Midnight

Chapter Four

The house was still silent. It would take a few more hours for the morning routine to start. The creak of a door opening and steps on the wooden floor. Pots touching the fire and spoons clicking in the metal. Whispers of people, someone speak louder and fingers on the lips warning of the sleeping residents. Another door open and silence as the steps pass through the corridors. The whispers becoming words of a busy schedule, a sick child, a secret love. Hinata knew it all as she was the first one to wake. She could tell how far time had passed form the sounds the house was making. She stayed in bed with her eyes on the ceiling before it was appropriate for her to get up and leave her room. Except for the days she was leaving for a mission. When her stormy sleep finally ended she could wonder in the dark without alert anyone. She took this moment of silence and breathed it in. For a second it felt as the walls, the ceiling, the flowers in the garden mourned with her. Then a noise broke the silence reminding her the world was still there, moving forward. It was unbearable.

______

"You're late." The man was standing in the darkness offered gracefully of the winter dawn. The truth was that she was a bit early but that didn't stop her from apologising. They began running in the direction he led. He had kept the scroll of their mission so she didn't have the chance to study all the details. It was probably the fear of her weakness that guided his behaviour. He made clear the day before he didn't want to be her partner and if she guessed right not even breath the same air as her. He was the perfect partner. She felt sorry for him, understanding his anger being stuck with this weak and idiotic person. At least she let him express his frustration. It was only right. After long hours of running, passing through forest and open fields he halted.
"Are we here Uchiha-san?"
He never bothered to answer her before he sat on a log eating what appeared to be his lunch. She decided it was probably time for a break before several more hours of traveling across the land. She sat on the ground imitating him. She took her bag searching for the food Hanabi had packed for her when his head snapped in the opposite direction.
"Is something wrong Uchiha-san?"
In yet another failure to make him speak, she opened her bloodline. She looked passed in the direction his eyes had turned but saw nothing. She looked further trying to understand the source of his uneasyness but the forest was quiet.
"Stay here." His first words since their departure came rough.
His figure was lost in the endless growing trees but Hinata could see him.
His chakra was visible in her eyes as if he was standing in the grasp of her hand. She lost him for a moment before she found him again a few feets away. She couldn't understand if he was searching or battling not until she saw a change in the flow of his body lines. It was as he released a technique. Then his body stopped moving. She stayed still for a moment, not wanting to disturb him in the case he was hiding. Several minutes passed and the man had yet to react. She rushed in the direction he appeared to be only to find his body laying still on the uneven ground. Her eyes searched for blood but couldn't find any. As she took a step to examine him closely she felt a presence hiding in the trees.
Whoever the person was his chakra was hidden. It felt as multiple people came and go but at the last minute she missed them. She took a battling stance in front of her fallen companion calmly watching the tree that was hiding the body of the attacker.
"I know you are there." Her voice echoed in the forest.
A masked man emerged from the gnarled trunk.
"What do you want?" Each word came calm, there was nothing to fear. The unconscious man had only her to protect him and she would not fail her duty.
The enemy moved in incredible speed towards her, a kunai on his hand. She blocked his attack with her extended palm and switched position to block his chakra with the other. Their hands grazed in the next moment when they both tried to punch. He was trained, it was clear. Close combat was her forte and he was able to stand his ground. He throwed his kunai, aiming for the person behind her. Her stance swifted for defence and the weapon missed the target. He was a few feets away giving her the chance to bring forth her twin lions. The purple chakra emerged and the next second she was the one attacking. She took a blow in her guts for her twin lion to land a hit on his arm draining his chakra. She tried to grab him but he retreated. His hands reached for another kunai. She prepared for his upcoming attack seeing him running at her. For a moment the weapon inside the clenched fingers was targeted towards her throat before the man bypassed her.
"No." She turned, throwing her body at him. The tip of her fingers slightly touched his, causing the weapon to fall. He run a few steps closing the distance between him and the sleeping man. She extended her palm to strike his back. She was sure she had him her skin almost touching the cloth. The force of the attack hitting thin air made her lose her balance making her not able to dodge the hand that found its way around her neck.
The metal pressing her throat distarbed her less than the cold voice coming to her ears from behind.
"You are a liar Hyuga."
The unconscious man in front of her vanished with a log taking his place.
Sasuke was holding the knife still at place leaving her unable to move. She could see with the corner of her eye his left hand trembling from her previous attack. He was probably waiting for her to respond to his statement. He would wait in vain. All was lost. She thought she had fooled the man enough to discard her presence. She even though for a moment that the time has come. That this mission was the right one. She was painfully mistaken. Sasuke Uchiha was not a man easily fouled.
She moved in the little space she was given pressing her skin at the metal. When red stream stained her clothes he dismissed the knife pushing her away.
Her hand brushed through the shallow wound. She brought it on her line of vision, observing the sight of her blood thoughtfully for a second. The following moment it was wiped at her thigh and she proceeded to walk back at the spot where their things were left.
She could sense his intense stare even though her eyes never reached his face.

She walked off like nothing happened. She was composed as if her her neck was unscarred. Quiet was the quality he valued most in his companions yet her silence angered him.
"Why do you pretend you are weak?" He would force the words out of her mouth.
It was only then that she raised her eyes to meet his.
"What good is power when it comes late?" He felt the need to avert his gaze.
She watched him with these piercing eyes for what felt like hours. In the next breath she had started to walk again.
"Let's go back Uchiha-san. We should return to the mission." The usual soft voice ringing in his ears.

_____

It was dusk when they arrived. The first lanterns were lighted in the small village. This was the last place one of the victims was seen before he was found in a frantic state. Their investigation would start in the morning since it involved interviews with the people that he had spoken to. They found one of the few guest houses this place had. The woman at the desk was reluctant to offer them a room. Their attire indicated their shinobi background and people weren't always welcome. Shinobi meant trouble. Hinata was the one that spoke. Her mannerisms had something that let people off guard. Maybe it was how she never made eye contact. How low her voice sounded almost like a whisper. How her whole body language was the opposite of danger.
"Well aren't you the cutest?" Was the last thing the woman spoke before she showed them to the room.
They had to share one. The missions were kept at low cost since all the founding was given to rebuilding what was lost in the war. Both physically and mentally.
The room was small but clean. He observed her searching her bag for clothes turning to speak only when she found what she was looking for.
"We should take a bath and rest. It's going to be a long day tomorrow." She shyly smiled. "Do want to go first Uchiha-san?"
He took a moment to look at her. She pictured the same image he had of her, the morning she woke up at his house.
"Is something wrong Uchiha-san?"
"Are you going to pretend that everything is alright?" He finally spoke.
"Aren't we all Uchiha-san?" She replied with the same smile on her face.
His face relaxed from his hard expression. A smirk was formed on his lips.
"I really detest you Hyuga."
"That's makes two of us." She bowed and walked behind the white door.

_____

The water kept falling long after she finished. It was crucial not to panic but she had already collapsed from the intense breathing. The man was strong, one of the two strongest shinobi in the world. He could defend himself even if something happened to her. This meant she could carry along with the idea that popped in her head a while ago. But now he knew. Not exactly. But he had seen that something was off. She watched as the steam thickened in the tiny bathroom. She breathed filling her lungs with humidity. What if he knew. He was not a talkative person in the best of days. And surely he would not talk about her, a person he rarely interacted before this mission. All was good.
She raised her feet from the ground, slowly putting her clothes on. After she finished she searched the pocket of her pants for the tiny metal piece she had hid. She raised her sweater above her elbow and pressed the metal on her skin.
She still felt nothing.

____

A smell of freshness filled the room when the door opened. His eyes were closed but he heard her steps approaching. She stand above him reluctant as if she had to speak or not. He opened his eyes, only his dark one visible. Her lips parted for a statement he didn't care. His hand closed the bathroom door and he was finally able to breathe. Her presence was suffocating. His mind needed the peace the distance offered. He knew that something was off during her training with Naruto but he discarded the feeling because he had already branded her as shallow. The girl loved his best friend so she let her been seen as a woman needed protection. When she rejected him, he had to know. He wasn't going to be on a mission with a person he didn't trust. As she fought him the lie was visible. Her moves were wrong in an alarming way. As a person who sang a song and knew the right moment to lose a note.
Why was she doing it? Was she a thread?
Even after he saw her true power he still didn't have an answer.
He walked out only to meet darkness. She had curled up at the floor already asleep. He lied down on the bed. He had to rest. The mission needed his focus as well as the mystery of Hinata Hyuga.