Title; Fading
Disclaimer; Nope I don't own any of the Naruto characters.
Chapter - 16;
The Council of Naru was made up of thirteen seats; the current holders were Lord Akame, Lady Tsunade, the Professor Sarutobi, the Guard Captain Kakashi, Lord Orochimaru, the Smith master Horizon, and the heads of seven noble families in Naru, the Nara, the Akimichi, the Aburame, the Inuzuka, the Yamanaka, the Senju and formally the Uchiha- though their seat was now held by the head of the Sarutobi family instead.
The Council was responsible for all the minor matters of governance in Naru, housing, the armed forces and mystic forces hierarchy, the taxing of businesses, agriculture, religion and for the most part anything else Lord Akame held no particular interest in.
The Lord Akame while a member of the Council traditionally abstained from their meetings and had no part in their affairs; the most he did in fact was cast the deciding vote whenever the Council was in deadlock.
Lord Akame however held an obvious suspicion of the Council and with good reason; childless as he was should he meet his end anytime soon it would be a member of the Council elected to take his place.
Such a thing had never been heard of and whom would be allowed vote would be a decision put to the Council themselves; if all were allowed to vote the Guard Captain Kakashi had a strong chance of election, as he would if common soldiers were allowed to vote; though more likely only Mystics of a certain level and nobility would vote putting the Professor Sarutobi as favourite or possibly Lord Orochimaru if rumours of his influence held true.
Naturally then Kakashi, Sarutobi and Orochimaru all wished to gain the allegiance of the increasingly storied Sasuke Uchiha and inversely Lord Akame requested several experiments on the man to determine his natural immunity to magical offenses and stories talked of his considerations to make the Raider a member of his private Guard.
"Sit girl!" the lofty voice commanded, I shot him a withering glare but it didn't seem to really register with the pig headed man, still I complied and sat in my plush seat quietly.
"Tell me exactly what you see now…I want to know if I can trust this man." Spoke Akame without looking at me- a fact that I was thankful of, the gluttonous man's feline yellow eyes had a way of making my skin crawl and seem to tighten uncomfortably- he reclined back on his lavish pompous cushions with a wide yawn waving to a young serving girl for his wine, she scurried away with an undignified haste that was almost mandatory in Akame's service to avoid offending his overinflated ego.
"I can't tell that." I shot back softly, that wasn't my Gift, I sorely wish it were but it wasn't.
My Gift was of a strange and unique nature, though that was hardly of any surprise as Naru Gifted Mages weren't exactly allowed time and freedom to study their craft; I couldn't craft spells, neither offensively nor defensively, but I was apparently a Mage none the less.
Instead I could gaze into people, see things about them, not whether they were good or bad- I think people were much too complex for such simple titles- looking at Akame I saw plenty of what I'd deem negative qualities; cowardice, avarice, gluttony, arrogance and lust just visible beneath a slothful nature that seemed to eclipse all his other characteristics in some way or another…and yet there was innocence too, despite his failings Akame had led a pampered life- he didn't know what hunger was, or pain or any other obstacle that may have built a more positive character by chipping away his instead overindulged faults.
The girl returned and I resisted the urge to look into her as she poured thicky ruby toned wine into her Lord's glass, her robes hung low exposing more than a hint of her small barely formed bosom and her lips had been painted; I suspected that had I taken the effort to see what was within her I would have seen an ambition that obscured her, I'm sure, otherwise noble qualities.
This Gift had left me cynical and doubtful of everyone, Guards I'd seen noble tendencies in executed and tortured imprisoned Mystics mercifully; in others I'd seen unbridled lust, a leery hunger and yet they never acted on it in a nefarious manner.
In all my Gift seemed more ironic than genuinely useful, too often I was blinded by one damning character or charmed by another and forgot that in the grand scheme of their heart it didn't matter, I could see all the pieces but as for how they moved and interacted with one another, what all the pieces added up to create...I found that impossible to predict.
"You will tell me what you see anyway Hyuuga." He replied a tinge of annoyance in his voice and it gave me great pleasure to note, fear; Akame was frightened of this imminent meeting.
We spent the next few moments in silence until the echoing clatter of heavy boots entered the hall and I raised my head with some strain to take in the sight of the visitors my Gift active; he immediately drew the force of my attention drowning out the energies of his escort.
He didn't wear armour, or at least not the Raiders standard equipment, instead he wore dull faded grey pants, an off white t-shirt and a nicked worn plain leather vest and matching boots; the weapon that hung on his belt drew my attention, one was clearly a natural Raider weapon, the other two were not; the dagger on the back of his belt flashed a chaotic mix of colours that I identified as Torent Hason signature offensive lightning and the other a curved blade seemed to glint with cold power.
But as I glanced up it was the eyes that held me, half obscured by his curtain of dark hair, the blazing red gaze had fixed themselves unblinkingly upon me.
I saw nothing more, neither his vices nor his virtues revealed themselves to me but more than that his gaze held a flash of recognition, he seemed to be looking into me and more frighteningly he seemed to have seen something.
I dropped my attempts to see into this man as, later than anyone else, he bowed down onto one knee before Akame and I was thankful to have his stare off me- beads of sweat trickled down from my forehead and I realised an aching pain had lodged itself in the back of my eye sockets.
"It's good to see you again Sasuke." Commented Akame, eyeing me for a second before he began to speak, my reaction no doubt had effected his decision if the momentary flash of panic in his eyes was anything to go by.
"…" I was momentarily impressed at the warriors gall as he simply eyed the ruler of Naru with a carefully blank expression, I wondered to myself what I might have seen to give a man such bravado as to ignore and potentially insult such a volatile and dangerous man.
"No doubt you are curious as to why I've called you hear." Continued Akame his voice noticeably high now, once again his innocence was in play, the man was woefully superstitious and not at all courageous, it was readily apparent that he'd decided based on stories and my reaction simply to put as much distance as possible between himself and the Raider.
"I am." There was no use of title, something that would normally earn a whipping at best, but Akame ignored it.
"As you know I am a generous man, in light of your recent exploits I am personally promoting you to Raider Captain of your own squad. Along with a small Gift." Announced Akame in a unusually rushed manner, of course I'd seen such a side of him before, the Guard Captain in particular set off Akame's cowardice- the Uchiha just had certain special advantages given that all he would need to do is take half a dozen steps forward and he'd have stepped through enough defence runes to make it impossible for Akame's Royal Guard to reach him, he could then kill the Light Lord at his leisure.
Now that I reflected on it perhaps Akame's worries were justified, as dependent on Mystic defences as we were he was a perfect Assassin here.
Another serving girl as young as the first entered the room holding a small necklace, she too scurried with the exaggerated clumsiness Akame appreciated- though this girls manner seemed more natural than the first's as she eyed the Uchiha with no small amount of horror mixed awe.
"Thank you." It was strange, it was such a small thing but it had me already liking this unnatural man, he had thanked not Akame but the girl with something approaching a miniscule smile before she scurried away again.
"It's imbued with Naru's own Gift, a protective charm. You should always keep it near your heart boy." Explained Akame, with a start I realised that I recognised the craftsman ship, it was a twin of the charm I wore around my own neck.
"As I understand it your former Raiding squad was completely destroyed, naturally it will take some time before-" the Uchiha again impressed me cutting of the Lord of Naru in his babbling.
"I was not the only survivor, my second is being seen by the Medical corps currently."
There was pain, awful blinding teeth jarring pain that for a few moments I wished would disappear, and then I realised exactly what that pain meant and I clung to it tenaciously thankful for the sweet glorious damn pain that meant I was still alive; I opened my eyes but couldn't see, not for the first couple of minutes anyway, after several seconds when I had quit struggling and my breathing had evened out the blackness started to fade away first into blue bordered spots and then completely leaving me an un-obscured view of the low lit room.
It was the study come bedroom lit by a couple of low flickering candles, Sasuke sat near my makeshift bed cross legged a thick purple tome lying opened before him, he glanced up to meet my questioning gaze and I began to cough as I tried to speak, the Uchiha brought his leather skin to my lips and allowed me a small sip of water, it helped.
"W-what happened?" I questioned in all confusion, I'd felt myself being stabbed, I'd stopped fighting, how had I survived.
"The Phalanxes Wraith attacked you, with this." Answered Sasuke drawing the gleaming blue blade behind his back, it crackled menacingly, I felt my brow furrow as my confusion only increased.
"He wanted me to kill you though, I think he'd decided you were a witch or something and that I should kill you to break the spell. He's dead now." He shrugged apparently not interested in divulging further into the thought process of a now dead madman.
"You were cut quite badly though…" began Sasuke prompting me to push down the blanket that covered me, revealing the bare skin of my naked chest- for a moment I thought to pull the blanket back up and undo the revelation, a childish thought, my bandages and shirt had hardly removed themselves.
"...I had to repurpose your bandages." Finished the Raider in a strange tone, my head snapped back to face him a sharp pain shooting up the side of my necks muscles as I moved too quickly, his expression was carefully neutral and he kept his eyes locked on my own.
"Sasuke, I…" I began completely unsure of what the hell I was going to say.
"Could have told me." Cut in the Uchiha standing, I tried to follow suit but a burning pain in my stomach forced me to lay back down, tears had sprung to my eyes from I hoped the sting of the wound.
"I was afraid Sasuke." I threw back, wishing the Uchiha were closer or that I could move properly so that I could grab him and force him to understand.
"Of what?" he asked coming closer now and leaning over me betrayal alive in his scarlet eyes.
"That I'd be alone again!" I shouted before breaking into a fit of coughing as my wound ached furiously anew, still though through the harsh blinding pains I managed to reach out and claw a hold of the Uchiha's shirt.
I felt his large hand wrap gently around my own, my heart trembled as he pulled my hand free of his shirt and trembled all the more when he entwined our thumbs and squeezed lightly.
"I don't want to lose you." I said softer as the spots cleared from my vision, his gaze had softened and he looked more than conflicted.
"Gin I…" he cut off in whatever he was about to say, the hardness entered his eyes once more, he had realised that 'Gin' wasn't my name.
"Sasuke, I'm still me." I whispered squeezing his hand as he had mine I tried to looking pleadingly at him, I was terrified that any moment now he would pull away, leaving me on my own.
"Then who are you?" his voice was soft, gentle and he sat on the cot next to me, I took a deep breath.
"Hanabi, I'm Hanabi." And I began to speak, in desperation I told him everything, where I'd grown up, jobs I'd worked, the good and bad times I'd been through, I didn't stop to consider structure or timelines but just spoke at random explaining segments of my life as they occurred to me; I think I'd been speaking for over an hour before it dawned on me that my breasts were still hanging freely and I covered up.
"I've something to confess too Hanabi." The dark Uchiha whispered once I'd finished my disjointed clumsy story, his left hand was still entwined with mine and I felt his right ghost the side of my face brushing my growing bangs gently from my eyes.
"You've been confusing me, for a long time now." He spoke my breath caught in my throat and I gulped faintly as I felt a bubble rise in my chest.
"When I'm with you, I forget things; things that should be forgotten and I…" broke off the Uchiha squinting as he struggled for words to explain what he'd felt, but he didn't need to explain it, not to me.
"Feel content, like you're not alone anymore." I finished as Sasuke's expression softened and he released a gentle 'yes', I pulled him down as I propped myself up ignoring the pain in my stomach at the ambitious move as I smashed our lips together in an almost violent kiss, I was thrilled to feel the stoic man return the kiss with no less candour.
"I feel the same, when I'm with you." I whispered as we broke apart, my stomach arched viciously but I felt a small content smile stretch its way across my lips as I lay back down; the smile however widened considerably as I witnessed Sasuke lips quirk upward into a fragile crooked smile- the first genuine smile not grin or smirk that I'd ever seen from him.
We just lay there for a while sometimes contently and sometimes awkwardly as we weren't sure anymore how to act with one another now…I had some idea's put I'd likely have to heal up before we could do that particular activity.
"What have you been reading?" I asked, for the first time speaking in my natural voice around the other Raider, the thought brought a smile to my lips, when we were alone from now on I could speak like this with Sasuke, in my own voice.
"Different things, these are old books." He pointed to a red leather bound tome lying nearby.
"That one speaks of another religion, all our Gods are there just with different names; Anger, Hate, Love, Fear, Peace it goes on. Compared to our interpetation though the Gods come off severely simple." explained Sasuke without much passion.
"That one discusses Gifts, that one old kingdoms before the Daemons, there seems to be a book for every obscure topic from the century past here." complained Sasuke highlighting his point with an example, a light green book- abandoned in the corner- dealt with ancient farming techniques.
"This one interests me the most though." He told me showing me the cover of his current book, I recognised only a hand full of the words.
"It's something about Wraiths?" I half asked with a frown, Sasuke nodded and flipped several pages into the thick tome.
"These chapters cover the history of various orders of Wraiths, this one particular abilities, this the creation of a Raider, and a lot more miscellaneous knowledge." He explained pointing to different headings as he spoke, I nodded interested, we'd been making our way through the journal we'd found but mostly it dealt with the day to day running's in the author's order, it eluded to plenty but in truth it confirmed and explained quite little.
"How is a Wraith made?" I asked, of course I had other questions but this one had a certain practicality to it- if I could I would gladly become a Wraith.
"There are quite a few requirements, a Greater Gift, a red moon, a death, a tragedy, and the presence of Divinity." Answered Sasuke, wrapping an arm loosely around me a little bashfully.
"Sasuke, what…" I trailed off the question obvious and I thought more than fair given he now knew more or less everything about me.
"I had been playing some childish game with Sakura that day, it was the height of the flood so we couldn't leave the house, when I finally ventured up from the lower levels…it was empty, there were no lights and the windows had been broken allowing rain inside." I had allowed my head to rest on the Uchiha's chest and I could feel his heart beat just a little quicker as he spoke.
"I climbed the stairs in search of my parents, the steps were slicked with rain water but I didn't notice, on the top floor I found the celling caved in, the monstrous Cockatrice looming above the gap, my brother standing in the rain beneath the red moonlight our mother and father lying dead at his feet..." Somehow his pulse had slowed and calmed, I waited for the rest but Sasuke remained quiet.
"I can't exactly say what happened next, I remember Itachi, saying strange bizarre things about our destiny and fate but...well I awoke days later to find my Gift had vanished and my eyes on fire." Sasuke finished turning to look at me his eyes now bare and unveiled; he looked broken, there was torment and anguish alight in his stare, I kissed him softly.
A couple of minutes later I thought to voice an important question.
"How do we get out of here?" I asked, things had been bad enough before I earned myself this debilitating injury, and as strange as the sentiment may have been I really didn't want to die now, not when Sasuke finally saw me.
"I've got an idea…you might not like it though." Commented Sasuke, there was genuine dread in the warrior's voice and I didn't believe it had to do with a new found comfort level he had with me.
I was going to ask how bad but I soon lacked the ability to produce coherent thought as his lips pressed against mine in a gentle kiss, I fisted a hand in his hair as I pressed back opening my mouth unsurely and probed forward against his lips, our tongues danced heatedly until we had to break apart for air; I lay staring into his sleepy scarlet eyes gasping to regain my breath.
"We'll leave at dawn." He whispered kissing my forehead tenderly with a slight half smile.
"Is this real?" I asked, I was afraid to close my eyes, afraid that I would only to find that these hours since I'd awoken had been a lie, that in truth I had died or Sasuke had left me; the thought stirred up an unquiet horror I couldn't ignore.
I didn't want this moment to end.
"I don't know Hanabi, but it feels real to me." He answered using my name, it sounded strange after so long of it remaining unspoken but I took more than a little pleasure from it.
Shorter chapter this time, and I've decided to leave my review responses to the end- makes sense really, don't know why I hadn't been doing it before- anyway hope you've all enjoyed the latest chapter.
Feels good to write something upbeat for once…strange but good.
As you may have guessed Hinata and Hanabi's POV's are actually on different timelines, Hinata's being about a week ahead of Hanabi's.
Remember every time you don't review the Daemons in my story get that little more gruesome ;).
Justsomenobody- Once again thank you for the kind words they're quite touching. Just to clarify in the last chapter Hinata's referencing things that have already happened in story, the Daemon like a Dragon being the Wyvern. I can't really answer any other questions you've eluded to without spoilers so I'll just ask that you be patient and if all goes well all your curiosities' shall be answered.
FallenRaindrops- The most important question first of course…yes Spiders are damn gruesome!...and creepy. Obviously the chapter answers the dead dead question, hope you're not disappointed by Hanabi's survival. Hinata shall be getting more screen(page, word, sentence?) time in the future though.
R&R