family affair
twenty-nine
where else would i go?
Hinata's hands were raw as she cut into herself, trying to stay awake.
Her head still pounded. She had been in this dark room for what felt like hours––waiting for what she did not know. Gaara hadn't come back. She heard voices, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. She couldn't imagine what they could possibly be waiting for; if they were going to kill her, they should get it over with.
At first she felt a deep sadness at her predicament. After leaving the bug at the first location, part of her rationalized that there was no way that Sasuke would be able to find her. How could he? She was knocked unconscious and driven away––she barely knew where she was now. She had no weapons, no phone, no way to contact him or anybody and…
Her heart constricted. She wouldn't even get to say goodbye. She wouldn't be able to hug or kiss him one last time, to run a hand through his hair, to touch his mouth with the pads of her fingers. She wanted so much that––
A sound on the other side of the door alarmed her. She scurried back like a rodent in a cage, her back hitting the rough wall. It was textured, like it was unfinished. It reminded her, in a disquieting way, of when she was kidnapped by Orochimaru as a child.
The memory that would usually render her useless with panic, now merely washed over her in a wave. Perhaps that had been Gaara's goal: to send her into a panic––a part of his torture plans––but by now, Hinata felt far removed from that lifetime. She had grown so much since that situation, since the panic attacks that plagued her life, and yet…and yet….
At least she got to save Hanabi. At least she was saving the Family. At least Sasuke would have a place to call home after all was said and done.
The door opened and light exploded into the room. An arm grabbed her, cutting off her circulation, and pulled her screaming into the light.
It was Gaara. He looked…oddly, worried. Hinata flattened her lips so she didn't make any sort of expression, but internally, she felt glad.
Ah, she thought, blinking blindly into the light. Her eyes weren't adjusting quickly enough. So the plan is going well then…
As she was finally adjusting to the hallway she was suddenly thrust into, a hand went across her cheek. When she looked up, her vision doubled, it wasn't Gaara who had done it––it was Temari.
"Tell us what is going on," Temari said, her voice in a high-pitched panic. "Right fucking now, Hyuga."
Stars in her eyes. The slap had made Hinata bite her cheek hard. Her teeth were bloody, her mind was hazy. She leaned her head back, exposing her neck––it was almost over, what more could they do?–––and smiled.
"They're coming for you next."
-:-
"Left up here," Neji said, his voice a steadying force as Sasuke pressed the gas into the floor of the car. They were jutting down an expressway, Sasuke expertly weaving his car through the few stragglers who were still out at this time of night. "This exit. Slow down; there's an intersection."
Sasuke merely looked at him out of the corner of his eye with an aggravated frown. He pulled the car around an SUV and made it up the ramp without an issue; blowing past the red line and turning the car in the direction Neji had pointed out.
Sasori sat quietly in the backseat, looking bored. Neji had given him the phone, where other teammates were giving them updates on their position. As Sasuke drove across a busy intersection, Sasori intoned, "Naruto is done. If Sakura does not reach success soon we might be in trouble with your contact in Osaka."
Sasuke didn't even have time to process that, let alone to defend his teammate. Sakura would be fine. If anything, she had been even more pissed than Naruto had been.
"Another left," Neji instructed, eyes on the road. Then, to Sasori: "Any update on Itachi?"
Sasori kissed his teeth. "No, but don't worry. He likes to take his time."
"I'm not worried," Sasuke grunted as he slowed the car down and cut the lights. His palms were itching. He felt jittery all over. He was grateful that this car was a silent one, sneaking along the street as he drove slower.
Finally, they arrived at what looked to be an abandoned strip club. It was all dark, with slanted geometric architecture that made sharp shadows in the night. The sign that stood several feet above their heads was embellished with snakes, swirling around the rectangular sign.
"This is it," Neji said, nodding as Sasuke cut the engine. "I snuck and saw the photos of the place when I was a child. I always remembered the snakes."
Sasuke felt saliva pool at the back of his throat, and he wasn't sure if he was going to puke or punch something first. He ignored his feelings of disgust as he looked around; It was quiet, but didn't seem deserted. He saw bobbing heads of muscle men beside the back doors, hiding in the dark, but wisps of smoke joined the chilly air. A smoke break.
There were cars in the lot. Four of them. If each car had held five people, that meant there might be twenty men inside. They would need a way to quietly exterminate the vermin outdoors without alarming anyone from the inside. Sasuke's palms itched once more. He wanted to shoot them all.
"I'll handle those guys," Sasori said, a slick grin crossing his face. Sasuke couldn't believe that his brother worked with the guy––he was strange, but at least he was helpful. "I can be silent. You both should go in after me. I'll be in front and will handle the bobbleheads. You all know your target better than I do."
Sasuke and Neji exchanged looks, passing along a strange sense of comradery as Sasori pulled from his jacket several long needles, each filled with dark liquid. Definitely freaky; Sasuke just felt glad that he was on their side.
Together, the three of them exited the car and went alongside the dark edge of the building, their feet crunching on top of shards of glass littered over the cement. Sasuke and Neji stuck back to the sides as they watched Sasori slip out between them, the sharp edges of the needle flashing against the subtle light the moon cast over them.
It was quick work––impressive, too, if Sasuke weren't so distracted by his thoughts of Hinata. The three men fell as the Sasori implanted the needles into their necks, then took them out and pocketed them casually. He waved them forward.
"Are they dead?" Neji asked, blinking as they stepped over their bodies. Their eyes were closed. They even looked peaceful, despite their bent legs where they had fallen awkwardly.
"No," Sasori said, rolling his eyes. "Just unconscious. I don't waste the good stuff on people like them."
"Ah," Neji said. Then said nothing else.
The abandoned strip club looked like a maze. Sasuke would tear down the walls if he had to.
-:-
Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro were arguing.
Hinata watched idly, sitting against a wall––in the light now-–with her hands tied tightly behind her back. They were in an office of sorts––a plush one with fuzzy red furniture and speckled mirrors on the ceiling. It was gorgeous, though everything was covered in a fine layer of dust.
Quietly, Hinata attempted to undo the knots despite her raw, bleeding fingers, hoping her captors wouldn't look up at the mirrors and see her. The knots hadn't been tied well––Kankuro was extremely anxious all of a sudden.
Ox was dead. And so was Rabbit. They were waiting for reports about the others.
"They'll be looking for her," Kankuro was saying, casting a frightful gaze in her direction––this was something she had never seen before, and she wanted to relish in but her head hurt far too much for that. Instead, she drank it in and committed it to memory. She could laugh about it later.
If there was one.
"Gaara, you need to give it up okay," Temari was pleading, her eyes wide with anticipation. For what, Hinata wasn't sure. "Look at her! You've already got her here, tied up, and away from her family. Do what you need to do so we can move on––it's only a matter of time before they find us!"
"We have no use for her," Kankuro cried, trying to understand his brother. "Even if Ox and them are dead––we've already signed off on a deal with Juugo. We have our South Korean connections! We can just kill her here and––"
"No," Gaara said, a dark energy unfurling like smoke around his body. This made even Hinata jump as her fingers worked the knots. "I want her to die the way Baki died: in front of an audience. We were only supposed to wait here until the deals were done and then––"
"But Gaara, that's crazy!" Temari broke out. She was red in the face, practically on her hands and knees, begging her brother to reason with her. "Why? Why do you have to do that when we can just end things now? We need to go––"
"You don't understand," Gaata moaned, closing his eyes. Hinata watched with interest; she remembered him going into these moods when they had dated, but he had always hid them from her then, tucking them back into the shadows of his mind. She watched the reflection of the top of his head in the mirror as he lowered it into his hands in agony.
"You don't understand what it was like for me––why I need this. How the first person who had ever loved me–––her family took everything from me. And I need to pay them back. I need them to feel what I felt."
When Hizashi killed Baki, there were videos of it online. Gaara had seen them. When Hinata tried to call him afterwards, all he could do was scream at her over the phone. Perhaps that's what he wanted for her. Something cinematic, something to last so that he could remember it.
Hinata tugged the rope loose, using the wall as support to hold it as she wiggled. Almost there. If they could just talk for a little bit longer…
"Circumstances have changed," Temari said tersely. She abruptly stood on her feet, kicking Hinata on her way out the door. "I'm getting my car. Either you'll follow me or you won't."
Temari unlocked the door just as Kankuro thought to look up into the mirrors and noticed one of Hinata's hands slipping out. Just as Kankuro was going for her, gunshots erupted and echoed through the building in quick succession.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Time was up.
-:-
With the needles, Sasori took out a couple more goons with ease until he ran out, the empty glass vessels littering the floor with their bodies. Sasuke had to admit, it was impressive––not a sound was made and they had gotten far into the club, unnoticed.
No wonder the Akatsuki were so notorious. He'd have to watch out for them once all was said and done.
However, now that Sasori was out of needles, Sasuke and Neji did the bulk of the physical work. By this point, Sasuke had counted six men down, which left roughly fourteen unaccounted to deal with. And they were all racing down the hall.
Sasuke ducked a fist that threatened to connect, and reacted quickly, grabbing the man's collar and pushing a knee into his chest so hard that something cracked. He moved on without thought; twisting another man's arm behind his back and kicking him in the spine. He felt the arm dislocate and dropped the guy to the ground, walking over him.
Beside him, Neji was doing more of the same, except he was holding the silver edge of a handgun, and was beating it against the skull of a beefier man, breaking open the skin, a flash of red appearing against pale skin. Sasuke watched him go left, then right, then left again. Two men down and out like flicking a light switch.
That was four men down. Ten left.
Sasuke was a rush of movements, none which felt any more real or concrete than the last. He barely recognized what he was doing, his only thought was Hinata, until a gunshot brightened the room, the sound beating against his eardrum, and bringing him back to reality with a rush.
Five more men down––make it six. Neji had shot one at close range.
"Fuck," he said, dropping the body. It was in the chest––Sasuke guessed what Neji had had to do, and looked down to see the gun in the man's hand; it was him or Neji. Sasuke inclined his head; they would have to move on.
Unfortunately, the sound had told their positions. Sasuke gave Sasori brisk instructions to go to the car––he should be on the lookout for Hinata, in case Suna heard the commotion and decided to flee. Sasori would shoot seventeen shots into the night, should he catch them leaving the building.
Sasori nodded and left just as quickly and quietly as Sasuke expected him to. Sasuke turned to Neji once more, and they nodded, advancing. There would be four people left, if Sasule's math was correct––but who knew? The estimate was based on the cars, not on anything concrete. If anything, he was being an optimist.
It was unlike him. But he needed Hinata. He needed her alive.
-:-
"You bitch," Gaara snarled when he saw what Kankuro was looking at, and leapt at Hinata without a second thought. Hinata pulled one arm free, then the other as she angled her arm back and hit him square in the nose. His head snapped back and the blood gushed immediately. It shocked him––she could tell––enough to make him stumble.
He held his nose in surprise and pain as Hinata ducked under his arms on unsteady feet. More gunshots erupted down the hall. What was going on? Should she avoid them or go towards them? She and Temari made eye contact as Temari looked towards the noise, taking her own weapon out of the band of her pants.
Then, Hinata watched Temari look at Kankuro and knew what would happen. Temari raced into the hallway, and Kankuro lept towards Hinata, his arms circling around her waist. He grabbed her easily, knocking her back against the wall––her head hitting it again. So much head damage, she could barely see straight.
To gain her bearings, Hinata looked up at the glass ceiling. It reminded her of the church and the stained glass; the ceiling reflecting all the red fuzzy carpet, and shimmering; a mirage. Her mother saying you belong in the world. The glint of metal at Kankuro's waist. Hinata's struggling arms. Kankuro's hands closing around her neck. Gaara saying, "Get off of her, Kankuro! Get off! She's mine! She's mine!" The air leaving. Her reaching for the metal–––reaching, reaching––
Then Kankuro was pulled off of her as Hinata's fingers just ghosted the gun in his pants that the mirror had shown her. Instead, she grabbed the knife beside it––clutched it––as Kankuro's body went flying towards the ground. Gaara's eyes were wild beasts as he looked down at his brother, who began apologizing, over and over. Gaara's fists clenched at his sides.
Quietly, Hinata slipped the knife behind her back and held it there, felt the hilt dig into her skin, saw the red of the carpet reflect off the glass ceiling. She watched Gaara press his foot into Kankuro's neck––
A scream from the hallway. A spray of gunshots. Gaara reached down and grabbed Kankuro's gun and turned to Hinata. He grabbed her neck the same way Kankuro had. Hinata pressed deeper into the knife, checking the ceiling. It couldn't be seen.
"It can't be helped," Gaara sighed with disappointed finality. "It has to end here."
-:-
"Watch out!"
Sasuke looked up as a stream of bullets went flying over his head. He immediately fell into a crouch as he saw Neji fly back, his back thudding against a wall. Neji made a sound––a strangled cry––as his body fell to the floor.
Sasuke had to make a choice, so he staggered forward, hoping that Neji would be okay. Besides, there was a mad woman with a gun coming down the hallway. She had a pistol raised with both hands, and she looked hungry.
There was nowhere for Sasuke to run. He was standing in a long hallway, littered with the bodies of Gaara's unconscious men. Neji kneeled close to the ground, his hand clutching his right arm. The woman eyed him, holding her gun steady as Sasuke rose both palms––surrender. He was holding no weapon.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"The Hyugas you left behind," Neji answered, his voice hitching at the word left in a way that was so unusual, Sasuke looked back at him. The man was in pain, surely but––ah. Sasuke watched his right hand twitch. But what could he do with that new wound?
Sasuke moved an inch or so to the left, and the woman's gun followed him. She lifted an eyebrow. "What are you doing, Uchiha?"
"So you know who I am," Sasuke said, lifting his chin. "And you are?"
"I don't have time for––"
Pop!
She screamed and fell, the gun sliding out of her hands and onto the floor. Neji's right arm was trembling, but he didn't let himself drop the smoking gun. Besides, he still had his legs. He stood and urged Sasuke on, a sneer breaking across his sweating mouth. "We don't got time to waste, Uchiha."
Sasuke picked up the woman's pistol––she was crumbled on the ground, a gunshot through the femur––blood and bone everywhere. He was merciful, however, and used the but of it to knock her unconscious.
By Sasuke's count, there should only be two men left.
Two men, and Hinata.
-:-
Hinata carefully considered her position.
Gaara's hand was squeezing her neck, but the other was at his side, waiting. Her arms were pinned behind her back––or so he thought. Her knees were shaking, but there was nothing she could do about that.
From the hallway, she heard a quick scream, and then nothing. Then, after a few seconds, footsteps––one steady, one, perhaps, faltered. A limp. She listened and waited, even as Gaara was yelling at her, spittle flying into her mouth, she waited. His face was as red as his hair was.
He's losing it, she thought, eyes wide. Something in her––the part of her that remembered the few teenage years they'd spent together––felt crushed. What happened to you? Her eyes pleaded, but his grip just tightened hard enough that the measured air she was getting became sparse.
There was a commotion. Two men entered the room suddenly, kicking down the door. Immediately, Gaara's free hand lifted, and she felt something cold and hollow come to rest against her skull. A handgun.
Her breathing increased when she saw him.
Their eyes met and she wanted to weep. He came. He'd made it in time––he found her. Sasuke looked worse for wear but otherwise unharmed; it was Neji who labored, clutching his bloodied arm.
Hinata wanted to savor this image of the two of them for as long as possible, but time was not on her side. Gaara ground the weapon into her head so hard that it hurt and tightened his grip on her neck.
Before anyone could do anything, Sasuke sprang into action, lunged to the floor, and pulled Kankuro up by his hair. Kankuro yelled as Sasuke brought the man to his chest, holding him there with one arm, the other held a gun that matched Gaara's.
A pair of hostages. A long silence. Hinata's fingers tightened around the knife behind her back.
"One move and I'll shoot her," Gaara said, his voice taking on a new edge: certainty.
Sasuke seemed to consider this. Neji was stiff and still with labored breaths. Kankuro was openly weeping as his feet slid against the red carpet like he was trying to stand fully. Hinata watched his sneaker-clad feet slip. Sasuke's grip on his hair was mighty. His temples were red.
"Please Gaara," Kankuro was crying, big clumpy tears going down his face. "Gaara, please––I didn't even want to do this, Gaara. C'mon, this doesn't even make sense! You know it doesn't! You're just––you're just going through something right now. C'mon Gaara––"
Sasuke held Kankuro as he struggled, but Gaara ignored them both.
Hinata could feel his breath on her skin, he was so close to her. As Kankuro cried and wept, Gaara leaned close, brushing his eyelashes against his cheek, making her cringe harder into the wall. In her ear, he whispered, "I will take you out of this world."
Sasuke froze, bright hot fury flashing across his face. He yanked Kankuro once more, threateningly, and pressed the mouth of the gun to the man's throat. Gaara moved his head away from Hinata to send a pitying look to his brother; the look was to tell him that he would not help. That he could not. That he didn't want to.
But as he looked away, his hand around her neck loosened; he had forgotten himself in his sadism. Hinta rocked her body forward, angling it away from the wall, and slipped her arm out from beneath her. With a calculated swipe, gained from her years with the Family, she carved a bright red line through Gaara's throat.
It was a clean cut.
His hand dropped, and the gun crashed to the floor. When his body fell, Hinata's did too––to her knees, and she finally felt her body cave in on itself. Her mouth opened for a sob, but nothing came out.
The room was silent. Sasuke must've released Kankuro to Neji, because suddenly he was at her side, wiping her face with his shirt. Her light colored gown was stained quite horrible and everytime she looked down she saw more blood.
"You're okay," Sasuke said, wiping her cheek, her forehead, her neck, her chest. He swept her hair from around her face, and held her face tenderly between his hands. His eyes were the clearest she had ever seen them––bright, determined, angry, concerned––and focused entirely on hers. "You're okay. You're okay. It's over."
She leaned into his touch, feeling unreal. Finally, her body recognized what it's done, what it's been through to be here. What it's been through to be with him.
"I'm okay?" she asked, clutching his fingers.
"You're okay."
-:-
Sasori was waiting for them in the car.
Sasuke found that Hinata was weaker than he thought when they were leaving the strip club. She had quite a bit of vertigo, and was likely concussed. It was a wonder she had managed to cut so straight and so deep the first time, but all the adrenaline had left her by the time Sasuke collected her into his arms.
He carried her into the backseat, where she laid against him as they drove. Neji sat in the passenger seat, still clutching his arm though by now he seemed unaffected. He reached out with his good arm, and held onto Hinata's hand. She smiled drearily at him and squeezed it as she laid her head in Sasuke's lap.
Gingerly, Sasuke held her like she was about to dissolve. He fanned his fingers through her hair gently, watching her eyes drift shut as the car bumped along, taking them closer and closer to the Estate where they could finally shower and then, hopefully, sleep.
And rest. And recover. And leave all of this behind them.
He wanted a somewhat normal life for them, at least. Maybe they'd get a dog. Maybe he'd help her set up a real tattoo shop––away from the Syndicate, but not too far, because Hinata loved them all. She loved them deeply––enough to risk her life over and over again.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead, feeling her body shake and honestly––his was too. He had thought he'd lost her for a brief second. He never wanted to feel that way again.
"Sakura update," Neji said, from the front seat, looking at his vibrating phone in his lap. The windows were down, despite the cold, but none of them seemed to mind the cold air hitting them. They needed the rush to get them home.
"Yeah?" Hinata asked, but her voice was small and sleepy. Dreamily, Sasuke looked down and wiped a finger across her cheek––it was like he couldn't believe that they had come so far.
It had been a long fucking week.
"She was successful," Neji said. "Itachi as well. We will rendezvous at the Estate shortly."
"It's over," Hinata said, and when Sasuke looked down, he was surprised to see small tears leaking down the crevices of her face. He wiped them up, but more appeared––stubborn woman. She grabbed his hand to stop him, and then brought it under her chin, tucking it. "Neji when we get home I can fix up your arm, okay? I'm sorry that happened."
Neji cracked a smile and she released his hand. He brought it to hold his injured arm and shook his head ruefully, "Don't worry about it, Hinata. If anything, you need rest the most."
Hinata opened her mouth to protest, but a shiver ran through her body and she remembered only a few minutes ago, when she'd pulled a knife across a man's neck. She felt herself curl deeper into the seat, trying to forget.
"You're okay," Sasuke said quietly, bending over so that he could bury his face into her hair. She smelled like blood and sweat, but none of that mattered. She was here––back in his arms, where she was supposed to be.
"You're okay," she said back, a small smile in her voice, despite the pain she was desperately trying to hide from him.
"Mhhm," he agreed easily as he sat back up. He looked out the window and noticed that they were getting closer and closer to the Estate. He couldn't wait to get her washed, fed, and tucked into bed. Privately, he wanted all of those things for himself, too. "Let's get you back to the Family."
Hinata looked at him, startled. He watched this expression with muted humor and overt concern. Had he upset her? Did she not want to go back to the Estate?
"You'll stay?" She asked, trying to sit up, but he wouldn't let her, his hands wrapped around her. "You're coming back to the Estate with me after…everything that's happened?"
Sasuke merely looked at her, incredulous, but with a smile in his voice all the same, "Where else would I go, Hyuga Princess?"
family affair
END
AN. END! Wow thanks for coming on this journey with me; there WILL be an epilogue with an exciting announcement. I appreciate you all for following along with me and believing in me. Your kindness and attention mean a lot. I'm so glad y'all liked it!
I want to say that all summer I've been working on the Hinata spy/Sasuke yakuza fic and dare I say…it's better than this one? I've had so much fun working on it, so I can't wait to share it when the time comes.
Be well! Love u all xoxox
