Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto because Shisui is dead T^T
Author's Notes: Early update because I'm not sure if I can post this chap this week. Oh and please, please, please comment and vote this story.
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Chapter Six
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Tsunade's gaze flickered to the Uchiha then back to report in her hand. "What is it this time?" she asked, clearly not in the mood. All she wanted to at the moment is gamble and probably drink sake later when she loses. But looking at the stacks of paper in the office... she decided she would at least clear them out before anything else happen.
"A D-rank mission?" he asked, incredulous. "I fail to see how this could give a great benefit to Konoha."
"Any mission which involves outside of the village are being held back at the moment," she informed, her gaze still fixed on the report.
Sasuke was fuming. He did not agree to go on D-rank missions. When he struck the deal with the Godaime Hokage, he was expected to do a higher rank mission - a B-rank mission the least. But he did not expect on a D-rank - to find a lost boy at that.
Hinata - his partner for the time being - took a small step and stood in between the Hokage and him, preventing Sasuke to make any rash actions. She will never let him - or anyone - hurt the Hokage.
Tsunade, who decided to ignore the subtle movement, laid the report on her desk and fixed a glare which was directed to the Uchiha. "Need I remind you, Uchiha that you are still a genin," she stated firmly. "I don't care if you killed two Akatsuki members single-handedly but rules are rules. You are a genin and you are going to take your assigned D-rank mission. Now go, Uchiha - you too Hyuuga."
Her attention went back to the pilling paperwork and she received two different responses. The two eye doujutsu user was smart enough not to push her buttons.
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Uchiha Sasuke was supposed to be grateful to have such a forgiving and kind Hokage. But he was grateful enough that the Godaime was lenient. She let him choose his own partner for his first mission back-to-Konaha - and the missions after that.
The first thing he did was remove any kunoichi that comes into his mind in his short list of friends. Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura was definitely out, the later would pester him and the former would cling to him like a leech. He had not been close to Tenten before - he only admire her weaponry skills. However, Hinata's name was not crossed out from his list and he left it that way.
He just couldn't...
"So why did you chose me out of all the Konoha shinobi?" the Hyuuga heiress asked, rearing his attention back to her. He took a side glance at her. She was looking ahead, not sparing him a single glance. She had somehow gain confidence during his absence.
Sasuke ran his hand through his hair. "Well, Sakura is annoying, Naruto is ten times worse and that doppelganger of mine? No, just no," he concluded. "And I don't mind being around you."
It's true that he didn't mind. Ever since little, she was the only girl that didn't like him in that way - although his brother, Itachi had pointed out that his crush on the Hyuuga heiress was as clear as day.
The small voice in his mind remarked that Hinata hates him to the core, the moment she found him and brought him back to the village. But as always, Sasuke pushed that voice annoying voice away and focus his objective.
It's not like he didn't expect her anger and hate. Sasuke knew the moment he placed a genjutsu on her. Even the timid Hyuuga knows anger - and had tasted it before.
They arrived in front of the client's door. Sasuke realized that Naruto lived in the same apartment block but a different floor. He hoped that they wouldn't bump into him.
Hinata raised her fist and knocked on the cream coloured door twice. She dropped her hand and waited patiently for the door to open.
Not a minute later, the door opened revealing an elderly woman with greying hair. The woman gave them a confused smile. Sasuke shifted his weight, feeling uncomfortable. Had they gone to the wrong house? He could have sworn they were at the right place. "Can I help you?" she asked politely to the two shinobi.
Hinata returned the smile. "My name is Hyuuga Hinata and this is Uchiha Sasuke," she introduced, gesturing to herself and Sasuke. He could felt his lips lifted into a small smirk as the woman widens her eyes. "We're here to find your grandson."
The woman's eyes lit up in memory but her steel gray eyes were laced with worry. "Gomen," she apologized. "I didn't realize that they were sending you to find him. Would you like to come in?"
"No thank you," Hinata declined politely. "Can we have a picture of your grandson? They didn't provide his picture when we received the mission."
The old woman nodded and disappeared behind the door and reappear not long after. She held out the picture and Hinata took it carefully, treating as if it was glass. She looked at the picture in her hands. The boy in the picture was smiling with a cat wrapped in his embrace.
"What does the boy like?" Sasuke questioned which made Hinata turn her gaze on him. She did not expect him to care about the mission.
He gave her a side glance a look that said 'what'. The Hyuuga turned her attention towards the client. A small satisfied smirk tugged on his lips as he spotted a faint blush on her cheek.
"He likes catching cicadas," she provided, "and he - he always has this fascination with birds." The woman's grip on her yukata tightened with a guilty look on her face. "I should have been more careful with him. I - I hope he's all right."
Hinata took her hand in hers, trying to assure her grandson's safety. Her steel grey eyes met with the Hyuuga's wide lilac eyes. "Yuna-san, I promise you we will find him," she vowed, offering a smile. "It will be fine. We will find him in no time."
There were certain places in Konoha that cicadas choose to inhabit. One of them was near the Aburame Clan but it was considered as a place to steer clear whenever children wanted to catch bugs. It was a basic rule each and every children in Konoha was taught because it might offend the bug users. The horrors in what they might do to you.
Unbeknownst to most of the children of Konoha, there was a place where the cicadas lived in harmony that is before two children from two rivalling clans found the place - Sasuke and Hinata. That was where the first chapter in their life begins.
Hinata fingered their carved name on the tree. It was faint but still recognizable. She remembered it was Sasuke who decided to carve their names. He brought a kunai he had taken from his brother's room to one of their meetings. He passed the kunai to her and she carved her name right under his.
"Did you found him yet?" Sasuke asked, emerging from behind one of the trees. Hinata didn't move from her spot, still staring and touching the carved names. Intrigued by this, he moved towards the stilled Hyuuga. He paused when he caught the sight of it. "Brings back memories ne, Tomato-chan," he whispered.
The Hyuuga heiress flinched at the name. Did she really hate that name so much? "It does," she whispered back and turned to face him. For the first time in their encounters, he had regret in his eyes. "Let's continue finding the boy."
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."