The following day after such a confession, Sasuke found himself facing his previous sensei, standing between Sakura and Shikamaru Nara as Kakashi provided them with intel. Along with the three of them stood Sai, someone Sasuke had not worked with, but had become a part of Team 7 after his departure. Neji, someone Sasuke could recall wanting to battle at one point to test dojutsu. Hinata stood near the end, Neji and Sai standing between the two of them as they all faced the Hokage. As Kakashi provided Shikamaru with what seemed to be a countdown to the moon falling, Sasuke glanced over and caught the intricate detail that had been placed on his palm. A gold line seemed to circle around the image of the earth, the details bright and clear.
"Only the five Kage have this." Kakashi stated flatly, holding up his own palm to showcase the one he had on his.
"What exactly is this clock keeping track of?" Neji asked, though appeared to already have an idea.
"It's counting down the time until Earth's destruction." Kakashi's words were met with gasps from most, everyone else looking slightly surprised.
Sasuke knew based on the meteor from last night it meant something, but even he felt slightly taken aback by the news. Having an idea about something was one thing, but hearing confirmation was an entirely different situation. He found himself glancing at Hinata, seeing her right hand brought up to her chest in a fist, lips parted in shock. While he had noticed it for a moment this morning, he realized how different she appeared. The girl he could slightly recall always wore baggy clothes, as though to hide herself under a wall of fabric. Now her attire was form fitting and sleeveless, the purple giving her white eyes a much more lavender hue than he remembered. He then saw her glance in his direction, no doubt feeling his eyes on her, causing him to look away, keeping his face blank.
"Wait, I don't get it," Shikamaru began, rubbing his chin with his hand in thought. "What does this have to do with Hanabi's kidnapping?"
"Toneri kidnapped Hanabi and he might also be the one who is behind all of this relating to the moon." Kakashi was now resting his own chin on the back of his clasped hands, eyes stern.
"What makes you think that?" Sai asked, raising a brow with his own curiosity.
"Honestly, it's a hunch."
That was all Sasuke needed. Having worked with Kakashi enough, he knew that any time Kakashi had a hunch, very rarely was he wrong. And based on the fact that the meteor had fallen shortly after Toneri had disappeared, Sasuke could guarantee that he was behind this. However, like Kakashi, he also had no proof and therefore decided to stay silent, though shared a brief knowing glance with Kakashi all the same. He had been on his road of atonement for a while and during that time had received missions from Kakashi, a good amount based on hunches that were entirely true. They both knew with that glance that they trusted each other and knew that this hunch was no doubt just as true.
A while later, they were flying on Tailed Beast Scrolls of birds that Sai had created, each of them sharing one with someone else. Shikamaru led with Neji behind him, Neji's byakugan was active, the veins around his eyes were protruding to showcase the dojutsu. Sakura sat in front of Sai, the two southwest of Shikamaru and Neji. Hinata had insisted that Sasuke sit in front of her, so he did so once she explained it would be best given her long hair. Sasuke had used a dark wrap around his own hair, holding it in place during the trip. He had opted for an old poncho that he had taken a liking to, the brown and tan colors a contrast to the black and gray he wore otherwise. The wrap around his only arm matched the one around his forehead, the dark blue color another contrast.
They reached a wooded area before Sai spoke up, explaining that this was the area where he lost sight of Hanabi and her kidnapper. They all focused on the ground below them, Sasuke having long since activated his own two dojutsu, looking for signs of the young Hyuga. It annoyed him how quickly after he had thwarted Hinata's own kidnapping that they had taken her younger sister. So, seeing Neji standing with the rest of the team was not a surprise given that it was his cousin. He then heard Shikamaru talking at that point and brought his attention forward to listen.
"Alright! We'll split up and search for clues. Sasuke, make sure you take care of Hinata." Shikamaru glanced back at the two, Sasuke nodding in understanding. The three birds flew in different directions, but making sure to stay close enough should they find something. Sasuke glanced around and felt Hinata shift behind him, causing him to look behind him to see her focused on her left. He followed her line of sight, not seeing anything that seemed out of the norm and looked back at her.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked, focused on her as he witnessed her look up and gasp at his undivided attention. She reached up as some of her hair began to blow in her face, watching as she tucked the strands behind her ear. She seemed entirely embarrassed as though he had caught her doing something she shouldn't have been. Had the situation not been as dire, he probably would have felt slight amusement at her reaction.
"It's nothing." She murmured, looking slightly flustered before turning and activating her own byakugan.
He found himself eyeing the veins that protruded around her eyes, the veins seeming to pulse with chakra. It was the first time he took a moment to actually see the changes in her eyes with her dojutsu activated. An area where her iris would be appeared, very faint but visible with how close he was. Sasuke turned away a moment later, realizing his staring was probably causing her to be flustered. A moment seemed to pass before he heard her gasp, catching his attention immediately. He asked her what she had seen, and she pointed to an area several feet away, Sasuke steering the bird into the area in question. They both hopped down and he watched as she kneeled in the snow, Sasuke crouched beside her with his arm resting on his legs as he watched her dig through the snow. A moment later, a kunai with what appeared to be a charm was dug up and he no doubt believed it belonged to Hanabi.
"This is Hanabi's kunai." Hinata confirmed, reaching behind her to grab her bag, opening it up to place it inside. It was then he noticed something red sitting on top of the contents of her bag. He made an effort to look to realize it was in fact the scarf that she had been working on for Naruto. Sasuke felt himself frown, realizing that she still intended to give him the scarf, which would be rather interesting given Naruto's confession the night before. Sasuke chose to remain quiet and not bring attention to it, but then paused when he realized it was snowing and she wasn't even wearing a jacket.
"Maybe you should use that scarf. Doesn't appear that you dressed for the cold." Sasuke said, standing along with her and watching her face heat up, a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Oh, I'm fine." She tucked the kunai inside and closed her bag, seeming to be unbothered by the snow falling around the two of them. "We better let Shikamaru-kun and the others know what we found."
They continued onward once they met up with the others, Neji looking impressed that Hinata had been the one to locate the kunai before he had. It had been a while, Shikamaru asking if Neji or Hinata were able to see anything. Before they left once again, he had learned that Hinata's range was superior to those of her entire clan, which had surprised him. Having learned that, he took that into account for future sparring sessions, curious how that could play a role in training her. Up ahead was a spring and it was then that Hinata declared a glowing spring at the bottom of the cave. They went inside a moment later, the sounds of water falling off the ceiling echoed around the chamber.
"There's the Shinobi letter A, definitely a sign we are in the right direction." Shikamaru declared, looking at each of them. "What do the two of you see?"
Neji and Hinata focused on the spring before them, the pool of water was large and looked to be nearly endless. "My vision is distorted."
"So is mine," Neji stated, his eyes slightly squinting. "Which means we are going to have to venture inside."
Sakura leaned forward, green eyes focused as she reached out, grabbing a palm full of water. It instantly seemed to disappear, leaving her palm dry. "Interesting."
Each of them went into the water, swimming toward the bottom, which seemed to lead up to a different opening of the cave. Breaking through the water on the other side, Sasuke immediately could feel the familiar pull of genjutsu. Activating his rinnegan, he was able to counter it, though he noticed that the others immediately seemed to fall into it. Within seconds, he could see Sakura's features twitching, fighting it quickly, but this genjutsu was different from that of his brother. He couldn't quite explain it but looked at the others as they seemed to float, each of them caught in their own minds. Sasuke watched as Sakura was nearly free and decided to let her finish the fight on her own and found himself walking toward Hinata.
He noted that the red scarf was halfway out of her bag, the red material lazily waving around toward his direction. Walking around it, he was just about to touch her when he felt something wrap around his leg. In an instance, he felt a pull and the world around him went black, leaving him to feel that he was floating in a void. A moment later, his feet hit solid ground and instantly the sound of bugs buzzing outside reached his ears. It was then Sasuke realized he stood in the academy, but the sight before him gave him pause. It was a much younger version of everyone he had gone to the academy with, and a few steps down sat a boy with familiar hair. He recognized himself instantly and saw he looked bored, which he knew meant this was after the massacre of his entire family.
"Yeah right, like that's gonna happen."
Sasuke shifted his gaze to the right the instant he heard the familiar raspy, but younger voice of his best friend, Naruto. Naruto sat with his hands clasped behind his head, looking as amused with himself as some of the others were. Giggles filled the classroom as Iruka, who stood opposite Sasuke, looked at Naruto with a sigh.
"It's a hypothetical. Just suppose the moon was going to fall." Iruka responded.
"Well, if the moon is about to fall, I'd rather have a large piece of meat." Choji chimed in, earning more giggles from around the room.
Sasuke remembered this day; the question was ridiculous and boring. Who would you want to spend your last day with? At the time, those he would have wanted to be long gone. If things had not happened, he knew his answer would have been Itachi, his older brother. He knew that instantly and wouldn't have hesitated otherwise. Yet, at this point in his life, he didn't know the truth and his hate for his older brother was high. They were all asked to write it down and he glanced to see Sakura writing his name excitedly, only to get embarrassed instantly and hide it. Sasuke smirked and then heard a giggle to his left. He turned to see a young Hinata with short hair he vaguely recalled who was sitting across from his younger self. The stairs leading up to each row separating them.
She was holding a paper, her face filled with a content happiness as he read his best friend's name. He wasn't surprised and honestly wished Naruto had realized sooner that Hinata liked him. Would things have changed? He glanced between the younger version of himself and Hinata, realizing that in a matter of 10 years their lives would be changed. They'd be forced together, two strangers who would never interact during this time. Who would be on separate teams. Sasuke was bored and released himself from the genjutsu.
Side stepping away from the scarf, he eyed it for a moment before nudging Hinata with his knee. Sakura was also awake, moving to wake Shikamaru up. Hinata's pale eyes opened, and she sat up quickly. Neither said a word as he moved to help wake up Sai. Once everyone was awake, Neji frowned as he looked around them. It was almost like a bubble, yet they could see round rocks also floating wherever they ended up. Even during his travels, Sasuke had not seen anything like this. Neji and Shikamaru were explaining what they believed to be what each of them went through, but Sasuke found himself lost in thought. Perhaps dwelling too much on how much things had changed from that memory to now. While he knew the memory wasn't his and believed that it was, in fact, Hinata's own, he found himself thinking back to it.
Masaru was getting increasingly annoyed with Mio, the woman continuing to push her own agenda on him. Even after he explained that his mission had nothing to do with her personal desires, she had attempted to shut him down. Reaching into his pocket, he felt the vial in his hand, using his fingers to spin it in place, but all that did was keep him lost in thought. Right now, his world was in turmoil and all he knew was that this antidote would be what he needed to help alleviate the current issues making its way through the shinobi world. What it had been determined was an illness that focused on chakra.
He was one of the few who had seemed to not be affected by the illness, however that also meant he was hunted. Anyone found to not be affected were brought in to be tested, their blood used in hopes that they could find a cure, but so far, every experiment had failed and caused more deaths. What they had found was that it was a type of parasite that entered through open wounds and attached itself to chakra points, thus slowly draining the host of their own chakra. Masaru sat on a rock, thinking about how this antidote held a single ingredient that had long since become extinct that killed the parasite on impact. His goal was to copy and possibly replicate the ingredient in a way that they could inject the host with the serum, and it would kill the parasites. However, finding a lab in this world was much harder than he had intended. He knew which ones he needed to venture to, but also knew Orochimaru was being watched by Konoha.
In his world, were he to go back, he would be hunted even with the antidote. Anymore, many were on a time limit and thus focused more on immediate results than the time and resources it would take to complete what needed to be done. Finding a cure to save themselves and their family had made those remaining insane, not caring if the people they hunted lived or died as long as they received their results. The more those who died who were not affected, the more crazed they became in finding their instant gratification. Masaru was stuck in this current timeline, which meant that he was limited on how he could go about this. He knew that the main ingredient, red ginseng, was only found in one area.
Thanks to history, he knew even now the plant was a rare find but was one he needed all the same. Once he found it, he'd follow the path those from past Konoha took toward a moon that held a weapon he wanted to get his hands on. It's why he chose this time and place as he knew the history. Though, his presence had altered that history as Neji Hyuga and Sasuke Uchiha were never on that mission, but instead was none other than Naruto Uzumaki. Thus, what he had planned for demanded a change, as he wouldn't face the man known for talking and reasoning. He would face the unpredictable counterpart that wasn't part of his plan. Frowning, Masaru continued on, feeling sweat drip down the back of his neck as he continued to search for the much-needed plant.
They came upon another body of water and like before, neither Neji nor Hinata were able to see past it. Hinata narrowed her eyes, in hopes that her byakugan could somehow see through the murky surface, but nothing changed. She could still recall the moment that she and Sasuke had come across Toneri, wondering what it is that he wanted from her. And why he would have kidnapped Hanabi. Knowing it had to do with what Sasuke had found out during his travels, she worried for her baby sister. Hanabi was strong, but she had seen the puppets and the work Sasuke had to get rid of them and her worry grew. Would Hanabi be alright? She realized she had reached around with her right hand to grasp her left arm, feeling her fingers grasp a little too firmly and slowly released her hold.
"Alright, then we need to prepare for a fight." Shikamaru said right before he made his way into the water. Sakura and Sai soon followed, Neji jumping after them.
Their splashes echoed and as Hinata was about to follow, she paused when she noticed that Sasuke wasn't moving. She turned to look at him and noticed that his eyes were narrowed slightly, as if he was sensing something. She turned to look at him, noticing that his fingers seemed to be slightly twitching in agitation, as they neared his sword. Even through his poncho, and without her byakugan activated, she could sense it. It made her realize that after having lived with him, she was beginning to learn his quirks, even the ones she couldn't actively see.
"What's wrong?" Hinata finally asked, breaking the silence.
"Someone's here." Sasuke said, his right eye swirling from black to red in an instant, turning in time to see Toneri standing on a rock behind the one they currently resided on.
Hinata followed his gaze and gasped, seeing the man. "Toneri."
"Hinata. I said I'd come for you. For you to come to me is… flattering." Toneri smirked, his eyes closed, but facing the both of them.
"Where is Hanabi?" Hinata cried out, taking a step before feeling a hand grasp her arm to hold her in place.
"Don't worry, she's safe. She's fast asleep in my castle." Toneri stayed in place, continuing to give them both a smirk.
"Return her at once." Hinata stated, amazed that her voice was now calm.
"I'm afraid that depends on your answer." He responded, his face continuing to focus solely on her. "My dear Byakugan Princess."
"What do you mean by Byakugan Princess?"
Both turned to Sasuke's voice, Hinata seeing that he had returned to look expressionless, his gaze squarely focused on Toneri. She recalled that he had mentioned before that this was a puppet being controlled by the real Toneri somewhere else. Hinata knew that was why Sasuke didn't seem to be attempting to attack him, there would be no point when Toneri wasn't really here. Toneri's lip shifted downward, as if he finally realized that the two of them were not alone.
"You don't need to worry about such things, Uchiha." Toneri said before returning his gaze back to Hinata. "Hinata, let us be married."
Sasuke snorted, "that would be impossible when she's married to me."
Toneri finally opened his eyes, his pale gaze sending daggers toward Sasuke. "Your marriage holds no significance to my plans for Hinata."
Toneri raised a hand and a burst of wind slammed into Sasuke, sending him backwards into the water. HInata cried out for him just as Toneri reached out, his cold hand clasping onto her arm to stop her from following him. She turned to glare up at him, jerking her arm to no avail. While this wasn't the real Toneri, the puppet he used was strong and able to hold her steady.
"If you want to see your sister again, you'll come to me willingly and marry me, Hinata."
At that moment, the water behind her broke and she felt immense chakra. Sasuke landed beside her, completely dry but his expression was one she had not seen in a very long time. He looked pissed, his dojutsu spinning into what she knew to be his eternal mangekyou sharingan. Hinata found herself staring into it, the details beautiful to her in some way as he continued to glare at Toneri.
"Amaterasu."
Blood instantly poured from his right eye as black flames enveloped Toneri. A moment later, a piece of his face fell, confirming that he was in fact a puppet. Hinata watched as the puppet began to slowly crumble, but she could tell that Toneri still had control of it, it's eyes darting between the two before landing squarely on her. It was then that she noticed Sasuke slightly move in front of her, as if to protect her from him. Hinata looked up at him and a flutter in her heart gave her pause, wondering what that sensation could be as she watched him move between the two to protect her. Could it be a sense of her developing feelings for him? Hinata shook her head at the idea, looking back at Toneri.
"Hinata, next time the real me will come for you. And when that time comes, tell me your answer." The puppet fully fell to the ground as the flames overtook it, a malicious laugh coming from it just as the black flames fully engulfed it.
Sasuke nudged her back away from it as they both stared at the area of black flames as they slowly dwindled to nothing, indicating that the puppet was gone. She felt her breathing quicken, thinking back to Toneri saying she'd need to come with him to save her sister. Should she tell Sasuke and the others? The knowledge that they would stop her came to mind and she realized that she couldn't tell them. She needed to be brave and do this on her own. Hinata just hoped that they would understand.
"Are you alright?"
She looked up into red and purple eyes, concern etched in them and her heart fluttered once again. The concern in those eyes were directly at her and she wondered if he was truly concerned or felt he needed to be for the mission. Something told her it was sincere, so she nodded and saw his face relax before looking back at the now charred area where the puppet once was. Hinata followed his lead and hoped that he would understand when she made the tough choice to abandon them to save her sister. She turned and jumped into the water to follow the others, not noticing the confusion on Sasuke's face as he, too, began to feel the flutter in his chest when their eyes met. What in the world could that mean? Hinata would have to ponder this after they had stopped the moon from falling toward earth and Hanabi safely at home. Eyes intact.
A/N: Thank you all so much for the support and words I needed to hear during a rough time. They are appreciated more than each of you know! I hope each of you are doing well and that my update continues to be something that keeps each of you coming back to the story. Will note that some of what is in this chapter comes directly from the movie but have obviously changed a few things to accommodate the new spin on it. If you have seen the movie, you know that the scarf from Hinata's backpack that wrapped around Naruto during the genjutsu, I wanted that to hold a bit more energy to it and felt that Sasuke would probably not expect it and thus, allowed him to visualize part of her genjutsu. I had gone back and forth on how to make that work and figured I'd make it purely that one scene that Naruto played out in his own head.
I-Love-Trunks1 - thank you so much for your kind words. I definitely appreciate it and I'm thrilled you are still enjoying the story!
LordSquiggyMcNubbin - I'm glad you enjoyed it! And thank you for your kinds words. That meant a lot and wasn't cheesy at all. Even something that feels redundant can hold a lot of meaning. And hopefully the vibes you sent helped make for a great chapter! Lol
Tnkstar - Thank you and hopefully this chapter didn't disappoint!
Rei2022 - Thank you for the prayers. That meant a lot. 3 Well, I did have Sakura go as you saw, but the next few chapters will demonstrate the Sakura I see her being. I won't ruin it other than I do like Sakura and don't plan for her to be seen in a negative way. I wanted it to feel real because feelings can't just disappear immediately and I put myself in their shoes. It would be hard if someone I planned to spend my life with was suddenly removed from me in that way. However, I promise that we will get more into SasuHina and a mature Sakura (ngl, I'm excited to write out the scene right before Toneri comes as fireflies make for romantic moments -cough-). Only hint I'm giving.
LB Cat - Thank you and I hope I'm not disappointing. And thank you for your kind words.
Guest 1 - Thank you! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. Will admit it took me a bit to write. Lot of deleting and rewriting. While simultaneously watching the movie. Lol.
Guest 2 - Sorry you are not a fan of the plot or how Sakura is being portrayed. Not meaning any disrespect toward her character at all and there will be vast improvement for her. However, I can't please everyone and that's okay. Definitely plenty of stories out there that I have no doubt you will find and enjoy!