Sasuhina- precious 7

Part 7- Relief

Opening her eyes, she observed her surroundings. Everything that happened that day before came back to her, and water blurred her vision. Her father didn’t want her anymore, and Hikaru had killed her mother. Distress pounded her and she buried her face in her arms, trying to stifle the sobs.

“You’re awake.”

Sasuke had been standing at the doorway gazing at her with steady eyes, arms crossed. The heartbroken girl forced a smile and said, “T-thank you, Uchiha-san, for helping me. I’m better now, so I can leave.” She got off the bed, and tried to walk past Sasuke, but he blocked her way. She sidestepped, but there he was again, like a reappearing wall. “Uchiha-san, please. I’ve caused you enough trouble.”

“Tch. I owe you anyway.”

She looked at questioningly, but he didn’t say anything more about that. “Hiashi disowned you, and since you don’t have a place to stay, you can stay here as long as you need to. Neji moved your stuff here last night, so it’s final.” He disappeared into the hallway, and left her alone in silence.

xxOOxx

“Sasuke-kun is finally alone now. I’m going to go visit him in a couple of minutes!” Sakura gossiped to Ino. She expected a happy expression from her friend, but instead received one of pity. “What is it?”

Ino explained how Hinata was staying at Sasuke’s which enraged Sakura. “What?! But...but why?” Ino shrugged her shoulders, and Sakura got up roughly and growled, “I’m going to go talk to him now.” Ino pulled at her friend’s arm and persuaded her to go later, for she worried for Hinata who would have to face Sakura’s anger.

Sai also heard of how Hinata was staying at Sasuke’s place, and felt somewhat saddened. He wondered of there was any relationship between the two quiet ninjas. But he wondered most about what he would do if there really was a close relationship between them. Could he just let Hinata go? They say, if you love someone, let them go. Sai really loved Hinata, but if he fought the Uchiha boy for her, she might end up getting hurt.

He sighed, undecided, and put it off to think about.

Then something in the atmosphere seemed to be disturbed and he froze. It was like something was about to happen, and that something wasn’t good. But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. When the feeling disappeared, he relaxed a bit, and dismissed it as his imagination. Although, he could have sworn he felt about 4 unusual presences.

On the rooftop of a nearby building, Karin let out a sigh of relief. “That was close. That guy is dangerous.” Juugo nodded, and Suigetsu snickered and teased Karin. A fight would have started if Madara hadn’t stepped in. “Keep your eye on the prize, children. Don’t forget why Sasuke sent up here.” In the shadows, his Sharingan glowed and spun.

xxOOxx

The punching bag collided onto the ground ragged and worn-out. Sasuke dripped in sweat and panted, after training his strength for the past 2 hours. He poured water on his head, and closed his eyes to feel the coolness seep beneath his scalp. His hand found the grip of his sword, and he unsheathed. The light from the ceiling glinted off the sharp edges of the blade.

He was ready for this. He would have Konoha pay for everything it did. He would destroy the village that destroyed everything he cared about. He would avenge Itachi.

Hinata.

Sasuke had forgotten that she was upstairs still in that room. He heard the sobs she tried to silence, and felt that he should leave her alone. Her family had abandoned her, and killed her own mother. The lonely boy understood her all too well.

“Ano, Uchiha-san?” The sound of her soft voice surprised him, and when he blinked, he saw her beside him. But he masked his surprise and said with no feeling, “What is it?”

“Umm…do you need someone to spar with you?”

He thought about it. Dummies and punching bags weren’t really helping him, and he remembered the spar he had with Hinata, and even though she wasn’t difficult to defeat, she was better than what he had.

Without hesitation, their fight began. While they exchanged punches and kicks, memories of Itachi training with him, and his heart felt heavy with despair. There was more strength pushed behind every blow as he grew more and more frustrated. Then with a sudden lash of power, Hinata was slammed against the wall, and fell to the floor coughing violently.

Sasuke snapped out of his traumatizing trance, and rushed to Hinata’s side. Patting her back didn’t help, but after what seemed for a while, her coughs stopped and changed into pants. He pulled her upstairs to the kitchen, and handed her a glass of water, which she consumed in large gulps.

The boy with the obsidian hair didn’t know how to explain himself, and was unsure of apologizing, when Hinata said in a hauntingly quiet voice, “Uchiha-san, is something disturbing you?”

A scowl spread across his face and with a curt answer, “No,” he turned to walk away into the hallway. But Hinata quickly held onto his wrist and urged, “Please tell me. Tell me, if it’s bothering you so much.” At this point, Sasuke lost his cool.

“What’s bothering me is you. Every time I look at you, it drives me insane. You bring me memories of everything painful in my past, mainly memories of my brother before the murder of my clan. You make simple and normal things more complicated than they should be. You are the cause of my pain,” he snarled with several emotions: annoyance, disgust, and hurt.

But then his sight seemed to clear, and when he blinked he saw shock and hurt plain on Hinata’s face. The glass of water she carried lied on the floor. Tears rose to her eyes, and without thinking, she ran out of the house.

Too late, at that moment, Sasuke terribly regretted what he said. He sat down hard on a chair and placed his head in his hands. Sasuke didn’t understand why he said such things. Although he believed what he said was true, there was a small but strong part of him that said that it wasn’t true. He didn’t know what to believe.

Sasuke had hurt Hinata during training, said painful things to her, and made her run off in tears. He didn’t understand why this girl made him into a mental wreck.

xxOOxx

Sai stopped walking, sensing the familiar presence of Hinata not too far away. He looked up and saw Hinata sitting alone on the rooftop of one of the buildings. A tear leaked from the corner of her eyes, and immediately, Sai decided to find out what was going on.

“Hinata?” The silent girl jumped at the sudden company of her good friend. Quickly, she wiped her eyes and faced him with a smile. “Sai-kun! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Sai nodded but didn’t smile as he usually did with her. She pretended to not notice, and continued, “Gomen…things have been messy lately, and I really wanted to be able to talk to you.” Her smile became more strained and sad.

Sai looked at her with sadness throbbing in his heart. His voice shook as he said, “Hinata…don’t smile like that. It’s painful.” Hinata looked up at him with a start and then started crying. Sai sat beside her and put a hand at her back. Uncertainly he said, “Hinata…did Sasuke hurt you?”

Hinata shook her head, which made Sai confused. “It’s just…I feel like a burden to Uchiha-san. I remind him of his terrible past. I just wanted to be alone right now.” Sai was silent for a moment and stood up. “Hinata, if you ever need me…I’ll always be here, ok?”

She nodded, and smiled with a happier smile. “Arigatou, Sai-kun. You are my greatest friend.”

At that sentence, Sai’s heart seemed to shatter.

xxOOxx

Sasuke couldn’t find her anywhere. After moments of loneliness, Sasuke felt the emptiness of the house bear down on him, and he set out to look for her. That girl was like a lodestone to him. A lodestone that kept him balanced. He had been thinking…it wasn’t because of her that he had been thinking of Itachi. It was because of Itachi he had been thinking of her. Itachi had always been the one closest to him…and now that he was gone, Hinata…she didn’t stand in his place, but she stood beside Sasuke.

Finally he spotted her sitting on the roof of a building. But she wasn’t alone. Sai was with her, and was listening seriously to her. He saw her smile, and say something. Sasuke watched them from a distance, with a strange creeping feeling in him. Finally Sai stood and walked away, leaving her alone.

Sasuke jumped onto the rooftop and stood behind her. When she heard his footsteps, she turned and was surprised to see him. After hesitating, he opened his mouth, but she spoke before him.

“I’m sorry, Uchiha-san. I was silly for not realizing that I was a bother. I’m really sorry about your brother, and if you’d like I can move-“

“No. It’s okay. It’s my fault, because I’ve just been thinking about Itachi a lot. But don’t go. At least…not yet…” The dark boy wasn’t sure of how he should word things, but fortunately, Hinata understood. She stood before him and held out her hand as if he should shake it.

“I understand, Uchiha-san. Thank you so much. Can we be friends without a barrier between us?”

Sasuke regarded her for a moment, and smirked. “We can if you stop calling me ‘Uchiha-san’. Just say ‘Sasuke’.” Hinata’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment, and then smiled. “Then let’s go home…Sasuke.”

xxOOxx………….

Sakura hated the fact that Sasuke had taken Hinata in. She thought that Sasuke would finally be alone for her, when Hinata just had to come in. Sakura had never been really close to Hinata. She just saw her as a quiet girl that she never really noticed. Her blood boiled when she thought of how close Hinata was now to Sasuke.

Hinata heard a loud banging at the door, and when she opened it, she was face to face with Sakura. She smiled politely and said, “Good morning, Sakura-san!” But she noticed something was wrong, and could feel anger radiating from the frame of the pink-haired kunoichi.

Everything happened too quickly. Sasuke came from behind to see who it was, Sakura raised her hand, and suddenly, Hinata felt a burning sting across her cheek. “Sakura!” Sasuke barked.

The Haruno girl was purple with rage, and her eyes stung with agitated tears. “What? How can you be so cruel? Especially you, Hinata!” She paused and took a breath. “You knew I liked Sasuke-kun. Sasuke-kun, you knew I liked you! But why do you have to hurt me by taking care of her?!” She threw a deadly glare at Hinata who flinched, but Sasuke just regarded her coldly.

“Sakura. You knew I didn’t like you the way you liked me. You knew. Yet you wouldn’t accept it. It’s your fault you got hurt. But you didn’t have to get hurt. You could have opened your eyes and realized that there was someone waiting for you so patiently. Someone you deserve. Someone better than me. But you kept ignoring him. Do you think you’ve been badly hurt? Then what about Naruto’s pain? Yours is nothing compared to his.”

Sakura stood there unable to move. First she felt hurt and anger, because of the cold tone in his voice. That harsh expression on his face. Then it was a sudden impact of relief and hope. It was like she was happy to hear that, as if a terrible burden on her chest was lifted, and she could finally breathe.

Her feet began to move, and she was running as hard and fast as she could. Her eyes searched every street, every shop. Then he was there. “Sakura-chan?” Naruto sat on a bench that was beneath the branches of a beautifully blooming cherry blossom tree. The wind scattered the petals around him, and then she realized how right Sasuke was.

Naruto had always been waiting for her, even though she thought he had given up. He waited even now, and perhaps she should end his suffering. Thank you Sasuke. Thank you Hinata.