Never Alone, Ever Again

Chapter Six

She brush passed him and he caught her wrist. She didn't turn to face him; instead she kept her gaze on the ground. "Sasuke-kun, please let go of my hand," she said quietly - almost pleading.

"I'm not going to release you until you tell me why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm - I'm not."

"I know you're lying. Tell me the truth."

Only then she turned around, tears were beginning to form. "I don't want to get hurt," she confessed, her eyes were hard with anger despite the hot tears sliding down her porcelain cheeks. "We - I know one day that you are going to pack your things and leave the village like you did before. Since that day you left, I trained everyday, hoping that each training I would be closer to you. I don't want to be a burden to any one anymore - even you! Please Sasuke-kun. Let me go. Save me from my misery."

Her vision was blurred with the tears when she felt a poke to the forehead. She blinked the tears away and stared at Sasuke, who gave her a tender smile. "I told you I would protect you."

"But I -"

"I never did wanted to hurt you," he interrupted. "If my presence hurt you, I'll leave you alone. You won't see me anymore after today." Sasuke released his grip and lowered his other hand. He pulled an object from his pocket. She recognized it as the gift he had given her - it was the Uchiha necklace.

"It's a promise that I would come back to Konoha alive."

Sasuke clasped the jewellery around her neck. Hinata opened her mouth but Sasuke beat her to it. "Keep it - or throw it away," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and turned around to leave. "It was never mine in the first place. And you can go home Hinata. I'll finish this mission myself."

"Do me a favour," he added over his shoulder. "Be happy with the guy you love. He is lucky to be loved by you." And with that he disappeared in a flash.

Hinata sank down to the ground and cried her heart out. She just only wants this pain to stop because she couldn't handle it any longer. She knew that gesture. She had seen it before. His brother, Itachi had done it several times to Sasuke.

"What I once held dear is long gone. Except for one thing, you."

How can she be happy if the person she loves is him? Knowing that he would be avoiding her because he was afraid to hurt her. How can she be hurt when she is already hurt?

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As promised, he did finish the mission. The boy apparently was climbing a tree at get a better look of the eagle. The grandmother handed him the money and asked what happened to his companion. He refused to take the money and simply replied that she had an emergency.

Then he had gone to the Inuzuka Compound. He needed to speak to Hana since she was the closest thing to family. He knew his brother and Shisui trusted her and he decided to trust her. She was already family to both Itachi - for obvious resons - and Shisui.

Sasuke was relieved when Hana answered the door instead of her mother, Tsume or her brother and Hinata's teammate, Kiba. She took one look at him and quickly took her coat. She slid the door close behind her and they walk through the night - without her canine companions.

"What did you do?" Hana asked, breaking the silence.

Sasuke sighed - at this point he didn't care if he looked vulnerable in front of her - and told her what had happened. He was not usually this talkative and he definitely never told his problems to anyone apart from his family.

"She doesn't know what does the forehead poke thing means does she?" she inquired, walking a few feet ahead.

"I doubt that she knew. She had seen Nii-san does it to me and asked me once," the Uchiha replied, raking his hand through his hair - it was a nervous habit he had develop since little. "But that time even I didn't know."

They fell into a long silence and Hana abruptly stop, facing him. Sasuke raised his brow. "Itachi gave me the similar necklace and he made the same promise like you did with Hinata," she stated, pulling out the similar jewellery underneath her high-collared coat. "He said I would meet him again one day." She laughed bitterly before continuing. "Itachi is terrible in keeping promises. That's why he rarely made them."

He gave her a confused look. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Itachi said something interesting to me when he gave me this," she said. "You know that the clan head goes to their children, right? It turns out both of you aren't the direct descendant to Uchiha Madara (1)."

"What?" Sasuke asked incredulously. "Then who's the real clan head?"

"Kagami," she replied. "Since you're the only survivor of the Uchiha, the title goes to you." Hana pulled out a small book from her pocket. "It's Itachi's. It's not a journal but its close. This might answer your questions."

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(1) I read a fanfic somewhere that Kagami is Madara's kid. It's not true (I think) but I like the idea. #sorrynotsorry

Next time on Never Alone, Ever Again

"Aren't all the Uchihas related to Madara by blood? I didn't know you were the exception Sasuke."

"Kagami, Senjus can never be trusted."

"Sakura is going to kill you if she caught you peeping at her, Dobe."

"I don't expect you to leave the village again. Think about Hinata and what it would do to her."