Plotty things, but SasuHina also manage to find time to be cute.

Chapter 43: Blue as the sky, sunburnt and lonely

Another day guarding Fujiwara saw Hinata returning home from a morning shift after bidding Sasuke goodbye at the compound gates. They'd taken a detour in the playground again to sit and try more canned drinks, too tired to make conversation. Embarrassingly, Hinata had dozed off for a few minutes, only saved from falling off the swing by Sasuke's firm hold.

Kakashi had significantly increased security around the village; all active ninja were either assigned to rotating patrol shifts or out on missions. Hinata hadn't seen any of her friends except in passing, but by some stroke of luck her own shifts seemed to coincide with Sasuke's.

Intending to catch a few hours of sleep before making use of the remaining hours of sunlight, Hinata instead was accosted by an excitable Ryota on her way to the Head House.

"Hinata-sama can take me!" Ryota whined, hugging his small arms around Hinata.

"Ryota! Get off Hinata-sama this instant!" his mother snapped with a mortified expression on her face. "What if someone saw you?"

Something about her voice roused Hinata from her haze of sleepiness. Unconsciously, she put a protective hand on Ryota's head.

Ryota looked a little shamefaced, but clung onto Hinata insistently. "Hinata-sama doesn't mind!" he told his mother. Then, quieter, he said to Hinata, "Right?" His pale eyes made up half of his small face.

Blinking away the fatigue blunting her senses, Hinata identified the second emotion she'd heard in Ryota's mother's voice. Fear. The edges of Hinata's fingertips brushed against the bandages wrapped around Ryota's forehead and stilled. "Of course I don't mind," Hinata said. She met the older woman's eyes with a steady, reassuring gaze and watched her relax. Then, brightening her voice, Hinata turned to look down at Ryota and asked, "What is it that you would like to do, Ryota-chan?"

"I want to go to the park! Or to get anpan or dango! Or just anywhere outside!"

"Royta, you know it's dangerous right now. You can't go alone and I don't have time to go with you," his mother explained, sounding like she'd said this to him before. The knowledge that ROOT was still operating had all the clans keeping a much closer eye on their youngest members, given the organization's history with children. "This behaviour is childish. Do you really want Hinata-sama to see you acting this way?"

Ryota frowned. "I'm not a child," he said mulishly. His grip around Hinata loosened.

Petting Ryota's hair, Hinata gave the young boy a kind smile. "It's fine, Urano-san," she said, aiming the same smile at his mother. "I don't mind taking Ryota-chan out."

"Hinata-sama, you've only just returned. You must be exhausted. There's no need to entertain this child's whims."

Hinata shook her head. "I was thinking of getting some cinnamon rolls, so it's no trouble! It would make me happy to have Ryota-chan's company."

Urano visibly hesitated before giving her assent. "Be good for Hinata-sama, Ryota. Remember you are representing the Hyuuga and your actions reflect on the clan."

"I'll be good, okaa-san!" Ryota agreed eagerly. Dropping his arms, he clasped his small hand over Hinata's. As Ryota began to pull her back towards the compound gates, Hinata cast a longing glance in the direction of the Head House and her bed.

The Hyuuga clansmen manning the gates were very good at keeping straight faces, not reacting to the sight of Hinata passing through again not five minutes after entering. With her face turned away to send them a quiet "thank you" for opening the gates, Hinata missed Ryota coming to an abrupt stop and so nearly tripped over the boy before catching herself.

"Ryota-chan, are you okay?" Hinata asked, hands curled around Ryota's shoulders to keep him steady.

"Hinata-sama…"

Ryota wasn't look at her when he spoke and when Hinata followed his gaze her eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Oh! Sasuke-kun, you're still here."

Sasuke responded to her observation with a look that Hinata interpreted to be a question of why she wasn't getting some much needed sleep.

"Um. I had a craving for cinnamon rolls…Ryota-chan here was sweet enough to join me," Hinata explained, squeezing Ryota's shoulders encouragingly before taking his hand once more. Though still appearing nervous from Sasuke's presence, Ryota nodded in agreement and started walking again.

Sasuke quirked a brow and Hinata just shrugged sheepishly.

"Sasuke-kun, you should head home and get some sleep," Hinata told him as he fell into step with them. His relationship with sleep was tumultuous enough and she didn't want to contribute to it.

"…I had craving for cinnamon rolls too," Sasuke deadpanned.

"Really?" Ryota asked shyly, apparently curious enough to speak up.

"Really," Sasuke said solemnly. His dark eye glinted with amusement when it caught hers and Hinata could only shake her head in disbelief, unable to stop her lips from tugging upwards.

"Those are Hinata-sama's favourite. I think they're alright, but a little too sweet. I like anpan better," Ryota said. "…Does Sasuke-san have a favourite?"

Hinata felt Sasuke's eyes on her when he answered, "Cinnamon rolls."

Sasuke's receptiveness gave Ryota the courage to continue to pepper him with questions, nerves easing away. Sasuke answered them flippantly, impressing the young boy with his cool attitude.

A gentle warmth settled in Hinata's chest and she couldn't help but keep sneaking glances over at the serene look on Sasuke's face, the wind running through his already ruffled hair. Sasuke always made time for her even though he had no obligation to do so. It wasn't a new thing, some kind of attempt to prove himself or win her affections. No, it was a foundation of their friendship, something he'd been doing since the beginning, when they first started training together.

If she thought about it, maybe he'd been doing it since he'd first sat down with her for tea.

Sasuke had never given it much thought, but likely, if asked, he would not have considered himself to be good with children. He hadn't even liked children when he'd been one.

Hyuuga Ryota's questions were a little annoying, but harmless enough and something about the shy way he asked them made answering them less of a hassle. Still, this was the type of thing that would quickly test his patience on a normal day, let alone one where he was just coming off an eight hour patrol shift.

"What's your favourite animal?"

As mild irritation began to swell inside of him, silky midnight blue entered Sasuke's field of vision and quelled it. "Cats."

"Cats are cool! There's this cat that comes around the academy, but it never lets us pet it. It always runs away if we get to close."

"Some animals are more independent, Ryota-chan. It might bother them if you chase after them. It's better to let them come to you," Hinata said. The wind swept her hair around her face and she used her left hand to try to tame it back, her right hand still holding Ryota's. Sasuke was aware of the glances she kept shooting him and the resulting bubbly feeling in his chest, the insides of his ribcage filled with a fizzy warmth. A new experience, but not an altogether unpleasant one.

"But what if they don't?" Ryota asked.

Hinata hummed in thought. "Well..."

"Then they don't," Sasuke said bluntly. "But cats are more social than you'd think."

The main streets of Konoha were less crowded than normal for the time of day. Sasuke noticed he was receiving less wary stares than usual as well, whether it was because the villagers had gotten used to seeing him in Hinata's company or because the threat of nae-ROOT slightly outweighed the one his presence posed. Sasuke uncharitably suspected the latter.

They entered Amaguriama, the sugary sweet odour hitting Sasuke in the face and causing his nose to wrinkle. No matter how many times he'd visited, he couldn't seem to get used to the smell, but the fond look he caught Hinata aiming at him had Sasuke's heart buoying inside him again.

The shop doorbell rang above them, drawing the attention of the woman at the counter. Her frown cleared as she laid eyes on Hinata. They greeted each other familiarly and Ryota bowed politely, earning a loud coo from the woman. When she turned to Sasuke, he only nodded in return, preferring to stay out of the conversation.

There was only one other patron in the store, a man Sasuke recognized from the hospital.

Hinata caught sight of him as well. "Genji-san, good afternoon."

Genji smiled. "Hinata-san, Sasuke-san. And who's this?"

Ryota stepped forward in front of Hinata and introduced himself with a formality that was at odds with the childish pitch of his voice. "Hyuuga Ryota." It seemed his shyness was limited to Sasuke.

"Nice to meet you, Hyuuga Ryota-kun," Genji said. To Hinata, he added, "As much as I would like to chat, I should get back to the hospital." He went around them to the counter and paid for a handful of pastries, just the look of which made Sasuke's teeth ache.

The shop bell rang again and this time the shopkeeper greeted the visitor with an expression on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. "You again. Didn't I tell you to stop coming in here?"

The offending party was a boy of around twelve. "I just wanted to see if Miki-chan was here."

"And I've told you every day that she hasn't come by," the woman retorted. "If she had, I would have told her to find you. I don't mind you coming in when it's too cold outside, but you kids can't loiter here all the time bothering customers!"

Before the boy could respond, Genji approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Now, now, let's not get too worked up." He pulled one of the pastries he'd just bought from its box and pressed it into the boy's hands. It looked to Sasuke like they knew each other and the boy's next words proved him right.

"Genji-san, have you seen Miki-chan since last time?" The boy didn't even look down to acknowledge the pastry.

Sasuke exchanged a look with Hinata, standing back to observe while she stepped forward. Ryota went to follow, but Sasuke took hold of the back of his collar to stop him. Ryota blinked up at him, but obediently stayed.

"Is there something wrong?" Hinata asked as she crouched down in front of the boy. Sasuke could see the boy visibly calm from the gentle quality of her voice.

"Hinata-san!" he exclaimed upon seeing her, "I can't find my friend." His lower lip trembled despite his brave façade. "We're supposed to stick together! Sometimes we split up, but we always meet back up by nighttime because it's safer that way. But she hasn't been at our spot for the last three days!"

"Maybe Miki-chan met up with some other friends, Oda-kun," Genji suggested.

Oda shook his head vehemently. "There's no one else…it's just the two of us!"

"What does Miki-chan look like?" Hinata asked. "We can help you look for her. Is she the girl you're usually with?"

Oda perked up at this. "Yes! She has long brown hair in two braids with yellow ribbons; they're messy because I'm not very good at braiding. She has brown eyes and freckles and she's a little taller than me even though I always tell her she's not."

Hinata listened patiently. "That's really helpful, Oda-kun. My friend and I are ninja," she said, tilting her head to indicate Sasuke, "We'll do our best to find her."

"Thank you!" Oda said earnestly. "I'm gonna keep looking for her, but if you see her can you tell her to meet me here? I always walk by it, so I'll definitely see her!"

The shopkeeper huffed at this, a half-hearted sound more than anything, but refrained from reiterating her warning about loitering. Beneath her bluster, she appeared moved by the boy's plight.

Hinata nodded. "We'll make sure to tell her."

"How about we come with you?" Genji asked.

Oda shook his head. "The places we usually go…it's not the type of places you'd want to be," he admitted with a glance at Hinata. There was a stark difference in their appearance; Oda in stained, threadbare clothing and Hinata in soft, high quality material.

"I'm sure they're not all that bad," Genji said and Sasuke rolled his eyes at his obliviousness. Oda just shook his head again.

"If you're sure," Hinata said kindly, obviously cognizant of the boy's discomfort and not wanting to press.

"I'm sure," Oda said. Thanking them quickly, he ran out of the store with a determined look on his face.

Genji, too, made his way to the exit, but stopped at Hinata's call of his name.

"Genji-san, would it be possible for you to check if a girl fitting Oda-kun's description has checked into the hospital in the past three days," Hinata asked.

"Good thinking, Hinata-san. I'll take a look and let you know," Genji agreed before leaving.

Hinata came back over, exchanging another look with Sasuke and taking Ryota's hand in hers again. She led Ryota to the display of products, telling him pick out what he wanted as she took the opportunity to move closer to Sasuke. Sasuke immediately accommodated her, head tilting down to allow them some semblance of privacy. The scent of lavender and chamomile covered up the overwhelming sweetness around them.

"I'll let Kakashi know while you take Ryota back. We can meet up at the tower after," Sasuke said.

Hinata nodded in agreement. "I'm not sure how much I can do to track down her down even with my byakugan," she said with a small frown, eyes drifting to the shop door though the boy was long gone. "They often come into the community center…"

Sasuke brushed her bangs away, watching the frown clear from her forehead before her hair naturally settled back into place. Hinata's eyes darted from the door back to him and Sasuke took notice of how close they were, but didn't move back.

He inched forward.

Hinata wore a flustered expression not completely dissimilar to how she'd looked when he'd first run his fingers through her hair in the Uchiha district what seemed like so long ago. But rather than surprise, her eyes now spoke of…anticipation.

There was that charge in the air between them again and this time Sasuke was certain it was mutual.

"Hinata-sama, can I get anpan and melonpan?"

Cheeks filling with colour, Hinata caught her bottom lip between her teeth. Sasuke's eyes followed the motion and when she realized this Hinata let out a high pitched "eep" before scurrying away to join Ryota by the counter.

Aware of the shopkeeper's presence, Sasuke turned away, running his hand through the back of his hair.

Sasuke wasn't a fan of spending time in the heart of Konoha, but even to his biased view the change in atmosphere was evident. People were scared and the increase in patrolling ninja wasn't helping much.

Especially since the enemy came from within the village, wearing the same uniform with a few embellishments.

After his visit to Amaguriama a few days ago, Sasuke had reported the missing civilian to Kakashi, but they'd been unable to find the girl. Knowing his mentor, Kakashi had taken the report seriously, but realistically Konoha's ninja force was stretched thin and it was always difficult to keep track of villagers without homes. It was just as likely that the girl had picked up and left, sneaking onto a passing merchant's carriage to eke out a better living in the capital or to try to lay claim to uninhabited land in the surrounding forest.

Sasuke had spent the rest of the day with Hinata as she scanned the village to the best of her abilities, but locating a civilian whom she'd only seen in passing without a distinctive, developed chakra network was not an easy task even for the byakugan.

Then on Sasuke's patrol shift the next day they'd been giving instructions to expand their focus beyond landmarks and clan neighbourhoods to include areas populated mainly by civilians. Apparently, Naruto had also reported two missing children from the orphanage, though it was unclear if they'd simply left of their own accord or something darker was afoot.

It was nearing the end of Sasuke's morning shift. As always, he'd spent most of it on rooftops or in obscure corners, hidden from view and, as always, there'd been nothing noteworthy. The whole business agitated him. Sasuke considered himself an excellent ninja. He could be patient. But that didn't mean he enjoyed it. Team Seven was always meant to be primarily a combat squad. Sasuke may have found Naruto's method of jumping in headfirst a little too impulsive, but there was something to be said about the efficiency of direct confrontation.

Sasuke made a clone and sent it off to debrief with Kakashi. He debated waiting for Hinata by the gates as usual, but he could still sense her chakra at the hospital.

She was running late.

Shunshining from rooftop to rooftop, Sasuke stopped just short of Konoha Hospital. With narrow eyes, he watched as Fūma Kiyoko and Shimura Daishiro disappeared through the front entrance.

As it neared the end of her shift, Hinata activated her byakugan and absentmindedly tracked Ino's progress through the hospital as she knitted, though the bulk of her attention was on neither task but on the boy in the hospital bed in front of her.

He'd been silent as usual, not openly acknowledging her. However Hinata could feel his eyes periodically settle on her while her own pair was trained on her knitting. Her eyes tended to draw stares even from her fellow villagers, so it was unsurprising for a non-Konoha native to be interested as much as Fujiwara seemed to be trying to remain disengaged from his surroundings.

Seeing the blonde kunoichi turn the corner, Hinata took that as her cue to put the yarn away. With a soft farewell to the younger boy, Hinata left the room. Ino was jogging down the hallway when Hinata shut the door behind her.

"Hinata! Sorry I'm late!"

Hinata tilted her head to the side. "Um, Ino-san, you're on time?"

"Eh?" Ino frowned and then her eyes widened in realization. "Ugh, that Shikamaru! Never mind. Do you have time to talk for a minute?"

Facing Ino, but looking through the door at Fujiwara motionless in his bed, Hinata nodded.

"I'm really sorry about the other day!" Ino had no trouble meeting Hinata's eyes despite the active dōjutsu. She reached out and took Hinata's hands into her own. "You know I think the world of you, right? I'm a loudmouth and don't think enough before I talk and I hate to admit it, but Sasuke was right. I shouldn't have let him annoy me into being careless with my words." Ino's blue eyes dimmed. "My dad would have scolded me for not having a better handle of myself. If I can be that rude to a friend, what business do I have representing my clan?"

Hinata squeezed Ino's hands. "Ino-san, it's okay."

Ino's brow furrowed. "Is it really? Or are you just letting me off the hook too easily?"

Hinata couldn't help but smile at the sulky tone of Ino's voice being at odds with the blonde's desire to outgrow her childish habits. "I wasn't offended. I knew you weren't trying to hurt my feelings. It's just a…sensitive topic. But it's been like that for all my life, so maybe it's silly of me to feel sensitive about it."

"Hey, don't turn this around on yourself! I'm the one who messed up. If you start apologizing then I'm going to feel a hundred times worse so you better stop right there!" Ino complained, a slight whine to her voice.

"Sorry!"

Ino's eyes narrowed.

Hinata covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh! Sorry!"

"Hinata! What are we going to do with you?" Ino asked, half-laughing and half-exasperated. She pulled Hinata into a tight hug. "I hope you know you were never the problem," Ino murmured into Hinata's hair. "It's the grown adults who had the nerve to look down on a child that were the problem. Obviously not one of those old cronies ever cracked open a book to learn the first thing about child development and nurturing skills."

Hinata just hummed quietly, eyes shut though that did nothing to hinder her vision.

A strange movement caught Hinata's attention. She stiffened.

"Hinata? What —"

Loud voices carried over into the hallway.

Letting go, Ino turned to the noise and then to Fujiwara's door. "You go ahead," she told Hinata.

Hinata nodded seriously before sprinting down the hallway. Two powerful chakra networks were unexpectedly present in the hospital, but Hinata didn't allow them to distract her.

She navigated through the halls, taking care not to bump into anyone. Finally she reached her destination, rounding the corner and immediately seeing the source of the commotion.

Iryō-nins and staff alike were gaping at the walls where white roots were rapidly creeping along. They were coming out of one door in particular, twisting through the small space of the doorway. They'd already stretched across the expanse of the entirety of the one wall, now curling around the edges of the ceiling and floor, and showed no signs of stopping. A gnarled root attempted to coil around the ankle of an iryō-nin, but she managed to stumble back to safety with a shriek.

As everyone else backed away fearfully, Hinata raced forward.

The white interior of Konoha Hospital made stealth impossible. Sasuke's black clad figure stood out like a sore thumb. But he'd timed his entrance well, Kiyoko and Daishiro far enough ahead not to have noticed him. He watched them speak to a staff member. Then, while Daishiro appeared to be deep in discussion, Kiyoko ventured off on her own.

Following at a distance, Sasuke saw her start down the hallway that led to Fujiwara's room. As he continued to tail her, a door opened and blocked his line of sight.

"Sasuke?" Naruto looked at him, confused. The bandages around the end of his amputated arm looked fresh.

Sakura pushed Naruto from where he had stopped in the middle of the doorway. "Idiot, don't stop just anywhere. I have things to do." She looked at Sasuke and a mix of emotions passed her face before it settled into a strained smile. "Hi Sasuke-kun, here to meet —" She cut herself off, glancing at Naruto.

"What?" Naruto asked obliviously.

Sakura shot Sasuke a pointed look and he frowned back at her.

A shriek tore through the air, putting a stop to the exchange. Naruto and Sakura shared a quick glance, but Sasuke was already shunshining away.

He had already turned down several corridors when he first caught sight of the white roots crawling towards him. With another few steps he reached a small crowd of people all gawking uselessly at the white zetsu roots encasing the hallway. Reminded of the white zetsu nest in the underground cavern, Sasuke prepared to burn them away.

"Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu."

Bright flames cast an orange glow against the white of the hospital walls, burning through the white zetsu roots in a controlled manner until they were nothing but black ash falling to the floor.

But they hadn't been Sasuke's flames.

"Hinata?" Naruto's voice was quiet for once, but he was close enough for Sasuke to hear.

Hinata turned away from the remains of the white zetsu roots, the raised veins along her temples receding.

As the enhanced vision granted by her kekkei genkai faded away, the blond and orange and black momentarily disoriented Hinata. Sasuke's mismatched gaze was grounding. Blinking, Hinata let out a quiet exhale and felt the adrenaline leave her body.

She saw Sasuke scan her for injuries before his eyes darted away. Following his gaze, Hinata's brows drew together when she saw Fūma Kiyoko watching from the end of the hall. Kiyoko lingered for a moment and then turned to leave. Looking back to Sasuke, Hinata gave him a small nod of understanding which he returned before heading in Kiyoko's direction.

At the same time, a flash of pink sped across the hallway to the door where the white zetsu roots had stemmed from. "That's Yamato-senpai's room!" Sakura exclaimed. "Someone call Tsunade-sama!" The authority in her voice seemed to jumpstart the iryō-nins and staff and the hallway quickly emptied.

"Sakura-san, is there anything I can do to help?" Hinata offered as the other kunoichi began to enter Yamato's room.

Sakura stopped with her hand on the doorknob. "I don't think so. Tsunade-sama said it's infected all the cells in his body. If the byakugan could help, she would have called for you earlier. We're working on a treatment — we just need to keep him stable until it's ready."

"O-okay." Hinata stumbled around the word as the door clicked shut behind the other girl, leaving Hinata alone with Naruto.

"Hinata-chan…"

Hinata swiveled around, startled eyes taking in the otherwise empty hallway with before landing on Naruto. "Oh! Naruto-kun. Um, how's your arm?" Hinata asked, glancing at the bandaged limb in question.

It took a moment for Naruto to react, looking at his arm as if seeing it for the first time. "My arm? Oh! It's fine. Sakura-chan had to do a check-up, make sure it's still in a good state to accept the new prosthetic they're making me. It's really throwing me off not having it though — don't know how Sasuke does it."

"Mm. I'm sure you would keep trying until you got used to it too. That's the kind of person you are," Hinata said.

Naruto grinned a little at that. "I guess I'm stubborn like that."

"Determined," Hinata corrected kindly.

Blue eyes shining, Naruto's grin grew wider before fading. "So…Sasuke taught you his technique?"

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata worried her bottom lip.

Naruto made a face. "Sorry, sorry, I'm not trying to — you know. I'm just saying."

"Well, um, we train together, as you know…"

"Yeah. And you have the same chakra affinities. Never really thought of that before," Naruto said, face unusually blank. "Ne, Hinata-chan, how come we never really trained together much?"

Hinata cast her gaze to the floor. Her fingers twisted around the fabric of her sleeves. "Well, Naruto-kun was busy, so…"

"You should have asked!" Naruto blurted out. "I mean, we both train every day, why didn't we do it together more often? I wish…" His blue eyes looked solemn, voice lowering to a whisper. "I wish you would have asked me. I wish I had…"

No matter what happened, it pained Hinata to see Naruto upset. "I'm sorry," she said, hands clutched protectively to her chest.

"I didn't say that for you to apologize! That's not what I —" Naruto bit his lip. When he looked at her there were too many emotions for Hinata to discern. Then he blinked it all away and forced a grin. "Never mind. You just finished your shift, right? You must be tired. I didn't mean to hold you up."

"Naruto-kun…"

"I'll see you later, Hinata-chan!" With a cheerfulness that made her heart hurt, Naruto waved goodbye in an exaggerated motion.

Then, before Hinata could think of anything to say that might make the situation better, he turned around and left.

Against the backdrop of the white hospital hallway, the black ash from the remnants of Hinata's Katon no Jutsu tracked Naruto's footsteps as he disappeared.

The insides of Hinata's mouth tasted of fire.

Naruto ;_; why do I hurt you like this?

Sorry for the late posts! Just quite busy and keep underestimating how much time final edits will take (ó﹏ò｡)

Thanks as always for everyone who reads and leaves a review ^^

MVH