Forced Paths

Soldier

____

She brought him food and water. Neji refused to eat whatever was given to him. He would starve and die and that was something Hinata didn't want to happen.
It was silly, she thought as she watched him eat, that he accepted hers without second guesses, because in the end, she was the leader here, for now. She was the enemy.
She sat on the side of the cell, looking at the wall across.
"How did he recruit the sand?" She asked.
If Neji was willing to give her information, she would take whatever she could.
"It doesn't concern you." He said.
"What did he offer?" She pressed.
Neji took a bite of his food.
"A chance in territorial expansion." He said.
"And?"
He turned his head right, to look at her.
"And Hanabi's hand." He breathed. "Not fall into that again. Hanabi...She must learn on her own."
"It doesn't matter if they lose." She said to convince herself. "His son is rather young." She added, another excuse.
"Yes." Neji said lower.
"What is it?"
"Nothing."
"Neji."
"She isn't to marry the boy. The clan head is the suitor."
"But he is...He is almost in father's age. Hanabi would at least argue, I don't think she is that.."
"She doesn't know yet. About who is supposed to be the husband."
She threw her head on the wall and let a sigh escape her.
"Don't do anything stupid." He said, but it was more than a statement.
"I won't. Not yet."
"Sasuke's father..."
"He is safe, for now."
And that was where Neji drew the line.
She closed her eyes. She had sent her letter to Sasuke. Another one to Akimichi, adding the progress of Ino's health. She hoped they would reach out on time. If not...
She wanted to go. If anything, she wanted to be there. To fight, to protect. It took everything to ground herself here. To not do anything reckless.
Yet, she wanted to be by his side. To be sure constantly that he was fine. He was. He would be. Another sigh.
"I wish father was gone." She said. "I wish I could meet you again under different circumstances. I wish Hanabi was here."
Neji remained silent.
"I wish we could all be together. No fights, no clans, nothing."
"You can't expect everything to disappear magically. That's not how it works." Neji's voice, his subtle scolding, them sitting here alone, it held a nostalgia. Something from a time long gone, something all too familiar.
"Neji." She said without filter in her voice. "If I do something stupid, will you help me?"
She said and she drifted off to sleep.

____

Another swing of his sword. Another day. Enemies and allies fell all around. The earth was again bathed with blood, the light brown that used to cover the land was long forgotten. His men fought with fierce, letting cries of battle as they moved to their deaths. For him, for his brother, for the clan.
They seemed manic, he might seem like that too, red on his face, on his hands, on his sword. He cut and pierced, he threw his weapons from afar to enemies with white eyes and white clothes, covered in dirt. More blood.
There used to be a time, when he was young and naive, where he thought that this was it. The adrenaline of the battle, the glory, this is was where he would prove his worth. When an enemy would fall, when hundreds of enemies would fall under his feet and his proud Uchiha blood would prevail.
Now, he felt relief when he managed to strike an enemy, before a blade hit a comrade. When he looked past many many soldiers and he spotted Itachi still standing. How unnecessary all this was. How inevitable.
She hated the blood and the conflict. She hated the fact that lives were lost in the name of expansion, of prevail. And she would be much, much needed here. Because they had trained together and he knew how good she was. They had trained together and that had already saved his life. Knowing the tactics of his opponent, the way to defend against them, was more handy than to fight like them. His wife would strive in this battle and she would have hated it. She was cursed with this gift.
A boy, probably his age, was coming at him. Sasuke threw his kunai and the boy dodged, but the ground was slippery with red. The next kunai was at his throat.
Glory. He almost laughed. People talked about glorious battles for years and years. They talked as if the sky was shining with blessed lights. But Sasuke only saw a boy his age, falling to his death at his feet.
They probably forgot. How these moments felt. The agonising scream and the limps missing. They probably forgot the despair. Or they pushed it to oblivion. His brother hadn't forgotten. Maybe that was why he was shaped the way he did. He looked around, searching for him. For a moment he missed him. But as the panic rose, he saw him again. He threw himself in battle once more.