Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The ceiling was white.

He had never been in this room before, he thought. He wondered if this was a dream, then felt a sting behind his eyes. Soreness in his lower back. The restriction of a bandage along his upper torso, with another at his neck.

"You must have b-blacked out again." A voice. Soft, female. "But—but Father fixed it."

He turned his head. She was his own age. Hyuga. Long bluish hair. Jacket in pale neutrals. A name sprang up, the onset delayed.

"Hinata?" he rasped. "How long have I been out?"

"...A few days," she whispered. She was looking intently at the floor.

Even sideways, she was clearly part of the main house. No seal, no forehead bandaging. Blank stare. Unreadably melancholic. Like all of them.

"This was a r-really bad one, so Father tried to fix it. I think it worked. Um. How...how are you?"

He tried to remember what he was doing before the blackout. A flash of a blade, the sky. Naruto and Sakura's concerned faces. Training? Probably. It didn't matter now. The images slipped away as quickly as he had been able to conjure them.

"Where am I?" He cleared his throat and hoped his rising panic was well hidden. "I've never been here before."

A flash of alarm, but it was hidden quickly. "Um. This is your room. Are you sure...?"

He gave the room a proper once-over. Bed in the middle. A plush chair, which Hinata was sitting on. Next to the chair, an end table. On the other side an open closet and set of dresser drawers. A mirror and comb on top of the drawers. The floor was pale wood.

He could see a rack of blue and black shirts in the closet, glimpses of the Uchiha crest. Those were his shirts alright, but something still felt strange. He wondered if he would be dizzy when he got up.

"I don't know," he finally said, sitting up. "I'm thirsty."

"You—you must have hit your head really hard, then." She stood. "I'm going to get Father. S-stay put, okay?"

He swung his legs around and tried to stand. There was the dizziness. He shuffled over to the chair and collapsed into it.

Hinata reentered, with another Hyuga man behind her that was presumably her father. He was...tall, dressed in traditional robes. Imposing. Unreadable in a more intense way, if one could call such a blankness intense.

"How do you feel, Sasuke?" he asked, tone clipped.

"Um. Kind of weird, I guess? My head hurts."

"That's understandable. You took quite a fall this time." He made a grunting noise. "You were out for a few days. Concussion. What do you remember?"

"Naruto and Sakura. A sword. The sky?" Sasuke sighed. "I can't think of anything else. Sorry."

"I see." His expression warmed. "Often, after head trauma, the events before and a little after get foggy. That's normal."

"Oh..." He slouched in the chair, relaxing. "Okay."

Hinata covered her mouth with her fingertips. She made a small noise, but didn't say anything.

"Your confusion should subside soon, Sasuke. Within a day or two at most." He stroked his chin once, decisively. "Come to supper. If you're still feeling confused, Hinata can help you."

Before he left, he handed her a small drawstring bag. "This should ease the dizziness,"he said. She placed it on the end table.

Hinata waited until his footsteps faded before she opened her mouth. "Did—did that help? D-do you need help up?"

She was blushing.

"I...think so. I'll be fine in a bit." He tilted his head. "Why was I out for so long?"

"Oh! W-well...it was partly your concussion...but—but to fix the blackouts, um, we had to get help. From the Yamanaka clan." She was staring at her feet, wringing her hands. "S-so there was also...um, the recovery. I guess."

He was quiet for a bit, digesting. The pieces of the puzzle began to fall in place. Yes. He glanced down at his clothes. T-shirt, cotton sleep pants. "Could you, um. Wait for me to change?"

"Of course!"

The door slid shut behind her, but she did not leave.

He took stock of himself in the mirror. Pale. Trembling. He barely recognized the look in his eyes. The fear and confusion. A rub of the eyes later, he switched into an Uchiha shirt from the closet and dark pants.

He poked his head out of the room. "Okay, ready."

Supper was quiet and uncomfortable. Sasuke was unsurprised that the food was as pale and blank as the family eating it, though more flavorful. A mix of salt and sour, very traditional, with miso soup so white he thought it was transparent. Herbal tea to drink. Dessert was a single bun with bean paste as filling. Filling. But not to satisfaction.

A girl, around eleven or twelve, stared at him intently. Presumably Hinata's sister? Hinata herself did not seem disturbed by his presence at the table. Their father, however, had eaten a small selection from the entrees available, then left to do "business."

He kept his eyes downcast. He did not feel so welcome at the table, not enough for a polite excuse me. So he left, making as little noise as he could. He tried not to think about the slight frown that played along Hinata's lips.

He found his way back to his room and looked at the clock mounted on the wall behind the bed. Six in the evening. Hyugas sure liked their early meals.

He sat in the chair and stared at the wall. For how long, he wasn't sure. His mind felt like it was full of cobwebs that were impossible to clear, an unending mist. Maybe that was an effect of the Yamanaka technique? He eyed the satchel Hinata's father had handed over.

He held it up to his nose, trying to guess at he contents. Rosemary, or another pungent herb was at the forefront. Cinnamon. Chamomile. Rosehip. There was something dark and smoky under it. He felt a little better with it just wafting around him. Perhaps these herbs would be best served by a milky tea.

There was a knock on the door frame.

"S-Sasuke?" Hinata said, almost at a whisper. "Are you...alright?"

He slid the door open a crack. She was making a great effort to avoid looking at him.

"Yeah," he finally said. "Um...I wanted to make some tea with...this?"

"Oh, the herbs! This way, please."

He thought it was a bit odd that she was blushing as she said this, but did not say so. He watched her hair sway and listened to the sound of her bare feet padding along as he followed her to the kitchen. She palmed the light switch without a backwards glance.

The light felt blinding, and he recoiled. His neck went stiff. "Ow..."

"S-sorry."

"Don't worry about it." He hissed. "I'm fine."

"Um...okay..." She pulled a cup from the rack, a big one with a handle. "Do you prefer loose leaf or strained?"

"Um...strained."

She snatched a metal tea infuser from another part of the pale stone countertop. Suddenly, her hand reached behind her. "The herbs, please." As she prepared the herbs, she added, "Milk or sugar? Or both?"

"Just milk."

"Mhm."

He considered supper again. "Hey...Hinata? Is there a reason your...sister? Was staring like that?"

"Hanabi." Hinata went still. "Like w-what?"

"Like I was...bothering her, I guess? I dunno. Sorry for bringing it up."

She moved again, finally, putting a pot of water on the stove to boil. "Y-you're...it's fine. She's...a kid. Heh."

He watched her for a bit more. She leaned back against the counter, arms crossed. She stared at the teapot, or the element, as if she could will it to heat up faster. There was a noise in the distance. She activated Byakugan for a few seconds, then let the veins recede. She looked like she could fade into the beige and gray decor.

"This place...it doesn't feel like home," he mumbled.

"W-well...it kind of isn't," she said. "You're not a H-Hyuga."

He wanted to say something biting in reply, but she seemed brittle.

"Oh dear...that wasn't helpful..." She flushed again. "I-I meant...y-you weren't born here. F-Father, he...F-Father t-took you in after the Massacre. S-so it's understandable. To not f-feel at home."

"Massacre." The entire Uchiha clan, wiped out in an entire night. Except for him. And he couldn't remember it. Perhaps that was for the better, if the story was to be believed.

"I mean. You were really l-little. F-from what I've been told."

"...Yeah."

"Ah, the water's boiling. This should only take a few moments."

She handed the satchel back alongside the cup of tea.

"Thanks."

"Mhm."

"I'm not really tired yet. Want to do something?" he asked as they walked back.

"Of course. What did you have in mind?"

"I. I dunno." He tried to pop his neck. "Training maybe? A walk?"

"A walk...sounds fine. Want to finish your tea first?"

So he did. He felt refreshed afterward.

They walked the Hyuga grounds until the moon rose.

Chapter Text

"You lost?"

Sasuke jumped, jerking his head around. He found Hanabi staring at him. She smirked. He frowned. Maybe he was lost. Though, really, he just wanted to find his way back to his room. He felt foggy again. All the hallways and corners were blending together into a sea of beige and tan.

He didn't feel like answering, so he glared at her.

"So...yes." She was hiding her amusement poorly.

"I need a minute, okay?"

"Follow me!"

She took off. Sasuke decided it was in his best interests to follow.

"So the Yamanaka stuff really messed you up, huh?" She asked, briefly turning her head back.

"I...I guess."

She barked a laugh. "Where did you wanna go again?"

"My room…I would have found it on my own..." He could feel the shame burning on his face.

"M-hmm." She sounded unconvinced.

"I would have."

"Hey, even my sister gets lost here sometimes!" She laughed again. It reminded him of the way Sakura laughed. "No biggie."

She slowed down a bit. "Hey. It's like, noon."

"And?"

"You're probably hungry…" She stopped. Sasuke almost ran into her. "Want lunch?"

"Not really."

"...You're weird."

He wasn't sure why, but he went to lunch anyway. He expected an affair along the same lines as last night's supper, with no talking and Hinata's father casting a deep shadow. Instead, though, he was greeted by Hinata kneeling at the head of the table and two other place settings. She seemed surprised to see him, but smiled and waved.

Hanabi rushed over to her spot. She crashed on the cushion and didn't seem to care about sitting properly. Sasuke knelt stiffly at the one remaining, only then looking at the bowls and platters before them.

A yellowish and savory soup, probably made with the corresponding miso. An array of sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, hard-boiled eggs, and radishes over a bed of greens, drizzled with a dark dressing. Tea. Plain rice. He was distracted by the sting of hunger just under his ribs. It felt like he hadn't eaten in days.

He ate one, then two portions of each part of the meal.

"Ah. I, um...I'm glad you like it," he heard Hinata say.

She was slowly picking her way through the salad. Hanabi had mostly been slurping the soup, with her bit of salad divided into the vegetables and the greens. Sasuke looked at the bruised fragments of leaves and drops of oil left on his plate, then looked back at Hinata.

"It's...good," he finally managed. He had a feeling his face was reddening to match the heat.

She smiled. "I'm glad."

He excused himself with a sheepish grin and managed to find the bathroom on his own. Good. He needed a shower, he felt, and made a note of where it was in relation to his room.

He also ran into Hinata's father on the way to grabbing a change of clothes.

"Good afternoon," Hiashi said.

"Hi."

"How are you feeling?"

Sasuke felt as if a hot, bright light were bearing down on him. "...Better. I guess."

"Walk with me a moment." He did not continue until Sasuke fell in step with him. "I presume lunch was to your tastes. My daughter insisted on making it herself today."

Not a question. Hinata was probably who he was referring to. "Y...yeah..."

A curt nod. "Good." He glanced down. "Any plans for today?"

He looked away from Hiashi. It felt like he wasn't allowed to look for long. Like staring at the sun or being hit by the glare off polished steel. It hurt. He seemed very tall, and Sasuke found himself shrinking his own posture.

"I dunno…" Pain spiked through his shoulder. He winced.

"Is one of your injuries bothering you?" he said, sharply.

"It-It's no big deal-"

"Where? What is it?"

Even Hiashi's concern felt like admonishment. Sasuke tried to ease away from the conversation. "My shoulder? It's nothing, really…"

"This way," Hiashi said.

With a suddenness that belied the robes, with Byakugan activated, he gripped Sasuke's forearm and pulled him down the hallway. They arrived at an infirmary of some sort, with five beds, two sinks, an exam table, and a cabinet of supplies with glass windows. The walls were a near white shade of yellow, floor a dark blue tile. There were no windows, clocks, or mirrors.

Sasuke was made to sit on one of the beds. A medic was called. He saw Hiashi stand in the doorway. The medic instructed him to remove his shirt in order to gain access to the wounded area.

"This will sting," she said, before ripping the bandaging off. Sasuke hissed. "I am going to probe your shoulder area. Please speak up if anything hurts."

She did not bring chakra or Byakugan to bear, on the first pass at least. She had him demonstrate the range of motion, reflex, strength. Then she poked around with chakra and caused a white-hot blast of pain that made him gasp. He tried to wrench away. He felt paralyzed, a stinging that crawled down his left arm like a tarantula.

A hmm sound, dispassionate. "I see."

"What is it?" Hiashi snapped.

"The seal is compromised."

The two of them were quiet for a bit. Sasuke watched their expressions. A raised eyebrow. One-two shake of the head. Nod. Frown. The medic made the same hmm sound. Hiashi left the room in a rush.

"Wh-what-"

"There seems to be some deterioration on a seal, here." She chakra-touched the place on his neck and nearly sent him to the floor. "It means we need to bring in Kakashi Hatake, so he can repair it."

"A seal for what?" It felt like the muscles in his shoulder were being torn apart, some sort of injury. "And why him?"

"Some powers you have as a result of your lineage." She turned off Byakugan and gave him a motherly smile that didn't quite feel sincere. "Don't worry. It's for your protection. This will hurt, but should keep the pain at bay until Hatake is available."

Byakugan. She splayed her hand over the epicenter of the pain. All he saw after that was stars.

Chapter Text

1:3 - Nine Yards

Sasuke got an eyeful of drab green when he came to. It pulled away from him, becoming a standard-issue flak jacket. Then a little further out it morphed into the familiar shock of pale hair and mask of Kakashi Hatake. Sasuke turned his head to see him properly, though his eyes were sluggish to focus. Stripes of heat ghosted along his shoulder, then vanished. His tongue felt heavy.

"Kuhkashi-"

"Yo," he said, accompanied by a casual lift of the hand. "Sorry I was late. Had to run some errands."

Hiashi barred his exit. "Well?"

"He should be fine. Let me know if you need anything else." A brittleness laced Kakashi's voice.

"Of course."

They exited the room together. Their conversation faded and echoed into indistinction. Hiashi returned alone, resuming his place in the doorway.

"Feel free to stay here as long as you need to recuperate."

Sasuke could not fathom why Kakashi specifically was needed, or why the seal was on his neck. He wrenched a hand up from the table, heavy and cold, to paw at the area. He felt nothing there, not even swelling.

At first silhouetted, a figure was running to the infirmary from the end of the hallway. Eventually, he could hear the sound of bare feet slapping the floor. And then as she came into view, sideways, Hinata.

"What are you doing here?" Hiashi asked, like an accusation.

"This...this is my responsibility, Father." she was out of breath, flushed.

Hiashi stared her down, then left.

Something about the shape of their exchange bothered Sasuke, but he was either too out of it or not in on an important secret to understand what it was. Hinata's hair tickled his arm as she bent over him.

"You're...awake?" she murmured.

"Kinda."

"Um…that was a...that was intense." She frowned. "It looked like it was extremely painful."

He chuckled. It was little more than an exhale. "Good thing I was out…"

"Do you need help getting up?" She turned her face away for the split-second it took him to pull his shirt back on.

"Don't think so. I was...about to uh, shower. Then...well...you know."

"I...I can take you around the compound some more, if you want."

After he had finished bathing and redressing, Sasuke sought out Hinata's room.

Her door slid open just enough to let her slip through the gap. He got a brief glimpse of floral wall decorations, a blue rug, and pale purple sheets. The corner of a dark wood desk was just visible.

"Did you have a specific place in mind?" she asked, shutting the door.

"Training grounds?"

He added, after a few seconds, "Not to do anything...Just wanted to see another part of it."

Unlike their first tour of the compound, the beginning of their walk was without conversation. The weather was warm enough, he supposed. She stopped next to one of the ponds dotted around the compound. There was a red maple across the water, leaves the burgundy of summer.

"This place is nice, isn't it?" she said, softly.

She pushed her fingertips together and then worked them into a knot. He glanced at her, then to the pond. He looked back. Her eyes were trained on something in the pond. What it was, he was unable to guess.

"The water's okay. I guess." He shrugged. "Weren't we going to the training grounds, though?"

"Father said it would be, um, a few more days before you could start training properly."

"Oh."

"I-I heard from Kakashi that Naruto, um, really wants t-"

A sparring session sounded like exactly what he needed. "Can't wait."

Hinata sputtered as if she were an engine trying to wind up. She couldn't even get a full word out.

"...What."

She stood there, twiddling her fingers and frowning.

"What is it?"

"Y-y-you're not supposed to be doing that so soon," she hissed, anxiously. "They said...Father said…"

Her hands curled into fists at her chest. She looked like she was going to spin off into panic. She was blanched and still shaking.

"F-Father wants you to stay away from the training ground. Okay?"

"...Why?"

"To...recover. He. He's afraid of you h-hurting yourself again."

The feeling that she was afraid of something unrelated lingered, the aftertaste of a bad excuse.

"What's really going on, Hinata?"

Her voice was slowly climbing up in pitch. "He-he'll be really mad if he sees us there."

"But I won't even be training." He frowned.

"But...but he-"

"Do you...like Naruto or something?" he asked, as soon as the thought occurred to him.

"That's-that's not relevant!"

He grinned. "I dunno...Maybe you're afraid I'll beat him?"

Her eyes widened like she was a small animal caught in a flashlight beam. She attempted to cover by schooling her features into bland pleasantness despite the redness of her cheeks.

A flash of a boy's face cut through his mind.

He was younger than Sasuke, and had a black ponytail, and bore the Sharingan. He was talking to someone out of view. The words were lost, but the lie was apparent. Save for the dark circles under his eyes, his face was doll-blank and empty.

The memory slipped away like a dream before he could put a name to it.

"...Sasuke?"

Hinata stepped forward. She tilted her head to the side to peer up at him. He felt dizzy again, like before. The careful, even concern on her face looked like a porcelain mask.

"A-are you alright?" One hand was poised to reach out to him. "You

"I-" He rubbed his eyes. "I don't know."

The boy's face-what he could recall of it-was met with a wash of anger and fear.

Something restless was beginning to unfurl in him. It bulged out from between the slats of his ribs, shifted against his skin like insects. His throat ran dry when he tried to swallow it back down.

She bit her lip. "Do you want to-"

"How long?" he snapped.

"W-what?"

"How long did I space out like that?"

"A...a minute or two." She touched her fingertips to her chin. "What's wrong?"

Sunlight refracted off the water of the pond in flashes of white and gold. A breeze was picking up. Sasuke watched the algae shift with the ripples. The mottled scales of koi fish undulated here and there, nearly invisible. He wanted to, suddenly, dive into the coldness of it. He tore his eyes away.

"I'm...not sure."

The boy-Sasuke had to be related to him somehow-and the massacre were connected, and he had just gotten a fragment of what lay between point A and point B.

"Can I ask you something?" he said, after a bit.

"Of course."

"Who was responsible for the massacre?"

Chapter Text

Hinata looked like she had been slapped.

“You...don’t know?” she whispered.

“Should I?”

“I--I mean it’s...common knowledge,” she added.

Sasuke curled into himself a bit. “I guess so, huh.”

“That’s--” She shut her mouth and made a noise like something got stuck in her throat. “I’m sorry.”

He felt a tug from the outer corners of his eyes and followed it with chakra. It felt right, seeing the world in such sharp relief, seeing Hinata’s chakra aura. A name for the sensation slid from the fogged glass of his mind: Sharingan.

Hinata didn’t have Byakugan active. It would be easy enough to put her to sleep, throw a fireball at the sky to distract the guards, and escape the compound if he wanted. She wouldn’t know anything had happened until she was released from the genjutsu. The hardest part would be bypassing Konoha security. After that, he could--

He deactivated Sharingan in much the same way one would squeeze the brakes on a bicycle to avoid collision. He had no reason to consider an escape route. The notion had been forced into his mind by an outside hand, an invasion. He forced himself to take a deep breath and swallowed around it.

“I…I...I need to--” His mouth hung open for a few seconds. “Go,” he said, taking a step back and turning around.

Hinata caught him by the sleeve of his shirt. “N...no. It’s alright. Why do you want to know?”

“It’s hard to explain.” He hesitated. “I guess I um, saw something?”

The tension of her grip on his sleeve dissolved. Her hand slipped away. “Like what?”

“Someone’s face. I don’t know who. I just got this weird feeling.”

“What did they look like?” There was a crease of skin between her brows.

“It was a boy. Older than me, I think.” He swallowed. “I think he might have been related to me.”

“A-anything else you can think of?”

He shook his head. He couldn’t look at her. “No.”

“If...if you really want to know about...this,” she said, touching three fingertips to his shoulder, “I’ll try my best to--to explain.”

“Please,” he whispered.

She took a deep breath. He heard her clear her throat, then take another deep breath. She removed her hand from his shoulder. He wondered if she was about to sit on the grass below. It seemed like the kind of thing she’d do. Instead, she bent, twisting her body until she was looking up at him.

“Are you ready?”

He straightened. Made himself look at her. Opened his mouth.

“Yeah.”

She twisted her hair around her fingers as she talked. “Okay. I.... Um. Here’s what Father told me.

“It--it was eight years ago. I guess. There were clan politics involved. Then--then someone, one night, killed everyone. Except for you.”

“I know that part.” He crossed his arms.

It was a few seconds before she said anything else, and her voice shrank as she said it. “Y-your older brother. Itachi. He...he did it.”

“Oh.”

It was all he could say. His lungs refused to work properly. The ice-sharp pain of panic crawled into his chest and down through his stomach.

“Sasuke?”

He bolted.

“ Sasuke?”

There was a full moon.

It was late.

Sasuke should have been home hours ago.

The wind pelted his cheeks and threw his hair into his eyes as he ran. His grade sheet was wrinkled beyond help, rolled up in his fist, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want Mom to worry. He’d eat cold dinner for a week if it would make her feel better.

I’m sorry, Sasuke. Maybe next time.

It was late.

But…

Not even the older, rebellious teens were out. Usually they’d be smoking, or playing dice games, or sucking face in the alleyways. The houses were all shuttered and dark.

Then he saw the pool of blood and the reflection of the moon in it.

Two fingers poked his forehead.

He rubbed at it and scowled.

Itachi hid a snort, and badly. Sasuke stuck his tongue out. It only made Itachi laugh. Then Sasuke kind of started laughing, too, because Itachi looked happy for once and he wanted Itachi to stay happy.

Hate me.

The blood took on a blackness in the moonlight that made it seem like he was caught in a genjutsu. Then the moon was red in the blood and he watched Itachi’s sword pierce Mother and Father through the torso over and over. The moon was red in the black sky. It was all red, black, and white.

Sasuke shielded his eyes. There was a crack between his curtains delivering a white hot beam directly into his face. He groaned and rolled over in bed. He was on a team with Naruto. The dead last dumbass.

Itachi slammed him into the wall.

Sasuke catapulted awake with his palms jammed against his eye sockets. His throat was raw. He was screaming. He only stopped when he ran out of air. Something thick and wet was leaking from beneath his hands. His body forced a lurching gasp of air into his lungs; he had forgotten to breathe. Purple green whorls floated along his vision in accompaniment with the pressure being exerted on his eyes. He ripped his hands away. His eyelids parted as if they had been glued together. He looked down.

He saw blood.

It was too bright somehow, in such sharp relief the red pierced his eyes. The watercolor outline at his fingers, the half-coagulated tar pooled in his palms, the rust crumbling off at his joints screamed at him.

A fat blob of it slid down his cheek and dropped off his chin. It stung to shut his eyes. It stung to open them up again. There was something wrong. He could see too well, too crisply. Chakra streamed to his eyes and very little else. The dark pit of his closet was all he could bear to look at. He couldn’t make it stop.

The pale, doll-faced boy he'd remembered earlier had been laughing in one of those dreams. His breath hitched. The door opened, and soft candlelight accompanied it. Itachi. That had been Itachi? The name hit him like a hammer to a gavel. He couldn’t make it stop.

The light filled half his vision. It burned.

“Sasuke?”

Thick, unbearable heat clogged his lungs. Itachi had killed their family and disappeared. Then he reappeared. And it was all about stupid Naruto. It had had nothing to do with him. Yet he’d been pinned against a wall and told to hate. His big brother. A sob rent itself from the ache in his chest. He couldn’t make it stop.

Hinata appeared in front of him. Her voice shook. “It was a bad dream. You’re alright now.”

The candle was blinding. He whimpered.

She blew the flame out. The candle holder made a little tink when she set it down. “Is--is that better?”

“M-make it stop.” He could see nothing but the dual spirals of mangekyou in the dark. “Make it stop.”

“Sasuke,” she said, eyes flaring with chakra, placing her hands on his shoulders, “it was just a dream.”

“Make it stop...make it stop.” He was drowning in blood. “Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop--”

“I’m sorry.” She pressed two cool fingers to each side of his head. “I’m sorry.”

It stopped.

Chapter Text

Hinata was lost.

She was aware, numbly, of her physical location. She also knew that her fingertips were hovering at Sasuke's temples, with her Byakugan pinpointing the pathways to block - both to knock him unconscious and to stop the explosion of chakra bursting from his eyes.

And when it was done, and he sagged into the mattress like a ragdoll, her hands remained aloft. They shook. Sasuke's face melted into something that looked like a deep, dreamless sleep. A bloodstain spread from where his head touched the pillow. His chakra network died down to a dim, pulsing network of threads. She squeezed her eyes shut and cut her chakra off to stop Byakugan. Her hands curled up.

The first arrival to the room was her father. She knew it was him from the swishing of his robes, the slap of his sleeve against her forearm. He was close to silent. He did not say a single word to her.

Second was the medic she had seen with Kakashi yesterday. Hinata thought it had been yesterday. It may well have been. She ran into the room, turned on the light, and began barking questions. At this, Hinata opened her eyes. But the words were mush. And directed to her father.

She whispered, "Excuse me," and slipped through the crowd of others as they rushed in.

The hall was dark and quiet. She stood, swaying, and breathed. Just breathed. She took a step forward. She needed it to be quiet. All she heard, echoing around her, was Sasuke's awful screech. It had woken her up. He didn't stop until she had arrived at his door. He hadn't sounded human. Not even after, the way his voice threaded into his breathing like his larynx was grinding into itself.

A branch member bumped against her shoulder. She didn't feel it. Just kept walking. She turned one corner, then another. Every so often she passed through a pool of moonlight. Her head was stuffed with cotton. And the echo persisted, as crisp as a recording.

She blinked, and she was standing in the grass. It was cool and soft. She blinked again. Water lapped at her toes. It was the pond. She took a step back. Her knees gave out. She stared at the moon's reflection. Tears burned down her face.

It was all her fault. Sasuke had been fine until…

She bit her lip. She was being selfish. She had thought it would help him if he was told something true about what had happened; that wasn't against the terms of Father's orders. Or that it might make him swallow the pill more easily. Like she was going to fix him somehow, make him better. She had just wanted to help. And look what that had given her. Given him.

Her lungs heaved a sob up. Then another, and another. Nothing she tried-taking a deep breath, biting her cheek, wiping her eyes-made it lessen. Her body hurt to contain it. But she had to. Anything less was unacceptable.

Chapter Text

The ceiling was white.

Sasuke had never been in this room before.

His throat was dry. Sore. Raw. What may have been remnants of the smell of roses wafted through his nose. Across the room, there was an open armoir full of his clothes, and a lidded wicker hamper nestled into the little gap between the closet and the wall. A mirror lined one of the doors of the armoir.

Sasuke looked away before he could see himself.

“Are you...feeling better?” A voice. Soft. Female. Familiar.

“Hinata?” Her name pulled itself from his mouth.

She wore something not dissimilar to a smile. “Are you feeling better?”

“Better?” He tried to sit up. His head spun. “Something happen?”

Finally, he managed to rest his elbows on his thighs. He closed his eyes again. Something was attempting to wriggle out of his stomach in time with his breath.

“Well...um, you blacked out again.”

He what?

“And um, hit your head.” She swallowed.

The last thing he could really recall before waking up here was Naruto yelling at him. The sky, then the ground. Then this room. This room that was a little too clean and pale to feel like home. But his clothes were there, lined up in the armoir.

“How long was I out?”

She shifted in the chair. “D-do you want anything?”

“I feel sick.”

“I’ll be right back,” she said, getting up. "Don't move."

Her bare feet slapped the floor. He only saw the heel of her right foot as she ran out. The rose scent floated after her. She came back with a little deep blue sachet. She held it under his nose.

"Here."

Herbs. Mint. Tea leaves. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He grabbed her wrist as she stepped away, pulled the sachet close to his face, and drew another breath. It did help. Hinata tugged her hand back. The back of her hand was soft as it slid over his palm.

"...Thanks."

"You’re welcome, " she replied, a few seconds later than expected. "I can make tea. If...if you want?"

He looked down at what he was wearing: a black t-shirt and gray sweatpants. He looked back up at her. She turned her face away, down. Her fingers played with the silver cord holding the sachet closed. Its beaded ends clicking against each other was the only sound of note in the room.

"You okay?" He asked.

Her fidgeting stopped.

"I'm - fine," she said, not looking up. "Just a little tired."

He scanned the room for a clock and came up empty. "What time is it?"

"Noon." The fidgeting resumed. "I thought it was better to um, let you rest."

He combed through his hair with his fingers. A dull ache began to throb behind his eyes. Hinata mumbled that she would be back (again) and slipped out the door like a phantom.

Days?

He didn’t feel like he had been out for days.

Time to take inventory. First, he checked his wrists. There were no signs that there was any sort of band or evidence that there had been a band. Neither inner elbow had bruising characteristic of an IV line. Low chance anyone would waste chakra on healing those marks.

He pulled the collar of his shirt down. No remnants of tape or other forms of adhesive beyond some bandaging on the side of his neck. His clothes were fresh.

Footsteps. Pure adrenaline shot through him.

Hinata was back with the cup of tea he hadn’t really asked for. Sasuke waited until the cup had been set down, then pounced. He clamped a hand over her mouth and twisted her arms behind her before flipping them both onto his bed. Her hands were trapped between them, rendered useless by his bodyweight.

“Liar,” he growled.

Dimly, some part of his mind recognized that he was not in danger and this was unnecessary. He snuffed it out. Hinata made a small noise. She didn’t struggle. Her breathing was uneven. Sasuke decided to take a gamble and removed his hand from her mouth.

“I'm sorry.” Her voice cracked. “I'd hoped…I…”

“You hoped…for…?”

“I can't-” She finally attempted to pull herself free. It was feeble. “Father would -”

The heat of frustration darted down his spine. “Why should I care?”

That made her go wire-taut. Her chakra aura flared. He didn’t remember activating Sharingan, but he obviously did. He spared a glance in the direction of the interior of the building. No visible chakra signatures or signs of chakra usage. Hinata exhaled and sagged a bit, perhaps having come to the same conclusion as him.

“Um…I’m not sure h-how exactly,” she whispered, just-audible, “but…my father is involved with the civilian council.”

Interesting, said a cool, reptilian whisper slipping along the edge of his awareness. She was telling the truth without telling the truth.

“Somehow…” Hinata swallowed something back. “It - it has to do with you.”

This is my responsibility. Her voice. A splinter of a previous conversation. The ghost of her fingers touching his temples. I'm sorry.

It was then that he caught a glance at himself in the mirror: wild-haired, a cold and hard expression that felt at home on his face. He didn’t understand why. His eyes landed on Hinata’s reflection.

She was crying.

All the adrenaline drained from his body. It was because of him. The instincts that had overtaken a few minutes ago must have been drilled into him. By who? A void gnawed at him from the place in which the answer lay.

“I…I don’t know what came over me,” he said, unevenly. “I’m s–”

“Don’t. Don’t apologize.” She shook her head. “It’s really not your fault.”

He frowned. “You’re terrible at lying.”

“Can you…let me go?” She tugged at her arm.

He released her from the hold and stood. Hinata didn’t attempt to block any of his chakra points or flip him over onto the bed or leave. Instead, she slowly drew herself into a sitting position. She faced away from him, hugging her knees to her chest.

He looked at her, folded up like that. A small person. Making herself smaller.

Sasuke sat down on the very edge of the mattress. He stared at the teacup and listened to her unsteady breathing. There was a candle with an unlit but burned wick next to it. He felt sick.

“Sorry,” he said, “for d-”

“You had a nightmare.” Hinata’s voice trembled. “Last night.”

“A nightmare.” That was a strange thing to lie about. “What’s so bad about that?”