An agonizing scream awakened her. A shrill, painful cry like that of an animal in agony. The sound wracked her ears, blood rushing to her head. She jumped, automatically activating her byakugan, already ready to fight, to defend herself-to kill if necessary. It was only when she felt Sasuke's burning body against her that she realized she was in no danger. Sasuke was covered in sweat, his body tense as cascades of tears flowed from his closed eyes. His tear-streaked face seemed in the grip of infinite distress. His features were twisted into a painful grimace. And from his mouth came a rattle of intense pain.

Hinata knew exactly what was happening. Every shinobi knows it and goes through it. There's nothing you can do about nightmares. Just wait for it to pass, over and over again. Hinata also had to face her demons, seeing Neji's lifeless body over and over again. She too screamed and cried. It was the burden of the shinobi. Hers and so was Sasuke's.

"Sasuke," she whispered in a hushed voice.

He didn't seem to hear her, still trapped in his terrible nightmare.

She deactivated her byakugan. The only danger lay in Sasuke's head. She then approached her husband, ready to place a reassuring hand on his face, to help him out of his bad dream, when he jerked awake. He grabbed her arm, holding it firmly to prevent her from advancing any further. His sharingan activated, a murderous instinct inscribed in his red pupil. It was the look of a killer-the look of a shinobi trained to defend himself even in his sleep. For a moment, she also thought she saw a glimmer of terror. He seemed as terrified as he was ready to kill.

"You-You were having a nightmare," she stammered, staring into his eyes.

He widened his eyes, snapping back into reality. His sharingan was still activated, the red of his eye gleaming in the dark, but he seemed to release the pressure he was maintaining on the young woman's arm. A strange grimace painted itself on her lips as she, in turn, tried to send him a reassuring smile. Gently-as if not to hurt her-he let go of Hinata's arm before running a hand over her face. With an angry gesture, he wiped away the tears that had streaked his face. He straightened up, throwing the sheet that had twisted between his sweaty legs to the foot of the bed. He pursed his lips before turning to her. Again, she offered him a smile as her pupil-less eyes remained planted in his dojutsu.

"I'll make you an infusion, that should help you fall asleep," she announced, rising to her feet.

Sasuke remained silent, merely nodding. She moved towards the bedroom door without another word, her body covered only by the thin nightie she'd put on when she went to bed. She could feel Sasuke's red gaze following her with his eyes as she left the room and closed the door behind her.

Bodies, dozens of bodies, bathed in blood. Eyes wide with fear and pain. The metallic smell of blood and the deafening silence of death. Where there should be life, there was only death. Where there should be laughter and conversation, there was only the deafening silence of death. Corpses; there are only corpses, again and again. His neighbors, his uncle, his aunt, his cousins, his mother and father. Everyone he loved, massacred, killed, murdered. The intense distress of realizing they were all dead, the fear of being next. The betrayal when he finally meets his brother's gaze; his hypnotic kaleidoscope activated. The terror, the pain, the-

And Hinata. Hinata staring intently at him, anchoring him in reality as the images of his nightmare gradually disappeared. She spoke, but it was hard for him to understand. He was still far, far behind, trapped between the corpses and the blood. He held his arm tightly as if to keep her at a distance. And he didn't know when he'd grabbed her and why she didn't say anything, why she didn't fight back. With a single gesture, she could cut the meridians of his arm, causing him to lose all use of it. But she did nothing of the sort, instead contenting herself with looking at him with gentleness-and concern? She even smiled at him, and he seemed to lose himself in her smile. Why smile at him? Who would want to smile at him? Him?

He let go of her arm, as gently as he could. He didn't want to hurt her, didn't want to scare her. She was still smiling at him-he felt the image burn itself into his memory. Just then, he realized that his sharingan was activated. He tried to deactivate it, but was only met with pain in his red iris. He was stuck in his dojutsu, stuck with that cursed pupil. She spoke again, but her voice didn't reach him. She stood up and got out of bed. He followed her with his eyes, embracing her silhouette with his red pupils. Once again, he felt an image etched in his memory: her voluptuous curves, her immaculate skin, her hair cascading over her shoulders, her long, almost bare legs. This body with which he had already made one, without yet knowing it. This body that had already welcomed him without him ever having really seen it.

The door closed, and he found himself alone. He wept. He sobbed silently, unable to stop himself; unable even to understand why. Yet this wasn't the first time he'd had a nightmare, not the first time he'd relived the tragic events surrounding the Uchiha massacre. For a while, it had even become almost habitual-when he fell asleep, he knew he was going to find himself back in his childhood neighborhood. But since the end of the war, and especially since his definitive return to Konoha, the nightmares had calmed down. It had been months since he had seen his parents' bloodied bodies again.

The sound of breaking glass roused him from his apathy. In an instant he was on his feet, his sobbing stopping immediately. He reached Hinata in seconds and found her kneeling on the kitchen floor, shards of glass scattered around her. Shards of glass and traces of blood. He closed his eyes for a moment, forcing himself to stay in this reality-not return to another bloody one. When he opened his eyes, he was there. He'd really come out of his nightmare this time. He knelt down in turn and placed himself next to Hinata.

"I've dropped the teapot," she murmured in confusion as she tried to pick up the scattered pieces.

With only a few pieces left on the floor, he quickly gathered them up and placed them carefully on the kitchen counter. Now that the pieces had been picked up, there were only traces of blood here and there on the floor.

"You're bleeding," he said at last, grabbing her bloody hands.

They were only superficial cuts, he knew, and yet he couldn't stop his heart from racing. He couldn't stop the intense feeling of worry from invading his mind.

"It's nothing," she said in a small voice.

"Follow me, I'll put a bandage on it."

She nodded and let herself be led along. He led her into the bathroom and invited her to sit on the edge of the tub while he searched the cupboards for something to patch Hinata's wound. He could feel her gaze on him-felt that she was watching him intently. When he found what he needed, he turned back to her, knelt on the bathroom floor, and without a word set to work. First, he cleaned up the blood, disinfected the wound and applied a bandage. All the while, she continued to watch him intently, her face smoothed of all emotion. When he had finished, he remained there for a moment, kneeling at Hinata's feet. He raised his face to hers and planted his gaze in hers-expecting to feel a new memory etched in his pupil, but nothing of the sort. His sharingan had finally deactivated, and for a brief moment he was almost disappointed. Shyly, she ran a hand through his raven-colored hair. He shivered, surprised by the intimacy of this touch. Yet he let her, letting his hand rest on her thigh. Without even realizing it, he stroked Hinata's bare skin with his thumb. It was Hinata's turn to jump, but she too let him.

"Thank you," she murmured softly.

He nodded and stood up. He held out a hand to invite her to sit up too. She took his hand as a shiver ran down her spine. Her hand was cold and he could see that she seemed to have goose bumps. She was, after all, dressed only in a thin nightie-and the house wasn't warm. He led her to the sofa where he wrapped her in a blanket. He could have told her to go back to bed, but he didn't feel ready to go back to that room, or to be alone in the house. It was still early, too early to leave the house and spend his emotions on some training ground.

He saw her curl up further against the blanket, trying to cover her body and keep warm. With the teapot now out of use, he decided to heat some milk in a saucepan to make hot chocolate. He was strangely calm; almost serene; as if it were natural to be here in the middle of the night with Hinata. He wondered if the members of her clan were still watching them-if they'd seen all the night's adventures. On reflection he realized that it bothered him less than it had on their wedding night. "Let them watch if they like," he thought bitterly. He filled two cups with the steaming chocolate liquid before heading for the sofa. He was about to hand the cup to Hinata when he saw that she had fallen asleep. He made sure she was still well covered by the blanket and sat down beside her. He took his own cup before bringing the scalding liquid to his lips. He winced. It wasn't really to his taste; he drank anyway, as if to keep his hands and mind busy.

He was tired and would have gone back to bed, but he was afraid of returning to the demons that haunted his dreams. Just as he was about to get up to occupy himself, he heard Hinata calling him softly. Her eyes were still closed, her face wearing the characteristic mask of sleep.

"Stay."

He stayed.

Hinata awoke to a knock at the door. Pressed against her, his face nestled in her neck, Sasuke gasped before opening his eyes in turn. Embarrassed by his proximity to Hinata, he recoiled as he cleared his throat uncomfortably. Hinata let out a nervous little laugh, a little disoriented at having found herself asleep on the sofa with Sasuke's body pressed against hers.

"Oi, Sasuke! Open the door!"

Behind the front door of the house, the couple could hear Naruto getting impatient.

Sasuke got up first and, with a distracted hand in his hair, went to open the door. Naruto entered, taking with him the radiant atmosphere that always accompanied him. He wore his eternal black and orange ninja outfit, while his headband hung firmly on his forehead. His face was lit up with a big smile, while a mischievous gleam shone in his eyes. Still seated on the sofa and wrapped up in the blanket, Hinata saw the two members of Team 7 advancing towards her.

"Hello Hinata!" said Naruto cheerfully.

"Hello, Naruto," she replied, flashing him a smile. Would you like to have breakfast with us?" she asked, rising to her feet.

She then felt the two men's gaze settle on her with intensity. She felt almost burned by the intensity of their gazes, and it was then that she realized she was still wearing her simple nightie. She hid behind the kitchen counter as her cheeks turned crimson. She thought she heard Naruto stifle a laugh as she was sure she saw lightning in Sasuke's eyes.

"No, no thank you," replied Naruto as a slight blush colored his cheeks.

Sasuke let out a disapproving click of his tongue, while Hinata played nervously with her hands. She wasn't sure what she should do: hide here, go to her room? Her questioning was interrupted by her husband's sharp voice.

"What are you doing here, Naruto?"

Sasuke's voice cracked like thunder. Naruto didn't care-it seemed to amuse him even more. A huge grin spread across his face as he watched Sasuke with amusement. Hinata was carried away by this smile-a familiar feeling seizing her. The feeling that always assailed her when she was close to the blond-haired ninja. Near him, the world seemed bathed in light, Naruto's face shining brighter than anything else. Her heart raced and a feeling of nervousness took possession of her. She was always nervous when she was close to Naruto, always on the alert, never totally serene.

"Kakashi-sensei asked me to tell you that you've been summoned to his office early this afternoon," he finally replied, scratching the back of his head.

"Why?" Hinata couldn't help asking.

She and Sasuke were still supposed to be on leave. Why did the Hokage want to see them? Why did the Hokage want to see them both? Did it have anything to do with the wedding? Was something wrong? Had those in her clan who were observing them made an unfavorable report? Had she not done things properly? Would the wedding be annulled? It couldn't be. She would be the laughingstock of the clan, the laughingstock of the village. They'd put the seal on her; she'd be nothing but a slave. She wouldn't-

"He wouldn't tell me, but he'd also summoned the rest of Team 7," replied Naruto, totally oblivious to the anguish in Hinata's heart.

Hinata was still short of breath, her heart clenched by a strange feeling of anguish. Sasuke grabbed her hand and applied a little pressure. She calmed down. Her heartbeat seemed to return to normal as her breathing slowed. Sasuke kept Hinata's hand in his, even when Naruto noticed his two friends' gesture and sent a mocking smile to the former ninja deserter.

"Is that all?" asked Sasuke, already ready to dismiss his team-mate.

Naruto burst out laughing. A sonorous laugh that warmed Hinata's heart.

"You want to kick me out already?" Naruto mocked.

"We've got things to do," replied Sasuke in an even voice.

Hinata then remembered the conversation she'd had with Sasuke the day before when he'd told her he was going to show her her new responsibilities as an Uchiha. Naruto stifled another chuckle.

"I'll see you later then," he said before walking away, miming a gesture of good-bye to Hinata.

After Naruto's departure, they ate breakfast in silence. Sasuke locked himself in the bathroom after warning her to be ready to go out. Hinata had changed into something comfortable and warm. When Sasuke came out of the bathroom, he was wearing a dark traditional outfit, his clan's coat of arms embroidered on his back.

"Put this on your shoulders."

As they prepared to leave the house, Sasuke handed Hinata a black cloak with the red-and-white Uchiha fan sewn onto it. She complied and followed her husband out. He didn't even bother to lock the front door, and headed off into the Uchiha forest.

Hinata had never been to this part of the village. These lands had always belonged to the Uchiha and she, like everyone else, was forbidden to enter. They walked in silence for a long time, the sounds of the forest doing all the talking for them. After a while they emerged from the forest onto a path leading to several cultivated plots. Sasuke explained that these were Uchiha lands, and that it was now her duty to get to know the people who worked them. He introduced her to the peasants and their families who lived here and farmed the land. They looked at her strangely, hiding their disbelief behind respectful postures. Hinata took no notice, listening attentively to her husband's various explanations. She watched as he conversed with them in an even voice, and in a tone she didn't know him for. It was familiar and almost warm. A microscopic smile even seemed to be painted on his face. When they had finished meeting the sharecroppers - leaving with various provisions under their arms - they turned back. After a while, they stopped to eat the snack the peasants had prepared for them.

"They were already working for the Uchiha before the massacre. My mother often took me there when I was a child."

Hinata looked up at Sasuke, surprised to hear him confide in her. He grabbed his water gourd and brought the neck to his lips.

"I've never seen the tenant farmers who work on Hyuuga land. My father said it wasn't an appropriate place for the clan heiress," she admitted, letting her gaze fall to the ground.

He gave her a sidelong glance, and at the memory of her childhood she felt her throat tighten. Although she'd never experienced the horror of Sasuke's childhood, not everything had been rosy either. Her father was a stern and hard man, as much with the men of his clan as with his own daughters.

"From now on, it's up to you to visit the land when I'm away," he told her, rising to his feet and offering her a hand to help her up.

She merely nodded-and in silence they set off again. They stopped only for a moment to drop off their provisions before setting off again for the Hokage tower. They walked side by side through the crowded village streets. Villagers moved aside to let them pass, but not without giving them hard, scornful glances. Hinata was totally unaccustomed to this kind of treatment, but Sasuke didn't seem to be. He kept his gaze riveted on the horizon, ignoring the contemptuous-and in some cases downright hateful-looks that were being directed at him. Realizing this, Hinata felt her heart clench painfully, aching for her husband.

Then someone spat in her direction. An old lady had just spat at her feet before muttering insults. She stood in front of her stall, a dirty apron tied loosely around her waist.

"Uchiha filth. Traitor to your village."

She felt Sasuke freeze beside her, but she stopped him with a gesture. She turned to the old woman and activated her byakugan. Wrinkles formed around her eyes as her vision became perfect, and gave her an aura of power.

"Do you have something to tell me?" she asked in an imperious voice.

Her tone was noble and dry, like that of someone used to giving orders. It was the tone of someone with power, the tone of a clan leader. The old lady grumbled and stepped back. Hinata advanced towards her and gave her an icy smile.

"I beg you never to speak to my husband or me again. I want you to know that the Uchiha will never do business with your store again."

"I don't need your dirty, traitorous money," she hissed angrily.

Sasuke tensed again, but Hinata urged him to trust her.

"The Hokage and the Hyuuga clan will be happy to hear your point of view too," Hinata replied unperturbed.

The old woman gasped, surprised by the turn of the conversation. She understood Hinata's thinly veiled threats and for a moment seemed to regret her behavior.

Then, with a smile still on her lips, she grabbed Sasuke's arm and continued on her way towards the Hokage tower.

"This is a diplomatic mission. You have to visit the major countries to ensure that the country of fire maintains a positive relationship with them. It's an opportunity to strengthen our alliances."

"Why us?" asked Sasuke, crossing his arms over his chest.

In the Hokage's office, Sakura, Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke had just heard the mission order given to them by the sixth in line. Sasuke and Hinata stood side by side, while Naruto and Sakura stood further apart. The pink-haired ninja seemed in a bad mood, her features drawn and her eyebrows furrowed.

"You are the heroes of the last great war. You represent the power of Konoha," replied the Hokage, offering his former pupil a smile.

Sasuke rolled his eyes but said nothing. Hinata could imagine what Sasuke thought of all this.

"And Hinata?" asked Sakura, doing her utmost to avoid meeting the gaze of the young woman with the byakugan.

The sixth in line let out a small laugh as he looked at each of them. The scene resembled that of a teacher summoning his pupils at the end of class.

"As you know, Sasuke doesn't have the best of reputations," he began, observing the renegade former ninja out of the corner of his eye. I thought having him accompanied by his new wife might send a positive message," he continued evenly.

Hinata understood the Hokage's reasoning, even if part of her was hurt at being seen only as her husband's counterpart. She kept her thoughts to herself, however, and noticed that her comrades did the same. Naruto was strangely silent, refusing to meet his former sensei's gaze. Sakura's lips were pursed and her gaze riveted to the ground, as if impatient to leave the scene. Only Sasuke seemed unperturbed by the announcement of this mission.

"You'll leave at nightfall. Naruto will then share the itinerary with you. "

And with that last sentence, they were dismissed.