herself from glancing at Sasuke's lying figure and shakily brush her fingers against his exposed shoulder.

Still here. Still not a mess of limbs.

She tried hard to shake away the image that kept slapping her across the face. Pale skin, even more pale than what it is now, completely dismembered and leaking dark soft tissue – staining the floor in a revolting colour. Hinata shuddered. Her fingers shook slightly against his shoulder too. Sasuke lifted his head slightly again to peer. His expression was now serious.

"Are you going to share?"

"Share what?" She retaliated abruptly.

"Share whatever is making you uncomfortable."

Hinata paused.

"I already said that it was just me being stupid. Go back to sleep."

Sasuke sighed heavily and rolled over to his back, further away from her side. Hinata's fingers attempted to follow without any success. His gaze was now fixed on the ceiling. He closed his eyes and muttered, "Hey."

Hinata furrowed her forehead. "What?"

"Naruto told me who Tsunade chose to go with him on his latest mission."

Hinata stiffened. "Should I start proposing in fears that I will never see you again?"

Her humour and laugh made Sasuke open his eyes once more. This time his face was emotionless and pierced straight through her remarks. "She picked you. She thinks your kekkei genkai will serve useful to him on this mission."

Hinata's heart dropped suddenly. "Why…?" Her words strained.

"I'm not sure. Naruto doesn't have any information other than that you're supposed to be the good complimentary for him on this mission."

He paused.

Hinata began to regain herself once more, "Am I the only one joining Naruto?"

Sasuke's eye winced slightly. "I asked him that. So far, you are the only one that Naruto is certain to join the mission. For all we know, Tsunade might pick more ninja to join. My bet is that she needs someone with your kekkei genkai to help with progressing through the unknown lands safely. Which unknown lands is the question that I want to know the answer to the most."

Considering the loss.

Hinata turned away from Sasuke. She pulled her feet to her chest tightly. "My abilities will certainly help keep Naruto safe…"

She felt Sasuke slide over and rub his head into her side. His fingers tickled at her back. "I'm hoping she adds more ninja to your mission. I'm itching to get out of Konoha again."

Hinata gave a gentle laugh, "You're just concerned about how loyal I'll remain to you." She glanced back at Sasuke with astute eyes who was now scowling.

"I'm not that clingy." he began, "Besides, I'm growing tired of the same scenery here. It would be interesting to travel to a different nation."

"That, or you're just jealous." Hinata smirked.

"That, or I'm just concerned about your state of being." He snapped back.

Hinata grinned wider, "I promise I won't cheat on you too much. My hidden leaf village charms can be quite untamable after all."

Sasuke pinched her side just slightly and turned over to face the pillow again. Preparing to fall asleep once more, he mumbled out one final response, "If you're going to play that game, so will I with this village's desperate housewives."

"Yeah, yeah… go to sleep already, heart-snatcher." Hinata pushed aside Sasuke's limp hand to slide back underneath the covers. His skin continued to be pale white and still in one piece.

Sasuke remained correct. Hinata was not the only addition to Naruto's mission. However, this time they were traveling to the Land of Gorge, a developing region far north, past the Land of Lightning. Tsunade had brilliantly decided to include Rock Lee to create a uniformly odd trio for the mission. The three had walked down the hall in silence after Tsunade called in to inform and dismiss them to prepare for the task ahead. It was an unusual one. Hinata ran Tsunade's words over and over in her mind, still baffled and skeptical as ever:

"The Land of the Gorge hold some of our most ancient traditions found throughout all regions," Tsunade had began, "One of which includes the ritual practice of the apprentice of the Dream Overseer."

Naruto, Hinata, and Lee looked at Tsunade in disbelief. Naruto began.

"Hey, old lady, the Dream Overseer is just a story that we tell little kids about how there is a mystical being that manages and protects all dreams from evils of the world. Don't tell me you actually want me to go seek out this fictional being and convince them to side with Konoha."

Tsunade folded her hands. "That's exactly what I want you to do. The village of Meyven Li within the Land of Gorge has the oldest history of our time. There you will be able to find people who have heard or seen the Overseer's apprentice. This apprentice would most likely be your best bet to locate the Overseer himself."

"Forgive me for interrupting, Lady Hokage," Lee stepped up, placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "But don't you think that is a bit too much of an impossible task to seek out a fictional persona that may or may not exist? Not showing disrespect to his literature legacy, why must we waste our energy and resources chasing a fairytale?"

Tsunade drew an expression.

"I'm ranking this as an A-rank mission. Regardless of your personal opinion, you are going to complete this task. Know full well that it may escalate to an S-rank mission due to the national circumstances." She gave a pause and turned to Hinata, "I'm placing you in charge of any medical-nin responsibilities. Please utilize your kekkei genkai fully for this mission; I'm placing great importance for the success."

Hinata barely managed to nod before Tsunade stood up.

"You may take today for rest and study up on any geographical information that you may need for this mission. Also," she turned towards the window, "Aside from Shikamaru, who will join you partway after he completes a task for me, you are not to share the details of this mission to anyone outside of this room."

Naruto scoffed, "What kind of kiddy play is this? I might understand escorting someone or hell, even looking for a missing dog. But this? Chasing some ancient story as a mission to begin with?"

"I don't need to explain to you the importance of this mission, Naruto. You are given an order. As a loyal ninja to Konoha, follow it without question." Tsunade snapped back.

Naruto threw his hands in the air and stormed off.

"Understood, Lady Hokage." Lee replied and followed after Naruto.

Hinata remained.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Hinata?" Tsunade still had her guard about her.

Hinata shuffled in her place, searching for the best way to phrase her question, "I know there have been many different… interpretations of the Dream Overseer myth… They say that the Dream Overseer is a being that has the power to maintain balance between the world of dreams and reality. But… some that have concluded him being the physical manifestation of Death. I don't mean to sound rude but…"

She gathered her breath.

"Why does Konoha wish to associate with such an elusive figure?"

There was a long minute of silence. So long that Hinata began to wonder if Tsunade had heard her at all.

"There have been… cases… in the past." Tsunade began heavily. She refused to face Hinata. "I have seen a couple ninja return from missions who are perfectly intact physically. But… their minds are beyond repair. Even my medical ninjutsu is unable to locate source for their trauma. I have heard of this happening in other nations, but this is the first I've seen in my own."

"So you think that if anyone is able to dwell into the mind of a person, it is the Dream Overseer?" Hinata suggested quietly, "What has happened to these returning ninja that has caused you such worry, Lady Hokage?"

Tsunade pressed her forehead to the window.

"Blank expression. Dead. As if no life is inside them. Completely drained of all existence." Her voice lowered, "I'm… afraid. I'm afraid of what will happen if we can't cure this phenomenon. Will it spread to the rest of the village?"

She finally turned her head slightly to face Hinata once more. Her eyes were dark.

"I know you and the others think that this mission is ridiculous… but that is the only logical step that I can think of to help these victims." She lowered her gaze, "I've tried my hand at treating them. Countless other medical-nin have attempted the same. We had to resort to quarantine because…."

Hinata cringed slightly.

"One of the medical-nin who dived straight into their mind came out the same."

Silence overtook the room. Hinata jolted at the thundering knock of Naruto standing outside of the office. Tsunade frowned.

"Hey! Old lady, we need Hinata to come with us now!"

Tsunade nodded at Hinata and motioned her towards the door. "One more thing. Don't… don't go telling Naruto this. Not yet, at least. He'll take it too seriously and may let his emotions jeopardize the importance of this mission."

"Understood."

Hinata turned around and headed towards the door.

"Don't tell this to Sasuke either." Tsunade smiled, "Otherwise he will throw a fit for not being included."

"I won't," Hinata frowned in response.

Naruto and Lee both stood outside the room to greet her. Naruto had his hands folded, still irritant about the mission. Lee on the other hand was sifting through an old notebook that he carried around. He raised his eyes from the notes, "If it is alright with you two, I want to seek out Guy-sensei and ask him a few questions."

Hinata first replied, "That is fine with me. I need to do some of my own research too." They turned to face Naruto, waiting for his reply.

He threw his arms again, "Alright, alright. Go do your research. I'm heading home to start packing. We'll meet tomorrow at the gates, early in the morning to plan our route."

With that, the three continued down the hallway.

"The Dream Overseer?"

Sasuke hovered over Hinata's shoulder. She had reclined on the couch and was filing through an ancient book she had picked up at the local library; "Yeah… it's just something that I overheard someone talking about on the streets today. I got curious."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow; "You're more interested in some myth than what your mission will entail tomorrow?"

Hinata smiled a little. "I'm not too worried about it. Our goal is to visit the Land of Wind and help our Gaara and his subordinates."

"But you don't know what you need to do there exactly…. Aren't you a little concerned?" Sasuke continued to press forward, "Isn't it odd? Gaara isn't too talkative, but Tsunade would have known. Otherwise she wouldn't send you out."

Hinata clutched her book. "I trust her judgment. If we were going to face danger, she would inform us of this ahead. Besides, this is a C-rank mission. The only reason why we're going is because of our close ties to the Kazekage. Better to send us than some random chunin that Gaara is not familiar with."

"Makes sense, I guess."

Sasuke leaned away as he made his way towards the kitchen. Hinata followed him to make sure he was inside before continuing her reading.

"The Dream Overseer is a legendary myth surrounding the tale of Jurou Katsuo, a powerful ninja of ancient days that overcame Death. It is believed that Jurou challenged Death, itself, to a match. Having overpowered the being, Jurou proceeded to infuse his soul with the entity, giving up his humanity to become immortal."

Hinata paused to skim down the page.

"…the power of Death manifests itself in the ability to govern the world of dreams. The Dream Overseer is able to freely wander the world of dreams and set balanced order. While the body of the Overseer is still mortal, the soul is eternal. The oldest records of the Land of Gorge tell of a ritual that passes down the hybrid soul of Death to an apprentice that will be trained to become the next Overseer. No records of the names of these Overseers have ever been written down. The ritual is said to be done in secrecy from the rest of the living world, in fears that someone with corrupt intentions might taint the balance of the two worlds."

Hinata glanced at her notes that she had started to scribble on the side: Regardless, the myth of the Dream Overseer has been passed down to generations in form of literature and oral storytelling. Why has no one tried to seek out the truth yet?

Sitting up, Hinata closed the text and stretched out her arms over her head. This was becoming more and more confusing by the minute.

If an apprentice were chosen to become Overseer, wouldn't people who knew of this person become suspicious of their actions in life? I doubt the job of the Overseer is "part-time". They would draw at least some attention, right? Or…

"Is the Land of Gorge purposely hiding this information from the rest of the world?" Hinata mumbled under her breath. She reached up to rub her temple. "If so, then… these people wouldn't be very keen on sharing the details of such an old tradition…"

"What did you say?"

Hinata nearly jumped. Her heart began to race.

Sasuke had entered the room once more, this time with a bowl of soup, and sat at her feet on the couch. "I didn't catch that, what did you say?"

"Oh…" she began, "I was just talking to myself. It's not important. I'm just trying to distract myself from the mission tomorrow. I wanted to do some light reading to clear my head…"

"With a children's story?" Sasuke gave a sly smile, "Trying to relive your childhood? I admit, the tale of the Dream Overseer is quite intriguing. A protagonist that travels the world of dreams to perform good and battle evil; it's quite an alluring story for kids."

"Yeah…" Hinata hesitated, "I read it countless times when I was little. It was my favourite story to read before bedtime."

Sasuke lifted his bowl and nudged it towards Hinata. "Did you want any?"

"N-no… I'm good."

"You should eat enough to gather strength for tomorrow. Don't slack off just because it's an easy mission." He said sternly.

"I will, mom. Don't worry." Hinata scowled.

Don't start thinking about it too much…

Don't suspect anything…

Please.

I'm back… I think. Hopefully ;_;