Day 25
- I Trust You -
Hyuuga Hinata, ex-heiress of the prestigious Hyuuga clan homed in Konoha, yielder of the Byakugan and previous, temporary Konoha Ambassador stationed in Sun, has been missing for five days.
Suna, understandably, does not care. Not the people, that is; Suna (as in its leaders — as in its shinobi forces and upstanding Kazekage) cares deeply, but its citizens are more concerned with the disappearance of Zaiaku. His face has not been seen for an equal amount of days, and conspiracy that the Konoha ninjas hired to support the Kazekage have taken him somewhere far away runs amok in the streets.
Uchiha Sasuke is equally bothered by the disappearance of Zaiaku.
It takes no genius to realize that bastard took Hinata. Swiped her right from under his nose. While he was acting like some jealous child with the Kazekage, Zaiaku was in the process of hindering her and carrying her off to who knows where — in Suna — or anywhere in the Land of Wind — or somewhere far, far away in the shinobi world. Five days grants a long travel distance, and he's none the wiser on where she could be because that fucker isn't here!
Five days, and with every passing hour, their efforts become more in vain.
Konoha had sent their best tracking team: Team 8, short of one member — the very person they're trying to find. Suna nin also dedicate their time to searching the highs and lows of Suna and the outstretching sands beyond their village. Even Hyuuga Hanabi has come, demanding to be a part of the search-and-rescue efforts for her sister.
A Hyuugas eyes, an Inuzuka's nose, and an Aburame's fleet of insects — and still, five days of nothing. Not a scent. A strand of hair. A sign of life.
It is as if Hyuuga Hinata never existed in the first place.
...
When Garuda comes on the evening of the fifth night, there is nothing in his great talons, and his sharp eyes tell of another fruitless search. The mighty swing of his wings blows sand into Sasuke's cloak, which is already caked in sand and warm from the dying sunlight. He lands, beak bowed, not at all happy to bring nothing to his master. Still, Sasuke rests his hand on the great hawk's crown, quietly grateful for his continued efforts.
"Go to Suna," he tells him. "If they have any updates, bring it to me."
Garuda croons, then spreads his wings, lifting back into the sky. He disappears from sight quickly, and the sands settle into a quiet still. The air is cool, but the ground is warm, and the uneven distribution of temperatures biting at Sasuke's senses makes a distant, small part of his brain wish he was back in the village, sheltered. But he will only return when Hinata is safe and secure, and no weather nor drastic leaps in temperature will discourage his determination.
Turning back, he finds Hanabi a few meters away. The sandy grounds provide no support for tents, nor is there any lumber or brush around to start a small bonfire. Their camp is a collection of bedrolls and packs full of quick meals and water and lotions to protect their skin from the bearing sun. It is light, meant for easy and quick travel. They'll be stationed here until dawn, and then they're back to searching the desert.
Hanabi has spent the majority of the day with her byakugan activated. She only ever blinks it off to save chakra when she finds it absolutely necessary, but Sasuke can see the wear of it on her body. There are bags under her eyes, and she is sluggish when she moves. When he comes down the small hill, she pauses in eating her small portion of rice.
"Anything?"
Her voice is uplifting, used to the many other reports from Garuda that left them clueless and empty handed. This one is no different, and Sasuke sits across from her, watching the veins around her eyes protrude before ebbing away almost instantly. She rubs her fingers between her brows, probably struck by a headache.
Before now, Sasuke's interactions with Hanabi have been limited. He mostly knows her through stories from Hinata, telling of a spirited, energetic girl who talks more than she breathes.
This girl before him is nothing like that.
They eat as the sun sets and the sky darkens, revealing stars above their heads. Hanabi makes no effort to unroll her bed. Byakugan flares up, her eyes pinch in pain, and then she groans into her hands as another headache washes through her skull. Sasuke lifts from his own bedroll and undo the knot around hers, spreading it out. He then brings medicine out of his bag and her half-empty bottle from hers.
"Come here." She does, sitting on her unrolled bed without a word. "Take this."
She cups her hand so he can drop two pills into her palm, and she swallows them and water.
"Go to bed," he tells her, standing.
She lies back, but her eyes do not close. "We should be moving."
A sentiment Sasuke shares, but keeps locked in the back of his throat. "If you're sleep-deprived, you'll be nothing but a hindrance."
Hanabi grits her teeth, but knows he's right. She rolls on her side and squeezes her eyes shut like an angry child, and Sasuke smiles faintly as he returns to his roll.
"How are you so calm?" is the quiet question that leaves her motionless form five minutes later. The hill protects them from the wind, so it is easy to hear her. "We don't know where she is. My sister could be dead."
"She's not dead," Sasuke says.
Slowly, Hanabi turns over to meet his eye. "You're not screaming. You're not tearing through the desert. You're not threatening anybody." Her brows furrow, realizing the only person he would be able to threaten is her — and what would he threaten her for? "Are you not angry?"
Somehow, a spark of amusement lifts in his chest. "I am."
"You don't act like you are."
It's hard to understand what she means. All he feels is anger. He tastes it on his tongue. He feels it thrumming in his ears. The only reason he's not burning the sky is because Uchiha Sasuke is used to anger. He knows what to do with it. He can go to sleep angry because he's been doing it for his entire life — and when he wakes up, it's still there, and it festers inside until he lets it out.
"When we find her," he eventually says, "and we know she's safe . . . it will come out then."
Hanabi shifts, curling up. She understands, and she lets herself fall asleep knowing that this man will not rest until her sister is safe.
And she's right.
He won't.
...
Garuda comes right as the sun touches the horizon, dropping a Konoha forehead protector between Sasuke's feet. Choking, Hanabi brings it to her chest, then inspects it, seeing no blood, no signs of ruin. They pack up within the minute, and then they both climb onto the great hawk's back. Garuda must flap his wings with extra effort to carry the added weight of Hanabi, but he does so diligently, soaring through the pale sky, taking them to where he found Hinata's forehead protector.
...
It is easy to see her dark hair against the pale gold of the dunes. Forty-eight kilometers west of Suna, Hinata is fighting against the wind, her red shoulders pushed back, her spine arched and boney and exposed, her chest barely covered by the tattered leftovers of her shirt — the same shirt she wore on the day she went missing. When Garuda swoops down, Hanabi shrieks, hands locked over her mouth, for the sunburnt expansion of her calves suddenly ends where it shouldn't.
Had they cut her legs off?
Garuda caws when Sasuke's rage flares. The hawk lands, talons barely finding the sand by the time Hanabi leaps from his back. Her byakugan flares, and she cries in relief right as Sasuke gets close enough to see that Hinata's legs are only partly covered by sand. He also sees, at the same time, a man trapped under her body, his face buried out of view.
Hinata sees his shadow and raises her chin, finding him through the white sunlight. Her lips are beige and rough, parting only enough for him to see a glint of teeth. She lifts, smiling, only to go still when she spots Hanabi next to him. Her face turns grave, then angry, and she gets back on top of the man like a lion protecting his kill.
"Let me go," she hisses; then, louder, with her arched to the sky: "LET ME GO!"
By instinct, her hand swipes to her thigh, where her Kumasi holder would normally be. There's nothing there, so she uses her nails instead, clawing them down her neck. Blood isn't drawn — not yet. But she tears at the skin, desperate, and they know why.
She thinks she's in a genjutsu. She's trying to get out.
"Sister!" Hanabi calls. "Sister, we're real!"
"You're not here!" Hinata yells. "I know what you're doing. Let me out!"
Sasuke holds Hanabi's arm, keeping her from running to her sister. With the state that she's in, there's no way Hinata will let them near her or whoever is beneath her.
"I'll get her," he says.
Hanabi's mouth is open wide, with no words or noise leaving her. Sasuke comes closer, and when Hinata jumps, alert, and stares at him, his mangekyo sharingan activates, sending her into his own, real genjutsu. In an instant, she falls to the side. Hanabi runs her her, lifting her from the ground. Sasuke uses the side of his foot to kick the man over, recognizing the face immediately.
Razutshi: Zaiaku's right-hand.
"She's dehydrated," Hanabi mutters, "and severely sun-burnt." Her burning kekkei genkai turns to her hands, squinting. "And something's wrong with her wrist."
"Get her on Garuda." Sasuke sneers down at Razutshi, then turns to his summon. "We're leaving."
With his help, Hanabi gets Hinata on Garuda's back, positioning her so that her sister's torso leans into her body, readying her for the unrelenting ride to come. Sasuke climbs behind Garuda's head, but before they shoot off into the sky, Hanabi takes a final look at Razutshi's body lying across the sand.
"We're leaving him?" she asks.
Over his shoulder, Sasuke inspects the rustic red of Hinata's skin and the swelling of her wrist. "He can die for all I care."
Hanabi swallows. "She was protecting him," she says. "She wants him alive."
Sasuke sees no good reason to keep one of Zaiaku's goons alive, but he huffs and slides off Garuda's back, lifting up Razutshi's slim body with ease and hoisting him over his shoulder.
"If Garuda gets tired," he tells Hanabi, "I'm throwing him off."
…
Thankfully, there is no need to throw anyone off, for Garuda is able to reach Suna before the sun can reach the apex of the sky. They land on the steps of Kazekage Tower, the great hawk lowering his body so that they can slip off with ease. The stir of wings and Hanabi's frantic voice brings staff to the door, opening it wide. Kankuro, seeing Hinata's unconscious form being gently carried down, comes to help support her. He calls for Temari, and she rushes off to inform the medic nin to get ready for Hinata and Razutshi's arrival. Sasuke watches both bodies get carried off. He stays next to Garuda, caressing his beak, quietly thanking him for the exhausting flight from the middle of nowhere to Suna with four people on his back.
He stays until the panic quiets. Staff fumble around, passing word to each other in the halls that Hyuuga Hinata has been found, but is severely sunburnt and looks a few pounds underweight. They whisper theories about what Zaiaku could have done to her, but when they spot Sasuke staring at them, they quickly shut their mouths and hurry along.
When it's smooth, almost peaceful — that is when Sasuke goes inside, down the hallway, into the medical office. The head medic nin is fretting over Razutshi, so Sasuke comes to Hinata's side. She's belly down on the bed, naked, a thin sheet covering her lower body so that her burnt skin can breathe. Aloe vera lotion has been rubbed along her shoulders and backs, down the lengths of her arms and carefully around her face. An IV drip is stuck in the back of her hand, slowly working towards hydrating her. Her left wrist is wrapped up, hiding the ugly swell that he had tried not to focus on for too long.
Soon, the medic comes to join him. "It will take some time," she says, "but she'll recover. I only worry about her skin."
Sasuke remembers a time where he used to spend all day outside, running around. His mother would smother him in aloe vera, and his face would often darken a few shades, tanner than the pale skin of his belly or feet. She would tell him horror stories about blisters and skin cancer that he never really paid attention to — but now, when it's Hinata, her warnings replay in his head.
"I couldn't tell you when she'll wake up," the medic says.
"She's under genjutsu," he explains.
Her face scrunches up. "Poor thing."
"No. I'm the one who put her in it."
At that, the medic nin gives him a strange look, then slowly turns back to her desk. "Wake her soon. I have some questions to ask her about her diet."
A logical reason, of course, but Sasuke waits another twenty minutes, as if that short amount of time would be enough for the lotion to ease some pain from her body. When he wakes her, after all, it will be no peaceful reality for her.
...
He finds her in the Uchiha bamboo forest, sitting along that bench that they used to always go to. When she sees him, she smiles and moves over to give him room to join her.
Sasuke stays standing. "You're under genjutsu."
She blinks, looking around. "Oh."
"You escaped. We found you and brought you back."
"Did you put me under?" she asks.
"I had to. You nearly attacked your sister."
Her wide eyes glitter, surprised, and then she settles back against the bench. It is a little strange to see this Hinata — the grown-up one — sitting here. In reality, this bench and this bamboo forest are gone. This is a sight only a genjutsu or a dream can create, so Sasuke stands there, taking it in while he can.
"When you bring me out," she whispers, "I'll be back in Suna? You're not tricking me?"
What had Zaiaku done to her to make her think this is a trick? Fire hisses in the back of his throat, along with his crackling chakra, and the genjutsu wavers, the color turning mute, the song of birds and the wind dying on the spot.
"When you wake up, your team will be there to see you. And your sister." He leans over to touch her left wrist, un-sprained in the genjutsu. "I'll be there."
She stands with him, looking out at the fake world around them. "Alright," she says. "I believe you."
...
He pulls away, sharingan spinning rapidly.
A few moments later, Hinata's eyes crack open, and she lifts her head to inspect the medical office and the mattress beneath her. So that she does not have to strain her neck to look at him, Sasuke crouches next to the bed, and she smiles and groans as the pain of her injuries suddenly shoots through her system.
"This has happened before," she grits out. "I wasn't expecting for it to happen again."
She shifts, hair getting in her face and sticking to the lotion on her back. Sasuke takes a hair tie off the bedside table and gently collects her hair between his hands, looping the tie around it before moving it to the side. The medic-nin comes over with a clipboard in hand, asking her about symptoms and medical history and diet, writing every answer down in a scratchy handwriting. Eventually, after explaining Hinata's condition and how her recovery may take a few days, the medic returns to her desk.
Hinata turns her head towards the neighboring bed, the white curtain drawn so she cannot see who lies behind it. But, based on the squint of her eye, she has a guest.
"Is Razutshi alive?" she asks.
Sasuke scoffs, "Unfortunately."
"He helped me escape," she explains. "When he wakes, he'll be able to tell you the location of Zaiaku's base." Her stern face turns to him, and he's momentarily distracted by the bandage on her forehead. "There were others there, Sasuke. I couldn't help them."
"You were held somewhere?"
"Somewhere underground. There were levels, and each floor must have had fifty or so cellars. Some had people inside, I think."
She was held captive in a cellar. If this room were a genjutsu, the floor would catch on fire and the windows would shatter into hundreds of pieces.
Sasuke says no more, balling up his rage and sticking it between his ribs. The door opens, and in spills Team 8 and Hanabi, who flood around the bed, crying in relief. He slips away from them, letting Hinata enjoy their company. He trudges down the hall and up the stairs and knocks once on the Kazekage's office door, not even waiting to be called inside before he pushes through.
"She's awake," he tells him, towering over the desk with his sand-caked cape still wrapped around him and the lingering smell of aloe vera floating around his form. He comes because it is his duty to keep the Kazekage up-to-date on Hinata's progress; and, even if he doesn't like it, Gaara does have the right to know beyond that. He was the one who contacted Konoha for aid and got most of his shinobi forces onto the search-and-rescue mission. "Razutshi is still unconscious."
Gaara brings out a scroll, unrolling it to reveal a map, which he then turns so that Sasuke can analyze it properly. There is Suna at the southern end of the Land of Wind, and then to the west is a small, black X.
"He was temporarily conscious when he was first brought in," Gaara explains, tapping the X with his index finger. "He was able to disclose the location of where Zaiaku is. I'll call a meeting in an hour to detail what our next steps forward will be."
Sasuke nods. "I'll get preparations in order."
"Uchiha." Gaara nudges his head towards the windows behind him, and Sasuke looks out at the village, at the cliffs. "From here on, any word or information about Zaiaku must be confidential. If word gets out that shinobi are being sent to track him down and detain him, riots will erupt."
"Detain?" Getting that fucker locked up was the last thing on Sasuke's mind.
Gaara's gaze is even, but his mouth is in a firm line. "Detained," he confirms. "We want him alive."
Suna wants him alive. The Kazekage wants him alive.
Sasuke is not we.
"Do you understand?"
No. But he can't disagree, or he'll potentially be written off this mission; so, stiffly, Sasuke nods and leaves. He goes to the room he hasn't been in since Hinata's disappearance and prepares his kunai, his sword.
...
An hour later, Team 8 and Sasuke and a few Suna jonin are gathered and detailed on the track-and-detain mission that will start at dawn the next day. They are to infiltrate the underground base, detaining Zaiaku and any person working with him while also searching the cellars for any prisoners. Emphasis is put heavily on Zaiaku being brought back alive so that they can interrogate him and reveal his schemes and wrongdoings to the citizens of Suna.
Sasuke stays with Hinata that night, resting his head next to hers and relaxing to her peaceful breaths. If she ever moves, he jolts awake, making sure that one of Zaiaku's nightmares isn't attacking her vulnerable, slumbering mind. Throughout the night, he stays alert, and he's the first to show up at the rendezvous point when the gray sky slowly turns blue.
The group leaves, only to find a growing crowd of citizens at the steps of the tower. Someone must have leaked the information, for they rally against Zaiaku's detainment, confident that he's an innocent man that the Kazekage is purposefully slandering to silence him. They leave with curses and insults hitting their backs, and Kiba digs at his ears, not thrilled at the idea of coming back to a bigger and angrier crowd.
...
They find the bunker with ease, pushing in with force and detaining anyone who attempts to stop them. Shino's beetles follow anyone who tries to run away, and Kiba and Akamaru keep guard of the main exit, where all the captured goons are held as forces slowly go through each level, rescuing innocent prisoners and reporting on anything they deem as evidence against Zaiaku.
Sasuke reaches the bottom floor of the bunker. It's dark, only lit by a few torches, and it smells of mildew and rot. The cellars are empty, with most of their doors shut and locked. Soon, however, he comes across an open cellar, and he approaches carefully, mangekyo spinning, casting a dim, red glow across the stone walls.
Inside, sat on the floor with his legs crossed, as if he's a prisoner, himself, is Zaiaku. He does not run when Sasuke comes across him, both of his eyes activated and glaring at him through the dark. He does not panic or even try to defend himself from any sort of attack that Sasuke could deliver at any moment. Zaiaku sits there patiently, like someone waiting at the dentist to be called on.
"Uchiha Sasuke, I presume." Even his voice is level. Nonchalant. Unbothered. "It was only a matter of time before we met. Razutshi told me about you a week or so ago. Mentioned how odd it was to see an Uchiha all the way in Suna." Zaiaku smiles in that sort of political fashion. It's a cool smile meant to make a statement — not one of joy or happiness. "We both know why you're here."
Sasuke pushes the door of the cellar wide open, standing within it to give no escape. "You think it wise to provoke me?"
"I know why you're here," Zaiaku repeats, "and I know what the Kazekage told you. You can't kill me. Even if you wanted to."
"No," Sasuke says, "but I can hurt you."
"Only more fuel to Suna's fire. Though, of course, Suna is not your village. You wouldn't care about riots or any sort of thing, I suppose." With a sigh, Zaiaku stands, dusting himself off. "But your Hokage would, so I can only assume you'll act on your best behavior. Did you know this is the exact cell I held dear Hinata? How does that make you feel?"
Sasuke wonders if he wants to return to Suna with a broken leg and a bloody eye. Probably. As Zaiaku said, Suna would be hysterical and he was to bring an injured Zaiaku back.
Pity.
Snakes slither from Sasuke's sleeves, coiling around Zaiaku's legs, keeping him in place. With just a push, Zaiaku is on his back, blinking rapidly as Sasuke approaches.
"You master in genjutsu," he notes. "Then you must know about the myth that if a man dies while caught in a genjutsu, his next life will be plagued with the very illusions of that genjutsu."
"You don't scare me," Zaiaku mutters.
"The only issue is — with most genjutsu, if one is to experience pain, they can usually escape it. There is, of course, death through dehydration and starvation and such things. Long, tedious deaths." Sasuke stands with a leg on either side of Zaiaku, his snakes curling around his ankles. "I've perfected it, however. Even death cannot save you."
Zaiaku now struggles, but Sasuke grabs his jaw and shoves his skull against the stone floor, trapping him instantly in a genjutsu. His body turns still. The snakes full back, disappearing, and Sasuke sucks in, brings two fingers to his mouth, and blows a tornado of fire. Zaiaku's body shivers and jolts beneath him, but it is otherwise motionless. Burned flesh fills the air. The blast of fire does not stop until Zaiaku's face is melted off, bone and muscle steaming, hair either burned or charred. The only thing not completely ruined is his teeth, white, almost waxy.
When he's done, Sasuke lifts, throws the body over his shoulder, and makes his way to the exit.
He summons Garuda, hops on his back, and they fly to Suna. The crowd of protesters has grown, crying and shouting. When Garuda lands, Sasuke gets off and drops Zaiaku's corpse onto the stairs before the crowd. It is the bits of silver hair and the singed clothes that they recognize. Not the white teeth. Not the glistening muscle.
They shout, horrified, some hiding their eyes.
When Sasuke enters the tower, shutting the wails of Suna behind him, Temari looks ready to slap him. Kankuro rubs his hands down his face, exhausted.
Gaara, having witnessed it all, explains in a dull tone that he'll have to be punished for going against the Kazekage's wishes; but when a few Suna shinobi bring the corpse, he looks upon it, and he doesn't look displeased in the slightest.
...
It's an hour and forty minutes of Temair being the most pissed out of anyone — more pissed than the Kazekage, who will ultimately be the target of Suna's backlash because of Sasuke's actions. They write a message to Lord Gai, which he will deliver once he returns, and they determine a few necessary actions he will be required to do before he's (in one way or another) kicked out of Suna. Almost two hours of a firm, through speech, and then he's finally released.
Hinata is already long into the road of recovery, now able to sit with her back against the pillows. Her cheeks look full, and her skin, still red, looks a little less vibrant. He sits next to her and unwraps her wrist, carefully prodding it to see how it's healed. Then, he inspects the gash on her forehead, pleased with its progress.
With his cool fingers against her skin, Hinata says, "You weren't supposed to kill him."
So she's heard. Not that he's surprised. Her sister or teammates probably told her when he was getting chewed out by Temair. "I know."
"Suna will think Gaara assigned you to kill him."
"I know."
She huffs through her nose, not satisfied with his responses. He pumps some aloe vera into his palm before rubbing it along her face, careful to not get any in her eyes.
"They're making me give a public speech tomorrow to combat conspiracies." She laughs, and he smiles, for they both know how well that will turn out. Even if, by some miracle, Suna believes him, Sasuke has never been good at public announcements. "It was Temari's idea."
"She must be angry."
That's one way to describe it. Sasuke makes sure to get her neck next.
"I know one way to convince them." He finds her eye. "But it requires making private things public."
Hinata's shoulders lift and fall with a deep breath, and then she nods. "I trust you."
Normally, those words would ease any strain; but, for some reason, they bite at him, and he wipes lotion from his hand before taking hers, squeezing it perhaps a bit too forcefully.
"You shouldn't have left," he tells her. "You should have found me first."
Her guilty eyes fall. "I know."
"He could have done worse to you."
"I know."
"You'll be better soon," he says in a way that no one would have the room to contradict, "and then we're going back to Konoha. I'm bound to get my head chewed off by the Hokage. I'll be stuck with D-Ranks again — or no missions at all. But that doesn't matter. I'll stay home, and so will you. I'll keep you there. I won't let you leave." Her warm skin somehow heats up, and her eyes almost glow when she stares at him. "People might hear about the Kazekage. They might bother you about it, but we'll ignore it. No matter what, I won't let them bother you."
Her cheeks shimmer when the artificial light of the medical office bounces off the lotion. She shifts, then leans in, resting her head against his shoulder. Her quiet, gentle apology hurts his heart, so he rests his hand on the back of her neck and reminds himself that she's here, she's alive — he found her, and he brought her back.
...
There is a building across the way of Kazekage's tower. Its dome roof and terracotta walls doesn't exactly make it stand out from the rest of Suna's architecture, but its massive size is definitely noteworthy. From what Sasuke understands, public hearings and court cases are usually held here; and, sometimes, when the Kazekage has an important, public announcement to make, he does so here rather than at the tower.
The big room that can comfortably fit five-hundred now holds five-hundred and seventy-eight, and all of them are bothered, angry, and feel like the worst of injustices has been committed. Sasuke is given nothing but a stage, and if the people so wished for it, they could easily overtake it. But while they are an angry folk, he doubts any one of them is brave enough to come at him.
That morning, in a hot, crowded room, Sasuke tells the people of Suna that he went against the Kazekage's strict protocol and acted on his own judgment, killing Zaiaku without hesitation. Because of his personal relationship with Hyuuga Hinata, his rage overtook him; he was not, at any point, asked by the Kazekage to kill Zaiaku. These lines were injected into his mouth by Temari, who stands at the corner of the stage, glaring at him in a clear warning to not go beyond the talking points she had instructed him to give.
The crowd, obviously, is not pleased with this answer. They call out, not believing him. In their heads, the Kazekage is a deceitful man, and anyone who is defending him is equally a liar. It does not help that he is Uchiha Sasuke, traitor of Konoha. Who is he to garner their trust?
"Hyuuga Hinata was not the only one imprisoned," he continues over the shouts and yells. "We found others. Suna citizens. Your neighbors and brothers."
It had come from Razutshi's mouth. Zaiaku had been subjecting people to sleeping genjutsu, instilling fear and distrust towards the Kazekage — something that had never once happened until Zaiaku began to aim for the role of Kazekage. If anyone fought against him or were not affected by his nightmares, then he would lock them up and torture them in the same sense that he did Hinata. The rally against the Kazekage — the distrust — the rumors of his eventual betrayal — it all came from Zaiaku. A fear implanted into the dreams of Suna until it became reality for them.
The crowd is still distrustful, though a few seem to consider Sasuke's statements. Temari shakes her head, motioning him to wrap up his announcement. He is to apologize and to explain that he will be indefinitely banned from entering Suna once he leaves this afternoon.
But what should he apologize for?
He brought back Hinata.
He discovered Zaiaku's base and put an end to his schemes.
He revealed Zaiaku's ulterior motivations to all of Suna.
It's not his fault they're so brainwashed they can't tell fact from fiction.
"You think your Kazekage will abandon you?" The building quiets, disturbed. Most citizens cannot detect chakra like shinobi can — but his is wild and snapping, and they can feel it burn their faces. "Lord Gaara is a fool, and he is an idiot, but he is loyal to this village — even when it doesn't deserve such courtesy."
Temari yelps. "Enough, Uchiha!"
"He will throw out what gets in his way. Almost a two-year relationship with Hyuuga Hinata — only to throw away in a day — all because he is too stupid to love someone."
Temari cups her hands around her mouth. Kankuro, at the foot of the stage, slaps his hand over his face.
The crowd bristles.
"But he loves his people," Sasuke says. "He won't leave them. Not for a woman. Not for a bastard like your upstanding Zaiaku. Loyal to the very people who betrayed him." Just hearing himself talk about all of this — to people who don't have any business knowing, really — irks him. He huffs, and a few people back away, as if he'll turn into a dragon and blow fire at them like he did to Zaiaku. "If I were your Kazekage, I'd have left you all to rot. Consider yourselves lucky."
And, finally, he leaves.
Temari groans.
Kankuro is bellowing with laughter.
The crowd, for once, lets him leave in peace.
...
The Kazekage has a lot of gall. If Sasuke had enough patience, he would have listed all his grievances to the public in a fine, concentrated list.
Lord Gaara is annoying.
Lord Gaara has no pride.
Lord Gaara goes in and out of Hinata's room, and when he passes you in the hallway, he regards you like you're a decorative plant — nothing to be concerned about.
So fucking annoying.
Sasuke enters the room, and the sight of Hinata out of that bed, in her mission clothes, looking healthy and full and capable of traveling the three-day journey back to Konoha, makes a little of his irritation fade away. She has his and her own stuff packed, and they could up and leave at any moment.
"How was your speech?" she asks.
Instead of answering, he asks, "What did he want?"
Hinata grins, which is an unfamiliar reaction when mentioning Gaara. Sasuke considers if he should be glad that she no longer gets a look of dread at just his name, or frustrated that she doesn't burn with the same hatred he has been keeping locked away even since he learned about her past with the Kazekage.
"He came to apologize," she says.
Sasuke's nose wrinkles. "He better have been on his knees."
"Sasuke." She pats his shoulder like she would to Kiba or Shino. Sasuke, naturally, is not either of those two, and would rather stab himself than be treated to a friendly pat — but that's just his grumpy side talking. Or his jealous side. Or both. "He explained himself, and he apologized, and I think I'm ready to leave this all behind."
Hinata picks up her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. Sasuke checks his own, making sure everything is inside.
"Good," he says, after a while. "That's good."
She brushes her fingers through his bangs — again, entirely too friendly. And it's not that he hates the sweet, friendly stuff . . . .
"He also told me to believe everything I hear about you from now on. Especially the gossip around the tower."
Everything set, he tightens the strings around his bag before hanging the straps over his shoulder.
"And what do you hear?"
If he had to guess, it would be things like 'I can't believe we let a traitor into our village!' or 'Did you hear how he threatened us? Scumbag!'
"Well," Hinata hums, "that you're a debatable public speaker."
He holds the door open as they leave the room. "Debatable."
"That you should never be considered for any Kage role."
That, somehow, fills his chest with pride. "Maybe that's true."
They go through the grand entrance and step out into the desert heat. Far off, above roofs, they see the gate wide open, waiting for them. Hinata's fingers curl around his hand, and she holds him in the way he wants to be held.
"And that . . . you love me very much," she whispers.
And for a second, it all seems worth it. The future punishments. The earful he got from Temari and the one he will get from Lord Gai. The speech. The five days out in the desert, running on minimal sleep and food and water. The new wave of hatred and fear that will probably follow him for the next decade because Uchiha Sasuke dropped a burning corpse on the steps of Kazekage Tower.
In the end, it worked out — because Hinata knows, and will know, the most important thing.
Sasuke kisses her, tasting a bit of aloe on her mouth, and says, "Let's go home."