What started as a small side project has continued into a full fledged idea. I've always dabbled in why Hinata could be ideal for Sasuke post war, and this will serve as a representation for my thoughts. Enjoy!
The screams of women and children. The absence of sunlight for weeks. The never-ending thud of paper bombs against the earth walls of the makeshift bunker being held together by a hundred Earth-style proficient ninja taking turns. Families cowering and begging the men to venture outside for food, water, medicine, anything.
Sasuke jolts up in his sleep, sweat dripping from his brow as he remembers in excruciating detail the aftermath of the Fourth Shinobi War. Somehow his nightmares alternate between the beheaded corpses of his family in the Uchiha massacre to Naruto and Sakura, who he had almost killed in the Land of Iron, to the set of unnamed faces he saw get brutally murdered by Obito as the Gedo statue sprang to life. It so happened that today was the appearance of the third scenario.
As his racing heart slowly starts resembling normalcy, he opens his eyes to find his Neko cat snugly positioned on his stomach. She seems to be enjoying her sleep despite his agitated movements.
For once, his Rinnegan does not throb, and he has made peace with the fact that he cannot alter what is to come. His past will haunt him for years to come, for all of his conscious acts of repentance over the past year and a half have not amounted to much. The cold stares from fellow shinobi from the Allied Shinobi Forces, the frightened glances of small children on the village roads and the shouts and attacks borne out of rage and fury by the widows of veterans of the Fourth Shinobi War has made him realize that he cannot redeem himself, try as he may.
Inserting himself into the post-war reconstruction process was decidedly a bad idea, he thinks. People are inherently looking for a scapegoat to explain the causes of their current misery, and his very presence was enough to fill that capacity, irrespective of his role in saving their lives.
Maybe he should have just stayed to be put on trial to be most likely sentenced for execution, which would have likely been reduced to house arrest for life. Or maybe he could have reduced the extent of people's hatred by accepting Sakura's tearful offer of accompanying him and being a sort of shield against his infamous reputation.
But both these options, however, would go against the core of his contemplations during his short time in solitary confinement. Post his last fight with Naruto, he would often feel two very strong yet contrasting emotions which would alternate ever so regularly, one of intense guilt and sorrow at the course of action he had taken against his teammates throughout his life, while the other being an almost suffocating feeling of helplessness at the legacy of his family and the Uchiha clan.
The dobe had promised to make up for the historical injustices meted out to the Uchihas, but Sasuke knew in the depths of his heart that it would not be enough. If a few speeches apologizing for the treatment his clan suffered, along with some symbolic gestures commemorating their contributions to the Leaf was enough, he would never have gone to the lengths of starting the Infinite Tsukuyomi and battling Naruto to the bitter end. Despite his anger and desire for revenge having greatly subsided, the resentment still remained, and some of its burning embers would often manifest itself when he was in prison.
So to appease both of these feelings, he had yielded to the selfish route - make a journey where he would try to make amends with the post-war survivors through means other than violence to reduce his guilt, while at the same time aiming to resurrect the reputation of his clan through good deeds.
But being satisfied with his journey was turning out to be much harder than he had expected. For some reason, making efforts to help others in the reconstruction, listening patiently to sorrowful tales of death and despair and apologizing (as sincerely as possible) for any role he might have played in all of the recent hellish past did not provide an ounce of respite from the twin feelings of guilt and resentment.
Taking a deep sigh, he gets out of the frugal bed set up in the ramshackled motel. It is better to leave at the break of dawn, when there are not a lot of people around. He packs his storage scroll with his washed and neatly folded clothes, adjusts his cloak and sheaths his chokuto.
With a last sweeping glance of the room to make sure he has not missed any of his belongings, he is gone as silently as he arrived, with only a few coins left behind as payment.
The trees are resplendent in green as the morning rays of the Sun emerge. As he races by with superhuman speed, he marvels at the beautiful system nature has of replenishing its reserves, in this case the leaves on trees as spring arrives. He also assesses the regular system operating in the wild - insects feed on only the bare amount of leaves they need, while larger predators attack only to get the requisite sustenance.
Invariably his thoughts wander to how this stacks up against human nature in the shinobi world, and he sighs again. Humans seem to enjoy the process of killing their own without reason way too much.
His Neko cat, who followed him ever since he had set off on his trip from Konoha, rubs her nose against his shoulder while purring softly, as if sensing his melancholic mood and trying to comfort him. He smiles, as she is one of the only links he has left with his clan.
On initially meeting her in a corner of the Uchiha compound, he had only turned on his Sharingan and offered her some fish bones. But her green eyes had immediately flashed with recognition, and that was enough to draw her to him like a magnet.
Right now she is truly a valuable companion.
As he gently moves the cat to his other shoulder without disturbing her balance, he lets out a quiet prayer to Kami to help him survive the day. He knows he is very close to the coast of the Land of Waves, and that he would soon come across the town he had visited with Team 7 an eternity ago.
Not wanting to cause any trouble for Tazuna and his family, he decides to transform into a civilian disguise, cover the Rinnegan in his left eye with his bangs, and pass through the area quickly.
From a distance, the outlines of the Great Naruto Bridge is unmistakable, but what is truly astonishing is the extent of ruins all around. The town where Tazuna had his workshop was utterly destroyed, most likely from Madara's Earth-shattering blows during the war. The bridge itself had lost a chunk of its foundation, and was in a state of disrepair.
Scores of laborers trudge grimly towards the entrance of the town, ready to continue the Herculean task of reconstructing the buildings and merchant shops all around. They each have the Mizukage's token on their armbands, suggesting that Kirigakure has taken the mantle to reconstruct this area.
However, a small crowd has gathered near the back towards the outskirts of the town. As Sasuke passes by, he notices the excited shouts of a few shinobi grouped up around a spectacle.
His Rinnegan begins to throb slightly as he can sense the rapid flux of chakra emanating from the center of the gathering.
Very carefully he weaves himself into the crowd to get a better look. A man, no more than thirty, is lying face first on the ground while a little girl in dirty, shabby clothes is sobbing pitifully by him, imploring him to get up in a dialect unfamiliar to all those gathered. But he stays there, unmoving, even as the sobbing is drowned by the derisive laughter of the crowd all around.
A sharp pang of pain hits Sasuke as he notices the purple armbands worn by both the girl and the man. A faint outline of a snake can be made out by his keen eyes, and he knows that they must be the remnants of Otogakure, the erstwhile empire of Orochimaru which he had been so familiar with for more than three years.
At first, he had always believed that Oto was the means to the end of getting revenge, so he gave two hoots about the well-being of the shinobi there. But the aftermath of war had changed his outlook. The sheer amount of mindless violence he had witnessed had made him recoil in his jail cell, so much so that the memory of Oto was even more of a burden as he recalled all the nin he had injured and maimed at the behest of Orochimaru.
As all great wars, the most recent one have produced victors and the vanquished. But Sasuke has realized through his post-war journey that there was something unique. As most of the hidden villages had united into an allied force this time and won, the number of the vanquished was quite small. The few villages and regions with an association with the Akatsuki, including Oto and Ame, bore the brunt of vengeance from the victorious allied forces.
And having only a few villages to take their anger out in the immediate aftermath had made the punishments so much crueler. He had heard many a drunken conversation from nearby tables in restaurants he frequented during his travels about how members of these villages, both shinobi and civilians, were subject to heinous atrocities during the first day or two post the end of the war. Brigades of angry shinobi from Kiri and Iwa had barged into village after village in Oto and Ame, burned the houses and the crops, all the while wantonly killing, raping and plundering. When he enquired with the bartenders about the veracity of what the shinobi said, he had more often than not seen a suppressed smirk behind their casual denials of these incidents, as they assured him that all acts were carried out in accordance with the rules of the new world order set forth by the five Kages.
In this way, the journey of atonement had slowly transformed the embers of resentment into a raging inferno once again. It was the exact opposite of the outcome he had hoped to achieve, but the simultaneous presence of his overriding guilt had turned the bubbling anger into something much darker - disillusionment and cynicism.
That the Kage system was rotten to its core, that it thrived on this vicious cycle of exploiting groups of people through war was not a surprise to him. Of course, he knew that full well when he had decided to fight the dobe to overthrow the system in the hope of turning things for the better, where groups of people would no longer be threatened by extinction in one fell swoop. But what he knows now is that he was far too optimistic. Even if Naruto (or himself, if he had won) would be able to unite the entire shinobi world, human nature would not change, and such vile acts would be executed strategically so their news would never reach the Hokage.
His reverie is soon broken by a scream from the girl in front. It's the turn of the two stragglers in front of him to face the fate handed down to the vanquished - violence and abuse. One of the shinobi lifts up a spiked stick, and bashes the unconscious man again and again till a pool of blood surrounds his face.
The girl flings her frail body on the man's back, trembling in fear but pleading with anyone and everyone around to stop and let him go. Through her tears, she keeps repeating in a dialect native to Oto that while they had been forced to serve Kimimaro of the Sound Five, they had never thought ill of Kirigakure. The fact that Kimimaro's Kaguya Clan had fought Kiri to the point of annihilation, and that their ancestor Kaguya was a big part of the suffering caused by the Fourth Shinobi War should not make mere slaves of Oto equally responsible.
A hefty shinobi, wearing the hitai-ate of a jonin, steps forward and grabs the screaming girl by her hair, flinging her to the ground even as he takes out and raises a small broadsword. The girl, as if knowing its purpose, immediately quiets down and lets out a choking sound. It is clear that they will mutilate the man in front of her, and helplessness and defeat is written clearly in her eyes and soft whimpers.
Sasuke knows that he is far from being a hero, and he cannot save this cursed world from devouring itself. But the sight in front of him evokes a strong sense of deja vu. For this was how he had begged Itachi to stop as he was being forced into the Tsukuyomis repeatedly, and this was how he had felt while sobbing all alone in the rain, as he realized the true role Konoha played in forcing his aniki into committing that genocidal act.
His hand goes swiftly to his chokuto and there is a deafening clang as the broadsword meets its match instead of the soft flesh of the unconscious man. There is a gasp from the gathered crowd as the jonin grunts in pain to maintain the pressure on the rival blade, and he realizes that even a small let up can be potentially fatal.
"Who are you to interfere in the affairs of Kiri? We have been ordered by the Shinobi Alliance to eliminate the threat from any survivors with links to either the Akatsuki or the Otsutski."
Sasuke smirks, "Is that why the five of you have to gang up on a tiny girl and an unconscious man?"
A glint of recognition flashes through the jonin's eyes as he scans Sasuke's appearance. There were not a lot of shinobi who had lost an arm and yet would absorb a double handed attack from his broadsword.
Keeping his guard up, he decides to reply calmly. "Nonsense. These two POWs tried to escape, so we were just taking them back to their cells after disciplining them."
To his surprise, a tremendous pressure emanates from the chokuto in all directions, pushing his blade back even as the surrounding shinobi were knocked off their feet. Staggering back, he is somehow able to keep his balance by taking the support of his broadsword.
He looks up to see the intruder bending over carefully over the little girl, who seems to have passed out in fright. A tiny injection of chakra however, wakes her up immediately and she looks fearfully into his uncovered obsidian gaze.
To everyone's surprise, the shinobi quietly removes his cloak, revealing a hideous black mark on his only forearm.
The girl's eyes widen in shock, and then for the first time there is a flash of relief that washes over her tiny frame. Trembling, she rushes to embrace Sasuke, even as he quietly pats her head and mutters quiet soothings. Hearing the Oto dialect after so many months, her sobbings change into loud wails, and she grips him tighter.
The jonin's eyes turn grim, even as he nods to his subordinates. Having plundered the villages in Oto recently, he is aware that a curse mark grants the user superhuman strength, and it so happens that one such individual was in front of them. Maybe he had escaped the high security prisons back in Kiri or Iwa, but they were in a difficult situation.
From the encounter he knows that he and his team does not stand much of a chance against this man, when he could brush off one of his strikes without even utilizing the curse mark. Using a sound transmission he tells one of his subordinates to rush and get help from the elite shinobi who had just arrived in the town yesterday.
The subordinate nods and quickly shunshins away, but Sasuke pays no heed. He is thinking about the easiest way to save the child and at the same time, inflict no damage on the Kiri nin. He realizes that he will have to make a sacrifice, so he quietly whispers in the girl's ears.
"Little one, do you know of Manda?"
The girl's eyes widen. She remembers her dad telling her stories about the immortal snake that served the strongest of the Sannins, Orochimaru, and she nods quickly. Unable to suppress her curiosity, she asks in a small voice filled with awe and fear,
"Is Master going to summon the mighty Manda himself?"
Sasuke smiles inwardly. After years of dealing with shinobi, who are extremely manipulative, and fighting others while being obsessed with revenge and hatred, he barely remembers the innocence that accompanies a child. She must have been born after he had murdered Orochimaru, as otherwise she would have to undergo the compulsory re-education all Oto children had to undergo to become obedient citizens to the Kage. Since she still possesses that Kami-like attribute of pure innocence, he is thankful to have met her before she invariably faces the peak of cruelty in the shinobi world.
He holds her right shoulder and looked straight into her eyes while speaking. "Not quite, but I can summon Manda's relative. He will take you to a safe place with people who will give you food and look after your injuries. Can you trust me on that?"
He realizes that he is not really giving the girl a choice, as at the moment only he could save her and the injured man from a hellish future. But he remembers that as a kid after the massacre, the Sandaime Hokage had always decided his future for him, which made him extremely dissatisfied and eventually played a role in leading him astray. So he feels he at least owes her a choice, irrespective of the significance of her decision.
"I will trust Master."
"Good," Sasuke says, patting her head in satisfaction. Now it's time to execute his plan.
Gently extricating himself from the child, Sasuke gets up and faces the shinobi. Quite a lot of laborers have joined the crowd, not wanting to miss the chance of witnessing a real shinobi fight.
"I propose a deal. I will recompense you in exchange for the life of these two. Based on this curse mark, surely you know that this deal will have a higher value than beating a couple of slaves."
The jonin looks at Sasuke carefully, clearly suspicious, but decides to play along.
"Can you let us know your identity?"
"I am the master who used to serve Oto."
"Bullshit, there has been nobody at the helm since that Uchiha brat eliminated Orochimaru."
"Hn. Then maybe I will have to convince you another way."
The purplish chakra in Sasuke's hand erupts as he slams the ground, and an intricate summoning pattern becomes visible. Confused, the shinobi look towards the jonin, who sensing danger yells at everyone to step back.
The ground shakes dangerously, and in an instant a humongous crack appears out of which a giant blue snake with light-green eyes emerges. Towering above the trees and buildings, and comparable to the size of the nearby hills, he looks down majestically and coils around Sasuke, as if making a protective shield.
The jonin recalls his master mentioning the huge summon of Orochimaru when he fought the other Sannin to a stalemate during the famous Three-Way Deadlock, and beads of sweat cover his forehead in fear. He had not expected such a monster to be let loose from imprisonment, especially one who carried Orochimaru's will.
He realizes he will have to stall for time till the reinforcements arrive, even if it means pretending to accept this man's terms.
Sasuke grabs the little girl's hand, who is wide-eyed in awe and wonder. Aoda coils around their immediate vicinity until his gigantic head is level with Sasuke.
"Sasuke-sama, it has been so long. What happened to your left arm?" He hisses angrily. As the Oto dialect is based on the communication with snakes, only the little girl is able to understand.
"It's a long story, Aoda. Let's say I gave it up for this new era. But this isn't the time for catching up - I summoned you today to help this little one and her friend."
"Of course, your wish is my command."
Sasuke gave a small, rare smile as he caressed Aoda's snout. Loyalty was a rare quality to come by, and he always felt exceedingly grateful to Aoda and Garuda for going through life with him through thick and thin, often without complaints.
"Master Sasuke-sama, will Aoda-san help Jirobo too?"
The little girl's trembling voice brings Sasuke back to his senses as he looks down at her. She appears to be highly intelligent, having picked up both his and his summon's names just from their conversation.
"Yes, he will. But first I want you to listen to Aoda. He will take you to a man called Jugo and a woman called Karin. Jugo was Kimimaro's friend, so he and Karin will take care of you and Jirobo."
The little girl nods jerkily, eyes filled with tears as she climbs hesitantly into Aoda's jaw, but she is lucky to have just entered safety just before a triage of kunai fly and hit the very spot she was standing.
Sasuke whirls around. He hadn't sensed his opponent's sneak attack, which meant that some strong shinobi had been brought in as reinforcements.
Tch, how annoying, he thinks, as he contemplates whether to turn the Sharingan on. Not wanting to get recognized immediately, however, he decides against it for now.
But he realizes that Jirobo, who is a little distance away, is in big danger. So he opens his left eye, and immediately, chakra signatures all around flood him. The Kiri nin have all assumed positions surrounding his field of view, but there are three distinct chakra signatures which seem familiar.
At that moment, a voice sounding much like a wild dog growls in his direction.
"Are you the shinobi from Oto causing trouble here?"
Simultaneously a huge swarm of bees surround Jirobo's body, and Sasuke can feel Aoda getting increasingly agitated, being in the presence of two tamers of living beasts.
But he knows who they are, having been part of the same generation as a genin, and being on the same side for a short while during the Fourth Shinobi War.
Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame.
Shino adds quietly. "You do know the new rules of the Shinobi alliance, right? If you surrender without a fight, you will be treated well and with respect."
Smiling inwardly, Sasuke knows from the past year about the hypocrisy of said rules. Although couched in humane and pleasing language about treating enemies with respect and dignity, the true intention is to completely dominate without any resistance. All of the rules, at least for the vanquished shinobi of Ame and Oto, meant good treatment if they quietly acquiesced to a life of captivity in prison. But the so-called "corrective measures", which arose if there was the slightest hint of retaliation, involved the usual beatings and torture, both physical and psychological, just as he had seen happen to the little girl and Jirobo.
So he throws his arms up as if he realizes the futility of his attempt. "You don't have to be bothered. I surrender."
"Sasuke-sama!" Aoda exclaims through a voice transmission.
"Stay still, Aoda, and don't forget my command." Sasuke replies, quietly. He knows he has to walk a tightrope for these two to be able to escape.
For some reason, he feels like somebody else is watching his every action very closely.
Shino immediately flashes behind him and binds his lone arm to his waist and confiscates his chokuto. With a broad smile, Kiba nods and playfully slaps the Kiri jonin's shoulder and guffaws.
"Well, there you go, friend. He's all yours now."
Turning around to Sasuke, he asks genially. "And you! Give back the other prisoner who's hiding in your summon's mouth."
Pretending to grimace, Sasuke lowers his head and mutters, "I can do that. But snakes can't hear too clearly unless I am close to them."
Sensing something is off, Shino looks at Kiba, who nods in understanding. He maintains his smile as Sasuke feels the chokuto blade on his neck.
"Any tricks, and you won't be breathing to see its effects."
"I understand."
Shino sheathes the chokuto, and Sasuke is marched upto Aoda.
"Open your mouth after making sure the little one is hidden, Aoda." Sasuke whispers in the Oto dialect.
When Aoda bares its fangs, Shino instinctively steps back with a curse. That's the chance Sasuke needs. Gathering chakra into his feet, he leaps forward, entering Aoda's mouth smoothly. Aoda lifts his head up, and looks down imperiously at the shinobi gathered there.
The Kiri jonin is incensed, and yells at his fellow comrades to attack. Of course, Sasuke knows they are all targeting the unconscious Jirobo. Shino and Kiba, on the other hand, are communicating silently, as if they are in the midst of a debate.
"Go now, Aoda. Just make sure Orochimaru is not there with Jugo and Karin before both of their wounds are taken care of."
With that warning, Sasuke's left eye is revealed, and there is a blinding purple flash of light.
Amenotejikara.
The swarm of bees slightly disperse as Jirobo's body disappears and is instead replaced by the standing body of the Oto nin. Aoda, having received the signal, immediately disappears into the ground.
Five kunais aimed at Jirobo's heart and face stop magically in mid-air just before hitting their target, and they tremble in place before being scattered outwards like toothpicks by an invisible force.
Everyone stares agape at the purple tomoes with a swirling, spotted pattern, which looks highly incongruous with the other, more normal, obsidian eye.
But they quickly come to their senses as they finally recognize the person they had been fighting. Immediately the murmurings start in the crowd.
"Sasuke Uchiha! What is he doing here?"
"They say he defeated a thousand shinobi at the Coliseum all by himself. Did our shinobi pick a fight with this monster?"
"They say he even fought the strongest Hokage candidate Naruto Uzumaki to a draw!"
Brushing off the dust from his goggles, Shino looks sheepishly at Sasuke as he goes to untie his hand and return his chokuto.
"Sorry about that - we had no idea you would be wandering around here, otherwise we wouldn't have interfered."
Kiba, on the other hand, gives a short scowl and barks out, "Yep - you're lucky Hinata figured your identity out when you entered the snake and told us to play along. Who knows where this could have otherwise gone?"
Sasuke nods in acknowledgement, although Kiba's brash tone grated on his nerves. It was taking all the respect he had for Naruto and Sakura to maintain his restraint.
"I would like to thank the Hyuuga for her role in this then."
Seeing that Sasuke was ignoring him, Kiba was slowly starting to get angry, and Akamaru, who had suddenly appeared behind him, let out a low growl. Shino started to restrain Kiba's hand as if to prevent the confrontation which was eventually coming, but Kiba shouted brashly.
"You bastard. Do you think you deserve to talk to Hinata? Just because Kakashi-sama let you go doesn't mean that we in Konoha have forgotten, or forgiven."
Sasuke sighs softly, as he finds the whole situation even slightly amusing. If this interaction would have been a day before his imprisonment, he would have crushed Kiba without thinking twice. But being left to his own contemplation and being able to reflect on his sins for months in prison and during the journey has made him look at life differently. Even if Kiba's attitude is bad, its impact extended only so much.
On the other hand, Sasuke knows about the albatross he will always have to carry - his actions have resulted in tangible effects on the lives of innocent people, and he has tolerated the yells, slaps and insults from families grieving permanent injuries or deaths of close ones which relate to him or his clan in some way. Of course, when people in bad faith berated someone dear to him, like Itachi or insulted his Kaa-san, he would retaliate, mostly with cognitive genjutsus. But right now, he in no way wants to harm Kiba for being a little arrogant.
Just as he is about to excuse himself out of this situation, his instincts scream for him to dodge, and a flurry of shuriken adorn the area he had just been standing in. He is lucky to have had the Rinnegan open to sense the exact direction he was attacked from.
He can see that the Kiri jonin is seething, but there is also a nasty smile on his face.
"You might be the infamous Uchiha, but have you forgotten your bargain with me?"
"I have not."
"Then how do you plan on paying for the loss of those two dangerous prisoners of Kiri? Or do you want to escalate this to the Mizukage?"
Sasuke grimaced. He had planned on using the element of surprise from his Rinnegan jutsu to shunshin away after saving the two POWs, but the appearance of Kiba and Shino had poured cold water on that plan. He has basically enough money to survive frugally on his travels, which was nowhere enough to pay for any transaction.
Kiba and Shino are smirking, but Sasuke barely looks at them as he confidently replies,
"Name your price."
The jonin's grin widens and he raises up 4 fingers. "400,000 ryos should do it." There are gasps from the crowd. 400,000 ryos is almost the cost of two A-rank missions, and would take an average shinobi more than a year to earn.
Hearing this Kiba immediately guffaws, but a sudden, silent thud knocks the air out of him, as he writhes in pain, gasping for air. The attack is so suppressed that nobody bar Sasuke actually felt it, and he turns to notice the presence of the final member of Team 8.
Hinata Hyuuga, the heiress of the mighty Hyuuga clan. Wearing a simple, form-fitting kimono-style dress, her features exude a feminine grace more appropriate for an aristocratic lady than a kunoichi. The Land of Fire emblem is proudly emblazoned on her attire near the shoulder, and her hitai-ate has its trademark place around her neck.
But what strikes Sasuke about her appearance is the darkness and deep pain residing within those lavender eyes, and he flinches slightly as he senses the highly turbulent chakra masked behind her current facade.
Knowing about her pivotal role in the war, he had assumed that naturally she would no longer be doing shinobi missions after the victory celebrations in Konoha, and that she would be trained for the position of clan head. Just like the dobe, who was training for the position of Hokage, and Sakura, who was training to replace Tsunade as the chief medic in the village.
Talking of the dobe, Sasuke inwardly cringes as he remembers all the times he would visit his jail cell and go on and on about how to get Hinata or Sakura to eat lunch with him. Needless to say, their one-sided conversations would often end on this topic - Naruto would spend insane amounts of time explaining his liking for and encounters with both these girls and Sasuke would chase him out of the visiting room eventually.
But the scars and bruises on her face and exposed arms meant that was not the case, and she was instead taking missions regularly. Indeed, that made the Hyuuga in front of him seem far more complex than the nervous, bashful girl Naruto had described repeatedly.
"It's not good manners to laugh at others' misfortune, Kiba-kun. Especially if that person is Uchiha-san," comes her soft, mellifluous voice, as she looks apologetically in Sasuke's direction.
"Ouch- what was that for, Hinata?" Kiba cries out. Akamaru barks playfully, and Hinata gives its head a loving pat.
"We all owe Uchiha-san a great debt of gratitude. Do I have to remind you both about it?" She continues scolding. Kiba starts muttering under his breath, and looks down in the opposite direction, as if he is avoiding eye contact.
Turning to Sasuke, she bows deeply and says softly, although her voice wavers slightly.
"I-I apologize for getting in your way, Uchiha-san. From what I have seen in this situation, w-we in Konoha would be happy to cover this amount."
Kiba and Shino look at each other indignantly and immediately start protesting, while Sasuke, having had enough of this spectacle, shakes his head to show he does not need her help, nor her money.
Not even receiving an acknowledgement from Sasuke seems to dull the energy in her bright eyes, but she purses her lips and waits obediently for him to speak.
He ignores her and directs his question to the Kiri jonin instead.
"Can I pay it in installments to the Mizukage instead? I will need only a few months."
The jonin clicks his tongue in rehearsed annoyance. "Of course not. Who's to say you won't just disappear and avoid tracking by the nin of our village? Isn't that far more likely?"
"Then is there a way I can barter my work for money?" Sasuke grits his teeth while speaking. Somehow he feels that he is falling right into a trap.
A strange glint is seen in the jonin's eyes as he nods and immediately takes out a scroll with a quill.
"In that case, I would suggest becoming a contract shinobi with the Mizukage. You are currently unaffiliated to any hidden village, right? Then if you sign here, you can do the Mizukage's personal missions on Kiri's behalf for two years. That should cover the payment."
Sasuke remembers Kakashi showing him one the few post-war innovations, a scroll with a jutsu that activates upon a person signing upon it. One of Yuhi Kurenai's brainchilds, it is a simpler version of a contract summon but between two humans, where one is bound to serve the Shinobi alliance for a fixed period of time as community service for a crime or to pay off one's debt. It enshrines both the basic rights of the signer and signee so that there can be no exploitation beyond what is agreed.
Of course, he knows that this is indentured servitude with glorified language, and as the hidden villages have started making their own contracts outside of the Shinobi alliance, the terms within them have become far more vague. 'Mizukage's personal missions?' That's clearly unacceptable to him.
He weighs the possibility of running, but his pride is also increasingly telling him to relax the policy of non-violence one time to get out of this mess.
Before he can decide, however, Hinata's voice is heard again.
"Kurenai-sensei's contract sheets are not meant for shinobis like you, Uchiha-san. Y-you will lose your freedoms, and I am certain that Naruto-kun will never accept that. P-please, allow the Hyuuga clan to show gratitude to the Uchiha clan by taking up the mantle for this payment."
Sasuke's irritation with both the jonin and Team 8 is at its peak, especially because Hinata has brought up his clan in relation to the Hyuuga clan.
Ever since Danzo told him of the Leaf's betrayal of the Uchiha clan, he has long wondered about the role of the other clans in the massacre, particularly the Hyuugas. With their Byakugan capable of 360 degree tracking, and the fact that they were located right by the Uchiha compound, there was no way that some of their members on guard that night had not known about the sudden extinguishing of chakra from thousands of people in an instant.
In fact, ever since Naruto mentioned in passing that the Sandaime Hokage had employed a whole unit of ANBU to spy on the Uchiha the days before the massacre, he has always suspected that the Hyuuga members in this unit had known about the massacre taking place, but chose to turn a blind eye to it.
His eyes harden, and he finally decides to give in to his violent impulses. The red tomoes swirl in his right eye, and the entire crowd loses consciousness, barring two individuals - the jonin and Hinata.
Trembling and taken aback, Hinata tries to turn around and run, but she finds her body firmly rooted in place by an almost invisible force. To her surprise, however, the Kiri jonin has collapsed on the ground, yelling in pain and coughing blood. Sasuke, on the other hand, has walked over to her, mismatched eyes flashing with a dangerous glint.
"Are you claiming that your clan is grateful to the Uchihas, Hyuuga?"
Unable to speak under the overwhelming pressure she feels, Hinata can only nod in agreement. But it seems that it only agitates Sasuke further.
His Sharingan changes into a six-pointed star pattern, and the Kiri nin utters a long, shrill scream, like he has been stabbed by a thousand blades, before becoming silent while convulsing repeatedly.
Hinata is terrified, but watching the psychological cruelty displayed in front of her activates her Byakugan. She suddenly feels control over her movements again, and she rushes to stand in front of the jonin before Sasuke can torture him again.
"Please, Uchiha-san! I-I deeply apologize if I have offended you by mentioning our clans. I just wanted to help out in case you didn't have the money to pay upfront. This money is mine, my clan has no association with it."
Hearing this, Sasuke calms down somewhat. He realizes that whatever he thinks of the Hyuugas, he cannot mete out historical punishment to Hinata, who has no possible relation to what happened that fateful night. Doing so would be antithetical to everything he had ever fought for.
But seeing her strength firsthand, where she breaks his control over her body using only her kekkei-genkai makes a devious idea enter his mind, and he cannot help but see it through.
The jonin stops convulsing and his breathing stablizes. Hinata breathes a sigh of relief. But she becomes tense again as she turns around to see Sasuke staring her down, a curious smirk on his face. Embarrassment begins to creep onto her pretty face.
"Is there anything wrong with me, Uchiha-san?"
"Why would you even consider using your money on me, Hyuuga-hime?"
Hinata's face turns bright red when she hears Sasuke's teasing tone and over-the-top suffix, but she quickly regains her composure and softly says,
"Naruto-kun would want me to help you, Uchiha-san. And please don't call me that."
Sasuke pretends to contemplate what she had just said, and finally nods in agreement. He would never take somebody else's money, but what she says is the most expedient way to avoid trouble with the Mizukage. More importantly, he for some reason is intrigued by her.
"I will accept your offer, but only as a loan. And that includes two conditions."
Hinata bows her head, happy that Sasuke had finally seen the utility of her offer. She cannot imagine Sasuke will have conditions that will be hard to meet.
"Firstly, I will accompany your team till I have paid you back with interest. Of course, you can expect me to not interfere with the personal communication and interactions you have as a team."
Having considered this a possibility, Hinata immediately acquiesces.
"I-It would be an honor to have Uchiha-san grace our team with his presence."
"And secondly, I have a name. I would appreciate it if you called me Sasuke, instead of dragging my clan name in every time. For my part, I will also call you by your fair name."
Sasuke smirks as he watches Hinata's big, innocent eyes change from a look of expectation to that of embarrassment before she nods slightly.
Satisfied, he waves his hand, and the world comes back to life. Everyone in the crowd regains their senses, and the Kiri jonin wakes up, terrified, only to find Sasuke extending his lone hand to help him get up.
"Hinata-san has very kindly agreed to pay the requisite compensation on my behalf, so we have a deal."
Kiba and Shino's jaws drop as they hear in detail the agreement Hinata has struck with Sasuke, including how they are to treat him as an honored guest. Secretly, they feel certain that the mere presence of the Uchiha will mean their team will face far more danger, but they also know from experience that it is hard to get Hinata to backtrack once she makes a promise.
The transaction with the Kiri nin is soon settled, and Kiba is as upset at having Sasuke in their group as Akamaru is with his Neko cat. Shino masks his emotions much better, but Hinata can sense the tension every time Sasuke joins them for a meal. Sasuke, on the other hand, barely seems to notice these two and mostly communicates in short syllables with her.
So it is a relief when an urgent message from Kakashi arrives one evening, requesting team 8 to visit the village of Iwagakure as the emissaries of the Hokage at the Phoenix festival. Hinata's lavender eyes beam with excitement as she narrates the news and the fact that this will be her first time visiting the Land of Rocks. The others too are excited that this seems to be a mission with hardly any danger.
What she doesn't notice is the slight darkening of Sasuke's gaze as he hears of the mission. Shaking his head slightly, he realizes that Kakashi, who has surely heard of his association with team 8, is indirectly sending him to look into matters within the Stone village. From rumors he had heard since he started his journey, Iwa was in a period of turmoil, with the fence-sitter Ohnoki finally renouncing his position and causing a civil war to ensue, ultimately resulting in his grand-daughter taking up the mantle of Tsuchikage.
Kakshi's intentions are clear, but Sasuke isn't sure why the Hyuugas had assented to let their heiress go to a village that has a history of literally contracting the Akatsuki to get a hold of the kekkei-genkai of other clans. There was something brewing under the surface in Konoha's internal as well as external politics, and somehow he felt that he was missing the source of a huge divide within and between the seemingly unified Kage-led villages.
His Rinnegan twitched in annoyance. It seems like fate too wanted him to be involved in the world of shinobi again.