- Pluck -
Part II
Chapter 28: Lie Here
Companion song: Reflection by Christopher Larkin
You do not care about Hinata Hyuuga.
The lie would be the only way he could get what he wanted. Sasuke could flirt all he wanted. He could pretend to be madly in love with Hana all he wanted, he could pretend to be enticed, curious; but as long as he still liked Hinata, it would do him no good.
Hana, he knew, was going to test him on that aspect.
He could tell the moment he stepped into her cave - so very different from the rest in the Inuzuka hideout. The walls and floor were decorated with stretching rugs. Pottery decorated every corner and nook. She had wooden furniture - chairs, a small round table, a shelf in the back. He knew the moment her eyes landed on him, sharpened, and spotted that mark on his neck that the game was not so much winning Hana over, but convincing her that he would have nothing to do with the Moon Witch.
And while it was true that Sasuke Uchiha was a terrible liar, when it got down to it, he could act, and act well.
...
"She's alive, then."
"Who?"
Hana's sneer pulled back. "Don't fuck with me. I can see the mark clear as day."
He didn't try to hide it or cover it up. Rather, he only stepped further into the cave, allowing her to be in charge of when he would be allowed to sit in the chair across from her.
"Yes," he eventually answered, "the Moon Witch is alive."
She frowned, but didn't seem utterly pissed. Really, she seemed more so indifferent to the news, as if she hadn't a care about the health of the Moon Witch that stood as a guest in her own home.
"Did you save her?" she asked. The growl of her voice was stiff and defensive.
He made sure to keep his face blank as he answered, "Why would I?"
"She's your partner. You came here with her."
"I did come here with her. I also came with Aburame. Is he also my partner?"
Her ears tilted up. She tapped the side of her own neck, and said, "She gave you that. You must really like her." Her legs crossed in a strangely lady-like manner, and Hana's mouth twisted into a grin. "Go ahead and say it. You like her."
His lightning stayed at bay. He wouldn't let even a buzz go through the cave. "I like her."
At that, Hana barked with laughter, head swinging back and chair almost toppling backwards. "Liar!" she snickered. "You Guards think you're so clever, but I know the truth. Kiba smelled it a mile away, you know. He said you're pretending. Makin' it all up to get me jealous." Her nose pointed at the mark on his neck. "That's not real, too. I know it. I can tell."
He paid her words barely any mind, instead paying close attention to her body language. Her legs crossed again, but her shoulders relaxed, and he knew he could sit now. He took the back of the chair opposite of her and dragged it back until he was a good four feet away from her. She gave him a squint as he sat himself down.
"Will you tell me about the Moon person from before?"
Her teeth snapped together. "Why should I? You haven't been truthful with me? Why should I be truthful with you?" She paused for a split second, then continued on before he could say a word. "Actually, I suppose it's fair. I've been pretending to, you know. Pretending I don't know that bitch out there is actually Miss Hinata Hyuuga from Moon 2."
It was hard - really hard to keep the lightning back. Painful, even. He had to bite hard on his tongue.
"You figured it out fast, didn't you?" he mused, as if he were impressed.
"I figured it had to be. When that fucking bastard was here, he was all he talked about. I have to do this for Hinata, he said. This is for Hinata. The second her face showed up, I knew it was her. She was the reason my family was distraught for so many months. That damn Hinata Hyuuga." Her dark eyes flashed to the door. "Our Boss was in agony for fourteen months. We couldn't trust no one. Not even family. Boss kept snapping at us - it was out of pain, we knew, but it was upsetting. That bastard almost destroyed our family, and it was all because of her! So can you blame me for not exactly being courteous?"
"I never said I blamed you," he muttered.
That caused Hana to shift slightly in her seat. The wood creaked.
"So - you really didn't save her?"
From drowning? "No." Even if I wished I had, I didn't.
The strained pull of her face eventually relaxed, as well, and both feet uncrossed and settled firmly onto the ground.
"You came here just to learn about that bastard?"
Another test. This time, he forced a bit of his lightning in the air. It stirred around and definitely got her attention. He could see some of her fur curl.
"Yes."
"Liar," she said. "You also came here for me."
He made sure she could see his tight hold on the back of the chair, as if he was holding himself back, as if he was keeping himself in place. "Perhaps I am."
Her lips gleamed in the torchlight as she smirked. "Then what's stopping you?"
That was his cue. He stumbled out of the chair and marched over, almost knocking into the chair to her side. His hands lunged forward and grabbed onto the back of her chair, one far too close to the side of her skull. The chair tipped a bit backwards, but it kept him steady. He made it seem like it was the only thing keeping her steady.
When he looked down at her, she looked back, not an inch of her afraid.
No.
That was not what made her eyes absolutely glow.
"If you are going to bring up information about that Moon person," he said, "then you will have to sign a contract stating you will willingly be interrogated at the Guard." His left arm swiped past her face so he could pull out a piece of yellow parchment and drop it on the nearby table. "Until you sign it, I am not allowed to have contact with you. I cannot force you to sign it. You must do so willingly."
Her eyes dipped along his arm. "Isn't this forcing, Tramp?"
Sasuke sighed and leaned further in, tilting his face so it followed the line of flesh between ear and shoulder. "Is it? Are you feeling forced, Hana?"
Her body practically pulled towards him, and he knew he had won before she even asked for a pen to sign with.
...
As she reached her right arm over to sign, her left hand grabbed the back of his head and pushed his face into her neck.
You do not care about Hinata Hyuuga.
He knew he was supposed to keep telling himself that, but -
But it would be easier to play along if he did let himself care. If he closed his eyes and imagined her there, legs tucking behind his to keep him still, hand leaving his hair to trail down his spine.
If it were Hinata, he didn't mind playing along, nipping the underside of her jaw, breathing smoke against her neck. His electricity was dancing between them. She sighed and cooed. The pen clicked as she dropped it, through with her signature.
"Sasuke." Two, large hands grabbed his face and forced him back into reality. Her eyes were sharp and dark and smoldering with jest. "I'll let you in on something interesting." Her fangs kissed the corner of his mouth. "There's good reason why I knew the witch was Hinata Hyuuga. She and that other Moon bastard looked too much alike to be coincidence."
His heart stopped, and he couldn't hide his shock.
No.
Hana smirked. "A family of bastards. How fitting."
...
"Sasuke -"
He left Hana's cave wiping at the corner of his mouth and shaking his head hard enough until he couldn't feel her fingers anymore.
"Sasuke."
He marched, and he did not stop marching until he reached his own, secluded cave. Hana scuttled behind, breathing hard, chest heaving.
"Did it go well?" she asked. "Are -"
"It might be Neji." He couldn't hide it from her. Even if he did, she'd find out, and she'd hate him for it. "He might have been the Moon person that came."
Her eyes practically shattered like mirrors, and her head snapped to the left, zoning in on something he could not see. A murmur barely passed her lips. Her head bowed an inch. She gave a shaky smile.
"I suppose we'll see," was all she said.
"Hinata."
It felt like she was trapped in her sleep. Just enough of her mind was awake and aware of her unresponsive body, and panic gave no aid in stirring her into full consciousness. It was something in the air. She could physically feel the invisible lead of a horrible tension crawl down into her lungs with every soft breath she took. Everything felt heavy. Her skin felt like it had morphed into iron.
"Lady Hinata."
Her eyes cracked open, barely. The dark lines of her lashes took up half of her vision, but she could still make out Neji's transparent hand reaching for her. It tried to grab her shoulder, then her hand. It just went through her. She didn't even feel a breeze from the movement.
But the fact he was desperate enough to try sent a pool of adrenaline into her system, and despite the metal skin and lead in the air, Hinata shot up, gasping.
"What?" she asked. "What is it?"
Neji - he was so close. If he were real - well, she supposed he was real - but rather, if he were not this wandering spirit who followed her between the gazes of the others, she imagined she'd be able to feel the heat of his body. A blast of warmth delving into her front, chasing off the general chill of the cave. He leaned toward her like she was a beam to a house, capturing his form before he could fall. Or -
Or maybe she was the one falling, and he was the beam that was leaning in, catching her. His shoulders bent almost unnaturally around her. The dagger in her pocket suddenly felt heavy.
And when Hinata finally looked away from him, she noticed Sasuke and Shino by the plank door. Shino's antenni were raised in startled alert, and Sasuke had a hand on his katana, which hissed with tense lightning. They both had their ears inclined to the wood. When Hinata tried to pull out of her own anxious, wounded senses, she could hear yelling outside.
Horrible yelling. Pained.
It -
It sounded like Kiba.
She shot up. Her arm traveled through Neji's right shoulder.
"Is someone attacking?" The Inuzuka were a tricky group, she knew. They were purposeful in causing trouble. Of course, they'd make their good share of enemies. "How long has this -"
"Moon Witch."
Her question nearly sprung out of her mouth, but Sasuke's tone made her tongue grab the words and yank them back into silence. There was something there. She didn't know how to describe it, but Sasuke didn't look like the type of man who was caught in the middle of someone else's battle. Maybe it was the way he held his katana. A year ago, on that first day with him in the bar, Sasuke had held his blade of roaring power and lightning with such a light, easy touch when it had been those men he had scared off. It was as if it wasn't even worth his effort to hold it properly. Just one look, and they were off; there was no reason for him to use it.
But now, Sasuke's fingers gripped that tsuka like he were a man about to fight for his life.
Did that mean . . . that . . . something else was happening?
Another howl of anguish ripped through the thick air. Shino's shoulders jerked back, and two of his hands pressed into the rock wall near the door.
It was Kiba again.
Why did he sound like that?
What had happened?
The concern was clear on Shino's face. The stickers that hid his eyes were stretching and pointing their throned limbs to the ceiling. The sight alone made Hinata's anxiety heighten.
"We -" Her voice came out as a choke. "We have to - Kiba - he -"
She was between them before she realized her legs were moving her without conscious thought. Her shoulder slammed into the wood plank, knocking its left side out from between two lumps in the doorway that kept it shut. The wood cried like the Inuzuka outside. Hinata was already a few steps out by the time Sasuke grabbed her arm.
"Moon Witch, you -"
She didn't hear the rest of what he said. The main cave was filled with Inuzuka. Akumaru was even there, towering over them all, the fur between his shoulder blades standing and mouth curled in a fanged sneer.
The stickers were overwhelming.
She was aware of every one - every single one out of the thousands out there, on faces and necks and shoulders and ears. She could taste their smoke. She could feel their needles sink into her own skin, bringing her down, adding tons to her already heavy skin.
Some of them were crying.
Some of them looked in pain.
Some of them were pacing around.
She saw no signs of struggle. No intruder.
But she did see the body in the middle of the cave. She did see Kiba there, head bowed, body vibrating with a sort of emotion that Hinata could - could just feel from across the cave.
At first, she had thought it was Hana - that body he curled over. Her first fear was that Hana had been killed, that their mission had been discovered by her stalker and that they had killed off the only one who could give them a description of the one thing they could go off of in order to get closer to finding their identity.
Hinata squinted. Sasuke's arm felt like an anchor holding her back, but she leaned as much as she could and tried to peek through the mass of bodies and weeds and -
And . . . that's when she realized.
The smoke soaking into her tongue was not from the weeds.
It came from the stench of the body. Charred.
A corpse in the middle of Forest 3. The grass was damp. The birds were singing. There was crackling, then there was a thud, and now that body was in Forest 6, surrounded by the very people who shouldn't be seeing it.
No.
Not right now.
...
"Tamaki."
Kiba groaned her name like it was the last thing he would ever say.
Hinata stumbled. She yanked on that anchor and went forward. Her fingers ached. Those stickers were heavy and thick. They'd kill him if she didn't get them off. Kiba needed her help.
Her awkward, unsteady movement caught the attention of the Inuzuka. Their ears turned her way. Their heads twisted in her direction. Some of them moved, and she was able to get a better look at Tamaki's body on the floor, displayed for all to see.
It was fresh with magic.
It looked like she had just been killed not two days ago.
. . . Killed.
Killed by -
...
The Inuzuka had already realized it.
Their noses must have automatically recognized the hints of lightning that poured from the gaping wound in Tamaki's body. They sectioned off to the side, grouping up, their dark eyes pointed in Sasuke's direction. They held their claws out like Sasuke held his katana. The heavy blanket of black weeds covering their forms did not hide the hatred oozing from them.
Kiba had Tamaki in his arms. He held her like she were asleep. One of his hands was on the side of her face, as if he were trying to wake her.
The Inuzuka crowded and cornered them. Hinata could feel Sasuke's electricity buzz against the back of her neck.
From the crowd pounced Hana. Her mouth snapped and foamed, and her knuckles cracked like thunder as she took a stance, looking ready to take on all three of them. This time, it was Shino who grabbed Hinata, taking her cloak into one of his hands and tugging her backwards, slowly inching her away from the enraged Inuzuka.
"Of course, it was you," Hana growled. "Only Moon People can bring disaster like this."
Almost all of her hair stood straight. The two behind her tensed, readying themselves for battle as Hana moved to pounce, but she stopped at the last second when Kiba stood and left Tamaki's corpse to lay on the cave's floor.
"Mistletoe." Even his voice was heavy with weeds. Hana might as well have sunk her claws into Hinata's sides at that point. "Move away from there. I won't hurt you." Hana gaped and gurgled in protest, but Kiba paid her no heed. The blacks of his eyes thinned with anger as he focused on Sasuke. "It's that fucker's stench that's on her. He killed Tamaki."
She was stuck. Shino kept her planted. Kiba's gaze caught sight of the arm keeping her there, and he vibrated with a growl.
"Kiba," Shino tried. His entire body screamed defensive, but his voice - it didn't match at all. "Kiba. Calm."
The Inuzuka gave a wicked roar that made rocks tumble from the ceiling. "Shino! Shino, look what he did to her!" His mane flapped back as he turned to Tamaki. The rest of the crown pulled away, giving them a clear sight of her - still, cold. "He fucking slaughtered her, and then those damn Guards put magic on her to keep her like this." Hinata felt Shino turn still behind her. Kiba glared back at them. "They're keeping her like this! She's suffering. Why are you still on his side?"
...
Just a moment of hesitation.
That was all they needed.
Shino paused, and the Inuzuka took their chance.
...
She felt the blaze of pure lightning before she saw it, before she heard it. Bright, white light overwhelmed the angry faces of the Inuzuka as Sasuke brought out his katana, daring them to fight him, to take their chance with the very sword that killed . . .
That killed . . . .
Kiba barked, the Inuzuka swarmed, and the Inuzuka attacked.
...
"Don't!" Hinata couldn't even hear her own scream.
Cacophony filled the cave. Yelling. Tearing. Barking. Foaming. Gurling. Biting.
Lightning snapped, lightning hissed, and lightning burned fur and cloth and hands and eyes.
"Stop it!" Something pulled her back. She didn't know if it was Shino, Kiba, or someone completely different. There was too much happening. Too many weeds. She smelled blood and smoke. "Stop!"
A flash of white feather was soon overcome by brown claws and yellow fangs.
Sasuke -
And she was scared.
Sasuke was a great warrior.
But even he knew when he was outmatched.
...
"Bastard!" the Inuzuka howled.
"You dirty bastard!"
Something blunt knocked into her shoulder, sending her to her knees. Feet trampled around her. It was so hot and narrow -
But through the blurs and shadows, she saw something.
A haunting white.
Dancing.
Dancing like lightning.
...
Sasuke's katana. On the floor, with his owner nowhere in sight.
The Inuzuka were distracted.
Hinata saw her chance.
She rushed forward, barreled through the crowd, and took it.
...
This is what Sasuke feels like.
The katana rattled, like something was trapped inside of it, like it were an animal trying to be free of her unsure, unsteady grasp. It burned her palms. Her knuckles were already red and scorched. It stung so terribly bad, but she would not let it go.
The Inuzuka howled as she stepped forward, shoving that dangerous blade of pure lightning in their faces. Their noses scrunched. Their ears pulled back. They yapped and sprung away, sneering and biting at her.
The circle surrounding them began to pull out, but no matter how much space they unwillingly gave her, she could not breathe. Behind her, she heard Sasuke pull himself back onto his feet. She didn't dare look back - half because she did not want to give any of the Inuzuka an opening, half because she feared what she'd see if she did.
There had been a pile of them on him.
On Sasuke.
Biting and tearing and clawing and kicking -
He stood now. The electricity in her hands pulsed with his shock, which shined in the eyes of the people surrounding her. No one had expected her to wield such a weapon. She could tell by how they stared.
Kiba was there.
There was a shuffle, she panicked, and she pointed the blade right at him.
He didn't even look at it. The oak glow in his eyes turned dreary and dark, and no light could fill up the hollowness in his gaze. He looked at her like - like he -
She couldn't even compare it to anything!
All she knew was that the feeling she got in her chest hurt so much more, so much deeper than any katana, any spike of electricity.
This is what Sasuke feels like when he holds this katana. Like he was a monster that all should fear. Like he was a beast all loathed. He felt strong, and he felt powerful, but what good was that? What good was it when that man that was your friend looked at you like you were a stranger?
If this was what Sasuke felt when he held his katana, then she did not want to ever feel it again.
…
"Back off."
His brows drew back. Not in surprise. Definitely not. "Mistletoe."
"Tell them to back off," she said, sparing only a small glance at the foaming, furious Inuzuka around them.
Kiba did not do the same. He still stared at her.
"Mistletoe," he whispered, like it was a secret, like it was something sacred shared between them. "Mistletoe, he killed her. You saw what she looks like."
The smoke took over the air between them. Her hands felt numb and on fire.
"You can't kill him."
He tried to step closer to her, but she did not drop the katana. It almost stabbed into his chest. She didn't want it to - she so desperately hoped he wouldn't come any closer, because she did not want to hurt him anymore than she already has.
Finally, Kiba turned his attention to the blade between them, buzzing and zapping without mercy. His ears stretched out, then bowed, and he rolled a shoulder back. Fangs blazed in the white light as the Inuzuka grimaced and backed away, giving her and Sasuke and Shino a clear way to the mouth of the cave.
When she stepped back, her back pressed into Sasuke's side. His robe tucked against her legs as she acted as his shield, illuminating every Inuzuka in the light of his electricity as she stepped closer and closer to their exit.
It felt like years passed.
Hinata did not know how close they were.
The only noise about the place was growling and hissing lightning and -
"Ghhn."
It was soft, but she heard it.
Sasuke stumbled, his breath nothing more than a groan that dragged out in pain. He did not topple, but the unsteady movement behind her made her balance shake. Panic took over her. Hinata yanked a hand back and grabbed onto the hem of his cape, checking him, making sure he was alright.
There was a bark -
"HANA!"
Lightning screamed.
It was yanked away, and it screamed for her, warned her, begged to be back with her.
Her hands found the rocks beneath her shoes. They bled like they had in Forest 3. They bled like she was Tamaki, like Sasuke had that katana stuck in her chest.
Would Kiba weep over her body, too?
Why . . . was she asking questions she did not want to know the answers to?
...
Claws sank into her back, and she was transported.
No more cave. No more Inuzuka. No more lightning taking up her entire world.
She had expected moist grass and tall trees and birds chirping. She had expected the stench of burning skin. She's lived this memory a million times - it would not surprise her to live it again.
But this was no -
This -
This wasn't like all those other times.
It felt like her spirit had been stolen. It felt like she was without her body, drifting off without control of herself, of where she was going. The world just sped past her, and when white turned to silver - blur turned to shape - Hinata looked up and saw her cousin.
Neji was . . . a statue.
He did not drift like a phantom.
He did not ebb between realities.
When she looked at him, she looked only at him. She could not see the wall on the other side. His skin was a concrete peach, no longer transparent and wafting.
His head hung in a way she did not find fit for him. His arms pointed up. They looked different. They looked thin - why could she see the veins?
He was still like a statue, and she didn't know what to do.
But then Hana's claws sunk an inch into her back - and she -
"Hin -"
Neji's head snapped up, hair falling into his face like decayed wire. She could see the blue veins under his eyes, as well. They looked cold, like they were full of ice.
"Hinata," he croaked, leaning, leaning in a way that was almost towards her - but he was a statue, and statues could not lean.
Another inch. She could feel the blood cover her back.
"Hinata." That voice was not her cousin's. He was a proud man. He talked like he knew every secret in the galaxy - and he probably did. He talked to trees in a way that could coax them to believe they were human. He talked like he knew the future, and he tried to steer her on the right path. But this was not his voice. Something so pathetic could only come from her tongue. "Why are you . . . here?"
Her back muscles were being ripped apart. Her face tickled. For a moment, she could feel rock press into her jaw - now it was all lightning.
"You shouldn't be here," Neji murmured. Everything around them glowed, but he - he looked colorless, without light, without a hint of life in him.
Hinata felt her entire body enveloped in electricity. Her nerves rattled like the katana that once rested in her hand. It was like Sasuke was calling to them, trying to pull them to him.
"What did they do to you?" Something popped. Neji leaned as much as it seemed he could manage. His arms still touched the misty sky. The rest of him hung. His eyes were clouded and angry. "Who hurt you? You shouldn't be here!"
The claws dug another inch, and then they ripped away.
"You're not dying, Hinata!" Neji yelled. "Go back!"
And it didn't matter if she wanted to or not - something grabbed her spirit, the world spun, and Neji was gone.
...
She lay on her stomach on a cold table, back naked and exposed to the frigid air that she knew well belonged to the Guard. Perhaps it was silly, but the first thing she did upon grasping onto her consciousness was try to remember -
There was Sasuke. Of course, there he was. She remembered him as a child in the clouds. She remembered him on those grand, shining stairs in Sun 1. She remembered him watching her play her flute in the bar.
Good. Good.
At least she still remembered. The familiarity of it all - the bone-colored walls of the Medical Wing, the slicing pain in her back, the dreadful grog that filled her head with slow-motion blurs and oozing trains of thoughts - brought her back to months ago. But this was different than that. Kisame hadn't cut her back this time in a desperate attempt to bring her wings back.
On the tips of her lashes still remained Neji's figure, however. He was still dusted in silver, though the unidentifiable drab he wore, as well as the rest of his person, remained untouched by such an illustrious glow. She tried to follow his arms up to the sky, lids lifting to give her view of the room. It was so hard to make it out - the white walls were blinding - but she could almost see -
"Gods."
That fragment of dream - or - or something else - was ripped away from her when something touched the back of her head. The muscles in her shoulders coiled, readying up for her to flinch away and hide her exposed face, but then she smelled the rain and lightning and slowly, cautiously relaxed as to not hurt herself any more. Her nose, pressed into the icy metal that made up the table she lay upon, guided the rest of her face up; the underside of her chin shivered and groaned as the weight of her head pushed it hard against the metal. Her neck whined, sore, unappreciative of the sudden movement after having been stretched into the single position for -
How . . . long had it been, exactly?
Well. The answer to that question was far beyond her at the moment. Hinata only cared to lift her eyes just as Sasuke stepped out from behind her. His cloak was gone. His wings were out. The white hills of his bare hand that did not rest on her skull hung at her eye-level. She could still see the tiny, thin scars from Sand 1's chandeliers. It made adrenaline pump through her soul, but before she could even try to move, Sasuke fell on his knees before her.
A word she could not distinguish rushed and tripped through the air. It was airy, like he were out of breath. Sasuke's forehead leaned against the edge of the table, his hand brought her closer, tipped her head in just a way so that he was all she saw. He sighed and blew hot air onto the floor. The bite of the metal no longer brought her any chill.
It was only when she moved her hands from her side to touch him, to lift his face so she could see it, so she could see if she had caused anymore weeds to erupt upon his features, so she could see if he was alright, that she noticed the bandages around her hands. The joints in her fingers stung. Sasuke's lightning was still trapped inside, it felt like - it rubbed against skin and muscle and bone, bouncing this way and that, trying to find a way out, trying to get back to its master.
Something must have left her mouth - a moan of pain, perhaps - for Sasuke's head shot up.
"You're alive." He said it like she wouldn't know it. He said it like it was the most important thing for her to hear at that moment.
The pain ebbed - for just a moment.
"Are you . . ." His voice died, but the words sprung against the walls of his throat. She could almost hear them hopping around, but Sasuke swallowed them down and tried again. "Do you . . . ?"
Hinata understood.
Do you remember?
Do you remember me?
It seemed even Sasuke could not ignore the similarities.
"Yes," she said with a smile. "Everything's alright."
...
"I was hoping to never see you again."
She almost expected Sasuke to stand and have himself on the opposite wall when the heavy sound of boots and a flapping, white coat echoed down the hallway. It was difficult to wipe away the dust of the past from her eyes. If she didn't blink for too long, she'd start seeing that damn bucket she had to hold onto when her back was being stitched together. She'd feel Sasuke's presence just out of sight - by the door, able to leave at any moment.
But right now, Sasuke was here. He was on his knees with his face pressed into the very same table her face was pressed into, and not a bit of him moved when Kabuto entered.
Hinata did not have to look to know where those haunting eyes of a doctor lay, and his hum of slight, muted amusement was rather clear in the deadly silent room, as well. "Well," he said, "I suppose I mean to never see you here again. You are our Head's upstanding therapist-in-training, of course. Why should I ever like to see you here again?"
She watched Sasuke's face as she processed those words, hoping he'd incline her to understand if Kabuto's words were meant to be genuine or pointed. Somehow, she felt like Sasuke would know better than her; he's been at the Guard much longer than she has, of course. If so much as the furrow of his brows came to his face, she'd know. It felt strange, but that's how she felt, how she thought. She'd rely on him with this matter. She was allowed to do that, right?
Because . . .
No change came to his face. Sasuke didn't seem overly elated at Kabuto's words, but he was far from enraged, as well.
With that in mind, Hinata made sure her smile could be heard in her voice as Kabuto swiftly came to the medical table, snapping gloves at such a violent velocity that it made even her own wrists ache and sting. "It's always good to hear a friendly voice," she said; then, with her eyes firmly meeting Sasuke's, she added, "Likewise, a friendly face."
Kabuto's snort was just as thrilling as the flickering white light in Sasuke's left eye. Good Gods, what was she doing. Her back felt like it had been clawed out - and from the bits she remembered of her last moments in the Inuzuka lair, it probably was - and her head was still full of foggy images of her cousin. This was no time - this was not the moment to - to just -
"Refrain from moving, if you will." The sudden, freezing touch of Kabuto's hands to her naked back was definitely payback, and all Hinata could do was hold her tongue and pretend her shiver was just her stretching. "I want to work as quickly as I can."
"Yes," she said, voice perhaps a tad too cheerful for such an occasion, "I know. You are a busy man."
Fingers stretched out her wounds, and Sasuke's hold on the back of her head turned reassuring and strong when she lurched forward, unable to hide her hiss of pain.
"More so than that," Kabuto hummed in a way that matched her strange, happy mood, "I'd rather get as far away from the both of you as I can at my earliest availability."
Now Sasuke's face turned with irritation, but Hinata could not help but laugh and squirm with the pain that came with it.
"Do your job, bastard."
"And remember your place, Thor Warrior."
...
In the Guard, she felt as if she had to act as a Guard.
Stern, strict, responsible; she must keep her eye on the important matters at hand.
"Do we know who brought Tamaki to the Inzukua?"
Sasuke did it so well. His eyes just switched, his body language morphed into that of a serious man, and without effort, he became that prized Guard that everyone held in such a stunning light.
Kabuto still worked on her back. He had mentioned that the wounds were not serious enough for stitches, and so he worked on disinfecting and cleaning the cuts and gashes before wrapping them with the roll of clean, soft bandages that stood on the small desk by the table. The precision in his fingers was a wonder - she hadn't noticed it before due to her being distracted with much more pressing matters, but now, with the pain more tame, she was impressed with how swift he was. He did not stumble. His work shined with his attention.
"I believe our Head is leading the investigation for that now," he said.
Sasuke's arms folded as he thought. "A double-agent would be the most likely possibility. A doctor or nurse, perhaps. Someone who would have access to where her body was being stored."
"That's what we are fearing. After Suigetsu, the Guard has become a rather suspicious place."
"I'll have to look at the logs of the suspects. It would have had to happen early in the morning."
Hinata tried to keep up. She tried to keep her head up. She tried to pay attention.
But there was - something. Something that made it hard. Something that put a distance between what she wanted to be - over there, with them, discussion and planning and theorizing - and where she was.
She pondered that it was that dream, that vision, that . . . whatever it was. When she looked, Neji was nowhere to be found, so she would have to wait to ask him about it. That had to be it. The tearing of her spirit - she could still feel it. And she could still hear his call, as well.
"You're not dying, Hinata! Go back!"
So, as Sasuke acted on the truest part of being a Guard and Kabuto excelled in his work as a doctor, she wavered in her resolution - not out of her own volition, but because she simply could not understand for certain what it was that made her act like Hinata Hyuuga the woman and not Hinata Hyuuga the Guard.
...
It had to be those words.
"You're not dying, Hinata!"
And - Sasuke, just earlier, had said - "You're alive."
Had they expected her to be dead?
Was the attack that severe?
Really, if that were the case, she ought to feel more distraught.
But . . . she couldn't get herself to feel that way. The usual ball of anxiety and worries was not present in her chest. All she could do was appreciate that at least she had herself laying on a table rather than the rough floor of a cave. At least the torches that hung on the wall kept the room warm and far, far away from the biting cold of the tundra that scraped the lands of Forest 6.
At least she was here. At least she was closer to home.
...
"It's finished." Once again, Hinata found herself wrapped in a shield of bandages, and by the time she was allowed to push herself off the table, the metal was tepid from her body heat. Kabuto was peeling off his gloves at a slow, almost exaggerated pace, as if he were peeling off his own skin. She could feel his eyes on her back, and she knew it was not because he was admiring his work. "Same as before. We'll have to change the bandages daily. And don't move too much for the rest of the day - just because you don't need stitches does not mean meaningless moving can't worsen the state of your wounds."
Hinata was inclined to believe his voice sounded rather distracted. She took a quick gander around the room to see what could have possibly put him in such a state, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Nothing seemed too off about herself; Sasuke, of course, was still deep within his pondering, the straight line of his back so very perfect to someone who acted well on the nickname Thor Warrior.
But then a moment passed, and he changed. He relaxed. The straight line curved with the dip of his shoulders, and the vacant stare of his eyes turned to focus on her, then over her shoulder, onto Kabuto.
"Your warning is meaningless," he muttered. "What needless moving would she have? All you have her do is sit in that damn room and read those damn books?"
His tone rang with challenge.
What for?
Yes, true, Kabuto could be a vile man at times - but this only seemed like doctor's orders. Hinata tugged at her blouse, making sure it fit her well without wrinkling against the bandages wrapped around her torso. She tilted her head enough for her to get a glimpse of Kabuto hanging by the door, taking his time, seeming to be in no rush.
What happened to the man who was so quick and ready to leave?
"Is that all she will be doing today?" he hummed, the glow of his specks seeming almost sinister. "Just sitting and reading?"
Oh.
Now she understood.
And as did Sasuke, it seemed, for that usually untamed tongue of his lay dormant in its cage. He kept still, not giving Kabuto any more fodder to fuel his interest or his growing reports to the Head about the "developments" between his symbol of power and their very own Moon Witch.
...
He left with a curl to his smirk that made her feel like she had been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to do. The fire of the torches waltzed as he shut the door behind him.
The fog had left her mind. Her back did not sting with every breath she took.
It was just the two of them, and Hinata . . . .
Just us.
In this room.
Here.
...
That's when she realized.
The reason she was so beyond herself - the reason she could keep herself steady since the moment she awoke on that table - was because she was here. At the Guard. The very place that was her sanctuary in her dreams when she lay on those piles of fur and rags in the Inuzuka cave. The very place that she desperately wanted to return to - because it was safe, because the people she trusted were there -
Because this is where Sasuke Uchiha wanted to take her.
This was their escape. This was what they thought about when they saw each other, he pretending to enjoy the advances of other women and she pretending to not be bothered by such a thing in the slightest.
When he had said those words that still vibrated against her ribcage - "I don't want to wait. I want to go." - this is where he had wanted to go.
Here.
Both of them - here.
...
Her body would not allow her another moment of rest.
Before she knew it, she was tipping over the edge of the table. Her legs swung out, caught her body before she could fall onto the ground, and she stood. Her knees quivered - her energy was still returning to her, it seemed, for she felt heavier than she expected.
It didn't stop her, either way.
Even with obvious lag in her steps, Hinata made her way to the door.
"Where are you going?" Sasuke, still stuck in a state of no revelation even after Kabuto had long since departed, made the shake in her legs all the more violent. Startled, Hinata had to hold a palm to the wall to keep herself up. That seemed to pull him out of his stillness. His hand was under her right arm not a second later. "You shouldn't move so suddenly."
That was the last thing on her mind - really, nothing else could be further from what was twirling around in her head, slamming so hard against the walls of her mind that it hurt.
"I -" Her breath was stumbling on the path between lung and mouth. Her words choked on what little oxygen she could muster. Maybe it was her imagination, maybe it was real, but she was sure she felt his hand tremble with electricity. It made the lightning that was still trapped in her fingers dance. "I - Sasuke -"
Her teeth snapped shut.
No. Not here.
Not in a place like this.
"Please. Take me to my office."
Her hand slid forward along the wall, coaxing the rest of her body to follow. The door was nearly in reach. Sasuke still held her arm, keeping her upright.
"Moon Witch." For a moment, she was scared to look at him. He sounded so troubled that she was sure that if she gazed upon him, his face would be split in two - one part clear, the other covered in those weeds she worked so hard to remove. He had the kind of voice that made her stomach twist in both fear and excitement, the kind of voice that could not hide the conflict that was surely brewing and storming inside.
Hinata looked. Her curiosity made her.
There were no stickers, but he stared at her like he had in Forest 6 - across the cave, watching her watch him, not letting her forget for a second that he was waiting for her.
He didn't have to wait anymore.
Her free hand tugged at his shirt, hoping he'd understand, hoping he'd hear the words that would not leave her mouth.
Please, Sasuke. Let's talk.
His head tipped. The room buzzed, and he leaned forward to open the door for her.
...
She thought she'd have enough energy for the trek from the medical wing to her office.
She was wrong.
With every passing moment, more and more of her energy drained. Her racing heart ate up her stamina. The thrill of it all made her feet feel like they weighed tons. There were points in their walk where Sasuke almost had to hoist one of her arms around his neck.
But he never told her to stop, never questioned her determination, and Hinata was glad for that.
...
The office. The door.
The second she got inside, her legs turned into mud. She sunk down with the little grace she could manage, not wanting to worry Sasuke any more than he already was. Her right arm flung back, gesturing to the door, hoping he'd understand.
Ah, where had her energy gone?
She felt tired. Her eyes were hot.
She had to lay down on her side, hair falling into her face, legs curling up at her chest. For just a moment, she closed her eyes and allowed them a moment's rest. The click of the door told her Sasuke had done exactly what she had wanted.
"Sasuke," she breathed, hardly, barely, almost inaudibly, "I like you."
It was more extravagant in her dreams. She was supposed to be at her desk. He was supposed to be leaning over it, giving her all his attention, listening to her words like they were his oasis.
She was supposed to thrill him. Surprise him. Utterly baffle him - not because he hadn't expected such words to ever leave her mouth, but because he was startled by how clearly she said them; no stutter, no trill of hesitation, no bowed gaze or wiggling fingers or shaking breath. She was supposed to say it in such a way that would leave him no room to question it.
Instead, all she could manage was a slow, quiet exhale of words as she lay on the floor of her own office like it would be her grave.
When her eyes opened, he was over her. His wings folded around them, hiding them from the rest of the world. There was rain and static and the burn of a blush on her cheeks. Her gaze went from his crackling eyes to his mouth, still covered in stickers.
The weeds were spinning.
She'd never seen that before.
"I like you," she said again, because he hadn't made a noise. Not even the familiar hum of lightning slithered through the air. "I like you so much. You - you already know that, but I wanted to tell you. I wanted you to hear it. You deserve that much."
For whatever reason, his attention strayed on her gills.
Why?
"You're wonderful." Words kept slipping into the air. Unlike before, they wouldn't stop, and she didn't try to stop them. "You make me feel complete, Sasuke. Like I'm not missing my wings or my memories. You're the reason I'm here. I think about you all the time. I dream about you. You're the first thing I think about when I wake up."
His eyes lidded and turned murky. She couldn't look away.
"But I -" Something hot and sticky formed in the back of her throat. She couldn't swallow it down. "But - Naruto." His expression didn't change, but guilt still settled in the darkest parts of her mind. It hurt to mention it, but she had to. This was part of the talk they waited to have for what seemed like years. "With him - I - I don't know what to do. I'm not in love with him. The memories Ino has been putting in my head - they come with the feeling of affection and adoration for him - but I can't will myself to go back to those times. And - And I don't know what to do. I was supposed to wait for him."
Her eyes burned. She closed them, and fatigue encased her body in a warm embrace,
"Sasuke," she whispered, "I'm in love with you. What can I possibly say to him?"
The room was still silent, but she could feel the touch of static kiss the tip of her nose, the heavy tips of her lashes. All of her energy depleted. She didn't even have the strength to open her eyes once again to see his face, his expression, his reaction. When she felt him pull away, the muscles in her hand flexed to grab his arm, to keep him there, but her arm would not move. But, thankfully, he didn't go far. He leaned over her, stretching; there was a swipe of fabric from above, and then something soft and familiar was laid over her.
Her cloak.
Her heart smiled. She didn't know if it reached her mouth.
She'd have to thank him.
Later.
When her energy returned tenfold, and she could hold him like she wanted to and never let go.
...
The floor moved.
Or maybe it was the wall.
It was warm against her back. It moved in a lull that made her want to hover in her dreamland, but she knew she'd have to awaken eventually. Her body stirred on its own accord; she was glad she at least had regained enough energy to do that much. Awareness of the world slowly filled her brain: she was upright, leaning on her right side, her leg having fallen asleep from the hip down. The blanket of her cloak still covered her, legs enclosed her in a half-circle, acting almost like a nest, and -
And the wall was moving.
The wall with legs.
"Moon Witch." No longer was awareness a slow drip into her mind - it rushed in like a hurricane, ripping through her drowsy brain. Sasuke' voice danced on the crest of her ear. His breath fell over her like warm rain. "Did you dream of me?"
...
There was no way she could tell him she had.
No. She had to keep that to herself - a treasure only she could know. That image still thrumming in her synapses would be for her, alone.
She had dreamed of him.
She had dreamed that he had laid himself on the floor next to her, and arm under his skull to keep his head hoisted up. He had watched her sleep for a while, then the gentle touch of his hand found hers and sent an eruption of electricity into her body. It soared through her system, bouncing and dancing, buzzing, breathing; a whole new wave of energy filled her to the brim. Her hair was standing. Her eyes opened and shined with his lightning. Clouds filled the room. The sky turned silver. He plucked the wings from his back and gave them to her, and with her newfound energy, she could fly into the star-rich sky forever.
"Take me," he had said in her dreams. His arms stretched out like the very wings protruding from her back. "Take me with you, Hinata."
...
There was no way she could admit that, so she let her blush reach everywhere, from the tops of her cheeks to the back of her nose, and if Sasuke bared witness to such a sight, he'd have to come up with his own interpretation.
...
Sasuke had himself sitting on the floor, back against her desk, with her leaning into him. Her cloaked had their legs wrapped together. Even if she wanted to leave the comfort of his hold on her, she wouldn't be able to without some sort of stumble.
"I'm sorry," was the first thing that came from her tongue. "I didn't mean to fall asleep like that."
"You were tired." His words rumbled both in the air and in his chest. He was everywhere. "It's understandable. You're healing."
Just thinking about it made her head dip.
"Give me a moment," she said. "I'll be out of your way in a bit."
One of his hands lifted from the floor to press into her shoulder. "Don't rush it."
This time, Hinata could feel the smile lift upon her lips.
...
"When the time comes, I'll tell Naruto." He had the voice of a Guard, but the way his hand curled into the hem of her cloak made her think of a younger Sasuke who would pretend his bleeding knee didn't hurt as much as it did. His face would scrunch up to keep his eyes from watering. Hinata almost tilted her chin up to see if he was making the same face now.
"You will?"
He seemed to take offense to that, for his voice was a tad tighter when he said, "I'll be kind about it."
Hinata blew out her amusement in a light exhale. "What I mean is - don't you think I should be the one?"
"Why should you?"
"He is my fiance."
"Was," Sasuke confirmed. "Was."
"Yes," she said with a laugh, "was. But the matter still stands."
"He's also my best friend. I'm stealing you from him."
"Stealing?" She turned in his hold to find his gaze. "Is that what you're doing? Stealing me?"
And - really, it was a sight to see - because Sasuke looked almost like he melted into the desk. His chin tipped down and to the side, and his mouth pursed, then unpursed, as he murmured, "Aren't I?"
She placed her hands on his shoulders and smiled. "Is it stealing if I let you? If I come willingly?"
A flash of light cracked a few inches from her head. The ebb and flow of Sasuke's breathing stopped for a moment. His face tilted and turned, then stopped. White fingers curled against the floor. He blew out, long and slow, and leaned the back of his head against the desk.
"Moon Witch," he sighed into the thin air between them, "I will be the death of you if you keep that up. Do you understand?"
Her answer was to lift her hands off his shoulders and into his hair as she pressed her face into his neck.
Sasuke Uchiha didn't bother to hide it.
What was the point, right?
His brother was this all-seeing mastermind who could see right through him, so there was no real reason to hide it any longer, to postpone the inevitable.
When Sasuke came home after five days of absence, he found himself not falling into his usual motions of wiping himself of all emotions and stresses and problems before entering his own house. He didn't stand on the welcoming mat outside to count his breaths for a couple of minutes. The skin on his face was not wiped with his hands, as if cleaning it of the stains of his day.
That day, he came home with the past five days tattooed in bright red ink upon his face. He did not hide it. He did not try to wipe it away.
It was about time Itachi knew the truth.
He was tired of lying and pretending around him.
"Sasuke, you're -" And, like the good, older brother he was, Itachi immediately noticed the millisecond Sasuke stepped inside. He wasn't even halfway through bending down to pull off his boots when Itachi called to him. The sudden pause of his welcome invited Sasuke to the realization that, perhaps, it wasn't a surprise his brother knew so quickly. He had practically come home with a skip in his step. "Sasuke . . . I - it's been a while since I've seen you with that kind of face."
That kind of face. He said it like he'd know what he was talking about. Snorting, Sasuke removed his boots, set them by the door, and ventured further into the house. Itachi was in the wallway, probably having come from his room when he heard the arrival of his little brother. Sasuke had to fly over him to reach his room.
"Is that a bad thing?" he asked as he pulled off his katana and scabbard and hung it on the wall by his bed.
Itachi watched from the narrow doorway. "No. Of course not." Sasuke just sort of stood in the middle of his room for a moment, staring at the blank walls and the wrinkleless layer of his quilt that lay on his bed. His old, more secretive part of him was trying to find a way to distract himself from the prying eyes. He had to force himself to look back at Itachi. "Will you talk to me?"
A heavy sigh expanded his lungs, but he held it in. "What do you want to know?"
Itachi's smile was relieved and welcomed. Sasuke joined him in the hallway, a little glad he was able to give his brother that sort of expression. He hasn't seen it for a while.
"Who is it?"
Of course he'd ask that question.
It wasn't so much that it annoyed Sasuke that, of all things, that was the one he had to ask first, but rather that he was a bit irritated that he hadn't thought of a way to answer it beforehand.
Because when he asked that question, Hinata filled his mind. She was grinning in the wallpaper. Her eyes were glowing in the kitchen lights. He could hear her laughter when the wind blew against the living room window.
Her hands - he could still feel them on his shoulders, slipping into his hair. When he closed his eyes, she was there - in his home - with him and Itachi. She had her arms around him, hugging him like they hadn't seen each other for years. She smiled in that way that made her eyes crinkle in gleam, that made her face fill up with color, that made everything about her, around her, sparkle. There she was. His Moon Witch. His -
"Hinata."
...
Sasuke . . . didn't bother to hide it.
Though, really, he shouldn't have said that.
Shit.
...
"You're joking."
He wasn't. And based on his tone, Itachi damn well knew that, too.
"Hinata Hyuuga?"
Sasuke balked. He couldn't help it. "Is there any other -" Woah. Slow down. He pretended he was on the mat outside the front door. Breath in. Breath out. Wash it away. He swallowed down the irritation scratching at his throat and tried again. "Yes. Her."
Itachi stared at him from across the kitchen, taking in every bit of his body language, searching for inconsistencies and his classic signs of lying. Based off of the heavy sigh he gave shortly after, he didn't find any.
"Before you left, we talked about her."
"I know," Sasuke muttered.
"I mentioned how she's been missing for over a year." He wiped at his face in a similar manner to how Sasuke would, fingers starting at the temples and working down, bringing just enough pressure to drag some of the skin with them. "So either you magically found her and fell in love within the span of five days, or you've been keeping quite a lot from me."
A dagger sunk into his left knee. "Itachi -"
"And I'm sorry to say this, brother of mine, but the first option doesn't really fit you."
A jumble of syllables got stuck between his teeth. He had to consciously pluck them out and set them correctly on his tongue before he could speak. "She's under the protection of the Guard," he explained, "by orders of the Sun King. It's against strict protocols that I'm even discussing her with you at present."
A tightness came to Itachi's left brow, but he didn't look angry. "I understand, Sasuke."
Of course, he did. But it didn't make things any easier for Sasuke. "I cannot tell you more on that matter, but . . . she's the one who gave me this kind of face." The words felt a bit too gooey on his tongue. Sasuke rubbed the side of his neck, adding in a quick, low tone, "Whatever that means."
A light chuckle sounded from Itachi as he closed the distance between them, coming over and reaching up to mess his hand through Sasuke's bangs. "Yes. I can tell. She would have to be the one."
...
He made dinner that evening.
Itachi had called it a miracle, but Sasuke was convinced it was simply because he was in . . . a decent mood.
"Good Gods," Itachi would sometimes huff into his mug full of tea, "stop smiling like that when you're cutting the chicken."
"I'm not smiling," he would insist, "I'm concentrating."
And Itachi would just laugh and drink his tea and sigh as the sunset spilled into the house and painted the walls.
He wouldn't leave him alone. No matter what he did, Itachi always had something to say.
Menacing onions? "I'm sure Hinata would appreciate how good you are in the kitchen."
Washing his hands before he handled the food? "Did Hinata teach you that? I remember a time when you refused to wash your hands for any occasion."
Put his napkin on his lap at the table. "Look at that - you're using your table manners. Practicing to impress Hinata?"
"Itachi," he said for perhaps the seventieth time that hour, "cut it out. I told you she's confidential, didn't I?"
His brother didn't even look at him. He just cut into his chicken breast and hummed to himself. "But it's only us here, Little Brother. Whoever will grab ahold of whatever passes between us at this table?"
Sasuke grabbed his silverware, but his dinner remained untouched. He thought about that for a moment, then asked, with a quiet sort of murmur that didn't seem very much like him, "If . . . I brought Hinata here -"
Itachi stopped eating immediately. "Here?"
" - would you introduce yourself to her?"
At that, Itachi frowned. "She's already forgotten about me? It hasn't been more than three years since I last saw her -"
"Itachi." Sasuke met his gaze. "She's lost her memory. That's half the reason she's being protected by the Guard."
A sort of sad look loomed in his brother's stare, but he didn't look surprised. But then again, his brother rarely allowed himself to be surprised by things.
A moment passed. Itachi lay his hands on his lap, then said, "Will it be safe to bring her?"
"If I'm here," Sasuke said.
That made Itachi smile. "This is important to you, isn't it?"
"If it's too much to keep it a secret, then -"
"Sasuke." Again, Itachi reached over. But rather than mess with his hair, he gave his shoulder an affirming pat. "Who would I tell?"
His stomach tightened, and Sasuke quickly sliced into his food and began to eat.
"Thank you."
...
Kabuto's office had no mark of filth within its walls. Not even a small bit of dust that collected on the books at the very top of his shelf in the back of the room. To most, this was the room of an overly-clean man. To Sasuke, however, he felt like there was more to it - like it was all a facade to hide something.
"Still in a good mood, I see. Let me know when it ends. The sight of you disgusts me right now."
Like, for example, his shitty behavior.
Sasuke knew bait when he saw it, and he only spared the doctor a sharp look to inform him that he wouldn't be tricked so simply. He had more important matters to discuss than his supposed good nature.
"What did you find?"
Kabuto's eyes drifted shut, and his smirk was thin. "Cutting to the chase? Good. I hate smalltalk." With that, pulled his specks from his face and rubbed the lenses with the edge of his coat. Not a piece of paper flew out of place, he moved so smoothly. Too smoothly, if Sasuke had to guess. The bastard was still trying to get on his nerves. "I'll begin by saying she's out of luck, Sasuke. Either her wings are so far inside her that they cannot emerge, or we have another case like dear Itachi. Either way, it's beyond my capabilities."
This was not exactly the news he wanted to hear. His promise between him and Hinata still remained, and he was determined to get her to Moon 2 no matter what - at least, that was what he had first believed. But if she was like Itachi - if the only way she could be with wings once again is through the wing process - then he couldn't bear to put her life on the line.
Not after Kisame.
Not after yesterday.
"If it's the first scenario -"
"Which is highly unlikely," Kabuto added, holding his specks up to his lamp to check for smudges.
"But if it is," Sasuke pushed, "then what would be the cause? Why would they be stuck inside of her?"
Kabuto spared him a moment's glance. "You think I'd know? Psh." Satisfied, he returned his specks to their proper spot along the bridge of his nose. His fingers trailed a pen that lay upon his desk. "Perhaps they're broken. Perhaps they grew incorrectly. Bone structure, muscle flexibility - there's a number of possibilities, but none of them perfectly fit her situation." Forgetting the pen, Kabuto stood and perched his hands atop his mighty desk. "In other words, Sasuke: they're gone."
He nearly had the mind to take those perfect specks of his and slam them into his perfect desk. But Sasuke sucked back his zapping anger and said, in a slower tone, "If someone else could tell me the problem with her wings, would you be able to fix it?"
Kabuto raised a brow. "And who would you go to, exactly?"
"Answer the question."
"It would depend on what the issue was."
Again, not the exact answer he wanted - but there was a chance, and Sasuke grabbed onto it before it could slip away from him. "Then give me two days to make arrangements."
Sighing, the doctor relaxed his head into his open hand before musing, "You couldn't possibly be taking her to His Highness, would you?"
Sasuke frowned. The Moon King? He would be hard to contact, let alone get the proper documents ready in order to schedule a meeting with him and gain access to Moon 1.
"Or, perhaps, you speak of that waste of air that is your King."
Sasuke, again, let the bait slide. He left without a single farewell, making sure to properly shut the door behind him.
...
"What are you doing here?"
These were his first words spoken upon his entrance of Hinata Hyuuga's office, small, quaint, and tidy - but not too tidy to where it would raise suspicions. The only thing that left Sasuke in a mild amount of surprise about the room was the fact that she was there. Hinata. The same Hinata who had her back - who -
He couldn't even think about it without something snapping inside of him - but she was there!
And, of course, the moment he walked in, she just had to look up at him and smile like he had just blessed her with something spectacular. As if it were second nature, her hands slipped under her hood and pulled it down onto her shoulders. She pulled her long hair out and shook her head and laughed like it was a gift to just be able to drop that small piece of cloth and let her face roam free. There was no longer a part of her that she hid from him. She showed him her all.
It made him forget, for a drawling few seconds, why he had been frustrated in the first place. Still, he didn't know how she did it, how should could just cool his wildfire with a mere look, a mere smile, a mere -
"Sasuke, you're here."
Hinata made him feel like everywhere was home. Like no matter where he went, he belonged, as long as she was at his side.
"I am," he said. Did she notice how he could hardly speak? It wasn't like this before. What changed? "But you shouldn't be. I told you to rest at home."
Her arms stretched over her head - like her back wasn't completely covered in bandages. Again. "I haven't been here for almost a week. I'll get rusty if I don't get back into it." Her head nodded down to a book that lay, sprawled out, on the desk in front of her. "I'm still determined, you know. I want to get them all off of you as soon as I can. And this will help me."
She still saw them on him? From what he gathered from her talks about the stickers she saw, they were in some way connected to people's stresses and problems. He tried to think for a moment what could be the cause of those weeds on him if she really did see him. What bothered him at the moment?
Naruto, perhaps. The truth would have to come out to him eventually.
The ordeal with Hinata's wings was another possibility. But, hopefully, that person he had in mind would help them along with that issue.
And then there was the problem off -
Well.
It had been circulating around in his head for a while, he supposed. It was hard not to think about, especially now that Hinata was back and able to schedule her memory plants with Ino once again. That far away aspect that he, too, was forgetting things. That some of his memories had been wiped.
Memories of Hinata.
Eventually, he'd like to have them back. In fact, he was determined that he'd fully remember her one day.
But figuring out when would be tricky.
And there was also the issue of if Ino could even give him those memories. He understood there were some locked away. Some she simply could not give, even if she wanted to.
If -
If Hinata were those memories - out of reach -
"Sasuke."
When he blinked, she was suddenly standing in front of her desk. The tail of her cloak just brushed along the tops of her feet, small and cladded in black shoes. Even without her wings, she walked like a Sky Person. She glided like she was flying.
"Are you alright?"
He was glad she was the one with the eyes that could see invisible things. If he had it, he felt like it would be wasted. He didn't need magical eyes to see her. Everything painted itself like a portrait on her face. The white shine of worry that paralleled the swirling silver of her eyes. A paintbrush dipped into a pot of timidity and brought color to her cheeks. Her mouth tipped with a reassuring smile, and he could already hear the words she practiced in her head.
I'm here, Sasuke.
You can tell me anything, Sasuke.
No matter what, I'm at your side, Sasuke.
"Tell me something from when we were children."
The line of her brows curved with surprise, and he knew she had expected a totally different response. Hinata hummed a low noise as she pondered, gaze fogging up, drifting away. He hated it, almost; that look to her. He wanted to drag her back, to make her look at him again, but he stopped himself and waited.
"Yes," she said, smiling. "We were - I believe we were in Sun. We were young - I think eight years old. There were these golden pinwheels they sold in the city. If you could get them to spin fast enough and reflect the sunlight, it would cast this blinding light." He vaguely remembered that. The pinwheels. The crowd of the city. Only when he thought back, Hinata was nowhere in his memory. "You bought ten of them, and Naruto bought fifteen, and you both would fly through the sky to see who could make the brightest light."
He tried to think of Hinata there. He tried to imagine her. Was she flying with them? Was she cheering them on from the ground?
He tried to imagine it - but he couldn't.
It wasn't there.
She wasn't there.
"You gave them to me when you were done with them. You kept one, and I had to go home with nine pinwheels in my arms."
The image of her with wings - it just wouldn't connect in his head, no matter how hard he tried.
"Sasuke." Her hand cupped the right side of his face. "The weeds are stretching. Don't let it overwhelm you if you can't remember."
Is she doing it now?
That special spell of plucking that only Moon Witches can do - was she doing it now? Was she plucking his face of his worries? Maybe he was imagining it, but he felt lighter.
He knew to listen to her, but still - the idea of him never being able to imagine her with wings scared him. He didn't like the idea of it.
He had to see her with wings.
"I'm taking you to someone in two days," he told her, leaning a bit more into her touch. "They're going to look at your back to see if they can figure out what the issue is with your wings."
Her fingers curled under his jaw. He looked down his nose at her, and she stared back, awestruck.
"My . . . wings?"
He took that hand and pressed into closer. "I promised you, didn't I?"
Because Sasuke Uchiha did not forget his promises.
Especially if they pertained to Hinata Hyuuga.
Chapter 28 - End