Chapter 5
The door to the humble bedroom was made of decidedly old wood, even if thick, time had done its trick and Sasuke wasn't relying on it to remain locked through a grown man's well-placed kick. As expected, it broke, and in came a muscular guy, older than him but not too much, pointedly tall with tan skin and shocking orange hair, cut short on the sides and spiky on top.
From his position behind his hostage the handsome spy was far enough to be safe from an unarmed man, which the newcomer surprisingly was. His mind raced, reevaluating his situation after this new information. The man looked confused, so he couldn't have been actively coming to get him and him being unarmed was clue enough that he didn't belong to his search party. That doesn't automatically rule him out as a threat, but it means his presence in Hinata's house has nothing to do with catching him… and everything to do with Hinata.
"What the… Hime!" the man calls out in shock as he kicks down the door. The red gaze would shift between the two of them, softening at the sight of the frightened woman, hardening when meeting Sasuke's own cold unbetraying glare.
"Who are you?" the man takes a guarded stance, looking like he'll lunge at him at any moment. Sasuke answers him with an annoyed grunt and silence, managing his own center of gravity, ready to bolt at the slightest sign of attack.
"Who are you?!" he insists angrily and the handsome Konohan native has a choice to make. He can put Hinata in a chokehold and use her as leverage or put his hands up in surrender and step away, assuring the other that he means no harm to the woman. No harm… yeah right. Even if he steps away now, the girl's blindfolded and tied to a chair, if he were in the tall man's place, he wouldn't buy his peace-keeping bluff.
A step forward is taken, and the raven moves in automatic response, his hands take their position with practiced speed, familiar with exactly where they should go in preparation for a neck twist instant kill.
"One more step, I dare you" he announces menacingly, not needing to say anymore to express exactly how little it would matter to him to end the life of the defenseless woman with his bare hands.
Evident dread colors the tan face in pasty tones, his stance retracting in the instant.
"Who are you?" he insists in a much quieter volume, a mockery of calm in his distressed state.
"Do you see yourself in a position to demand anything?" is the taunting question he gets for an answer. The giant bites his lip in frustration, holding all the things he wants to yell at the intruder, choosing to cooperate.
"We don't have much, but I'll give you whatever you want, please let her go" he begs in a tone so defeated, his alliance to the blind woman is proven sentimental in nature.
"Whatever I want? How about an explanation?" he speaks with disdain "Who are you?".
"My name is Juugo, I'm just a blacksmith. Hime… she's blind and suffers selective mutism, she works for an apothecary. Like I said, we don't have much to offer you" he explains, unavoidably nervous, but seemingly truthful. The strong build of the man ads up, and Sasuke dares assume that a blind woman's enhanced sense of smell would make up for her lack of sight if her field of work in primarily dealing with herbs and concoctions. What caught his attention was the middle of that sentence.
"Selective?" He asks calmly while keeping his ready stance, not letting his guard down.
"It's from some childhood trauma, I don't know the full story" he says, and it was hard to read the body language of a man with an obvious reason to be tense and sweaty, but the side shift of his gaze was telltale.
"You're lying" he announces, toneless.
"I'm not!" the man defends.
"You do know what happened to her. Is keeping that secret worth watching her die?" The youngest Uchiha asks, his voice betraying no emotion; not the flash of a consciousness that came with the realization that in his paranoia he had been mistreating what was essentially an innocent bystander who had very kindly lend him a helping hand and was to top it off, an invalid with PTSD.
Except Hyuga Hinata isn't just some random passerby. He can't kill Hiashi's legitimate heir then go back to Konoha and expect not to be executed.
The wealthy are untouchable because of their ties to the powerful, the powerful owe their power to the leverage of the wealthy. In that equation, the Hyuga family were the wealthy… the Uchihas were the powerful. A relationship were loyalties were purely based on mutual benefit, became tense once political tides shifted, public opinion pushed the Uchiha legacy into a corner where they were no longer as helpful to the business tycoon as it was the other way around.
Recognizing the shaky ground that they stood on, Sasuke's father made a bold move: Betrothing his eldest son to Hiashi's eldest daughter.
Anyone aware of the ins and outs of politics in the fire country knows the kidnapping of young Hinata was a ploy to stop Fugaku Uchiha from cementing such a strong alliance. But even knowing who to blame, there was no proof to convict with, and no way to get her back. The hired gang that cashed the ransom wasn't caught, and the real big players behind it couldn't be as openly pointed out. The Hyuga withdrew their support starting a domino effect that caused Uchiha's political party to lose the majority to the opposition, and both patriarchs have despised each other passionately ever since.
If Uchiha Sasuke, of all people, lays a single hand on the precious first born of the Hyuga patriarch, he will be as well as dead. He realizes this with his hands still posed strategically on her head, ready to snap her neck.
"Whoever you ask, that is none of your business" the man answers with a frown, gathering enough courage to draw that line, albeit cautiously, he daren't raise his voice against a man holding such precious hostage, even if said man was bluffing.
It was then that a particularly loud sound of frustrated despair left the plump pink lips of the blind woman, who up until that point had been whimpering and sobbing as any hostage scared for their lives would. But this sound specifically was loud enough that it implied a call for attention.
"You have something to say?" He mocked, always the skilled actor. He hadn't gotten as high as he was in the shinobi ranks by letting his emotions control his thoughts, or his thoughts show on his face.
The shinobi organization… just the thought of it brought up a discontent growl that he managed to catch in his throat before release. Who set him up? Why was he healed and kept alive? What happened to his team-mates? And what are the fucking odds that while running from all of that, he stumbles into none other than his brother's presumed dead fiancé?
That's too much of a coincidence, there is simply no way. As innocent as she looks, this tear-stricken porcelain mess, has to be related to his capture somehow, and he's going to get to the bottom of it.