It was almost time for Hinata to leave. She had about four hours left before she was to depart for her mission and instead of resting Hinata was doing other things.
Naruto had Hinata flushed against the wall. She was breath taking. A thin layer of sweat covered the three of their bodies and Hinata let Naruto hold her thigh spread open while he increased his thrust pounding into her against the wall. One of his hands held her for better access while the other hand balanced himself against the wall with Sasuke doing the same actions to his rear.
There was absolutely no talking. Just movement. Desperate movements for release with quivers, moans and whimpers until they all reached that perfect peak.
Hinata looked at Naruto with nothing but pure love in her eyes,"I love you Naruto."
...
...
"Naruto!"
Said person came out of their day dream and looked at the pink-haired woman talking. "Yeah Sakura?"
Sakura frowned at him and motioned to his bowl of ramen. "Your food is getting cold. You've been out of it for like ten minutes."
No one really questioned why Naruto was so out of it. Even Sasuke was quieter than usual. Who could really fault them. It was going on 45 days of Hinata being away. The only update they would get was Tsunade telling them Hinata was doing fine. Or when Hinata would ask for an extension, which was three days before her month mark was up.
Perfect timing to make sure no one came to pursue her, Naruto expected nothing less from Hinata when it came to avoidance.
Sasuke didn't take the news well. He took it worse than Naruto did. Which was actually shocking. Naruto just looked like he was stuck in a daze when Tsunade told him about the extension. Like how he looked at this very moment with Sakura.
Sakura and many other people tried to get him and Sasuke to go out more. Get fresh air. Not stay cooped up in Hinata or Naruto's apartment. Sasuke easily slipped back into his monotone, rude behavior and pushed almost everyone away and found a way to make this everyone's fault. Itachi learned to stay clear away from Sasuke during this time because he was Sasuke's number one source to let out his frustrations and point his blame somehow.
Sasuke would listen to reasoning if Naruto spoke to him but hitting day 45 even Naruto was finding it hard to be uplifting.
Looking at Sakura, Naruto's eyes still looked dazed. "I'll pay for it and get it to go. Not really hungry."
Sakura gave Naruto a worried look, "Hey. It's gonna be okay. Hinata knows what she's doing. She's making her reports to Tsunade and she's staying as low as possible. This requires time Naruto."
Naruto gave her a soft sad smile and said nothing as he took his food and left for home. He was never surprised to see Sasuke waiting at his apartment with bruises from over doing it in training with Itachi, Kakashi or himself. If Naruto trained, he'd train alone. He didn't want to train with Sasuke and risk saying or doing something out of anger and frustration that he'd later regret.
So seeing Sasuke at his door waiting for him was no surprise. It actually helped them both during this moment of weakness they were going through. Literally missing their other half was painful.
He'd just let Sasuke in the apartment and the young Uchiha would shower, get dressed and lay on Naruto's bed staring at the ceiling until Naruto had freshened up and was ready for bed. Naruto asked Sasuke frequently if he was eating properly because he felt like he rarely saw Sasuke eat. Sasuke would do light chat and tell him the necessities so Naruto wouldn't worry too much. Both were already worried enough with their other half.
Naruto would open his refrigerator and place his leftover ramen in the fridge and Sasuke didn't comment how Naruto had about 10 other leftover containers. Now was not the time to call each other a hypocrite and nitpick.
Naruto would always shower last and be in bed last. The two would stare at the ceiling together and sometimes it would grow into something more and sometimes they would just sleep with each other just for comfort. The two had experienced what it felt like to be comforted and satisfied with one another and both agreed it didn't feel absolutely complete without Hinata.
"What are you worried about the most Naruto?"
Sasuke confided with Naruto at night the most. Naruto wasn't surprised. Hinata was typically the night time person with Sasuke so Naruto tried to fill that void. Even before they broke the barrier and the three of them became one, Hinata would still come spend nights with them and talk to Sasuke about nonchalant things through the night.
Even before Sasuke shared his feelings with Hinata she made time for him. Naruto grinned at the memories, "She'll come back Sasuke. I'm worried she won't come back okay is all."
It was a reasonable thing to be concerned about. This was a big mission to put on someone that still suffered mental struggles. Sometimes when Naruto closed his eyes he could imagine Hinata with that hollow cold look on her face. How she was so out of reach. It hurt him because he knew she was hurting during that point in her life.
Sasuke continued to look at the ceiling for a few seconds longer before speaking, "I feel the same way. I love when she's balanced. Not some freak of nature serial killer. I feel like she actually hates to take a life, I feel like she actually hates this work field but it's all she knows now."
Naruto closed his eyes and laughed. "You love when she's balanced. So. You love her."
"I can love someone other than you."
Naruto opened his eyes and looked at Sasuke, "I love her too. I can love someone other than you too."
He curled to his side facing Sasuke and Sasuke turned his head to look at him and played with Naruto's fingers. "Keep it together dobe. She's going to be okay. This is what she does. She needs us to have faith in her."
The Amegakure village the Akatsuki resided in had a depressing atmosphere to it. Gangs were alive and flourishing, and as long as none of them hampered with what the Akatsuki were doing and the orders they were pushing out, the violence coming from the gangs and corruption were fine.
There was poverty everywhere. Famine to be precise. Children, you could see their rib cages, their desperation for food. Babies crying because their mothers were too starved to produce breast milk for them and too poor to buy them replacement food.
The land was in horrible condition. It was constantly being used and not enough tender, love and care was being put back into it so the land could produce for the people. The village was being used and was dying, just like the people that lived in there. The rain just made them want to drown.
For the time being no one noticed a petite woman with a black cloak and a hoodie covering her head walk around the village. The rain made no one really want to look at one another, so it was easy for her to slip in and out of the village. While no one really traveled to the district the Akatsuki resided, she slipped in and out day by day with not even a second glance.
The people here acted like walking zombies.
Hinata's first main focus was the masked man, who at first when she spoke with Sasuke thought the man's name was Tobi. Now during her investigations she has learned this seemed to not be the case. She witnessed when this man came back from a supposed battle with a female Akatsuki member. Hinata had an Akatsuki info book provided by Tsunade, and from her own studies under Danzo on the Akatsuki members and was able to classify this female member as Konan.
Hinata watched the whole battle between the two occur. From the start to the end. At that point she was able to catch the man off guard and her eyes roamed over him. He had the Sharingan. So he was a Uchiha? She was sure Itachi and Sasuke were the ONLY ones still alive. Maybe this man was like Kakashi and acquired it? Honestly he looked much like a Uchiha and her gut was saying he was an Uchiha as well.
This made things a bigger problem. He now possessed the Rinnegan as well. Making him a bigger threat.
Hinata was able to investigate the Akatsuki hideout to the fullest of her capabilities over the course of thirty days. She was able to study the likes of 'Tobi', who in her reports heavily expresses that this man is not who he says he is, and she was able to investigate Kabuto very well. Along with the mental breakdown he had acquired over the demise of Orochimaru. He was a man of many strengths and his new found cocky personality is one of his greatest weaknesses.
Something that made her request more time in the field was a rather odd…thing. Hinata wasn't sure if this thing was a man, a woman or just simply nothing, a creation. Still this thing, seemed rather sneaky. It reminded her of how she dealt with Sasuke when she first made contact with him.
Very manipulative.
This thing was conniving and shouldn't be trusted by anyone in Akatsuki. Funny, she thought this thing was too evil, even for the Akatsuki.
She had investigated in the beginning of her mission the goal of the Akatsuki and how they were to go about executing this mission. However, this thing named Zetsu just seemed to not really have the same agenda. She had caught this thing one too many times say in private, 'Almost there mother.'
Something wasn't right. Something was horribly wrong.
She was starting to realize that Zetsu did security rounds around the village more frequently than usual. She couldn't ignore that Zetsu started to patrol the EXACT areas that she was previously at.
She's been discovered. She had to go somewhere where he couldn't find her. That meant she had to cease all usage of chakra and become nothing to not be detected. She should remember how to become nothing. She was nothing for over four years.
That was what lead to Hinata requesting an extension. If She didn't say anything Team Seven and Itachi would be blindly coming towards a waiting Akatsuki because they were already slightly alerted by her presence. If she tried to just leave on the 30 day mark carelessly she would have surely gotten caught by Zetsu. The point of the mission was having the upper hand of surprising the enemy.
So, for the time being, under a thick coat of mud and guck from the rain that had just past laid a quiet Hyuga in the swamp land of Amegakure. The swamps were dark and thick, carrying the worst type of parasites and creatures. Hinata submerged herself in the swamps and her face was framed by Lily Pads that most of the times frogs would mistake her for. She floated in the water perfectly and was covered in guck and moss from her environment, blending it perfectly.
For an extra 30 days Hinata had been playing the cat and mouse game in the swamps with Zetsu. Trying to study Zetsu while it studied her. Or what it could gather about her aura being there. It was almost like who could win the waiting game between the two. Except this game was life or death.
Finally alone in the swamps and having thought out an escape plan. Hinata was perfectly still as she sent her last message to the Hokage with detailed information and word that she was prepared for team seven and Itachi to arrive. It had been 60 days and while she was a month behind her expected completion date it had all been worth it.
She had to take extra precaution during her escape. She has learned she was not dealing with just a masked crazed man. She was dealing with another Uchiha, a crazed sage mode Kabuto and this Zetsu manipulator. The biggest foe actually being the manipulator.
It was very sly. She learned that Zetsu possessed the ability to be in many places. It latched on to people and could control them if it wanted. It hid in spaces very very easily. Zetsu was on a higher caliber than Hinata on reconnaissance, so she found herself going to the most extreme to stay hidden.
Hinata figured this thing wasn't human 30 days ago when she was first cornered in the swamps because Zetsu didn't seem to need the basic human things to survive and could stand in the swamps for hours waiting for her to slip.
It was rare for her to have to go undercover this deep. To live barbaric and savage for so long. Actually, she had only trained for missions like this. She had never imagined being in this deep.
The only reason she would quick bathe herself with her unscented soap bar that was almost gone, was so her smell didn't give her away. She rarely took in food or water, so she was sure she lost about 20 to 40 pounds in two months and someone of her size she was sure she looked sickly.
During her time seeking refuge in the swamps it was be best for her to stay as hidden as possible. That meant little to no movement, no eating, little to no sleeping, she had to stay alert. All until the others arrived. Hinata was used to this. She could do this. Even if this was stretching what she was used to, she had to make it work.
She would do this so she could see the people precious to her. In the past, she wouldn't have cared as much.
Some would think it was torturous to just spend their time looking at the sky and waiting for the sun to set and rise every day while in hiding. Hinata opted to not think of it that way. She was only really strained when it would rain. Unfortunately she was dispatched during a heavy raining season, so she had to adapt with catching her breathes with rain pounding on her and learning how to time her breathing.
It actually helped time go by, so Hinata told herself that was a bonus.
Before she was pushed back into the swamps, Hinata had learned the schedule of the remaining Akatsuki and their allies. That is how she learned so much about the manipulator. Zetsu did rounds as far as 15 miles out in the perimeter of their hideout. Hinata believed that he was being cautious of a Hyuga.
Maybe this 'Tobi' man instructed Zetsu to do it's research on her and the rest of the Hyuga's after the Uchiha's last encounter with her. Still, while she was in ROOT it had to be hard and almost impossible for Zetsu to keep up with her or any Hyuga really without being noticed.
Every day between 3-4 in the morning he would scout in her area. Smart actually. That time frame would have been the best times to catch someone when they were tired or sleeping. She trained herself over the years when on missions to not be tired at these obvious times.
Still she was still skeptical that this Zetsu KNEW someone was out here in this area. It just couldn't FIND her. Why else would someone go over the same route every single day. Typically, one would not want to do the same route for security purposes.
Zetsu knew she was there. It was waiting for her to mess up so it could attack her. Kill her.
In the beginning, before she was practically chased into the swamps, while she was collecting information she ignored this. She would just switch locations. It was becoming clear that this thing was following her trail. She was being out matched.
The thought of this was driving her insane. She had never been on the receiving end.
She had the option of showing herself and facing this manipulator, but over time she realized that Zetsu was a jack of all trades and to go against him without knowing him all too well would be suicide. Not only that, Akatsuki could use her against Naruto or Sasuke.
So when she gathered enough information that she was satisfied with and ran out of options of maneuvering she became stationary in the swampiest area. As a last resort water was her best friend. That and it matched one of her elements.
Besides, she was sure this just infuriated the manipulator even more. The fact Zetsu couldn't find her.
Hinata relied on everything but her chakra. If she used any once of it she believed Zetsu would catch her. She relied on her hearing, smell and touch more than anything. She was so silent, so still and so in sync with the land and nature around her she could FEEL when Zetsu arrived because he had a distinct walk.
It had a sneaky walk. Zetsu was something that not even that masked man should trust.
When she sent word to Lady Tsunade she told her about all of this. She was nervous to use chakra to do this, and she had to wait for the absolute perfect time to send her messaged when Zetsu was not around.
Still she was able to inform Tsunade of the best times to find her and how she might have been compromised by one of the Akatsuki. She gave a little more detail about this mysterious Zetsu and told the Hokage that on the third day of her last message sent she was going to depart two villages down away from Amegakure going west. So, she would be traveling at least 30 miles in a day.
On the third day Hinata had this adrenaline rush through her that she tried very well to suppress for the sake of staying undiscovered as much as possible. It was 5 in the morning and Zetsu had just done it's rounds. This morning Zetsu felt a bit more agitated. It rushed with its rounds. Zetsu usually did this when Kabuto and Obito's arguing annoyed it.
This meant for a good run for her. Undiscovered and not blowing Konoha's cover.
She waited until a few civilians came out to start their morning routine and when their backs were turned she made for her dash. Once she was out the swamps Hinata tried to stay in the shadows while she stayed hidden in the woods.
Her lungs burned. They hurt. Her body was shutting down. It had been so long since she had real fresh air and it made her nauseated and lightheaded.
Minor pain. She could recover in Naruto and Sasuke's arms.
Her clothes were sosoakedit weighed her down drastically and this was when she realized how much weight she had lost because her clothes should not have been this heavy. She sprinted and sprinted and when she was sure she was outside of the range of Zetsu, she still sprinted with her natural strength. She trusted nothing about that thing.
She wasn't surprised when her sprint became a jog after what she believed was several miles, but she was ecstatic to realize that the sun was high in the sky oppose to the dawn of it being 5 in the morning. Which meant it was close to lunch time when she came into view of the village she told Tsunade she would be stationed and waiting at.
Judging by the sun placement, the sound of nature and the little sights of people well into their day, Hinata concluded that it had been around four hours since she had made her run.
When Hinata heard a faint sound of a twig snap she immediately swiveled her body and activated her Byakugan and sent an electrified Kunai flying in the direction of the sound. In a last minute show of desperation her chakra wires were visible and flying around looking for a target to connect to. Hinata still had fight in her and even though her body was deteriorating she refused to go down without taking someone with her.
"Woah! Stop!"
Kakashi looked at his arm and took in that he barely missed her kunai and that it grazed him sending a brief electric shock through his body that immediately made him come to a complete stop. To his utter annoyance, now he had a small open gash on his arm.
"I see you are on high alert…Woah! Hey hey! Someone get her some water!"
Hinata's eyes were wide and she was taking giant gulps of air. Her wires immediately connected to Kakashi since he was the voice she heard and made eye contact with first. Her mind was screaming that he was real but playing this game for over four years was starting to take its toll on her and she wasn't sure who was friend or foe.
She stiffened when arms wrapped around her from behind and while her immediate reaction was to attack she forced herself to take in the scene if only for a moment.
She could make out everyone's chakra within them. Her mind was working in over drive and she was able to make out that the chakra in their bodies were authentic. She knew Kakashi was him, Sakura was her, Itachi was him and she immediately let her guard relax a little when she noticed the arms hugging her as Naruto. She also caught that Sasuke was on the tree above them ensuring the area was safe.
"I'm okay!"
Hinata dropped her wires and felt like she was almost saying those words to herself because Naruto kept his hold on her tight. He was shaking slightly and was breathing just as hard as she was. "It's okay Naruto. I'm okay."
No matter how many times she repeated herself he wouldn't letting go.
Hinata stayed in the shower for a while. She had it fully on heat and observed the damage of what living in a swap for two months can do to the skin. She was thankful no one came in the bathroom during her hygiene time because she spent the first 30-45 minutes just throwing up all sorts of things in the toilet.
She spent another 20 minutes adjusting to the bathroom light. She tried, and failed miserably, to cover her sounds of pain as the fresh hot water hit her skin and felt like she was in a shower of needles. So yes, she was thankful no one bothered to come in and catch her in such a state.
Her skin was very sensitive. She felt every prick of the water and for some reason she stayed under the intense heat because at least she felt something other than numbness.
She shampooed her hair at least four times and conditioned it intensely. Her hair had grown past her rear, but it was uneven due to her hair breaking off so badly. She was relieved her hair held strong in the swamps and didn't fall apart until her escape day.
When she was out the shower and looked in the mirror and chose to ignore how much her face caved in and how she could see her collar bones clearly and how freakishly obvious they were. Her stomach was slightly caved in and her rib cage was just morbidly showing. Flashbacks of the children in that village flashed through her mind and her anger just increased.
Hinata had seen better days that was for sure. She couldn't say the same for those children.
After brushing her teeth and ignoring how bloody her gums had gotten, Hinata swiftly threw on some clothes Sakura had for her and noted how the black sweat suit was oversized on her. The clothes were a size small. Hinata sighed at the image and looked at her mission clothes. Her ninja uniform was hanging up drying from being cleaned by Sasuke. It took him an hour to just clean her clothing.
Hinata took a deep breath before opening the bathroom door and stepped into the hotel living room area. Everyone except Naruto was gathered there going over Hinata's notes and findings. For her to be gone a little over 60 days, she had collected a HUGE amount of intel.
Danzo trained her well.
Itachi and Kakashi were going over additional information Itachi knew from Akatsuki and what might be helpful. Sakura was the first one to look at Hinata. She had a smile on her face at first and it quickly slid right off.
Sakura could feel the chill crawl up her back from the cold look Hinata was unknowingly giving her. Hinata held her arms up in a manner telling Sakura not to worry. Hinata still had her face set in a void manner, but she was polite enough to speak. "Sakura. Do not worry. I had to go a little extreme for a long duration of time. I will gain my weight back just as fast as I lost it."
Looking her over a few times, Sakura would say that Hinata went too fucking extreme. "You should rest Hinata. Malnutrition isn't something to take lightly."
Hinata was planning to rebuttal Sakura when a strong hand came to rest on her shoulder and she turned around already knowing it was Sasuke. "I agree with Sakura. You should rest. Naruto went to scout the area for a bit and buy some food. You were in the shower for a while so he should be on his way back soon. There is two rooms so you can go in the vacant room and rest."
Hinata frowned at being cast away during a moment like this, she opened her mouth to speak but immediately closed it when Sasuke gave her a look that said he was not in the mood for her to argue.
Since Sasuke came back to the village and became someone Naruto loved and someone important to Hinata, Sasuke was typically on her side and calm. However, he was barely holding on to an ounce of calmness left in his body since seeing her in this condition.
"Sasuke. Why don't you make sure Hinata gets comfortable in empty room. Watch her for a bit for any medical complications. Maybe get some rest yourself. You've been active watch for the whole trip here and you along with Naruto have gotten the least amount of sleep then the rest of us. Oh and Lady Hinata, you did an amazing job. This information is beyond what I think any one of us could do. It's exactly what we needed."
Itachi finished speaking with a smile and waved for the two to leave and went back to planning with Kakashi. Sasuke didn't argue with this. He was indeed fucking exhausted. Both mentally and physically. He placed a hand at the bottom of Hinata's back and guided her into the other side of the split hotel and they went into the second room.
The bed was a good decent queen size bed. Hinata had been taking quick naps floating in the muddy parasite infested swamp for so long that she would have been fine sleeping on the hotel floor.
Her skin was still very much sensitive so when she laid on the bed she took her time not to irritate her skin any further. She laid on her stomach and buried her face in the pillow and took a deep breath. She felt weight on the bed and saw how cautious Sasuke was being to ensure she was okay.
Sasuke slowly pulled her sweat shirt up and paused. Hinata knew he was observing how irritated her skin looked. It was a bright blotchy red color from the showers heat and the over exposure to the weather and climate. He lightly traced his fingers over her skin and sometimes Hinata wouldn't respond and sometimes she would flinch and hiss a little from the pain of him getting near a sore or welt.
Hinata heard him breathe in frustration and she knew he was holding in so many words of anger, "I'm okay Sasuke."
"Yes. I heard you say that a million times already. Even though you look nothing of the sort."
Hinata turned her head so she could look at him and she was sure him seeing the dark circles under her eyes made him no happier.
"I've been doing this for years Sasuke. I just had to go deeper than I would typically go for a reconnaissance mission. Zetsu. I believe you met him before when you were briefly with Akatsuki. Zetsu seemed to know someone was in the area that shouldn't be there, but it couldn't find me. Well for a while Zetsu couldn't find me, but over time it started to track me down very well…I have never been tracked down or compromised."
Sasuke still frowned at her and continued to touch her skin, "So what? You stayed over an ego thing? You wanted to prove to Zetsu that you were the better spy?"
"No. I wanted to study Zetsu. This him, it, whatever it was. It's evil. Over time I learned that Zetsu was the manipulator of the Akatsuki. Zetsu's fooling everyone is Akatsuki. I stayed because it became a waiting game between Zetsu and I. If I would have left at the 30 day mark I would have been compromised."
Sasuke looked at her with concern before Naruto came entering through the door and closing it swiftly but quietly. "I gave everyone something to eat. I just basically got snacks. If I were to order a bunch of food and bring it to a hotel so soon it might raise some red flags. Right? Still, I was able to grab some cinnamon rolls though from a bakery for ya."
Hinata sat up immediately to look at Naruto and accept the cinnamon rolls. She noted how he said nothing about her appearance even though he was looking straight at her. He didn't even flinch.
When he sat down on the edge of the bed and started to munch on a power bar he looked at Hinata for her to continue, "I heard something about this thing named Zetsu being a manipulator? What else happened?"
Sasuke and Hinata both blinked at Naruto's ability to multitask when you'd least expect it. "Yes, well. I believe Zetsu tracked me down to the swamp grounds. It knew I was there. After about 4 weeks it became an everyday thing at 3-4 in the morning Zetsu would do patrols to the swamp grounds. The swamps are a large area, but every day Zetsu came to that particular area I was in."
Sasuke slowly nodded his head, "Zetsu definitely knew you were there."
Hinata took a giant bite of her cinnamon roll and nodded her head. Both Naruto and Sasuke noted how excited she was to talk about how she out maneuvered her target. She looked crazed. This was what they were worried about. This was 'Wire' talking.
"Yes exactly. The key is no chakra what so ever. No Byakugan even. I used nothing. If it rained on top of me while I was in the mud than I would resort to submerged breathing control. After I realized that Zetsu discovered me, and it was too dangerous I stopped observing and stayed in the swamp area. I decided against searching for food, only what came across my path in the swamps and I had minimal usage of water. Considering the water I had access to wasn't the safest water to consume. Some days Zetsu would just stay in the swamps for hours on end. Like it knew I would break and reveal myself."
Hinata was in a trance of feeling the adrenaline of besting Zetsu because she didn't break or give in. She was the better ninja at this. She wasn't good at almost anything in life, Zetsu would NOT take this from her.
She noticed Naruto's hand slightly tremble from anger as he was trying to take a drink from his canteen. He was more than likely angry at Zetsu and the situation he chased Hinata in. When he was done and looked to be in thought for a moment. He was either thinking or doing breathing exercises. "So why did you choose the swamps?"
Hinata watched as Sasuke took the box of cinnamon rolls from her so she could control her eating intake. She was eating too fast and he was sure she would get sick from it. "I work well in water elements. I can work water well and I could use my chakra wires easier in the water if I had to fight. If nothing else worked I was going to resort to my natural element of lightning and go from there."
Sasuke fingers twitched and he had to stop from balling his hands up. "What do you mean go from there? You use your lightning little to none. You don't even like to train with me in it. If you tried to go all out with it you would have electrocuted the both of you."
Hinata gave Sasuke a chilling confused look, "Yes. I know that."
Both Sasuke and Naruto paused at this. Not what they wanted to hear, but they could understand why she would have done what she planned. This Zetsu thing must had gotten under her skin seriously because she talked so passionately about it.
Hinata caught on how she was behaving by looking at Naruto and Sasuke. She closed her eyes and turned her head from the two of them. "I think if I didn't leave this morning Zetsu was going to find me by tonight or tomorrow. That's why I ran so fast. I didn't want…I didn't want to die like that. Maybe before, while I was in ROOT, but not anymore."
Naruto leaned over and pulled her into his chest for a hug. He ignored the fact she was so light. If he would guess she was well under 110 pounds. He was hoping she was at least 90. Hinata gripped Naruto tight and he could feel her chakra become dark. "I want that thing."
Naruto paused at hearing Hinata's voice turn icy and pulled back so him and Sasuke could look at her. Hinata had a chilled look on her face and she was scowling. "Zetsu is my 300. It made me run. He…It…I have never been outmatched in this field. It toyed with me, but I have learned about it now. I want that to be my 300."
Naruto had a concerned look on his face before looking at Sasuke who frowned at her words, "I think you should collect yourself first. Get your weight up and reenergize before thinking of going back out there."
Hinata's eyes snapped over to Sasuke. He immediately glared at her from seeing the all too familiar look on her face. The look 'Wire' gave Naruto when Naruto made her miss Sasuke's heart.
Hinata had no clue how much she was sinking back to that dark part of her life, "I don't want to wait. I want that thing Sasuke. Please understand-"
"Please understand what!? You're angry because Zetsu did to you what you've done to people for years? You got outmatched but you survived Hinata. Don't stoop down to the Akatsuki level just because you lost in a twisted, fucked up game."
Her eyes widened and her lips went into a thin line at Sasuke's words. She was clearly upset, humiliated and a little butthurt. Still, she had to see the positive of it all. She gained incredible information, and this could help eliminate having a WAR. A giant fucking war. That would involve all the nations and innocent people dying.
Still to Hinata this wasn't a game. This wasn't about being a sore loser. This was what she did. This was her skill. To bring down a manipulator like Zetsu, you had to know how people in that line of work thought. She understood very well how Zetsu thought. It wasn't going to get the best of her. She trained too hard to get bested at the end.
Naruto stared at Hinata directly, "You think you can take this Zetsu thing on?"
Sasuke gave Naruto a sharp look, but Naruto was focused on Hinata. She was passionate about this. Naruto didn't want to take away her spark for the sake of him keeping her to themselves. What if she resented them for keeping her back? What if she was right and she knew how to better fight this Zetsu.
"I know that I want to try. Zetsu's not as strong as the masked man, but I have learned it's not about being stronger. I know that and Zetsu knows that too."
Naruto nodded his head. "Okay."
"You're dumber than I thought Naruto."
Naruto shrugged his shoulders at Sasuke, "You had faith in her going on this mission. What's the difference now?"
Sasuke had to stop himself from punching a wall, and that wall was Naruto. "I don't know. The 30 pound body weight difference. Her skin welting and looking like her whole body is swelling and on fire. The fact that she looks like a zombie and yet she still wants to go out and fight for her stupid Hyuga pride. Because she's going back to being that nutcase she was before and doesn't even notice. None of these red flags are obvious to you?"
Hinata went to take Sasuke's hand. He wouldn't dare snatch it away from her. No matter how upset he was. "I can do it Sasuke. Let me try."
"And if you trying leads to you dying? You still have that dumb mentality that your life is disposable. Do you understand how fuckinginsaneI felt for the past 60 days? How I thought about going rouge again just to find you when you didn't make your 30 day mark. Why do you want to keep hurting yourself?"
'It hurts us in return.'
Hinata took his hand to place it over her heart. Sasuke looked at her boney chest with such fire in his eyes. He was so fucking angry. He was never good at controlling his anger. At this moment he felt like he wanted to set the world on fire.
Maybe he never believed he would have it this bad for someone else other than Naruto, but here he was, ready to go back that dark path because harm was done against Hinata. Now he understood why Naruto said he would kill for Hinata.
"Sasuke. You and Naruto were the reason I made it this far. You're my will to live. I don't want anything to happen to you or Naruto. I-I love you S-Sasuke."
Sasuke met her eyes and he immediately regretted it. She was sucking him in. He heard everything she was saying and knew as a ninja, to take away something like this from her was unforgiveable.
Naruto watched the whole time she was going back and forward with Sasuke. Something was off, she wasn't the ROOT soldier he first met, and she wasn't the calm and soft Hinata he had after she left ROOT. This Hinata was done. He could clearly see the 'burn out' that Kakashi was talking about months ago.
"I won't stop you from taking on this thing Hinata. I understand both you and Sasuke. When me and Sasuke got notice that you missed your deadline…it wasn't easy. It was HARD Hinata. It's not the same without you home. Being intimate is definitely not the same, being alive just didn't feel the same. It was like we forgot how to live. Then finally after another 30 painful days we finally get word to deploy to you and we find you looking like you were just at a gathering with the death. This mission is so important Hinata and I know it's important to you too. That is why I'm not going to push for you to take a back seat on this, but you can bet that as soon as we get to the village and all this bull shit it over. You won't be leaving my sight like this EVER again."
Sasuke gave Hinata the same heated look, "I agree."
If Hinata wasn't so tired she would be blushing a few shades at the two, but she was tired. She was tired, Naruto was tired and so was Sasuke.
Sasuke used his hand that she placed on her chest to push her back on the comfortable bed. Hinata silently complied with no resistance. Sasuke went to lay beside her and she was immediately met with Naruto on the other side of her.
This is what they've been missing. What they've been craving and needing.
Naruto smiled at seeing Hinata immediately fall asleep. He could imagine she was more exhausted than they were. Sasuke followed her soon after. Naruto leaned over and kissed Hinata's hollow cheek before following his two lovers to sleep.