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Being Bored
The longer they remained in one place, the closer they came to sealing their fates. Hinata sighed as she turned away from the blinding white of the snow outside to pace further into the cave.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
She had to keep moving to distract herself. To drive away the restlessness that had seeped into her muscles. Outside, the snowstorm had worsened and large pieces of hail rained from the sky. They could not risk going out in these conditions. However, after splitting her rations with Sasuke for twenty-four hours, they could not afford to stay much longer. She ran a worried hand through her hair before changing direction back to the mouth of the cave.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
What would Neji have done in a situation like this? He was one of the most capable shinobi she'd known and the most talented in their clan. He surely wouldn't have found himself stuck like this. Would he risk the elements so their enemies wouldn't find them? She could almost hear her cousin reprimanding her for putting herself in this kind of situation. Dully, her heart ached to hear a voice that she never would again.
Back and forth.
Back and-
"Stop pacing."
Hinata blinked. Half surprised that he noticed her anxious pacing and half surprised that he'd even spoken. He had been sitting as still as a statue with his eyes closed for hours. She supposed he was attempting to meditate but the dark aura coming off of him in waves told her he was unsuccessful.
"You're expending energy you don't have. Quit."
She wanted to retort. Explain that at least she was thinking about a way out but all responses died on her tongue as dark eyes stared her down. Daring her to resume the rut she was making in the cave floor. She swallowed the automatic apology that came to mind and went over to her bag to find something else to occupy her time. If she did nothing, she would surely go crazy.
Luckily she had the books she'd picked up in the last village. These would surely consume the last few hours of sunlight available to them. There were three small books she'd picked up. One about adventure. One on tragedy. The last one was a romance. She glanced over at the sullen Uchiha pretending to meditate in the corner and frowned. Romance was the last thing she wanted to think about so she pulled out the light-hearted adventure.
Hinata then moved to the front of the cave, hidden from view but still light enough, and sat on the cold dirt floor. It was odd to read again, especially given their current situation. Yet she needed an escape. As much as she hated to admit it- Sasuke was right. She should not tire herself out unnecessarily. That would only make her a liability. Pushing those thoughts aside, she opened the small book and began to read aloud.
She didn't even realize she was reading aloud until she heard Sasuke shift for the first time in hours. The movement was subtle. He'd merely turned his body to face her direction, eyes still closed. She was positive he would have said something if he was bothered by her reading.
So she continued to read. With each turn of the page she became increasingly engrossed with the story. Wondering if the heroine would reach her goal and overcome her foibles. She read until the sun went down and so too did her light. Reluctantly she closed the book and mused on when she might be able to jump into the tale again.
She would have had plenty of time to lose herself in stories if she retired from being a kunoichi. If she married. She could almost guarantee her father had a list of eligible suitors a mile long waiting for her return. Hinata groaned at the prospect. She had only just fully accepted her duty to become Sasuke's wife. To help Naruto. To keep her sister from assuming the mantle.
Those had been the reasons she'd started out with but somewhere down the road a selfish seed had planted itself in her heart. A seed of hope. That she could be happy with a man that had shown more and more of his inner workings as the days went on. A man that had learned to care for her in his own way. Kiss her as if she were an object of desire. Hinata frowned as her thought traveled down forbidden paths. What the hell was wrong with her?
Hinata turned her attention to the weather outside. It was twilight, the sky painted purple and orange and quickly darkening. The snow was now falling less aggressively and the hail had all but vanished. They would not be able to travel like this but it was safe enough to relieve herself. She looked over at Sasuke who was still meditating and wondered if he would even notice she was gone.
….
The temperature dropped drastically every minute that ticked by. She wondered for the umpteenth time how anyone could eke out a living in these conditions. The only upside was that the snow had finally stopped falling, revealing a clear night sky with stars that shone like diamonds above. If things remained this way, they could leave at first light.
Hinata took a deep breath as she stretched and a sigh of relief escaped her lips. A white cloud puffed before her in the still night air. It was nice to be able to leave the cave for only a moment. There were some things she was not willing to do in front of Sasuke and using the restroom was one of them. It was also nice to breathe air that wasn't tinged with the musk of the cave. As wonderful as it was to get a reprieve she knew that she would have to return soon.
It was then, that an unfamiliar scream broke her from her reverie- her feet moving before she was even conscious of what she was doing. Although she wasn't far she activated her Byakugan. It was better that she got a gauge of what she was dealing with. Up ahead, there were five chakra signatures- one of which she knew. The other four men were unfamiliar but hostile as their energy spiked erratically.
Hinata sped up, focused solely on returning to the cave to assist Sasuke. She might not be that strong but she could take at least one or two of the men down. Shouts echoed into the still night air as she got closer. A blood-curdling scream. Now there were only three unfamiliar chakra systems. Sasuke had taken one of them out but it cost him dearly as he was now immobile.
When she arrived at the cave she was greeted with a gruesome sight. Blood stained the white snow. Two men were forcing Sasuke to kneel before the third in the snow. The third man towered over them, bulky and tan with scars that littered his entire body. Dark brown hair tumbled messily down his shoulders and a feral smile graced his lips.
"We don't take kindly to those that interrupt our business." He growled. "It's a pity. You are skilled enough to take out two of my men. A shame you have to die."
He lifted his sword and the metal glinted menacingly in the bright moonlight. Before he could bring it down on Sasuke's neck Hinata found herself hurtling into the bulky man's side. The slipperiness of the snow and the element of surprise had them both tumbling to the ground. Although disoriented, the man didn't waste any time blindly sending a punch to her jaw.
Copper filled her mouth and light flashed in her eyes. It was all she could do not to cry out in surprise. The next instant she found her back in the snow and her head hit something hard on the impact. Stars flashed painfully behind her eyes and the man hovered over her, pressing down with the full weight of his body. He looked down at her at first in disbelief but that was quickly replaced with something else.
Something more sinister.
"Ah, now I see those eyes." He said with a lick of his lips. "You might just be worth all of the lost cargo."
…
Sasuke was positive that when Hinata had left it had been a gift from the gods that had ignored him for so long. He needed a break from being around her. She reminded him of every day he spent blind. Every moment spent in the warm sun and peaceful days dragged on for an eternity. An eternity he would have sunk into easily. She made him want to reach out and shake her. Hold her. Ask her why. Ignore her. Bask in her presence and drink in her voice. Yell at her for betraying him. It was maddening.
So when she left he welcomed the brief respite. That was until his peace was shattered by unwashed goons out for his head. He was pretty confident that the gang they'd been tracking must have been looking for new shelter now that the snowstorm had abated. Five on one were not odds he was unfamiliar with but the cramped cave was hard to maneuver in. Hinata being gone made it that much easier to dispose of one of them and steal his sword. He'd been able to make quick work of another but the other three saw an opening and took it.
All he could think about as they dragged him into the snow was that he was grateful for this all to end. He could have killed all five with a snap of his fingers. He could crush their bones or torture them for hours. He could end them but then what was the point? What was he fighting so hard for? To go back to being a pawn in Konoha? No, it was better to simply die here in an unmarked grave where no one could take his eyes. The gang leader was more than eager to oblige his silent request in the name of revenge for his waylaid plans.
He was then reminded that the gods would never give him what he wanted as Hinata had hurled herself at his executioner. Her actions had stunned him and his captors for a moment but that was all he needed to slip through their grasp. Before the two men could react, he'd grab the executioner's fallen sword and sliced through one man from him to shoulder. The other begged for mercy but he too met the same fate.
His assailants gone, he turned to find Hinata wrestling futilely against the gang leader. Even with her hands pinned above her head, she still managed to spit in the man's face, causing him to momentarily lose his grip. She tried to slip out from under him but he punched her in her side and she let out a pained yell. At the sound it was as if a switch went off in his head and all he could see was red. The frustrated gang leader managed to land another heavy blow to the back of her head before his own was severed from his body. Blood spewed from his neck and coated himself and the snow in red.
…
As if the gods were mocking him, the sky darkened and blotted out the moon. Rain poured down instead of snow-threatening to create ice on the frozen earth below. The weather was awful but they had no choice but to leave. It was only a matter of time before the other goons started looking for their leader. He wished to be as far from here as possible when they found his head in the snow.
His chakra was too unstable for teleportation, especially when he did not have a destination in mind. He also would not be able to call on his summons as the weather conditions were unsafe. That left the embattled Uchiha with only one option.
"Sa-Sasuke."
"Do not speak Hyuuga."
Strapped to his back so she wouldn't fall off, Sasuke had begun a fool's journey of finding shelter. Or at the very least putting as much distance between them and the dead men as possible.
"Let's stop for the night."
She was delirious. A sure sign of a concussion. He had no way of treating her either. All he could do at the moment was wrap the spare bandages she'd had in her pack around her head to stop the bleeding. The whole while he cursed her for stepping in. She should have fled. They were outnumbered. There was no way she could win in a fight like that. Yet she still stepped in! If only she had run away. Or taken just a few minutes longer to arrive. Or-
"I'm s-so sleepy."
"Don't you dare fall asleep. I swear I will kill you myself if you fall asleep."
He didn't know much about concussions even though he'd had a few himself over the years. The only thing he'd taken away from those experiences was that sleep could be a death sentence. He had to keep her awake.
"Sasuke-I just want to sleep." she mumbled in his back. "My head hurts."
"I'm taking you home but you have to stay awake."
"H-Home?"
The snow crunched loudly under his feet as he lied. Ahead of him was snow. Behind him were footprints quickly being erased by more snow. There was no shelter. There was no hope.
"Yes home. So stay awake."
He gritted his teeth. He wished he could revive the gang leader so he could kill him again, this time more slowly.
"I'm too sleepy to fold the laundry."
"I'll help you. Stay awake."
"I…I miss you."
"Hinata I swear to Kami if you die on me I follow you into the next life and kill you myself."
The shivering woman chuckled on his back and nuzzled in closer.
"I love you too."
His heart clenched at her whispered words. Love. She loved him. Realization struck and for the third time that evening, he wished to kill the gang leader again. Rip him limb from limb. If they hadn't found the cave, Hinata would have never been hurt. They could have continued on to Konoha and gone their separate ways. He could have honored his agreement to stay away from her. He could have melted into the shadows taking mission after mission until the day he died. She could have married some wealthy lord and lived a life befitting a Hyuuga heiress. His heart squeezed painfully at the thought.
"Dammit Hinata."
Because as much as he hated to admit it…he loved her too.
To be continued…Being Devoted