Chapter 4

An untold number of hours later, Hinata woke up to the darkness she was long used to, but this time it wasn't her injured optic nerve to blame, it was a cloth covering her eyes, coarse and tied tightly and uncaringly in the back of her head, as were her wrists behind the chair she was sitting on. Her mouth too was covered, showing just how cautious the man was being despite all her apparent disabilities. He doesn't trust her.

Her acute sense of hearing catches his slow pacing around the room, despite his expertly quiet steps telltale of a man well trained in stealth. She made no sound to warn him of her awakening, but all of his attention had been trained on her and the slight movements she made as she woke told him she had regained consciousness and what was more, she was trying to hide the fact.

What is she planning? He thought to himself, frowning. He wouldn't give her even the chance to devise a plan to catch him off guard, he decided.

"You're awake" he let her know straight away, her muffled gasp put a grin on his face. She was hoping I wouldn't notice. "I am going to ask some yes or no questions, and If you know what's good for you, you will answer with the truth" he threatens with a cold glare that he knows is lost on her blinded self, but would freeze any enemy he directs it to.

Her trepidation is palpable in the shake of her entire body and the sweat gathering at her hair line, but still, she manages a shy nod.

"You are allied with Konoha" he stated, not questioned. She shakily moved her head from one side to the other. No.

"But you lived there at one point. The resemblance is too much, you must be related to the Hyugas. I won't believe it even if you say no" he dissuaded with severity.

She raised her head in shock and fear, blindly searching for his position guided by the sound of his voice. After a moment of silence, with shame she nodded.

"Are you… Hyuga Hinata?" he dares ask. I wasn't a hard conclusion to come to, her eyes were those of a Hyuga, no doubt about it, and he had even confused her with Hanabi so the blood connection must be tight. She nodded.

"Then how are you alive and why are you here?!" he yells, causing her to flinch as she realizes he is standing much too close now. Angrily he pulls down her gag, demanding a verbal answer from her.

She can talk, he knows she can talk, he had known her only by name during his childhood and never was her muteness mentioned. He knows the tragic story of her kidnapping at the tender age of 7, the culprit had been traced back to Oto, but even after the hefty ransom had been paid against the advice of the shinobi organization, the eldest daughter of Hiashi Hyuga was never returned.

Her demise had been presumed, never confirmed, but it still made no sense for her to be wandering the streets of Oto as though she were one more of its citizens. Was she let go? Did she escape? How does a blind woman escape professional criminals? There were too many questions and if he couldn't get this pretend mute to talk, they would be left unanswered.

"Explain. Now!" he demands harshly, adding to her trepidation. Soon, tears begin to soak her blindfold and one manages to sneak in what little room there is to the side of her nose between the rag and her skin. Sasuke sees the tear, but he couldn't care less.

"Hyuga Hinata wasn't mute, you can talk, and you will talk before I make you" he threatens in a much calmer tone, but the menace in his voice is obvious. She keeps quite still, gasps and sobs leaving her lips even as she bites them, but no words spill out of the reddening mouth.

Through her sobbing that increases in volumes he almost, ALMOST misses the sound of the front door being opened. She heard it too and as if in slow motion, he watched her mouth form a vowel. Thoughts were running inside his brain. An ambush?

If they were armed, he was doomed. He did not have all his strength back, they knew the place, and if she cried out, he would no longer have the element of surprise on his favor. He could take her as a hostage, but there was no guarantee that she was of any value to the ambusher, they might even shoot through her to get to him, uncaring.

He was running out of options, too keenly aware of his temporary physical inferiority a lesser man would have panicked. He didn't freeze up in panic, he stood in calm, acknowledging that all the cards had been dealt against him. The new question being: Did they want him dead or alive?

Stupid question. They had kept him alive and healed him the first time, they wouldn't throw away all that effort now. Hinata screamed, the steps went from normal to a panicked jog, drawing closer. A single man.

And whoever that man was, had been ordered not to kill him. That was his card.