Naruto AU: The Untold Story

Chapter 16: Warmth in a Cold Storm

The next day at school went just about as well as Hisako thought. Sasuke returned to class, but he was the same Sasuke that she saw last night. Cold, distant, quiet, sullen. He wasn't warm to her like he has been these past few months. He still choose to sit beside her, but she was pretty sure that was because there was no other open seat. Given the choice, she knew he would have chosen to sit alone.

Hisako never tried to talk to Sasuke, and he returned the behavior. It hurt her to know that Sasuke was suddenly so far from her reach. That she may never be able to talk to him again like they spoke to each other just a few days ago. But, she couldn't let herself be bothered by him for the moment. She had to concentrate on class. If he wanted to sulk and hide in his grief, then there was nothing more she could do. All she could do was try to move on herself and be an example of what it's like to get on the other side of the grief.

But, a large part of her knew that this was different. Sasuke was taking this a lot harder, and his whole mission for revenge was bringing him down a dark path she didn't know if she could save him from.

She didn't sit with Sasuke over lunch, and she didn't feel like sitting with Hinata either. She didn't want to bother Sakura so instead, she found a place where she would be alone and sat down to quietly eat her lunch.

"Hisako," she heard Sakura ask from overhead.

Hisako looked up to see Sakura standing over her, a concerned look on her face.

"Oh! Hey Sakura," Hisako muttered half-heartedly as Sakura sat down beside Hisako, pulling out her own lunch.

"Why are you sitting alone? Don't you usually have lunch with Sasuke?"

"Yeah, well," Hisako grumbled, her gaze dropping to the floor beneath them.

"Well, what? What happened?" Sakura asked she waited for a few moments for Hisako to respond, but when it became obvious she wouldn't respond, Sakura continued, "you know, I've noticed Sasuke is acting a lot different. He hasn't even talked to you today, and you to him. Are you two okay?"

Hisako closed her eyes to keep the onslaught of emotions at bay. When she was sure she could open her eyes without crying, she slowly opened her eyes again and gave Sakura a weak smile.

"Sasuke is going through a lot of grief right now. He won't be himself for a while, and he's taking a lot of his pain out on me right now. So, it's best if I just stay away from him for the moment," Hisako replied.

Sakura didn't look convinced by Hisako's explanation, and she crossed her arms over her chest, "okay, and is there anything I can do to help? I want to help both you and Sasuke if I can,"

Hisako shook her head no, "I wouldn't recommend that. Any extra attention will just make Sasuke even angrier," Hisako pulled her knees to her chest, "I miss him,"

Sakura's gaze softened as she stared at her friend and she leaned back against the wall, "I'm sure the old Sasuke will come back. It's just a matter of time, right? You said it yourself, he's just going through grief right now right?"

Hisako gave Sakura a weak smile but nodded her head. She didn't agree with her friend, but this wasn't exactly a conversation she was thrilled to have either. Sasuke was quickly becoming a sore topic for her.

"Oh! Next weekend, do you want to hang out?" Hisako asked as a way to change the subject.

"Yeah! But, don't you usually do some extra training on the weekends?" Sakura asked.

Hisako's gaze dropped and she shook her head no, "those were always with Itachi and Sasuke," she said quietly.

Sakura felt the dark cloud that was quickly moving in over Hisako, and she gently placed a hand on Hisako's shoulder, "and you and Sasuke won't continue the tradition?" she asked quietly.