Mari Makinami
Active member
Awards
List of chapters:
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
_______________________________________________________
Chapter 28. Inmate
Sasuke met the heavy gaze of his former teacher with a completely blank face which made Kakashi feel sort of a déjà vu — to the Hokage, it seemed nearly like that moment a few years ago when he had faced Pain in Konoha. Just like Nagato's puppet, the young man that was now standing in front of him was completely unreadable, nearly as if he was dead.
As horrible as it sounded, it wasn't all that far from the truth. Deep inside, within the insane storm of emotions the Uchiha was having a hard time suppressing at the moment, he was indeed feeling as if he was dying along with all of his dreams about peaceful life in the village of the Leaf. He couldn't quite distinguish what hurt him more, the fact that he had been fooled by Konoha once again or that all the plans they made with Hinata were now being demolished like a sand castle under a remorseless tidal wave.
Now he had no other choice but to kill the Sixth. Sasuke realized that in one way or another, he would have to convince everyone that they should choose a new leader for their international coalition. That would win him some time to find a way to enter Kaguya's realm and kill her... After that, he and Hinata would be able to simply leave Konoha for good. To everyone else, perhaps they could tell that they are going for a long trip around the world. The circumstances around Hinata's former clan hadn't let them finish their previous journey a few years ago, after all... And by the time Naruto would finally be able to see through his lie, when the truth about Kakashi's death would get revealed somehow, they would already be far, far away, in a place where nobody would ever be able to find them. Mayhap even in a different dimension...
Yes, that sounded just perfect. Without the Sixth alive, nobody beside him would be able to travel between dimensions. The Uchiha clan would be perfectly safe.
"So," Kakashi gripped his kunai tighter, swallowing heavily. "What are you waiting for?"
Sasuke didn't reply at first, keeping peering at the gray haired man impassively, as if he was staring at something behind the shinobi through his body, or perhaps trying to look for something inside of him.
The Uchiha wasn't sure himself.
As enraged as he was feeling at the moment, something deep inside his soul was preventing the young ninja from killing the Hokage right away. He wasn't sure what exactly that was; perhaps he had just been corrupted by Naruto's silly philosophy way too much, yet still...
"Surely you do realize that I can end you any second now," he said quietly, not moving his eyes away for a split second.
Kakshi frowned a little.
"That's not quite the case, Sasuke. As you well know, just like you and Naruto still have your Six Paths chakra, so too do I retain the power Obito bestowed upon me. Which means that I'm not going down as easily as you think. But I guess we'll never know until you try."
The Uchiha narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, weighting the man's words carefully for a few seconds before nearly gasping in the realization.
Of course... that sneaky bastard...!
So that's what Hatake was counting on. If Sasuke attacked him now, he would most likely use Kamui phasing ability to appear physically outside this dimension, or, simply put, back in their world where Naruto would be able to immediately sense the chakra Kakashi had been infusing until now. That would give him away for sure, and it wasn't an option for Sasuke. The Hokage knew it for sure as well, obviously.
"Your plan won't work. I've left a limbo clone outside, it will kill you the instant you try to get out. "
It felt incredibly irritating, seeing Kakashi's expression changing into a tiny smile under the mask. Almost like back in the years when this man was still superior...
"Great analyses and prediction, as always. I expected no less from you. But on the other hand, even if your clone kills me over there, Naruto will still sense it. Which means... I suppose you do realize that neither of us can do anything at this point. Except... I could use my Kamui to throw you out of this dimension. That would win me enough time to take the statue's remnants away."
"Hardly possible and very unlike you to do something as risky. Not only you don't know if my reaction is faster than yours, but you also don't know for sure how many Limbo clones I can produce at the same time, and neither do you know for how long I can maintain this technique. You wouldn't go for something as reckless," reasoned Sasuke, beginning to feel ridiculous.
"Hm... True that. I wonder about both these factors. Makes me guessing if you have never told me about their specifics deliberately or not. But I think it is at this point safe to say that you also never trusted me at all, isn't it?"
Sasuke sneered mockingly.
"What do you think? As if I could ever expect anything good from Konoha. You were always but a bunch of backstabbing rats. I can see it now better than ever before."
With both of them being completely misled regarding the whole situation since the very beginning, Kakashi presumed that Sasuke was talking about Hinata, whereas the Uchiha meant the Hokage himself as well as his supposed plan to exterminate the rest of his family.
"Are you going to kill her after me, too? Sasuke... What are you doing?"
Of course, it could be said that just like the greatest tacticians, they were already fighting right now through exchanging invisible blows. But at the same time, it felt like a stalemate to both of them. They could keep talking for ages in their attempts to fool one another, Sasuke could say for sure. Kakashi was way too smart to be underestimated in any aspect, even though he was weak.
"Playing on my feelings for her won't get you anywhere, so don't even bother. I'm an Uchiha, remember? We were always mere tools for your pathetic village to use. What we think or feel is irrelevant."
Kakashi sighed heavily, shaking his head slightly.
"It must be just a bizarre bad dream... I'm so tired of all this. Yet still... I can't just give up. Naruto would never forgive me. And also Obito... Rin... Minato-sensei..."
Sasuke wasn't sure if this was another attempt to distract him or Kakashi wasn't completely alright mentally. With his left eyelid twitching at the mention of his friend, Sasuke grinned maniacally at the apparent (from the Uchiha's point of view) taunt.
"Naruto will join all of you in the afterlife shortly anyway, so you could spare me some time by letting me kill you swiftly."
Surely he would never bring himself to attack Naruto again unless it would be absolutely necessary. But he couldn't simply ignore what seemed like mockingly pompous lines coming from Hatake.
Kakashi's face darkened.
"Like I said, I can't allow this to happen. I propose a solution for you, though."
Sasuke's brow cocked skeptically.
"Oh? Interesting. And what would that be?"
"Fight me. Without any dirty tricks, without Naruto, without anyone or anything else interfering. We're both great liars, aren't we? Well, perhaps during our final meeting we could give it a shot and be sincere with each other for once?"
The Uchiha frowned, thinking over the strangely noble suggestion for a few seconds.
"That's... Fine by me."
The burst of light blue chakra came out of Kakashi's body the next second, coating him completely and raising the man up in the air, forming the familiar ribcage.
"Oh... So you can still use this? Impressive." Forming his own Perfect Susanoo, Sasuke closed his left eye, demonstrating his unwillingness to use his Rinnegan, attempting to make it a fair fight, and stared at the man expectingly. "Bring it on."
The two chakra leviathans froze in front of each other for a moment before clinching the giant swords.
"I'm surprised. You actually haven't lied this time!" Sasuke grinned as his chakra avatar blocked another blow, launching an attack against the other Susanoo's head.
"I could say the same to you. It must have been a torture, living in the village you hate this much for years, plotting against all of us at the same time."
The purple chakra giant flew up, flowing mid air.
"No, actually it was pretty pleasant up to the moment when I saw your true face."
"My true face...?" Kakashi frowned, blocking a strike that made the armor on his Susanoo's right hand give a crack. "What are you talking about?" Dodging another crushing blow by jumping backwards, Hatake flew up as well, trying to catch his breath while he had a chance to.
Despite his mastery when it came to utilizing Obito's power, it still drained him out pretty fast. He had to come up with a good plan as soon as possible if he wanted to survive this fight...
"Hn. So you want to know what gave your pathetic plan away?" Launching an Enton arrow at his adversary, which made his Susanoo's chest start burning with black flames right away, draining even more chakra from Kakashi, Sasuke smirked triumphantly. "Aside from the fact that I always felt that duplicity of yours, I knew that this place was a trap. A trap meant to be your excuse for executing me and the rest of my clan. Too bad I came here before finding the rest of them. Right?"
Kakashi's eyes widened as he breathed heavily.
"What—are you out of your mind, Sasuke?"
This time, the Uchiha just eyed him indifferently as if all of his feelings concerning this man and Konoha were now gone completely.
"You're still trying this? Why? Feeling death closing in, huh? Are you scared, Kakashi?"
The cerulean Susanoo flew a bit backwards, slowly beginning to melt under the hot black fire while its owner stared at his former student in shock and incomprehension.
"It's not... Wait. No—it can't be! Sasuke... Fine! You win. Just... Let me ask you one last thing." The chakra around his body disappeared as well as the omnivorous flames, and the men fell onto his knees on the stone platform down below, panting.
A second later, Sasuke appeared next to him, gripping the man's hair and pulling his head up to meet his weakening gaze.
"Despite all the shit you fed me with, I'm feeling very generous today for some reason. Shoot it."
"Tell me—aside from—from the trap... Why... What did you come—come here—for?"
The Uchiha snorted contemptuously.
"Why would you need to know? All you care about is getting rid of me and my clan, isn't it?"
A thin trickle of blood flowed down Hatake's chin as his eyes widened as he heard the confirmation of his assumption.
"P-please—just tell me," his voice was becoming more and more quiet, and then the man realized that Sasuke was draining out the remains of his chakra with the Rinnegan's Preta Path.
"Fine. It's over for you anyway, so I'll tell you." He bowed his head closer to the Hokage's ear, muttering, "I'm going keep the statue's arm for a while. At some point, soon enough, I will use it to seal the chakra I received from Naruto into it. Then I will seal whatever comes as the result inside myself. Hidan knows the way to connect with the realm where Kaguya's soul resides. I will go there."
The Sixth closed his eyes, feeling the upcoming tears of desperation and the crushing pain.
"So... You want to revive her again, don't you? Is this your ultimate goal? You want to let her finish the Infinite Tsukuyomi?"
Sasuke frowned, loosening his grip a little which made the wet gray hair slip out of his finger. Kakashi fell down, coughing with blood and trying to catch his breath again.
"Infinite Tsukuyomi? What the **** are you talking about? Are you mad?" The gray haired shinobi found the energy to look up at the young man, staring at him in disbelief.
"Then what—?"
"I intend to destroy Kaguya's very being. Seeing as you have carelessly left this arm lying here, clearly there is still a way for her to return which she clearly intends to do through possessing Hinata's body. I won't let her take my wife away from me. Not her, not you, and neither anybody else will do it."
"What—? Sasuke, this is insane! You can't defeat Kaguya on your own, it is absolutely—"
"Impossible? Not for me. You've never loved anyone, have you, Kakashi? And neither have you had any real dedication to achieve something really important in your life. Everything you've done so far, you always told yourself that you do it for someone or something, because they wanted you to, asked you to, whereas in reality you merely intended to egoistically atone for your own sins in your own eyes. You can never understand how far can one go for those he loves. And I love my family, as well as this world. I will not allow anyone or anything to destroy it. I shall sacrifice everything that is necessary for it, and my life is no exception. I never really cared about myself, after all." Sasuke's eyes narrowed as the slightest suspicion and doubt pinched him when he saw Kakashi sniffle, falling down on his elbows and beginning to shake.
"I'm—Sasuke—I—I'm—"
"Enough of this."
"Wait—!" The Uchiha's sword stopped an inch away from the man's neck. The younger shinobi frowned. "Before you finish me off—please—I'm begging you... Just read my memories. Read everything, and maybe then—maybe then you will see... I am—" Before he knew, the raven haired man gripped his neck tightly, using another of his left eye's abilities on the dying man.
It was a matter of seconds before Sasuke's face twisted in complete shock and he let Kakashi go, falling down on his butt as if he was was hit under his knees by a very heavy mace.
"No... This can't be real."
As it turned, Kakashi had never really lied to him. He had been sincere since the very beginning, and the only reason why he was here right now was...
A mere coincidence. An awkward, ridiculous conjunction of events. He had never intended to kill him or Hinata, and neither did he want to control them. Instead, he mistook Hinata's words for her betraying her husband who had seemingly wanted to go down Madara's road!
How ridiculous and ironic...
"I—Kakshi..."
"It's okay...," the man whispered huskily, making the Uchiha flinch. "I guess letting me die now is the only way, really. Because in either case, I wouldn't be able to—to just let you proceed—with your plan..."
"No. Don't be ridiculous, you are not dying."
The Sixth squeezed out a weak smile.
"I—I can hardly breath by now. Only Sakura or Naruto would be able to save me, but you won't risk your plan to carry me to them."
"You're both right and wrong. I won't take you to them, that's correct. However..."
Kakashi flinched as his eyes widened in surprise and awe — his wounds were gone in a moment, and also all of sudden, his chakra reserves became nearly intact once again. It was as if...
As if they hadn't fought at all...!
But before the man could react, he felt Sasuke's palm slam into his forehead, sealing his Sharingan away.
"Perhaps grew to have a soft spot thanks to Hinata... But unlike you, I have lied."
Cursing quietly, the Hokage raised up on his still slightly shaking legs, meeting Sasuke's slightly conflicted gaze.
"I see... a genjutsu. When—?"
"It doesn't matter. You've seen what my Rinnegan is capable of, and just like many times before, I simply overestimated your intelligence. You should have known that you are nothing next this power, especially compared to the tailed beasts." Hatake now realized how right his former student was — Sasuke nearly never used genjutsu, so he had forgotten about that ability of his.
The ability that allowed his teammate to control all the tailed beasts with a mere glance...
"Well, it seems you really have overestimated me a lot. So what happens now?"
The Uchiha sighed, taking his sword back into its scabbard.
"Damn you, Kakashi... it would have been much easier should I have ignored your last request. Now that I have your memories, I should be able to maintain order in Akatsuki, at least for a while. I'll probably let Orochimaru take the formal leadership just like you have planned for him in case if something happens to you. With him being a more less neutral figure, I don't think anybody will object. Naruto will become Hokage while you're absent. The idiot had been craving to get into your office for too long anyway. I think he feels pretty damn insecure since his peer Gaara is a Kage for years by now."
Kakashi sighed sadly as well.
"I see. I guess trying to convince you to stop with this plan is pointless, isn't it?"
The young man nodded seriously.
"It is. There is nothing you can do."
"And what about me?"
Sasuke's lips curved into a small grin.
"I'll keep you imprisoned with your power sealed away until I finish Kaguya off. For everyone else, you'll be missing in action. Hopefully you don't mind Hinata's cooking. I'll try to make it as comfortable as possible for you... consider this my way of saying 'sorry'."
Kakashi smirked, shaking his head.
"I'll do my best to try to find a way to break out and stop you, you know."
The younger man shrugged indifferently.
"Feel free to do so. With your eye power sealed away, there is no way you can do that."
"We'll see."
Sasuke sighed, letting out a short laughter.
"Maybe. I might as well die soon enough, as well as the rest of the world. In this case, you'll starve to death. Not quite the way you always wanted to die, is it?"
Kakashi lowered the gray haired head, closing his eyes.
"Times change... you are not as confident as ever."
"I've never been confident to begin with. You just never really understood me."
The dimensional rift opened, and Kakashi nearly tripped when the Uchiha gripped the collar of his west, pulling the exhausted man inside of his prison.
At this point, he could only pray for his teammate's desperate plan to work out.
***
She was sitting on the windowsill of their room in the Tower, biting her lips to blood and hugging her knees tightly, feeling so nervous as she hadn't felt in a very long time.
It seemed to Hinata like she had done something irreversible. After analyzing the events of the night, she now realized that the Sixth clearly miscomprehended her words in some twisted way, and it was only half an hour after that when she had realized that it had something to do with where Sasuke went this night. Or, simply put, that Orochimaru had set up something nasty for both of them. And whereas she wanted to know why the sannin did that, the young woman couldn't even bring herself to think straight with both Sasuke and Kakashi being absent for so long by this moment.
She hated feeling completely helpless and useless more than anything else in her life. It was pushing her back into that state she'd been living in until she had met her true love... It was killing her right now, feeling her former self overwhelm her whole being once again. Especially when the kunoichi had already started to believe that she had destroyed Hyūga Hinata completely, with only Uchiha Hinata remaining alive.
Fortunately enough, her torture didn't last much longer. When she was already about to start sobbing out of desperation and fear, the space next to her split up in the very familiar way, letting her beloved man step into the not very spacious, comfy room they considered their home.
"Sasuke!" She gasped, jumping off the sill and rushing towards the man, hugging him as tightly as possible. "I—I—!"
"Shh. It's okay, everything is alright," he whispered, hugging her as well and caressing her long black hair.
"Where were you? I think I did something horrible, Sasuke... I—"
"Keep quiet for now. You did nothing wrong. It was all Kakashi's fault. And partly mine, too," he added reluctantly.
"But—"
"Listen now," he said a bit louder, backing off a little and meeting her tear stained white eyes in all seriousness. "Tell me, what you said to Kakashi about Orochimaru, is that completely true? Is this what really happened?"
Her eyes widened, and the kunoichi gasped in the belated realization.
"You—you have killed him—?"
"No, I haven't. Answer my question now, it is very important."
She tried to focus and calm down her shaking cold limbs, nodding quickly.
"Y-yes, it's true. Sasuke... What's going on? Please, tell me..."
His eyes narrowed suspiciously as the man looked towards the door to their room.
"Can you tell me if he's still here in the Tower or not?"
Hinata nodded slowly, activating her Byakugan and scanning through the building.
"Yes, he is. He's still down in his laboratory, and it doesn't look like he's going anywhere soon. Do you—"
"Let's go."
He gripped her waist tighter and used Amenotejikara to teleport both of them to the sannin's lair.
Like the kunoichi said, he was still there, sitting at his working place and drawing some seals on the chakra sensitive paper that was scattered all over his table.
"Oh, you have returned already... that was pretty fast," said the older ninja casually, not looking at either of them and smiling joyfully.
"You have a lot to explain if you don't want me to destroy you right now," snapped Sasuke, not letting go of Hinata much to her appreciation. The kunoichi wasn't feeling well, and the warmth of his hand felt relaxing.
"Haven't you figured it out yourself yet? My, I'm disappointed, Sasuke-kun. It's so easy, really." The yellow eyes of the snake master raised up to meet all the three dōjutsu that were peering at him at the same time. "With Kakashi-kun in charge, you wouldn't be able to do what you intend to do regarding Hidan's cult, it should be obvious given how close he's been watching you lately. That's why I took the liberty of getting rid of him when I saw a perfect opportunity to do that. Hopefully you don't mind, but then again, knowing you, I figured that you would probably appreciate it."
Sasuke paled, giving a quick glance to Hinata who frowned at the sannin's words suspiciously. She had no idea what Sasuke really planned regarding Hidan's home village, at least not the details for sure.
"What is he talking about...?" She whispered, looking at him questioningly.
"The way to save you from Kaguya and Toneri I came up with."
The young woman frowned as he looked at her, meeting his mismatching eyes and pursing her lips.
"You never told me anything about that."
"I was going to tell you today. I needed to confirm something beforehand, which is why I have left this night. I didn't want you to be worried."
"I would be worried anyway," she pushed him away slightly, crossing her arms on her chest and looking at her husband reprovingly, "Where did you go? Tell me now."
The young man sighed in defeat, closing his eyes.
"I went to the place where we fought Obito back during the war. I was looking for the remains of the statue he and Madara used to seal the tailed beasts. I intend to use its remaining chakra to seal Kaguya's spirit away eventually so that she won't be able to possess you."
"And why did you not tell me about it?"
Sasuke shrugged, looking away a bit shamefully.
"I was afraid that this chakra—the statue—it could affect you somehow. It's Kaguya's shell, after all."
"What?" She stared at the young man, appearing hurt by his words. "So you don't trust me, or what? Did you think that I would steal it or something like that?"
"No—no! Obviously not! I—"
"Then what, Sasuke? What was your reasoning for hiding it from me?"
He paled, feeling the drop of sweat rolling down his neck. She really cornered him this time, the man realized then. He couldn't lie anymore.
Ignoring Orochimaru's amused grin, he sighed, lowering his head.
"I intend to face Kaguya on my own once again. And this time, I'll destroy her. But you won't follow me into her lair."
Feeling enraged at his last sentence, Hinata lowered her hands and clenched her fists to the point where her red colored nails dug into the skin of her palms.
She wouldn't tell him that, for she was mad at Sasuke, but it also felt relieving to feel this kind of emotions again compared to the pathetic state she had found herself in just a few minutes ago. Finally she was herself again.
"What? And why is that?" She scoffed, staring at him daringly. "Are you implying that I'm too weak?"
"It should be obvious. She wants to possess your body. There is no way you're getting close to her spirit period."
The kunoichi bit her lip, thinking for a few seconds before replying,
"In other words, you wanted to go for a suicide mission and leave me completely clueless?"
"Suicide? Please. So little faith in me, I'm—"
"You're an idiot!" He frowned and the smile left his lips as soon as it appeared when the Uchiha saw his wife's eyes getting moist. "Don't you care about my feelings one bit?" She asked in a slightly shaky voice, peering at the floor under their feet.
"I do." He came closer to her, touching her chin and making her look into his eyes reluctantly. "But I care about your life much more. I believe that this is the only way to save you, and I'll do all that is necessary for that."
She kept looking at him for a good minute, thinking rapidly over his words before opening her mouth again,
"We will discuss it in private later," she finally uttered, sending a barely notable nod at Orochimaru. "This is not over, don't you dare to think so."
"I could leave you two here for a while, if you want."
"No!" They barked simultaneously, glancing at each other and blushing slightly. "Stay," said Sasuke, "I want to ask you a few questions, and we also need to discuss our plan regarding the upcoming events," the Uchiha sat down on the table with various test tubes and leaned against the rack that was next to it.
"Well, I'm listening to your suggestions. After all, you are in charge from now on, Sasuke-kun," the sannin smirked satisfiedly, putting the parer covered with different seals away and crossing his thin white fingers in front of his face.
The Uchiha frowned, thinking carefully over his words — he wouldn't want to provoke his former sensei now that the old man clearly believed that he had managed to fool them all.
"That's not quite the case. In fact, according to Kakashi's memories I attained, you are to lead Akatsuki should something happen to him."
"And what actually happened to him, if you don't mind me asking? Sorry, I'm just overly curious about that," his devilish grin sent shivers down Hinata's spine, making her forget that she was angry at Sasuke and come closer to her husband reflectively, sitting down next to the young man.
"I'm going to keep him imprisoned until we settle everything here. You were right; he would be more of an obstacle rather than an asset in this mission. I haven't killed him, though, if that's the subject of your curiosity. When we are done, I'll set him free."
The sannin grinned, nodding approvingly.
"Hopefully the place you're going to keep him at is comfortable enough. Even though Naruto-kun will finally get to become the Seventh Hokage now, given all the circumstances, I don't think it would be polite to make the conditions of life of the Sixth anything less than decent. After all, he did a pretty great job so far."
"I'm aware of that. But what we need to do now is not to screw everything until I'll be able to set him free. Which is why...," Sasuke turned his head slightly to give Hinata a short glance which made her frown, "We need to act as quickly as possible. According to my calculations, it will take about a month for everything to stabilize with everyone moving on past the fact that Kakashi is gone and for you and Naruto to take your new roles. Until then, our hands are basically tied. However, we could make some preparations so that when the time is right, we don't have anything to slow us down."
Orochimaru nodded and his smile finally vanished, much to Sasuke's relief — it irritated him more and more with each passing moment.
"Indeed. The lunar eclipse is approximately six weeks away according my calculations, though. We are pretty short on time if you don't want to risk anything."
Hinata felt her heart skip a beat at the older shinobi's words.
Six weeks. Merely in six weeks she could get done for. As well as the rest of their world...
The young woman flinched, suppressing her body's urge to start shaking and thanking Sasuke silently for hugging her the next second, clenching his forearm tightly. All of her anger was gone by now — the kunoichi had realized that as stubborn as he was, her husband always wanted best for her. She couldn't blame him for being himself and for loving her much more than she deserved.
That would be too selfish of her.
"That only means that we'll get roughly two weeks to find the temple of Jashin's cultists, as well as a way for me to reach Kaguya. Hinata," he looked at her, and the warmth and love in his eyes made the kunoichi realize once again how foolish she had been to blame him before. "I will allow you to follow me up to the temple. But you, as well as everyone else... You guys will stay out of it when we come there. This is my fight, and I advise you not to force me to waste my power on you to make you stay aside. I will need all the energy I can gather to face her."
"Well then, that is fine by me," said Orochimaru, rubbing his hands and grinning in amusement. "I'd also want to suggest not taking too many people with us. Us three is more than fine, don't you think so?"
"No," snapped Sasuke, nearly making the sannin frown at the quick retort. "Hidan will come as well, naturally. I'm also thinking about a sensory type we should grab along, because Naruto is clearly not an option here for obvious reasons beside him being busy as the next Hokage."
"I could just revive someone with Edo Tensei, you know," for a monent, Hinata felt some weird suspicion towards Orochimaru. Why was he so willing not to let anyone else go with them?
But then Sasuke's reply made her forget about her concerns the next second,
"I will need you to revive someone else. And raising up an army of dead would draw too much of unnecessary attention. Naruto would sense such amount of chakra concentrated in one place for sure."
The yellow eyes of the Sannin narrowed as he let out a freaky chuckle.
"Oh? I figured you would need some more power to face Kaguya, but unfortunately I won't be able to bring the Sage of the Six Paths back into this world. Or perhaps you have someone less vulgar on your mind?"
Sasuke smirked.
"Yeah. I do. But that's a discussion for another time. Don't worry, it's nothing you can't do anyway."
Orochimaru gave him a calculating look before saying,
"Well, that's nice to know that you have a plan with everything considered. What sensory type would you like to take along, then? I suppose Karin fits for this role perfectly, don't you think so? She's also a medic which makes her even more useful to us."
To both the Sannin's and Hinata's surprise, Sasuke shook his head nearly instantly.
"No. Aside from the fact that I really doubt we will need a medic, in case if she joins us, Yutaka would tag along for sure, and I don't want him to get involved in this in any way. Should something nasty happen to me, he will be the last remaining confirmed Uchiha survivor. Our clan must not get extinguished no matter what."
Hinata closed her eyes, hugging the young shinobi tightly and trying not to think about that possibility he had just mentioned. It also made her want to proceed with that insane idea that came to her mind a few minutes ago...
But she still didn't know how to tell him about that.
"Well, that leaves us with nobody trustworthy to choose. You made me feel curious once again. Spill it already, Sasuke-kun."
"I want Hinata's teammates, Kiba and Shino, to join us in this mission. Together with Hinata herself, they will make a perfect sensory unit. We'll be able to conceal our chakra with them watching the space around us, and thus slip inside the village unnoticed to both the inhabitants and Naruto, too." He looked at her, giving his wife a tiny smile as she nearly gasped in awe at his words.
"That's... Sasuke, thank you! Thank you so much! This is such a great idea!" She yelped, kissing him and nearly jumping on her spot in joy.
She hadn't been on a mission with her teammates in years, and truth to be told, sometimes she missed them quite a lot. And although Kurenai had long retired from her ninja duty, it so happened that she was the one Hinata contacted the most whenever she visited Konoha, so it didn't feel that disappointing that the older woman wouldn't come along this time. It was still going to be wonderful!
Orochimaru gazed at Sasuke skeptically, but he didn't comment on the Uchiha's decision, saying casually instead,
"So... Hinata-chan, you, me, Hidan, Kiba and Shino. That makes six of us... that's an unusually big and notable unit. Are you sure?"
"Yeah. It's not like this lineup has any weak spots with me as its firepower and Team Eight as our cover."
The Sannin sneered, drawling,
"Oh, really? And what about Hidan? Don't you consider him a weak spot?" Sasuke frowned, rolling his eyes.
"Please. I'll just put him under a strong genjutsu and everything will be fine. This clown is not going to ruin my plan for sure. And when we get there, I'll end his existence for good. The immortal body is not going to help him if I rip his soul out of it, don't you think so?"
The sannin smirked joyfully. It amused him to no end whenever the good old personality of his former student popped out. It made him feel both nostalgic and a bit proud — after all, Orochimaru was the one to had cultivated these naughty qualities in Sasuke years ago.
"Sounds good. Well then, let's say we have arrived there and you managed to get into Kaguya's realm. What comes next?"
Sasuke thought for a few seconds before replying, ignoring Hinata's quiet groan at the sannin's words,
"You and Team Eight are to guard the entrance, whatever it is, until I get back. And if I don't... I'll make sure to let you know that you should get out of there. But before that, you would have to seal the place. No matter what happens, she must not be allowed to come back into this world, no matter the form. So make sure to take care of it."
"You really are that dedicated, aren't you? Well then, that's fine by me. You should go and discuss everything in private now, Sasuke-kun. I'm too old for all the sentimental talk, witnessing it would be the same as suffering a toothache to me, so kindly move your pretty bums out of my laboratory, both of you."
Hinata giggled quietly while Sasuke snorted, teleporting them back to their room.
"You can't deny that he's charming, even though creepy," said the young woman, sitting down to their bed and looking at her husband who crossed his hands behind his back and came close to the window, looking at the street behind and appearing fairly troubled.
"Yeah...," he said detachedly, not looking at her. "Well then, I take it you are going to make me change my mind now."
She peered at the shinobi for a few seconds thoughtfully, not hurrying to give him an answer.
Of course, Sasuke's decision could hardly be changed now that he had made it. Hinata knew it for sure after all the years she had spent with him — trying to do that would be but a waste of their time and energy, and she didn't want that, of course.
After all, she knew that it was inevitable. They were born to be ninja; to be ready to die any second. They existed not to love, but to kill or be killed. All of her illusions and dreams about a peaceful romantic life were long go — the kunoichi was no longer the foolish teenage girl who focused on her love interest and delusions more than on her duty and training.
No, she realized that he was right. As a ninja, as the head to their clan and as her husband, he was completely and undeniably right in his reasoning. And it made her feel proud for him and for their family. And also happy for herself — most women in their world could only dream for such a noble and strong man to love them.
But at the same time... he had changed her a lot, too. And although some things would always remain the same as this night had shown, Hinata wanted to be a bit selfish this time. Just a little bit... it wouldn't hurt anyone, would it?
"No. That is not my intention."
He glanced at her in surprise over his shoulder.
"Then what...?"
She smiled, blushing slightly yet not moving her eyes away.
"Sasuke, I don't want you to misunderstand me. I do believe in you, and I sincerely believe that your chances against Kaguya are high enough. Otherwise you wouldn't go for it, because that's what you always do — come up with the best possible plan before acting," his warm, relieved smile made her heart beat faster, but at the same time, it could be because she was afraid of his possible reaction to what she was going to say next. She wasn't sure.
"Thank you, Hinata. I—"
"I haven't finished," he stopped, looking at her with a baffled expression. "I... You said it yourself, it is possible that you're not coming back."
He frowned, nodding slowly.
"It is. Not likely, but still very possible."
She nodded as well, trying to get a hold of herself.
"Which is why I have a request for you. You might as well consider it my condition of agreement to your plan."
He looked completely confused now, yet still the young man nodded again.
"I'm listening."
Hinata took a deep breath, looking straight into his eyes before finally uttering,
"In case if you won't return, I'm not going to marry anyone else. Which means that I would need someone to spend my time with for the rest of my life."
Sasuke paled. He was finally getting it.
"You—"
"I want a child from you."
Last edited:
That was my initial point, after all. After seeing all the pairings in the ending, I wanted to show everyone that they are pretty much random, i.e. I could take literally any pair, even as unlikely one as Sasuke x Hinata, and make it more realistic than all those in the canon ending. I'm glad it worked out in the end :lol