- Pluck -
Part III
Chapter 32: Family
Companion song: Ghosts by Antimatter
Juugo is finally away from it all.
Recently, the Guard had been nothing but —
"Hell. It's been hell."
It was around that time where every mission seemed harder and the paperwork seemed long — and the addition of the Moon Witch's case that has slowly folded out into a rather overwhelming situation only roused more havoc through the halls. The Inuzuka, the incident with Lady Sakura in Forest 3, the tracking beetle found in Sand 1; Ino in the cell, Kisame's corpse — not to mention the Moon Witch's near-death experience as her lost wings suddenly sprouted from her back — it all kept piling and piling, and everything was so —
"Loud, which I've never been too fond of. But you, well, I guess you wouldn't mind it much."
But even with that massive list that grew with every passing hour, Juugo had to believe that the most exhausting part of it all was —
"Karin hasn't had a break, either; and because of that, she won't give me a break. It's this woman who demands an audience with Sasuke. Karin keeps saying she's not being considerate of time. Her patience is getting thinner and thinner."
And so, finally, Juugo was away from it all. Just for a moment. A second in time.
But when he turned and saw his friend's pale face and the waxy look of his hair, and how the blue veins on his hands looked cold — and how everything looked cold — he was sent back into reality. He remembered all the mess, and he remembered the feeling of cutting a blade down Suigetsu's back. He could feel it in his bones — the toughness of skin. The way it pulled back. It fought. It fought just like him.
"Sorry about that," Juugo said to that pale, unmoving face. "It didn't help much, did it?"
And then, after that, was scorching heat. It had filled his limbs and the tiny cracks in his ribs. It had turned him into a monster.
"I lost control after that. Did I ever tell you?" He saw the wrinkles of the sheets by Suigetsu's feet and worked to flatten them out. "It wasn't Karin, and it wasn't Sasuke. It was someone else in The Guard who was angry enough to reach me. We never figured it out, but it hasn't happened again. Karin tries, but it doesn't work. She's too tired. And there're other reasons, too."
The bed was wrinkleless. Suigetsu looked perfectly wrapped.
"It's been nice and quiet for me since you've stopped being around," Juugo whispered. "That's not necessarily a good thing."
He looked at that face, then at those blue veins stretched against his wrists, then at his feet.
There were wrinkles again.
He flattened them, then looked over, and Suigetsu looked back. His eyes were so startlingly purple that the white of the place looked ugly and fake. His gills expanded, stretched, and his legs shifted, and he was no longer perfectly wrapped, perfectly still.
The noise flooded into the tiny room in the Medical Wing of The Guard.
It was loud.
Juugo had never heard such a loudness before — not for a while, at least. Not when Suigetsu was gone.
"The —" Suigetsu's voice was dusty and crinkling. His dry tongue rolled around until spit moistened it, and then he tried again. "Why am I alive?"
For a second, she thought he was dead. She thought all that stuff he said about the Hyuuga being able to see each other was made up by the phantom of her cousin that followed her. He was not dying — he was already dead.
Then another second passed, and she still thought that. She thought he must have died from the unbearable pain of stickers on his wings. The weight must have been mighty and broke everything inside of him.
Several seconds slug by. No matter how she squinted or turned her head, he looked like a corpse.
He must have been dead.
But Hinata took a single step forward, and she saw the rise and fall of hesitant breaths gathering in his chest. He still looked like a corpse — one that barely hung on to life. Her stomach flopped, and she had to look away. The room swayed. She feared she'd fall if it didn't stop.
This is a mistake, she told herself. Neji wouldn't kill our family.
The thought almost left her tongue. It almost became real in the air, bouncing off the walls, rattling against the bars. It begged her to let it leave her mouth. It wailed. It had to prove Neji's innocence, and then he could leave, and they'd take him to Kabuto and fix him up, and he'd stop looking like a corpse barely staying alive. She wanted to say it so badly, but she was supposed to be a Moon Witch who did not recognize her own cousin. Her mind was supposed to be wiped.
In her desperation, her eyes found Sasuke, and he understood and spoke for her.
"How are you sure?"
Toneri watched her from outside the cell. There was something about him that seemed surprised — not in the shocked sort of way, but in the sense that he was witnessing something he did not think possible, or did not imagine, or did not visualize in such a way.
It took him perhaps a beat longer than normal to answer Sasuke's question.
"We found him hiding the corpses of the Hyuuga," he said. "When my men brought him to me, he even confessed. I think that's evidence enough." Sasuke shifted, and Toneri took barely a moment to look his way. "I am in possession of my men's paperwork going over the happenings and the confession, if you'd like to see it."
Sasuke nodded. "You found him when you found the Hyuuga."
"Mm."
"If I understand correctly, the Guard was never informed of Neji's confession."
"That's right." He was watching her again. She had to consciously turn her face into that of void understanding. "Using my better judgment, I decided it was best to keep the information unknown to as many people as possible. Until I find the accomplice, of course."
Her eyes immediately searched for Neji — the phantom, rather than the body before her. She searched because she wanted to know if what Toneri spoke of was true. Not that he killed their family, of course. She knew that wasn't true. But if there was more than one person responsible for the murder of the Hyuuga.
She searched, but there was no one. He did not come.
So she looked at Toneri, and he understood.
"If it gives you any comfort," he said, "I knew your cousin to be a good man who loved his family. It is not in his character to do such a horrible crime, so I'm left to believe someone aided him in all of this. Your — what was the word Naruto used?" He smiled. "Stalker."
Her blood felt like heavy ice, pushing her into the cold stone of the cell.
She looked back at Neji. The longer her eyes gazed at his wings, the more her own felt heavy. "So this is my cousin."
Toneri moved from his spot by the cell's door. "I'll retrieve the paperwork for our Thor Warrior. He hasn't moved since he came here, Princess, so you're safe to stay inside, if you'd like."
The Moon King left, his robes sweeping the dustless floors. When the door clicked, Sasuke grabbed one of the bars that made the cell.
"Come out from there, Hinata."
"He's not dangerous, Sasuke."
"That's not the issue."
She did not move. She didn't think she could. The only thing that prompted her was the stir of color to her side, and that's when she saw her cousin. The one that followed her to Ocean 11. The one that breathed bubbles because he would never be in such a circumstance to need gills. The one that breathed like he was supposed to — because he was alive — and he was free, not here, trapped and locked away for something he did not commit.
"I cannot believe it," she told him. "I won't. I will not believe it."
He did not look happy at all. He wouldn't even meet her eye.
"You should," he said, "because I did it."
Her wings lowered. "Why are you lying?"
"I'm not," Neji whispered.
The silver of the place picked up and rolled in agitation as Sasuke entered, taking her elbow. "Hinata."
"Why would you?" she asked Neji. "If you did — and I know you didn't — what reason would you have to kill them?"
He did not answer. He just looked at himself, chained against the wall. Hinata cannot imagine looking at yourself, watching yourself die right in front of you. She pushed out of Sasuke's hold, and he let her, though his frown was disapproving. She got between Real Neji and Phantom Neji and looked her cousin in his transparent gaze.
"You hid this from me," she said. "You hid this and so much more from me. Why?"
Now he looked like he was in Ocean 11, like he had fallen from their home in Moon 2. No one was around to give him gills. Suigetsu was in a coma, so he could not help, so Neji was just left to drown in seawater and darkness.
He had that sort of face, and when he spoke, it sounded choked.
"I'm not like Suigetsu."
The agitation of the silver seeped into her pores, and she felt hot and irritated and sore to the bone. It all jumbled up and vibrated and rocked her body until she was nothing but numb, and she held out her arm to Sasuke, who took it gently and led her out of the cell. Both Nejis stayed inside and the door shut.
No one came to lock it.
They knew he wouldn't be leaving.
...
They waited for Toneri's return in the front lobby, which was empty of any living person. Flowerless plants decorated the corners of the room, and outside the window, Moon 1 stirred with unaware life that passed by a cell that held a dying cousin. It did not stop to care. It just moved on; it just kept on existing.
While Hinata sat on one of the chairs, Sasuke knelt down in front of her, rubbing her hands between his, trying his best to warm her up.
"I shouldn't have let you come," he said low under his breath.
"Do you think he did it?" she asked. "Do you think he killed our family?"
"No," was his immediate reply. "Why would he?"
Her gaze turned to that door over his shoulder, which led to door after door, which eventually led to a cell.
"He said he did it," she whispered. "He told me that himself."
Sasuke rubbed faster. He rubbed until her knuckles were red, and then his warm hands touched the undersides of her jaw. His thumbs pressed against the thin skin under her eyes, and his eyes roamed like he was searching for stickers.
"I don't know," he admitted.
But Sasuke Uchiha knew everything.
...
When Toneri came with the papers, all three pairs of wings were spread out. They all had a different shape. One was more pointed in the middle than the other two. Another had long, sweeping feathers that curled a bit at the end. The pair in the middle was a shade darker than the other two.
Toneri had a collection of wings full of personality, which made up for his expressionless face that he regarded everyone and everything with.
Sasuke took the papers, and then he said, "I'm requesting that you share as much information about Neji Hyuuga and his involvement as you can with the Guard. We are actively investigating the situation, and perhaps with your help, we can aid in your search for this accomplice." Toneri's face did not move, but his wings pulled back, as if cautious. Sasuke caught onto this, as well, and added, "And I think His Grace has a right to know, as he started the investigation."
Slowly, Toneri nodded. "I'll do as you say."
Sasuke lowered his head in thanks and opened the door leading outside for Hinata. She stayed for a moment, soaking in the feeling of the room — the way the walls were positioned around her body and how the floor pushed her up. Walking outside, breathing in the fresh, cool air of Moon 1 — it will never be the same. Now that she knew where her cousin was, it will never be the same.
"Princess." That expressionless face morphed. Those wings spread out, and those eyes were gentle and warm. They were familiar. She knew those eyes. This was her king. "Follow him. Go home and rest."
She listened, and those eyes stayed on her like a blanket.
They protected her from the wind outside. Not forever. Just a while.
But long enough.
…
Karin was all dark bags and tired eyes when they returned to the Guard.
"The bitch is driving me insane," she kept telling Sasuke, stirring the silver spoon of her coffee frantically, metal hitting glass at random points. "I have a million things. You have a million things. We don't have time for her right now!"
Sasuke told Hinata with his eyes to wait for him at her office, and he took Karin's arm to lead her to her own office. The sparkle of metal caught Hinata's eye, and she swiped the keys from Karin's belt before anyone could notice or say a thing. She made her way to her office until she felt Sasuke would not suspect her of anything, and then she plodded down the halls, turning this way and that, until she made it to that familiar cell in the back of the Guard.
"Lady Hinata," Neji kept trying to call for her, but she did not listen. "What are you doing?"
She pressed her hands on the metal door, then pulled out the keys.
"Stop." When he realized, he could not hide the panic in his voice. "You are not doing this."
When she pushed the door open, the blue of Ino's eyes were faded and confused. She asked for Karin, and all Hinata did was shake her head and lock the door behind her.
"Lady Hinata, please." Neji tried to stand between them, as if he were real, as if he wasn't currently locked up in a cell in Moon 1. "Please do not do this. You don't know what you're asking for!"
Hinata sat down in front of Ino. "I want to remember my family."
Ino blinked. "I can't —" She stopped, frowned, then hummed. "Oh. They're not locked away."
"Please give me my memories of them. My father and my mother. Hanabi —"
"I'm sorry." Neji was on his knees. "I'm sorry I killed them, and I'm sorry I did not tell you. So stop! Stop this, Hinata!"
"Neji. I want to remember them all."
Ino stared at the keys in Hinata's possession. "We should wait for Karin."
"They're my memories," Hinata said. "Give them back."
So, slowly, Ino held out her cuffs, and Hinata unlocked them, allowing the magic to flow fully through her body. Ino rubbed her wrists, her eyes jumping around. Hinata wondered if they searched for Neji. She wondered if she wanted to ask if it was alright, and that sent a spike of anger through her chest.
These were not her cousin's memories.
They were hers.
"Alright," Ino said, pressing her hands to Hinata's skull. "I'm starting."
Hinata let her. She fell into it.
When she saw the pale panic in Neji's face, she did not pull from it.
She went further in, until it consumed her, until all she knew was her family.
Hanabi was all spunk and flashing colors. She was crackling fire. Sometimes, their mother would pull her over and ask her to stand still so she can read her book in the dark. Hanabi always complained about this — "We're Moon, Mom! We can see in the dark!" — but she never moved from her spot, and their mother never stopped smiling.
Hanabi was a torpedo in the wind.
She was a cannon. She would pull Naruto's feathers until he'd agree to race her, and Hinata would watch from the porch in awe as they would do loops.
Hanabi had bright eyes. Hanabi had eyes that were Hyuuga, that reflected the moon, but were so startlingly bright that one would almost guess she was from Sun. They were warm and gentle, but they were also sweltering and biting. They were everything Hanabi was.
...
She had the least amount of stickers out of the entire family.
Father's grew like a beard.
Mother tried to hide hers under the frills of her cuffs.
Uncle had them between his fingers, so sometimes, Neji would have to feed him during dinner.
Hinata could not see her own. That was the rule: you cannot see your own stickers. But she imagined that if she could, they'd be rolling hills on her shoulders.
But Hanabi — she only had specks. Small splotches, like dirt that one would lick their thumb to clean off. She was flawless and charming.
It was a good thing Neji's ability didn't affect her.
It was a blessing.
A blessing.
...
Neji was a different story than anyone else. He was a collector. He collected the weeds to the point of collapse, and then he let them go. They shot off of him, like Hanabi when she raced Naruto through the sky.
This was why he wasn't allowed outside of that room when people came over.
Because it happened the first time.
It happened when the Moon Queen and Toneri came over. They came through the door, and he bowed and greeted them at the step, and when he looked up — it all just left him. Every single one, and it flew straight to the Moon Queen — and k nkwj.h_q -._kldd nossSsS btH im,.! - tpSHSr .e. —
Neji was not allowed out of the room when guests were over after that.
And Hinata always thought how lonely that must be, to only be safe around your family. Because Naruto and Sasuke made her feel alive. Gaara and Temari and Kankuro helped her relax. Sakura and Ino welcomed her with open arms.
But Neji?
Neji had conversations with the katana hanging from the walls.
He fell asleep to the piano her mother played in the adjacent room.
"Neji."
That sort of life was not fit for her cousin.
Katana were not very good conversationalists.
"Can you teach me how to hold a katana?"
Their tongues were metal — or lightning — or pure wind.
But her?
"I won't get in your way."
She knew how to deal with such things as stickers and words and loneliness.
And Neji —
"Yeah. Alright."
He knew that, too."
...
They would train when no guests were coming; when Naruto was busy being a king and Sasuke had his brother to keep company.
He would hold the tsuka at an angle to help her see how his hands fit against it, how his palm pressed around it. He always practiced with the katana from Forest 8 made from maple leaves because he knew she loved the saya, orange with golden designs painted on it. He'd practice some, and then he'd let her hold the saya — and she was never allowed to hold that katana because he believed she was —
"You're a klutz."
Her nails bit into the hard paint of the saya as she wrapped her hands around it. "I'm not," she said.
He snorted. "You dropped the dress you were sewing this morning."
"Th-That's because Hanabi scared me!"
"Oi. Pay attention, or I'll take it away."
She pursed her lips, and he kicked her foot in jest before helping her fingers around the saya. He held her like a brother — and a little bit like Sasuke. He held her like he was trying to teach her to fly, strong enough to keep her up, but soft enough to not bruise her. It was like she was the strongest glass in the universes.
And when he pulled away, it was like he was the ocean.
She'd never been to Ocean, but she knew how it looked and how it worked.
She knew the motion of the water, and Neji reminded her of that.
Perhaps his old friend the water katana from Ocean 2 taught him how.
"You're not focusing."
"I was thinking about the ocean."
His nose wrinkled, and he tapped her forehead with the butt of the tsuka.
"You've never been. Why think about it?"
She grinned at him and steadied her hold on the saya. "Will you take me one day?"
He looked cautious, which only meant he was actually considering it. "We'll see."
"I'll protect you," she said, "in case something happens. So don't worry."
He snorted again, this one just a tad amused, before he straightened her saya with a tap from his katana. The maple leaves are red and sharp as any old metal blade.
"If you keep slacking off," he said, "I'll be the one protecting you, Lady Hinata."
...
Two years later, she still thought about the ocean.
She thought about sneaking out with him when everyone was asleep and taking him there.
Because, honestly, it wasn't about the ocean. Not really.
It was about getting him out and smelling the salt and feeling the wind and finally, finally being free.
She thought about taking him when the air was cold and her father went to bed an hour early. She got all dressed and ready, and when she opened his bedroom door, she was surprised to find he was still awake.
He handed her something wrapped in a handkerchief she had made three years ago. When she unwrapped it, she found a blade made of perfect moonstone staring back at her. A dagger, small and fitting perfectly in her hand.
"You're sixteen," he told her, leaning against the foot of his bed. "I figured it was about time you knew how to defend yourself with something other than saya."
She rubbed her thumb up the flat side of the blade, amazed. "I'm fifteen, Neji."
"No." He stood and towered over her like he always did. "You're sixteen."
She counted the days down and gasped. "It's my —"
"Happy birthday, Lady Hinata."
Her arms ached to wrap around him, but he moved to kneel by the bed before she could. From under the bed, he pulled out an all-too-familiar katana, sheathed in orange and gold.
"Well," he mused, "shall I teach you how to use it?"
...
Her father was a good man.
A strict one, but a good one.
Some might question her on this, but Hinata believed there was only one test needed to know good man from bad.
If his daughter were to tell him that she's being stalked and has to go on the run, a bad man would let her.
A good man would say —
"Like hell you are."
...
Her mind was wiped. Some things were fuzzy, and other things were not there at all.
But she knew she had someone coming after her, and they'd target her family if given the chance. So she had to run — for both her sake and theirs — and of course she didn't like the idea of being away from them, and of course her mother would cry, and of course her cousin would glare daggers into her soul — but this is what needed to be done.
"You're not hiding, Hinata," her father said. "Hyuugas do not hide. You're staying here."
"What if you get hurt?" her mother whispered. "Where would you go? Please — if it's true, do not go."
"We'll protect you," Hanabi announced. "Let the bastard come."
Her father was halfway out the door, ready to fly himself to Sun 1 to ask for help from Naruto, but excruciating pain spread like fire up her back, and she cried out and fell — fell through the floor, the ground — everything.
Hanabi soared like an arrow through the cutting wind to grab her. Neji was close after, and the rest of the family came and safely brought her to the portal.
"It's the stickers," her mother said. "They're covering her. She won't be able to use her wings."
"For now, we have to take her to The Hall," her uncle explained, and the family nodded and carried her there.
When her feet touched the ground, she knew what needed to be done, and so did they. She saw on their faces; growing, festering, spreading in thick patches of weeds. It was in her mother's hair. It was crawling down Neji's neck.
"Just for a bit," Hinata told them. "I'll find somewhere, and once it's safe, I'll come find you. It will only be a few weeks. Maybe a month or two. You have to trust me."
She told them she'll go to the Guard, that she'll find Tsunade and Sasuke. They'll help, and then Sasuke will bring her back to Moon. There was nothing to worry about. They just needed to be safe — away from her. Just for a bit. A few weeks.
A couple months, at most.
...
Her mother kissed every inch of her face.
Hanabi had sunlight tears stuck in her eyes, and she tried desperately to rub them out.
Her father whispered instructions on how to contact Naruto, who will be the only one to know where the family will hide while she is gone/
Her uncle listed off a few places to go for security and isolation, as well as a few places to avoid due to population or danger.
And Neji was still glaring.
He was glaring when he grabbed her shoulder — and this time, he did not hold her like she was some kind of glass. He did not hold her like a brother or like Sasuke Uchiha. He held her like if he let go, she would die right in front of him. He held her until she bruised, and he shoved her dagger wrapped in a handkerchief in her hands and told her, low and carefully, to bring it with her wherever she went.
Slowly, the family filtered back into the gate.
He was the last to leave.
He said, "I'll be with you. Just give me time." And then he left.
Her shoulders ached.
Her back was heavy.
And Hinata was alone.
...
In Ocean 11, Suigetsu found her, grinning like a shark ready to eat her.
He carved his teeth down neck and gave her gills, and then she was in his home at the bottom of the ocean.
It was dark and cold.
She could not see the moon.
And she was glad she never brought Neji to Ocean.
...
When she returned to the surface the next day, she was surprised to find Tsuande at one of the bars near the gates. Suigetsu was close behind her, practically breathing down Hinata's neck, which was still sore from his teeth slicing the night before.
"Hinata."
Her name being called made her pull her shawl close to her face because she did not know who this person was who was after her. All she knew was that they were after her, and it could be anyone, and being spotted like this was —
"Hinata!"
The voice rang, and she recognized it.
"I-Ino?"
Her friend rushed up to her, slightly out of breath. Behind her, Suigetsu shifted.
"Ino, what are you doing here?" It was around noon, which was Ino's busiest hour with her job helping Sakura take care of the manor in Forest 3. There was no reason for her to be here in The Hall.
"I —" Ino looked up. There was something odd and wavering about her gaze. "I was looking for you."
Looking for her?
Why would she —
"SISTER!"
Hanabi's scream pierced the hallway. Hinata snapped towards the Sky Gate first, but upon finding no one there, twisted around until she found the blurry, opaque image of her sister on the floor. She was crawling. Blood soaked her fingers.
"H . . . Han . . . !"
"Neji killed them!" Hanabi wailed. Her head snapped over her shoulder, then she turned back to her. Those bright eyes were light again — and fear was hot and lightning in her irises. "H-He killed Mom and Dad — and he killed Uncle! His father — his own father! He just k-killed —"
Hanabi shrieked and turned around. Her hair was tangled and knotted.
"What?" Hinata tried to grab her sister, but her hand just went through her. "Neji — why — Hanabi, you have to run. Come to me! I can't fly to you!"
She looked around, searching, trying to find someone who could help her. Suigetsu was off to the side. Ino looked terrified. "H-Hinata. Your sister isn't here. Why —"
"HINATA!" Hanabi fell forward, nose cracking against the floor. "Hinata, he's going to kill me!"
"Neji, leave her alone!" she wailed, but she knew he could not hear her. She dug her fingers into Ino's arm and pulled her to the Sky Gate. "Please — Hanabi's hurt — you have to — Sasuke or someone — someone has to help her, or —"
"I see strings!"
Her sister's face is nothing but rivers of red and white eyes that look real — that don't look transparent at all. Like they're actually there. Not her sister, just the eyes.
"All around him, red like blood, there are —"
And then her sister gasped, then gurgled, and those eyes faded. They blacked out.
They never shined again.
The cannonball of a sister — the one who raced the stars and the sun —
Killed. Murdered. Dead in the hallway, her body fading, her blood pooling at Hinata's shoes.
Suigetsu caught her.
Ino pressed her hands against her skull —
And she fell, and she pushed, only to be pulled back — away — far away — until everything was dark and the air smelled like dust and iron —
And she woke up.
She woke up in that cell with Sasuke dragging her back, away from Ino. Karin had the keys back in her possession and was busy locking the cuffs around Ino's wrists once again.
"Come here." Sasuke turned her around, lifted the end of his cloak, and pinched the end of her nose. "What were you thinking?"
She didn't realize her nose was bleeding until he pulled the cloak back, stained even darker than it already was.
When she looked back, Neji was there.
She wondered if he'd have killed her like he had Hanabi if he were there, in that cell with them.
She wondered if he'd take that dagger in her pocket and sink it into the back of her neck.
It's busy.
Well, it's always busy; but this was different. This was that kind of busy that killed you if you were dragged along for too long. It was Suigetsu being alive and the Moon King talking to Orochimaru around that big, metal desk. It was the Hyuuga home becoming a crime scene and that man who had no face, barely a voice — just a name. Neji.
Neji, who was in that cage — big wings that hung low and drooped like dead flowers.
Neji, who no longer hid behind a door, who cleaned and cleaned the blades of his katana.
Neji, who looked dead. Who might be dead. Who was Hinata's cousin — her family — all she had left. Who — Who might have —
And Hinata would not leave her office.
Night had set long ago. After bringing her out of Ino's cell, he had brought her to sit in her chair there while Karin fetched her tea from the cafeteria. He had meant to stay with her, but Juugo whispered about urgent news, and Hinata had that look of someone who wanted to breathe alone in a room, hearing nothing but her own lungs, her own nerves — the hum of her heart.
So he told her he'd be back, and in the hallway, not even ten steps away from her shut door, he learned that Suigetsu had woken up.
And it was busy.
Busy as hell.
But wasn't it always?
...
"We can't do next week. We have three meetings, and I'm bettin' with whatever His Highness is telling Our Head right now, there's gonna be more to 'em than just the regular stuff."
Karin was having a wild time flipping through her makeshift schedule with his name printed in bold on the front. Ever since he had been hired here, she's been in charge of that folder of his — and it would be a lie if such a situation was uncommon in those many years. But they always figured it out. Somehow, Karin found a way.
"And next week is a no-go, either. So it's either we make the bitch wait for three weeks —"
"Karin."
" — or you give up one of your free days, but we both know that with the hours you've been pulling — you deserve as much of those as you can get —"
"Karin."
"Our only bet is to get you out on one of those meeting days. I'll make sure to tell you everything that's been said, so you just gotta sneak out and —"
He flicked the side of her specks, making the glass tremble, and she balked and glared at him "What!?"
"Have you seen Suigetsu?"
She stared at him for a good, long while. Her mouth twisted, then she looked back at his schedule.
"No," she said. 'And nor have you, so you ain't got no right —"
"He's been askin' for you."
Her shoulders stiffened, and that was all he needed to know. Sighing, he slipped his schedule out from under her fingers, grabbed one of her pens, and scribbled down something on one of the blocks.
"I'll see her in the morning, before I take the documents to Naruto." He dropped the pen on the desk when he finished.
She scowled at his messy handwriting. "Sasuke, you —"
"I'll figure it out." His hand tapped the back of her chair. "Now go see him."
Her fingers curled, then released, and she stood and made her way to the door.
"What about Hinata?" was her hovering question as she strayed in the doorway, one foot in and one foot out.
Sasuke knew she wasn't just asking about when he'll tell her about Suigetsu, and he shook his head and sighed, and she understood and flashed him a sympathetic look before leaving for Suigetsu's room.
He did not stay long after Karin left. Hinata's office was a quick and easy walk from there, and he didn't have to bump into anyone as he got there. When he entered, he found her sitting on the floor in front of her desk. Some of her body shined in the light coming from the hall; the rest of it was wrapped in his shadow. Her eyes looked like the night sky — not the color, but the way they just seem void and cold and lifeless. He never thought the moon could look so dead until he saw it there, plain in her gaze.
If he could see stickers like she could . . . .
Actually, he didn't want to think about it.
So he lowered himself on her level and touched her knee, watching for something in her to stir, to wake up.
"Hinata," he whispered. "I'm taking you home."
Panic sparked in her eyes, and she looked at him. "Please don't."
He thought over his words and cringed. "No — I mean Ocean 11. Not —"
"I don't want to go there, either." She leaned back until her back hit the front of the desk. "Wh-When — before, it was just me and him. That house is nothing but that. H-Him — and I don't think . . . ."
It was like he could see everything in those eyes, like they were mirrors of every image playing in her head. She would wake up, and her cousin would be there. He'd be at the table when she made breakfast. She'd be in the living room, and she could see him in the reflection of the window.
What would she see, exactly?
A dying man, or a killer?
What did Ino show her in that cell?
What did she remember?
Eventually, he'll have to ask. If not by his own will, then by the demand of Orochimaru.
But for now, she was a woman grieving, and he was her bodyguard. Her Thor Warrior.
"Okay," he said. "I won't take you there."
She relaxed some and let him take both of her arms and help her stand. She wobbled and leaned into him to stabilize herself, and her fingers were cold when she grabbed his shirt and held onto him when he led her out of the office room. Her feet barely made any sound when she walked, as if she wasn't even touching the ground.
They left the Guard, and he took her to the bar, where Tsunade found his eye through the crowd. She threw her towel over her shoulder, whispered something to Kakashi, and rounded the bartop to catch Hinata's face in her hands, looking her over.
"Just for the night," he said. "I'll come in the morning."
"Sweetheart," Tsunade whispered to Hinata, "what happened?"
Tears spilled from her eyes, and Hinata croaked. Sasuke watched her gills stretch, and he grabbed a glass from Kakashi before flying to the Ocean Gate and turning it on. He scooped up water, and he couldn't help but think it all smelled like Hinata. The waves were singing in her voice. The wind was cool like her hands, and the moon was still up there, still hanging in the sky.
He remembered months ago, when she had reached for it. She had been wingless back then, but with all her might, she had reached for her home.
Sasuke had promised her he'd get her there.
And now look at what's happened.
...
He returned to give her the glass of water and helped her pour it on her gills.
"I'll be back tomorrow," he said. "Wait for me."
Her eyes were red and irritated. She had a face like her cousin, and it made him nauseous.
...
He barely made it home.
It was a miracle he was able to open the door.
The life was gone from him the second he stepped into his house, and he collapsed. His knees cracked against the wood, and his palms kept his face from hitting the floor. Itachi jumped from his wheelchair, his wings carrying him to Sasuke's side; he pulled him up and checked his pulse — and he asked if he was hurt, if something happened. He worried like any big brother should.
"She . . ."
That was his brother. His big brother.
He'd almost lost him twice, and all this time, he's been running away. He's been scared that what happened to Mom and Dad will happen again. They never found the guy who killed them. He might come back. He might get Itachi next —
But —
But what he really feared was that his wings would leave again. Gone, just like that.
Gone, because he had a little brother he worried about.
A baby brother he —
"She . . . has no one."
Loved. A stupid, baby brother who was risking his life every day, who came home late, who barely ate.
"They're all dead. Neji is dying. Or he killed them. And I don't know which I want to be true."
A little, baby brother who he worried about so bad that the stickers grew and grew until they broke his wings. Sasuke had been running from that. He didn't want it to happen again. Itachi couldn't lose his wings again.
"What will she do?" he asked his brother. "What can I do?"
Itachi was still holding him. He wouldn't let go. That was the kind of brother he was.
"Sasuke." His gaze was swimming. "I don't . . . ."
His body trembled and froze up, and he wrapped his arms around his brother. He listened to that heartbeat and felt the warm breath wash over his neck, and he never wanted to forget this feeling — the feeling of life in a person. The will to survive because you have someone who loves you, he cherishes you, who will protect you as much as you will protect them.
Itachi held him close. He held him like his mother used to after he had a horrible nightmare.
"It's okay," he said. "It's going to be alright, Sasuke. I've got you."
His brother was warm.
He was alive.
For now, that was the only thing keeping him sane.
...
After the interview, he grabbed all the files Orochimaru had for him and flew to Sun 1. He had brought Hinata back to her office and made sure Shino would bring her food before he left, and if he was being honest, the farther he flew from her, the more uneasy he grew.
So he flew faster.
He got to Naruto in half the time he expected.
"How is she?"
The office is a mess. Of course, it was. Naruto had trouble keeping tidy when he was nervous.
"Are her wings still okay?" he asked. "Was there any infection? I heard you guys went to Moon, so I'm assuming she's able to fly fine . . . but you know me. I worry. And they've been gone for so long, so I . . . wondered . . . ."
His gaze fell on the stack of papers in Sasuke's arms, and Naruto moved to the side to let him place them on the desk.
"An update," Sasuke droned, "from His Highness himself."
Naruto searched around before a file with a familiar name came up. "Neji?" He grabbed it, flipped through it, and stared at Sasuke. "Tell me."
"His Highness and his men found Neji with the bodies of the Hyuuga and brought him in for questioning, where he admitted that he killed them." Naruto's face fell as he stared blankly at the pages before him. "This was two months ago, when His Highness first told us he found their bodies — only back then, he hid the fact he found Neji Hyuuga in order to spy out an accomplice he believes is behind everything."
"The stalker." Those words barely left Naruto's mouth.
Sasuke handed him another file. "That's the interrogation Toneri's men had with Neji. He admitted that he killed the Hyuuga six months ago — right after Hinata went into hiding. The autopsies correlate with that time frame, so His Highness locked him up."
Naruto read threw it before slamming it down on his desk. "He didn't give a reason?"
"No," Sasuke said. "It's not reported here, and neither His Highness of the men involved with Neji Hyuuga's arrest recall him ever giving a reason."
"This can't —" Naruto wiped at his face. "Neji would never —" He stared off, out the window, before slowly turning back to Sasuke. "Does she know?"
Teeth gritting together, Sasuke nodded. "She's trying to take everything in right now."
"Gods Almighty."
Naruto was already throwing on his robes before another word could be said. Sasuke had to grab his arm and yank him back before he made it out the door.
"You can't."
"Get your hand off me, Sasuke!" Naruto snapped. "I can't be wastin' my time reading all this shit when Hinata's alone out there — knowing what Neji might have done to her own family!" He pulled and pulled until he got free of Sasuke's grip, only to be stopped again in his tracks when Sasuke landed between him and the door, katana out — not pointed in any direction, but unsheathed and proving to be a powerful warning. "You're a damn bastard."
"You need to stay here."
"Every step of my life, Hinata's been there for me!" Naruto yelled. His wings snapped out, blazing like fire. "With Dad, with Mom — every damn second of it! I'm not leaving her alone right now."
"Not today," Sasuke said. "Maybe tomorrow, or the day after — but right now, she doesn't want anyone." The light simmered down along with Naruto's anger, but sweat still rolled down Sasuke's back. "Even me. The only reason I'm here right now is because I know what it's like — and so do you. Other people mess things up. In the beginning, sometimes you just need to be by yourself. Do you understand?"
Naruto looked split in half. His face changed from frustrated to guilty, back to anger, then finally, it fell into a long, deep, cold defeat.
"Okay," he whispered, going back to his desk. Sasuke sheathed his katana, and Naruto stared down at all the papers. "But the second she's ready, come get me. I'll drop anything if I need to."
"I understand," Sasuke said.
Naruto dropped into his chair, leaning back, face pointed to the ceiling. His fingers rubbed down his face. "I can't believe Neji would do something like this." He didn't even have to look when he grabbed his file. It was like it was a magnet. He knew exactly where it was, and he flipped through it a moment more before dropping it on his lap. "I need you to put your effort into investigating this. There's something not right."
Again, Sasuke nodded. "I understand."
"If there's anything else — even if we don't like it, we need to tell Hinata." Naruto lowered his face to make eye contact with Sasuke from across the room. "We owe her that much — for all she's done for us."
"You're right."
His tan hands tore through his hair, and then he pushed away from the desk to hang his head low.
"How broken up is she?"
Sasuke thought about that dead look in her eyes and struggled to swallow. "How did you feel about what you did to your mom?"
Naruto rubbed at his neck, and his face was bright in the sunlight, showing off every speck of nervousness that crossed his expression. Sasuke could understand. That was the worst day of his life, and now Hinata was living hers.
"I need you to promise me something."
Sasuke nodded. "Anything."
Naruto stood and patted the mess of documents and files on his desk. "While I'm here, giving her time and reading all this, I need you to watch her." He pressed the back of his wrist against the corner of his mouth, trying to hide the tremble in his face. "Give her space — like you said, but . . . don't leave her totally alone. Please, Sasuke."
He was reminded of that uneasy feeling that bit at his senses. He thought about last night, how he couldn't sleep, so he stayed up with Itachi and watched the sun rise. He had been thinking about her with Tsunade. He knew Tsunade would take good care of her, but somewhere in his mind, he was scared — he was scared she'd ask for him, and he wouldn't be there to hear her. She'd think someone else had abandoned her.
What if she was thinking that now, in her office?
Alone in the dark.
"I'll never leave her side," he announced. "Never."
...
He didn't realize it — what, exactly, he had said. What that implied. What that meant.
It hit the air, and he didn't realize.
It thudded against the walls, and he didn't realize.
It was only when he saw it in Naruto's gaze — that bright, horizon gaze that couldn't hide a thing. Not an iota.
That was when he realized.
Naruto knew.
The sunlight died, and the morning turned dark.
Chapter 32 - End