Loops
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That same night, after walking back to the inn, the two expressed they were hungry. The inn owner passed by and stopped by their table, bringing out multiple dishes that were the perfect definition of hearty and filling, with Sasuke making small talk as she served. The scent traveled, with the aroma of roasted meats and baked bread filling the air as dinner was laid out before them to share, with complimentary fruits or veggies on the side.
"I read that this place comes alive once a week,"
"Yes, we feast every Saturday night, but nowadays, it is mostly the older folks that turn up. Ever since they opened that bar, we see fewer young people around here. Master Nenma, Kiba mentioned you'll be staying for another few nights." The inn owner replied.
"I'm here on a business trip,"
"With the Hokage? The folks have been talking and are wondering if we be worried? We all heard of what happened in the Rain Village, one of my family's inns was destroyed by a female traveler." Hinata tried not to shift uncomfortably in her seat when the innkeeper looked her way.
"That's still under investigation, and the government paid for the repairs," Nenma replied.
"That's good to hear that the Rain village is taking care of them."
Hinata and Nenma heaved a sigh when the innkeeper walked away.
Sasuke took a bite of the bread, tearing at it as he continued their ealier conversation.
"There has got to be a better system to find it. Each piece is woven in chakra. I wonder if we could use one piece to find the other."
Hinata raised her hand, looking guilty. "I already tried that."
Sasuke leaned back into his seat, tossing a grape in the air and catching it with his mouth. She leaned over, her dress slightly moving as she reached for some celery, dipping it in hummus, as Naruto dipped a piece of bread in his soup.
"Hinata, do you remember the name of the old bridge, before it was named after Itachi?" Nenma asked as he gulp down some beer.
She blinked.
"What do you mean? There was no bridge before that. The island wasn't even connected..."
Nenma threw his head back and laughed. "That's right, why did I forget something like that?" He smirked towards Sasuke.
"Memory issues." Sasuke casually replied as Hinata placed her utensils down after taking a bite.
Sasuke kept his eyes on her as Nenma tossed him a curious glance.
Hinata turned her head towards the small window. How long had they been sitting around, talking? Just a few days ago, he had tried to kill her. But now, he claims they were allies again, working together to find missing pieces. Though she had hesitated at first when he suggested she joins them for dinner, this was better than being alone and having to think harder of what her visions may mean.
"Nenma…" She mumbled towards the reflection of him as she looked outside the window. "If what you said earlier is right, that all of us react differently to the woven fabric, then what is it that you saw?"
Did he have visions or dreams? Will any of these nightmares come true…
Nenma's eyes darkened, the mere recollection of such haunting visions, which numbed his left arm from fear alone. He should have expected this question and yet…
"Hmm, funny that you bring that up. I don't even know if they were a vision, a nightmare or a dream. But it's all the same thing, which is why I'm glad you ended up taking the damn thing,"
"But what did you see?" She asked again as she turned to him.
"I didn't see anything. More specifically, it was worse than closing my eyes and seeing darkness forever. I was filled with dread after experiencing what it was like to not exist," Which is why he had been focusing on greater projects than just living in the moment.
"That's horrible… But none of this makes any sense. Why didn't your dad warn you? Or tell you anything? Do you know if Lord Minato saw things too?"
He shook his head, his dark hair moving slightly.
She glanced at Sasuke, "And what about you?"
He heaved a sigh. "I don't know if it was related to what happened during the meeting with Kyuubi, but I had a dream of Kyuubi completely losing its mind and destroying the village. That's why I fell into panic mode and came after you. Sorry about that."
She turned her gaze, her smoky lavender eyes meeting a single dark one.
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"There has got to be a better system to find it. Each piece is woven in chakra. I wonder if we could use one piece to find the other."
Hinata raised her hand, looking guilty.
"I tried that already."
"The bridge that was named after his brother, what was it called before that? The name escapes me." Nenma said as he played with his food.
"Well the island was disconnected from the fire country. There was no bridge before it."
Nenma threw his head back and laughed. "That's right, why did we forget something like that?" He smirked towards Sasuke. "Maybe it's time to hit the books again."
"Hinata, were you the one that blew up the inn?" Sasuke spoke up.
"What...? Anyway…Nenma, if what you said earlier is right, that all of us react differently to the woven fabric, then what is it that you saw?"
"A world where I didn't exist…"
She frowned. "That's definitely intense. But none of this makes any sense."
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Sasuke leaned back into his seat, tossing a grape in the air and catching it with his mouth. She leaned over, her dress slightly moving as she reached for a snack.
"There has got to be a better system to find it-"
"I said I already tried!" Hinata replied, frustrated over reasons she didn't understand. "I already tried…" She repeated more softly this time.
Her smoky lavender eyes caught in his rinnegan.
"Did you blow up the inn?"
"No."
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Sasuke leaned back into his seat, tossing a grape in the air and catching it with his mouth. She leaned over, her dress slightly moving as she reached for a snack.
"There has got to be a better system to find it. Where is it? Where are you keeping it?"
"Upstairs. In my belongings."
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Nenma tapped her on her shoulder, purposely pulling her out of whatever Sasuke had meant to do, not realizing he had been too late, and those microseconds had been enough for Sasuke to extract information from her. Hinata blinked, her mind hurting slightly from the loop, as Nenma glared in Sasuke's way.
"Oi, put that freaky thing away," He said, motioning to the activated rinnegan.
Hinata rubbed her temple. "Lord Sasuke, you could've just asked instead of trapping me in an illusion,"
"Seeing that we're now working together, I needed to make sure I knew everything, so that we were on the same page."
"And what page would that be? The one where you blatantly try to sacrifice a person's life for the chance to remain ignorant?"
Hinata stood up and took a step away from the table, using this as a good time to part with no further conversation.
"Was I that unreasonable?" Sasuke asked Nenma once she had been out of sight.
Nenma threw a coin down. It landed on the table as he stood up, fixing his long coat.
"You know you're asking the wrong guy."
Sasuke raised a brow when Nenma began walking in the opposite way.
"Where are you going?!"
"I'm gonna go have me some fun. The night is still young." Nenma replied while reaching into his jacket, then tossing a piece of candy in Sasuke's way.
Nenma knew Sasuke hated candy.
So what the hell was he supposed to do with this?
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Clothes lay scattered on the floor as Hinata dried herself up, getting ready for bed. She picked up her bag off the floor, never using a closet due to the nature of her work. She took out the yellow fabric out of the bag, slipping on the shirt and loose pants, then cut across the small room and moved the Anbu mask to make space on the window bench, looking out the bay as she air dried her hair with a wind technique.
Once her hair was dried, she left her spot, seeking an empty scroll to write a letter back home. She stopped by the night table, using the surface to write a few short words. Sasuke had made it clear he didn't want anyone else involved, so she kept the details to herself, mostly inquiring about Neji's wellbeing.
Hinata opened the window, jumping onto the rooftop, waiting around, knees drawn in as she sat. Eventually, she saw an international messenger bird fly by, and land by her, proudly waiting around as she slipped her small scroll into its messenger bag, a cylinder. She remained there even after it had flown out of sight.
Eventually she pushed herself up, slipping back into her room, closing and locking the window before shutting the curtain close.
Hinata plopped down into the bed, with a picture in her hand, staring at it while laying on her side. Minutes when by, perhaps even hours, as she remained that way, inside herself, piecing and connecting their dreams into a cohesive timeline.
"If any of these are real visions, then it would probably go like this…something will happen to tip Kyuubi off…it will lose control, potentially leading to Onii-sama getting hurt…but then where does Nenma fit in all of this?"
Is that the reason he moved away?
Hinata slipped off the bed, taking the blanket with her as she sat motionless against the bed frame, her head half leaning, half lying on the mattress as she stared off into space. Her hand had let go of Neji's photo a long time ago. At times like this, she would've sought Tenten out, just so she wouldn't have to be so alone in her thoughts. Would've sought Nenma out, just to engage in mindless passage of time, but now things have changed, even more so now that she knew Nenma had meant to pass some sort of curse down. Had meant for her to find the tapestry and interact with it so that he wouldn't be the only one burdened. However, she had already been burdened before.
She pursed her lips, fighting back her emotions from taking over, as the thoughts of the future brought all kinds of horror to her mind.
"Perhaps Lord Sasuke is right…completing it might be the worst thing to do,"
She moved away, pushing herself off the floor, and slipped her feet into the indoor slippers, reaching for the door with the intention of finding Sasuke. She took a step into the hall, nearly bumping into the person she had meant to look for.
The faded gray sweater and matching sweatpants could only mean he, too, had been getting ready to sleep. So why was he here? She looked down at the piece of candy placed in her palm and narrowed her eyes. Of all things, her favorite piece of chocolate.
She glanced up at Sasuke, didn't say anything, and stepped back into the room. He took it as a sign of failure until she pushed the door further open, inviting him in.
"I hope this means you come in peace," She said while waving the candy and tucking it inside one of the pockets of her bag.
"I didn't get to accomplish what I set out to do tonight,"
"And that is…?"
"Gather information and coordinate a mission," He said as he remained by the door, his eyes following her as she tidied up the room by picking clothes off the floor, then sat down on the bed, motioning towards the window. Sasuke finally moved, walking towards the bench. He moved her Anbu mask out of the way and sat down.
"I'll answer any questions, as long as you don't try to extract information like I'm some kind of Missing nin,"
"Alright, then about the" He stopped voicing his question when she stretched her shirt, showing him something stitched on the side. He immediately got up and crossed some distance to get a better look. "May I?" He asked, and she nodded, letting him feel the fabric with woven words describing three functions.
"How did you get this?"
"It was a gift with hints of malice, but I don't think the person intended for me to have these dreams," She explained. "But I had never made the connection before. What a small world. The coincidence, it's almost ridiculous. Nenma had traveled with another piece, the place of origin might've been our village,"
Sasuke nodded as he sat down next to her.
"Well, tomorrow we'll know for sure if this village has what we're looking for, and once our business is finished, Nenma will be returning to the rain village," Sasuke said as he stared ahead.
"So then…is it going to be just you and I?" Hinata asked.
"Ah. I know that must make you uncomfortable, but I prefer not to involve anyone further."
She stopped herself from saying that Tenten knows over fear of putting her in danger. Hinata reached inside her pocket, taking out the ID card, and passing it to him.
"This belongs to Kiba. It's a card key of some sort. Maybe you'll be able to make use of it should we find that one of the missing pieces is here,"
Sasuke glanced at it, before placing it away inside his pocket and finally stood up.
"I'm not even going to ask how you obtained this,"
"I guess you'll just have to read it on the mission report," Hinata said, as she had already started a draft, a diary of some sort.
"I hope Nenma told you I won't be needing your other expertise, just your eyes."
"Yes. He did."
"Good. Then I think I got to cover everything I wanted to say. And you should probably not sleep with that thing on tonight," He said as he headed towards the door.
They both looked towards the noise of laughter and voices coming from outside. Hinata was the first to reach the window and draw the curtain as Sasuke joined her side, witnessing as Nenma brought two girls back with him.
Sasuke's face went pale white.
"Oi, idiot! Don't you remember we're sharing a room?! Are you trying to piss me off!" Sasuke yelled but the window had been closed and Nenma couldn't hear him. He slumped down onto the bench.
"Were there no other rooms available?"
"No, everything was booked." He said while looking really concerned about not having sleeping arrangements. An idea then occurred to him, and he glanced at her. "Hinata-"
She smiled sweetly. "Then I guess you'll be sleeping in the forest tonight…"
Sleep in the forest?! Most people would've offered their Hokage lodging inside their room! But then again, most people weren't almost murdered by him...
"Hn. Shinobis shouldn't be holding grudges. It feeds the cycle of pain and hatred,"
"I don't have an extra mattress for my Lord Hokage," She deadpanned.
"No problem, I'll find the innkeeper," He tossed her a grin when she gaped at him. "Since we're going to be traveling together, we might as well use this time to get used to being around each other."
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Hinata laid down, facing his way, not risking exposing her vulnerable side. She watched his silhouette in the dark, as he rested on his back on the floor mattress. Her ears, were a little red from the thuds and noises that kept them both awake.
"They're really going at it," She commented in the dark.
"I'm going to kill him tomorrow." She merely giggled at his reply. "Aren't you bothered at all by this?"
"Why would I be when we were never more than friends?"
Sasuke chuckled at the absurdity of it all, as the noises continued to slip through the wall. "I was sure there was therapy involved,"
"Therapy you say?" She tapped her chin in a thoughtful manner. "Hmm...maybe just a little. But I doubt you'll wanna know what this therapy looked like," Hinata said, as she was getting fed up with all the noise.
She drew a combat knife from under her pillow, got out of bed in silence, kneeling to search her traveling bag in darkness, until she found a chakra tape. Sasuke watched her shadow, in interest, as she lifted a leg to get across his body, her socks stepping onto the floor mattress as she made it to the window. She flung one window open, sticking half her body out as she took in a whiff of the fresh air, which was cooling down her red cheeks and ears. But her temper remained at an all-time high.
"Maybe I should've been the one to sleep in the forest after all," Hinata said softly as she activated her Byakugan. and flung the weapon across the room, at a speed that cut through the wall, slightly gracing Nenma's arm as he seized whatever activity he had been doing. The two girls he had brought with him had believed they were under attack. They immediately screamed and collected their clothes, leaving in a hurry.
Sasuke immediately sat up while she cut across the room again, reaching the opening gap in the wall that her weapon had created. She saw one angry blue eye peeking in.
"Hey, Hinata, you're really going to regret that..." Nenma growled darkly as if he were ready to drop a dark Rasengan.
"And we can talk about that after I have some good sleep. Good night, Nenma." Hinata said calmly as she peeled a decent amount of chakra tape, muffling the sound of Nenma's voice by sealing the hole in the wall, ignoring Nenma's complaint, as she wove her fingers together, knitting and performing a few signs to help repair the damage on the wall which she had done.
The wall glowed, almost as if the structure was healing, as if the damage never happened. However, she'll have to retrieve her weapon back at some point.
"Finally, it's quiet again." She murmured. "What gets me is that he could've soundproofed the room,"
"He likes to be a nuisance sometimes," Sasuke replied as she went back to bed.
"True. And now that I've dealt with the problem, I guess that means you may go back to your room again," She said sweetly.
"Why are you being so cold and callous to your Hokage? Who knows what they did on my bed,"
"Fine, but I must warn you, I might talk in my sleep."
"Then we'll just have a long conversation tonight."
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Sasuke's eyes fluttered open at the sound of someone stepping onto the floor, as a soft warm body joined him underneath the bed covers, pressing lightly against his back and hugging him from behind. Her voice softly instructed him not to turn around. He did so anyway, and something took over him, as he touched the smoothness of her skin, moving to seize her lips.
Sasuke woke up, voluntarily. Appalled by the scenario his mind had dreamed up. Yes, it has been months since he had gone on without any kind of physical therapy. And waking up this way, he couldn't deny that all that deprivation was catching up to him, because there was no way he wanted to touch Hinata Hyuga.
He took in the scent of something herbal and sweet, so he tossed to his side, to find her sitting by the window with a warm cup of tea. Hinata sunk herself into the bench, and swirled the drink, catching the exploring nature of Sasuke's eyes. She blushed, looking everywhere but at him.
"Did you sleep okay?" She asked.
"Not enough," He said through a yawn as he flung the blankets off himself. He was folding up everything before shoving it inside her closet.
"Um, you should probably leave before Nenma tries to find you,"
"Ah, thanks again for letting me crash on the floor," She didn't see the point in reminding him that this had been all him and that she hadn't wanted him there in the first place. But even so, she hadn't had nightmares that night and wondered if she had him to thank for.
He approached her, picking up her mask laying by her side, just to place it on her, covering her face.
"Be ready and stay alert today,"
"I thought I didn't have to lift a finger,"
"Still, keep a look-out in case we need you,"
She leaned further into the seat, watching him go as he walked side to side, finally realizing this had been the longest time her mind had gone on without thinking of Neji.
She took off her mask, laying it on her side.
This wasn't good at all.
This was actually pretty bad.
She glanced at her morning tea and stirred it again.
"Come now. Focus on the goal. Focus on Onii-sama..."
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Thank you for the review! This chapter was mostly inspired by the comments. Thank you Mitsioni, who's pinning for HinatSasu lol. Thanks you Harrison, for the conspiracy theory lol.