Mari Makinami
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Chapter 2.
Ningendō...
A few pieces of her memories and emotions rapidly streamed into his own mind through the connection that he made with his Rinnegan. It was far from perfect yet: he wasn't able to maintain a decent link, so it was pretty chaotic and disrupted, but still, he was able to get the picture in general.
So the idiot hurt the girl's feelings. That was kind of surprising to the Uchiha: he never thought Naruto was capable of declining someone's offer of further bonding. This fact somehow made his respect towards his blond friend raise a bit.
But there was more to it, of course. If the only reason for the girl to leave the village was her broken heart, Sasuke would personally kick her so hard that she flew from this point directly into Hokage's office window. However, to his relief, that was the reason of the least significance to her.
She was banished from her own clan, basically. Interesting. Was she really that weak and useless?
As far as he could remember, the girl was one of those few who helped him and Naruto to break Obito's Onmyōton shield just few days ago – the memories of the past war were too fresh yet. But well, that was actually quite something, coming from her, in his opinion.
Sasuke wasn't that arrogant, but he was no fool: he did realize that even before he acquired the Rinnegan, their former teammates were no match for him and Naruto in terms of power. They were just out of their league.
But they... But she was useful, at least once. None of her clansmen did more than her in this war, of that he was pretty sure. Then there had to be another reason. Did she do something that infuriated the elders of her clan to such extent?
He distantly looked at her feared and pained face, still holding her hand tightly and not letting the link break. No, that wasn't believable. This girl could hardly harm a fly. Her innocence was almost irritating to him.
Perhaps the problem was with the clan itself?
His eyes widened. So that was it. She was meant to become the clan's head.
That settled everything.
He didn't need to know her any better to say that, well, Hinata Hyūga was as capable of leading as he, Sasuke, was capable of ballet dancing. Obviously Hiashi realized it now, and so he made a heir of her younger sister who Sasuke could barely remember.
So the Hyūga leader decided to get rid of his own daughter, putting that deadly seal on her and leaving her to live a miserable life of shame. That's why she ran away.
No wonder. Who could possibly want to accept something like that?
That fact alone enraged Sasuke, making him second guess his own decision to spare Konoha from destruction. How could they allow something like this to exist? Where the hell were the Hokage watching all this time?!
If any clan ever deserved to be wiped out, that wasn't Uchiha. It certainly was Hyūga.
And then there was her brother, Neji. He remembered the guy, although he didn't personally witness his death: he was one of those who this filthy excuse of a clan used to protect the leaders' asses, and, of course, he had the very same seal they intended to put on Hinata. A capable fighter, he was considered a genius like himself. If he was an Uchiha or Senju, he would surely give Sasuke a run for money should they clash.
Apparently the connection between the girl and him was pretty strong: he was one of very few people she had a real bond with. Considering that she didn't find her team being a good reason to stay in the village, the relationship between them most likely wasn't that great. At least she didn't consider them friends now, which was good, if you asked Sasuke. There hardly was any way for her to return now. Not that she had many reasons to come back anyway, as he was now seeing.
The less connections she had left, the better. It only made his job with her much easier.
Only a few seconds passed since he'd grabbed her slender hand and used the technique on her, but the girl couldn't endure it anymore: with surprisingly great force she pulled her wrist out of his grip and fell back, her butt landing on the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
“What... What did you do to me?..” She exclaimed, coughing.
He gave her a studying look, ignoring the question. Did it really matter to her?
Surely he wasn't going to leave the girl there now, after what he saw in her memories. She needed help, and currently he was the only one in the whole world who could give her what the Hyūga needed.
Sasuke smirked, looking at the incredulous face of hers. The girl didn't need comfort or relief, she desperately needed education and hardening. That the Uchiha was capable of granting her.
He could already see a ton of problems that were going to inevitably follow his decision. But he could deal with them. It was a part of his path to redemption, after all.
Nothing more, nothing less.
She watched his every move expectantly, having no idea what was going on in the man's head. It seemed to her as if an eternity passed before he finally opened his mouth.
“Alright. You can follow me. However, there will be quite a few conditions. Get up.”
He didn't give her his hand to help, and that clearly was something she didn't expect: probably because through her whole life there always was someone from either that branch of slaves, as Sasuke called them from now on, or from her team to help her. To protect her. To do the job for her.
First of all, he needed to make it clear: nobody was going to help her anymore, she was on her own, and she had to deal with it, otherwise she's dead.
The girl slowly got up, her legs slightly shaking – probably the side-effect of her mind being suddenly ravaged by the Uchiha in not exactly the most polite manner.
“W-What are th-the conditions... Uchiha-san?” She asked, looking at him with obvious caution, not sure what to expect of the mad man.
“Let's cut the crap. I know why you left, I've seen it all.” Her eyes widened in anger, fists clenching. So, at least she had it in her. It was a good start, in his opinion. But Sasuke never showed that he noticed it at all, going on without mercy:
“You're just an abandoned weakling who couldn't figure out where to go. I don't blame you, though: your pathetic excuse of a clan shouldn't even exist in this world to begin with, so the intention to run away from them is only natural to anyone. That, however, doesn't mean that I need or want someone like you around.” He carefully watched her reaction to his words. She lowered her eyes again, biting her lip. The girl seemed to be torn between anger and self pity.
The first was good, the last... Not at all.
“You'll be on your own. Your business is yours, mine is mine. You don't pry into my dealings, and I couldn't care less about what you are going to do unless it somehow puts my own plans at risk.”
She seemed fine with this, or at least she didn't show any sign of displease. Interesting. That wasn't typical for someone from Konoha.
Giving her a few seconds to think, he continued:
“You need to realize that from now on you're either dead or wanted.” Her eyes opened wide, she obviously didn't quite follow his thoughts here.
He sighed. The girl was way too naive.
“What do you think your clan will do once they find out you're missing? You either have been abducted, or you ran away on your own. Either way, if someone recognizes you and spreads the news, you'll be labeled a nukenin. This will most likely happen in time anyway, unless you don't follow me and decide to hide somewhere 'till you die.”
She slowly nodded – clearly the last wasn't the option for the Hyūga girl.
“That means you can't be recognized. We'll be seeing many people, but none of them must know who you are. Otherwise I'll be in trouble. As a shinobi of Konoha, I don't wanna be associated with a nukenin – had more than ample of this stuff before.”
Now she looked shocked. Clearly the girl didn't think he was capable of joking. What did she think he was anyway, some mindless killing machine or a soulless monster?
He smirked. Probably something among these lines.
But she nodded silently. At least she understood.
“This will only serve you right, though.” He added after a few seconds of thinking, critically eying her baggy clothes. “Your outfit doesn't suit for a kunoichi. And for a traveler, too. You'll need something else.”
He was reluctant to admit it, but this was quite amusing. Now she looked offended. Didn't someone tell her this before? Apparently nobody of her fellows really cared for her enough. This was almost as bad as Naruto's case with that orange abomination which his friend called a shinobi outfit. Ridiculous.
“I... I'll buy s-something with the first o-opportunity I get...” She mumbled, looking down at her favorite jacket. Finally she was getting it.
“Do you have any money, though?” He asked, already knowing the answer.
Her cheeks reddened to the point of resembling tomato.
“N-no.. I...”
“Then you'll have to steal. I'm not giving you anything.”
With this, he turned away from her, walking ahead. The sound of fast, but light steps reached his ears in a few seconds.
This was going to be a long trip.
***
Was she really surprised? Probably not. The Uchiha was exactly what she expected him to be: a cold, selfish person with many mysteries both within and around himself. She didn't know and couldn't possibly imagine what his intentions were, but if Naruto let him go, then it probably wasn't directed at causing any harm to Konoha.
Konoha, huh...
Despite her inner struggle, she couldn't just give up on the village and all those people she spent her entire life with. She still deeply cared, of course.
Unlike Sasuke, Hinata Hyūga was a very selfless and kind girl. Of course, should her father come before her right now, asking her to forgive him and promising that she won't have to get the seal, that alone would be more than enough for her to return, no matter how miserable and lonely her life was going to be after this. She could bare with all the rest, but sealing... It was just overboard.
But father never came. In fact, she doubted that he would even care enough to start searching earlier than after a good few weeks after her disappearance. And even then the only thing of his concern would be her Byakugan. It needed to be destroyed should someone outside of the Hyūga clan lay a hand on it. That's what the seal was originally designed for in the first place.
And activation of the seal would mean her death.
Hinata didn't want to die like this.
They've been walking the path to the east now for an hour or so, hardly meeting anyone. He was a few yards ahead of her, never bothering to check her condition, seemingly deep in his own thoughts.
On their way they met only two civilians, probably merchants, walking towards Konoha, but these people didn't pay much attention to them: she only received a compassionate look from the youngest one.
From their point of view, they probably looked like a quarreled pair with him totally ignoring her, walking fast, without any emotion on his face, and her, trailing him, barely keeping up, her expression pained and worried.
It was the first time in awhile when Hinata chuckled. Imagining them being a pair was beyond ludicrous: Sasuke was probably the last man in this world she could think of ever dating. It would be so out of character for him, and he wasn't the type she worshiped anyway, certainly not. Being so harsh, cruel, almost insane... He reminded her of her father way too much. In fact, the only thing that made real difference between them was the fact that Uchiha Sasuke had an actual reason to consider everyone around him dirt, just like he did with her.
He was strong. She didn't know what exactly the man was capable of, but she knew for sure that he was as strong as Naruto, and they did stop the immortal Madara who, at the time, had a power that of gods, no less. The fact that he was able to get inside her mind and force her strongest memories out of her as if it was nothing for him, by simply touching her... Without any effort... It made her think that there was probably no one who was able to stop him from doing whatever he could possibly want.
Hiashi, on the other hand, was mostly all talk. No, he was a fine shinobi and a capable leader, but he wasn't any better than most of mature jōnin of Konoha: he was good, but he surely was no match for someone like, let's say, Maito Gai, or Hatake Kakashi, their latest Hokage. And certainly not to Uchiha Sasuke.
Which is why, in her opinion, her father had no right to treat people around him like he did, as if they all were filth. He was arrogant, cruel, selfish, but what made it so totally wrong was the simple fact: he wasn't remotely as strong as he tried to make it look for the others. After all, what did he do to Pain when he destroyed the village? Nothing. Hiashi and her whole clan weren't even able to lay a scratch on the past Akatsuki leader, and Naruto, a teen of her own age, saved them all, destroying the Rinnegan wielder in the end.
Naruto did it. But not the glorious Hyūga clan. In the last war, her clan didn't do much to defeat Madara or at least Obito. They did protect the alliance, of course, but was it really what one could expect from supposedly the strongest clan of shinobi world? And did it even help much anyway?..
Regardless, both Naruto and Sasuke were out of their league now and before, too, and so Sasuke probably had every right to badmouth her clan.
He could question their power and tradition, too. He knew it all, and he obviously despised Hyūga.
Did he form such opinion based on her memories he had seen, or did he know beforehand?
That also meant she was protected while Sasuke was around. But would he defend her should something happen, though? He surely was capable of leaving her to die, of that she had no doubt.
But the Uchiha wasn't an honest person, as far as she knew. At least she didn't trust him at all.
Then why did he decide to let her follow him? There had to be a deeper reason to it. She wondered what it was. He probably saw some benefits in it, but what exactly could they possibly be?
These thoughts weren't the only ones to occupy her mind while they walked through the forest in grave silence, though. He said she must steal something. Some clothes.
Hinata never stole anything in her life. Was it a big deal now that she had no home, friends and family to return? No one who cared of her good name?
It was. She still cared. But come to think of it, in the end it didn't matter. If she was to go with Sasuke, she had to obey his demands. And he was right, after all: she needed something to cover her identity.
She eyed his back up for the first time in what it seemed like an hour of monotonous walking – in truth, she'd lost her track of time even before she left the village.
His outfit was simple, yet suitable. From what she managed to notice during their conversation, he had a simple gray shirt below his dark cloak, black shinobi pants, a small belt with a few pockets, a sword much like the one he had during the war, behind his back – it was barely visible now, and a pair of typical shinobi sandals. Someone who didn't know who he was would probably not realize he was even a shinobi, because unlike usually in the past, there was no Uchiha clan crest on his back now.
The only thing that gave him away was his Rinnegan, which surely looked creepy to civilians and dreadful to foreign shinobi. But most of them likely didn't know what this dōjutsu was.
She, Hinata, on the contrary was very easy to recognize, her main problem being, of course, her own famous dōjutsu: the Byakugan.
She bit her lip, thinking. She had to do something about her eyes before they come to face people, wherever they were going. There could be shinobi, and they could possibly ask questions.
The idea struck her like a thunder. This was the easiest thing to hide, considering how her eyes worked.
She could see through things.
She could hide it with literally anything.
Hinata unzipped her jacket, palpating the lowest part of her black t-shirt.
Yes, that was more than ample.
Taking a kunai out of the holster on her leg, she ripped off a long patch of cloth from her waist with loud crackling, shortening the t-shirt by a few inches and thus making some part of the pale skin of her flat stomach visible with the jacked unzipped like this. But she didn't care at the moment.
She took the patch and, folding it in half, wrapped it around her head, the improvised bandage covering her eyes perfectly. This way she would probably seem blind to a stranger, and nobody would think she can actually see through the thing. This was a perfect cover.
Too excited by her little invention, Hinata never noticed how Sasuke slightly turned his head, his onyx dark eye looking over his shoulder to check what she was doing, giving it the smallest of his smiles before turning away again.
***
Dusk slowly descended upon the forest through which they've been walking slowly for the whole day. Sasuke deliberately didn't try to make it any faster: originally he intended to take things as slow as possible with his journey, mostly in order to embrace the atmosphere of the new world, which would be impossible if he traveled even with the average shinobi moving speed, not to mention his own unique abilities.
Now that Hinata tagged along, it was more like a necessity: it was better for both of them to ensure that as less people knew that she's a kunoichi as possible.
She did a good job at hiding her dōjutsu, he could acknowledge that much: with that bandage of hers, she really seemed like some blind, defenseless civilian, considering her fragile and feminine appearance. Now he only wondered if she's gonna figure out on her own that the forehead protector that still rested on her neck should either be destroyed or hidden as well.
However, it wasn't a big deal to him, nor was it a reason to somehow compliment her: hiding such noticeable dōjutsu as Byakugan was like the first thing that came to one's mind when the person needed to be stealthy. He wondered what was she going to do next, and he didn't want to give her any hints just yet. He needed to see what the girl was really capable of on her own in her current state before he started teaching her different things.
Hinata mostly kept silent while they walked, obviously too sunken in her thoughts. Still, she looked much less conflicted now than when they had met in the morning: apparently she's come to accept the simple fact that she had no way back now, and that was another huge step in the right direction.
The sooner she realized how things really were for her, the better.
In order for Sasuke to be able to educate her properly, she needed to get rid of any regrets and doubts. And, of course, he wouldn't move a finger to help her with that: the girl already considered him a villain, so forcing her to follow his will would only strengthen her inner resistance and denial.
She must ask him to help her, willingly. And by helping he meant becoming her mentor, not just a companion on the way, even though the leading one.
She needed to understand her flaws, how wrong her way of living was up to this moment.
And she wouldn't be able to realize it all without trying, without making some more mistakes, just like he did in the past. He would never be able to finally see the light if someone just told him what to do in the very beginning. There were no shortcuts here.
He then suddenly turned from the path to the left, going deeper into the forest where it was already completely dark because of the trees' bushy crowns.
Walking a few yards forward, he finally stopped, taking off his cloak and throwing it to the grass under their feet.
“We'll be staying here for the night. Tomorrow, approximately by this time, we'll reach our first destination.” He said without looking directly at her, weaving a few hand signs to perform some jutsu. A simple, almost ascetic tent that looked like it could hardly fit for the two of them appeared before him.
It was the first time in a few ours when he said something to her, and the girl looked a bit confused, not sure on what to reply to say now, or rather if she even should reply to this or not.
“W-What's our destination th-then, Uchiha-san?” She muttered quietly, expecting either some rough response or just nothing from him, not really hoping to get the answer.
Again, without looking at her, he said calmly in a few seconds:
“Currently we're heading to the Land of Waves.”
Nami no Kuni? What could the Uchiha possibly want with that peaceful region? As far as Hinata could remember, there was no hidden village of shinobi there, and no mission of the rank higher than C was assigned to that country in the last few years. In other words, she couldn't imagine what interest could Sasuke have in that place, unless he wanted to take a vacation and spend it there.
The thought made her giggle slightly. She couldn't imagine someone like him just sit there and do nothing for a few weeks, wasting his time on relaxing and fun things.
She suddenly winced, looking at him: after setting up the tent and a few strings around their small camp to alert them in case someone approach at night, Sasuke started walking around, gathering wood.
The Hyūga girl quickly walked to the opposite side, blaming herself for being so careless. Obviously he wanted to make a campfire.
Then she needed to get some food for them.
The Byakugan helped her see through darkness of the night forest perfectly fine: a few minutes passed, and she already had her pockets and hands filled with berries and mushrooms she picked around.
Returning to their camp, she smiled: the bonfire was already up, the warming spurts of flame dancing beautifully just few yards away from the tent.
The Uchiha sat there on his cloak in lotus posture, flaying a rabbit with surprising agility.
She was by no means a vegetarian, but for some reason the unemotional face of his while performing the act disturbed her a bit. But she said nothing, coming closer instead.
“Um, Uchihia-san...” He didn't spare her a look. “I brought this... If you want s-some...” She then took her jacket off, putting the food she gathered earlier on it's inner side.
But he still didn't react. She sighed, sitting down near the fire and hugging her knees, deepening into her thoughts again.
But she wasn't able to do it this time.
“These are pretty good.” She heard him utter quietly, and instantly turned her head to the man, not believing her own ears for the moment. He was still finishing the rabbit off, but at the same time he was chewing something. No, she wasn't wrong: he took another berry from the pile, putting it in his mouth. “Are you sure they are not poisonous?”
“Y-yes!” She squeaked, quickly nodding her head and taking a deep breath of fresh, warm air of autumn forest. During their times as a team of genin, Kurenai-sensei taught her how to get food in the forests that surrounded Konoha, assuming that they'll be doing many missions there.
“Fine.” They were silent again for a few minutes before he finally started to put the pieces of meat onto the straight twigs which he apparently picked up before. There were three twigs o with meat aside from the one he was currently starting to grill, but he never offered her one.
Not like this was somehow surprising to Hinata: he made things pretty clear between the two of them, both were on their owns. However... Did he have any sense of politeness what so ever? She offered him some food, didn't she?.. How selfish could this man be?!
He looked at her with a corner of his eye, wondering what she was going to do. Clearly Hinata didn't like the fact that he took the berries she brought, but never offered her the meat in exchange. It was all according to his plan: even though she could never possibly realize this, he was examining her, and, well, he already was training her, in a way.
She needed to learn that when she wanted something, she had to go and grab it, not just wait for someone to hand everything to her on a silver plate.
The girl clearly hesitated, unsure what to do now. If this word could even be applied to the Hyūga, she seemed to be mad at him. He smiled with corners of his mouth: perfect. Now all he had to do was play with her nerves.
“U-m-m...” He moaned in pleasure after taking a bite of meat, closing his eyes in joy.
He chewed, feeling how a trickle of juice flowed down his chin. This really was delicious, he didn't even have to feign anything.
Come on, girl. You can do this.
“Uchiha-san... Can I take one of these?” She pointed at the twigs, looking at him expectantly.
“Can you?” Came the almost immediate, confusing response.
She hesitated, unsure what to do. Did he just challenge her to try? Or did he mean that it was a silly question, and of course she could take it?
And did he just smile for a second, or was it just an optical illusion caused by the fire dancing between them?..
Hinata frowned, peering at the Uchiha searchingly. What was she losing anyway? She already lost everything, she was hungry, and technically they were accomplices now, weren't they?
Probably not.
But she still reached out to take the twig with meat from his side, carefully watching his reaction, ready to drop it the same split second he moved.
His eyes followed her with what it seemed to her like the slightest curiosity as he took another bite from his piece.
Not letting her eyes off him, she sat back to her previous spot and waited a few seconds, just staring at the Uchiha.
He still didn't move. If you don't count eating, of course.
She let out a quiet sigh of relief, grabbing a few mushrooms to put them on her twig along with meat. It turned out that he didn't care, after all. She could allow herself some freedom with him.
The girl smiled, finally letting her sight off Sasuke and raising her head. It was completely dark already, with thousands of stars glowing across the sky of night.
Suddenly she felt better than... She couldn't really remember. Perhaps better than ever before?
Lost in her thoughts and sensations while eating, Hinata didn't notice how the Uchiha finished his meal, throwing the now empty twigs away.
“I'm going to sleep now.” Was all he said before getting up and going under the tent. She followed him with her eyes perplexedly, as if she didn't quite understand what he told her.
She felt so nice at the moment, so warm an calm now, so free from everything that bothered fer before... These almost intoxicating feelings overwhelmed her.
Sasuke, on the other hand, despite not showing her any signs of what was going on in his head at the moment, felt victorious and excited. Turning away from the bonfire and hence from Hinata, he smiled, closing his eyes. Little by little, step by step...
Everything was going accordingly, after all. Just like he expected, the girl wasn't necessarily a lost cause. She was similar to a pet that's been abused by it's owners for many years, too afraid to make everyone angry by doing something, not knowing what reaction to expect from them and when they will strike, causing pain.
That was the reason why she felt so insecure and why she was so clumsy: her clan, or rather those from her clan who did it to her through the girl's whole life, mistaking education with cruelty, training with abusing, teaching with breaking her psychic.
He frowned, his eyes still closed. Even though her clan was such a big piece of trash, it wasn't that simple.
He should never judge by the first looks, he reminded himself.
There could and probably was something more to it. He doubted that, as a child, she received treatment much different from other Hyūga children. Sure, she was an heir and all, but still... Something here seemed off to Sasuke, and he couldn't quite grasp what it was. Perhaps, for some reason, she was special to her father, and not in a good way?
He should definitely venture into it some time later, when she will open up enough to him, he decided.
But before that moment, there was some really long road to pass, for both of them. He must help her, and he was going to do it, without a doubt.
Everything was going just fine up to now, after all.
He smiled again, slowly sinking into the world of dreams.
***
Hinata was still sitting near the fire when she finally felt how the outcome of the long stress, starting with the recent war and finishing with their long walk today, finally hit her.
She felt sleepy, tired, and barely could move her numb limbs.
Slowly getting up, she occasionally looked at her jacked where rested the berries and mushrooms that she gathered before. The girl smiled: Sasuke ate almost all of them, leaving roughly a third part for her. But she wasn't hungry anymore.
Walking to the tent, she tried to not make any noises since the Uchiha was long asleep by now, and she didn't want to accidently wake him up. And then the sudden realization hit her.
There hardly was any space for the two of them.
Frowning, she almost felt like crying. He was really cruel, that Sasuke Uchiha. Even though she didn't mind her using his goods, he obviously wasn't going to make her life easier in any possible way.
That was fair enough, though. Didn't he tell her just that before agreeing to let her join him?
Feeling extremely uncomfortable, she stood there, unsure what to do. Should she lay outside? That didn't sound like a good idea to her. But could she dare to get inside and try to settle in there?
Surely she wasn't fat or big: in fact, she was pretty petite, especially comparing to rather tall Uchiha that was now sleeping before her. She should be able to fit in.
But would it even be appropriate? For her to do something like this...
She blushed. What if he tries to do something while she's asleep? She never shared bed with a man before, but she heard quite a few of things about if from other girls. Disturbing things.
It made her blush even deeper, her legs started to shake both from tiredness and nervousness.
The kunoichi then clenched fists, took a deep breath and went straight under the tent, lying down and facing the side opposite to him, their backs barely touching.
If he wanted to do... Something... He could've done it before. And not like she would be able to stop him anyway, he was way too strong for her.
But he wouldn't try. The man clearly wasn't interested in her in this way... Or in any way, for that matter.
No boy was ever interested in her, actually. Who would possibly be? She was just, well, Hinata. Any girl would be better than herself. She lived with this fact just fine while she still had that dream... That Naruto will fall in love with her. Thinking that he was the one for her, and vice versa.
But now she was starting to realize how futile it was, to dream of something like that.
Nobody would ever love her. She was useless and spineless, she always was. She was pathetic.
For the first time in her life she felt disgusted by herself. How could she be that blind? Oh, the irony, she could see things better than most of people in their world, yet still she wasn't able to see something so simple and obvious.
It was the moment when Hinata's eyes widened in realization under her bandage.
Simply running away from the village wouldn't change her life. It would end up being the same anywhere else. Even now with the Uchiha, he obviously could barely tolerate her presence, probably allowing her to follow him out of pity.
She deadly needed to change. She had to become different. Better. Much better, in fact, because just being better than nothing wouldn't give her much.
Until now, she thought that becoming better meant blindly taking on Naruto's motto to never give up, to be kind, to stand up for her friends even though they laughed at her, never taking her serious... As if she was just a funny toy for them to play around with before leaving her alone over and over again.
It didn't work with her. It never could.
Then what could actually work? What did she have to do to change? To stop being so disgusting and weak?
She almost cursed for the first time in her life.
Why did it had to be him again?.. The one who every trace of her thoughts led to.
The one whose quiet, calming sniffing she was now listening to.
Uchiha Sasuke.
He changed a lot, from a gentle child she remembered from when they were still kids to a fine shinobi of Konoha that he became later, and then to a bloody avenger, finally ending up with what he currently was: the mysterious shinobi that lived his own way, completely independent, one of the most powerful people in the world.
Did he ever waver? Probably. He ran away from the village just like she did now.
Was he broken?
Hell, no. Not now, not before the war.
He knew what to do, there was no other way around. He had to, otherwise all the signs that fate gave her would be pointless, and she now deeply believed in fate.
All that remained was to ask him. And that was the hardest part.
Why would he willingly help her? He wouldn't, she knew that much.
And she had absolutely nothing to offer to him in exchange.
She needed to come up with an idea as soon as possible.
***
They got up pretty early: it was still rather dark, but he had more than ample time to sleep. Not that he was tired to begin with.
Same couldn't be said about the Hyūga girl that he found sleeping beside him once he awakened: seeing how slow and tired she was, he came to conclude that she barely slept that night.
But it was good to her. That only meant she would sleep better next time, being tired even more than before. And she did get courage to lay along with him, which he didn't think she would. That was good, again.
They walked their way to east through the trees until unset, sometimes changing the direction slightly, and only then he started to recognize the lands they were coming to. The famous Naruto Bridge was just a few miles away them, he could point the correct direction with his finger if needed. The place was too familiar, especially after he was here with Suigetsu a few months ago, helping him to retrieve Zabuza's sword.
Slowing down a bit, he turned his head slightly to look at Hinata. Whether it was bad or good for her, she looked a lot like a zombie now, seemingly ready to fall asleep any second.
But she had to endure it, he decided.
They went straight ahead for another quarter of an hour to finally reach the long tract that lead to the bridge, now visible on the horizon.
He narrowed his eyes. Something seemed off about the town on the other side. There was a lot of smoke. Too much for a city like this to assume that it's just smoke from multiple industrial buildings at work.
Did something happen there?
He accelerated a bit, walking much faster now. He couldn't get rid of a bad feeling about the land they came to.
Now that he thought about it, anything could've happened lately. The hidden villages were too absorbed by the past great war and it's aftermath, so the news could possibly not reach them in time. It was very likely that nobody in Konoha was aware of what was going on in these lands.
And just to confirm his suspects, a running figure showed up down the road. Activating his Sharingan, he covered up the distance between them almost instantly, with Hinata catching up just a few seconds later.
He almost gasped, looking at the middle aged man. His body was covered with burns and wounds, he was dressed in some rags, his face was bruised and horrified.
“You... Two... Are you insane?! Where the hell are you going?!” He shouted, coughing and bowing to hold his knees to prevent falling.
“What happened to you?” Sasuke asked calmly, eying the man with his right eye. It certainly wasn't a genjutsu, the man was real.
“They... They attacked the city... Burned it down...”
“Who?” He asked demandingly, grabbing the man's collar with his only hand and looking him in the eye.
“Gato's thugs...”
It didn't make any sense. Gato died years ago, didn't he? Yet still, the man was certainly telling the truth, or at least he believed in his own words.
Sasuke then let him go, turning to the Hyūga girl who looked worried but still didn't say a word, expecting him to voice his decision.
“Hinata, prepare yourself. We're going in there.”
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