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"I won't let you fall, Hinata".
Those words. The look in his dark red and purple orbs. The sincerity in his tone. His voice that was laced with emotions, that completely contrasted to how he was most of the times. The beautiful and entrancing smile on his perfect face. Needles to say, Sasuke Uchiha had just managed to shook Hinata's entire body, down to her very core in an instant.
Hinata was frozen as these words left his mouth. His strong arms slowly pick her up, as he brings her closer to him. He was handling her with such ease and care, it was like she was light as a feather. Hinata had forgotten all about the pain she was feeling in her body. Her entire nervous system had gone numb. She couldn't feel the blood that was slowly making its way out of her wounds.
And most of all, this feeling. This feeling she was feeling right now inside her. This warm and bubbly and bright feeling inside her. It was all too familiar. She was accustomed to this feeling. She had known this feeling for over 20 years now. The first time she saw the blonde knucklehead as a kid, this feeling had been inside her. And she only got this feeling when he was around, and only when he was around.
But now, for the first time ever. That blonde knucklehead wasn't the reason, that she was feeling this feeling. He was nowhere near her, or even in her senses and mind. Right now, she was in the embrace of a dark raven. In just a month, he had managed to awaken this dead feeling inside her. The man who she thought would be her reckoning, the man she thought would be the reason for her misery. That man, that raven, was the cause for the birth of this strange feeling inside her.
This strange feeling, that made the world glow up. That made even the worst moments, happy. The feeling that could turn a person's gray life into a blend of beautiful and vibrant colors. That feeling, that could give you strength even in times of extreme hardships. That could make you smile and laugh, without any reason. The feeling that hit you like a truck, without any warning. It didn't just come and go, it came when you least expected it. It was a feeling that gave you dangerous signals, but you would still like it.
This crazy little thing called......
Love.
"U-Uchiha-Sama" Hinata slowly mutters, her eyes dazed and drunk. Sasuke's smile slowly turns down to be a smirk as he becomes amused with the Hyuga's reaction. In actuality, even he didn't know what just happened. It was like his body moved on it's own. His body moved so fast, that his brain couldn't register his own actions. He couldn't bear to let her fall, not now, not ever.
"You are very strong..........much stronger then any kunoichi I have come across. And not because of physical strength...but because of how strong your spirit is" Sasuke's words with firm and genuine. Each word that he spoke, Hinata could feel the emotion and sincerity behind them. But his aura was so different, it was the opposite of when he was fighting her. Hinata didn't even realize the fact that they were standing against each other. Their bodies were up against each other.
"B-But.....w-why......why a-are you e-even bothering w-with me" Hinata slowly speaks as her gaze wanders off. She still doubted herself, Sasuke thought. She was still insecure and she still thought less of herself. Sasuke scoffs and puts his hand under her chin and lifts her face up to look her in the eyes.
"You are really annoying, Hyuga........do you really want to know why I bother myself with someone like you" Sasuke says as his smile fades away, and his serious aura returns. Hinata slowly looks down as tears form in her eyes. Suddenly she feels a small poke on her forehead. As she looks up, she sees Sasuke with a smirk on his lips.
"It's because I care about you, princess".
*Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump*
There it goes again. Just like again. The speeding of the heartbeat. The feeling of butterflies in your stomach. Face getting red, blush appearing across the cheeks. Eyes getting flustered because of the nervousness. That damn, annoying sensation in your heart. Like it was said before, this damn thing didn't give you any warning, it always hit you like a truck with full force.
"Hehehe" Hinata's teary eyes slowly close as she giggles a little, taking Sasuke by surprise. But he had to admit, even his face got a little red when he saw how beautiful the hyuga looked as she giggled.
"Did I say something funny, Hyuga" Sasuke says as he raises an eye brow. Hinata's giggles slowly fade away, but her smile still remains. She slowly opens her eyes, that were still wet with tears. Looking at Sasuke, she was filled to the brim with emotions. But for the first time in her life, not one negative emotion was inside her.
It was true. It had to be true. She was sure of what she was feeling right now. It couldn't be anything else now. His words just confirmed everything.
"S-Sasuke-kun..........y-you should s-smile more.....I-I think y-you look m-much more h-handsome when you s-smile" Hinata slowly says in a dreamy and soothing voice. Sasuke is taken by surprise as he feels his cheeks heating up. But he notices the Hyuga losing consciousness. And right in his arms, Hinata faints as her head falls back but Sasuke holds her firm. Her wounds had exhausted her, much more then she thought. Sasuke looks at the girl in his arms with curiosity in his eyes, as he tries to figure out his own feelings.
"What are you doing to me, Hyuga. I'm not supposed to feel like this. I'm supposed to be the villain, who is using you for my own purposes. But here I am, losing my own senses and convictions" Sasuke says slowly in a low voice looking at the unconscious Hinata in his arms with a conflicted look on his face.
"But here I am, already falling for you".
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"Orochimaru, this isn't right. This is all wrong".
"Forgive me, Kakashi-San, but if you have any other plan in mind to take down Sasuke-kun, then tell me".
Orochimaru and Kakashi, along with the reanimated Fourth and Second hokage were standing in front of the newly reanimated First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and the third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Orochimaru's plan to take down Sasuke consisted of them reanimating some of the most powerful fallen shinobi of the past, to take the fight to the Uchiha. Naturally, Kakashi refused to go along with this plan, because he thought that it was disrespectful to the dead to be again brought back for their own purposes, instead of letting them rest in peace.
"These are all shinobis, not toys that you can use anytime you want to. There has to be another way to deal with Sasuke, that doesn't involve us disrespecting the dead" Kakashi says in an aggressive tone as he felt his anger growing. Minato stood quiet and just observed the younger two, while Tobirama was beginning to lean towards Orochimaru's side.
"Kakashi Hatake, I know how you feel about this plan of action. But this is the best we can do right now. If the Uchiha brat really is as powerful as you all say, then it's going to take us all to beat him and get our village back" Tobirama says stepping in with his arms crossed, leaving Kakashi speechless.
"L-Lord second.....y-you can't be serious" how could the hokage be on board with this idea, Kakashi thought to himself. Orochimaru slowly grinned when he saw this and heard the second's words. Minato also felt like Kakashi had a good point, but right now, the odds weren't in their favor. So he stood quiet and agreed with the second.
"Orochimaru, revive my brother and Hiruzen. They need to be briefed on the situation. After that, we will discuss which other shinobis we need for the upcoming battle" Tobirama says in a stern voice as he turns to Orochimaru, who just smirks and nods whole bowing his head a little. He slowly walks over to the bodies of the First and third hokage and inserts the marked kunai into their brains that makes them conscious.
"Huh? Where am I? Tobirama....what are you doing here? Where are we" Hashirama asks in a confused tone as he opens his eyes and finds himself in the dimly lit laboratory. Same as the third, but he just calmly observes his surroundings, until he finds Orochimaru and realizes he must be behind this.
"Orochimaru, explain" The third calmly state with a stern tone, turning to his former student. Orochimaru grins and begins to explain the events that took place in the last four years to the two hokages.
"Hmm.........it's unfortunate, I thought that after the last war, the world would find peace. But I guess, we were wrong. And it pains me to say this, but Orochimaru's plans are something that are necessary" Hashirama says in a sad tone as he stares down at the ground. Kakashi quietly watches as all his seniors start to get on board with this plan. And even though he didn't say it out loud, but he was in agony on the inside when he realized that they were all planning on attacking and killing his student, because no matter what he did, Kakashi still considered Sasuke his precious student and a son. And he didn't want to fight him.
"Sasuke Uchiha. I thought that he would change the fate of the Uchiha, but he also ended up following the path of vengeance..........and he needs to be stopped, for good" Hiruzen says, agreeing to their plans. But that is when Kakashi steps in.
"Lord Hokages, please give me a chance. I want to go to the leaf, and speak with Sasuke once. Maybe I can convince him to change his mind and we can come up with a solution that is more peaceful and involves less death" Kakashi says as he speaks up in a loud voice that gains everyone's attentions.
"Kakashi, you still think Sasuke can change........I know how it feels to be pitted against a former student, but you must realize, times have changed. Desperate times call for desperate measures" Hiruzen says turning to the silver haired ninja.
"Please, Lord Third, I only demand this one chance. If it doesn't work then we can go along with Orochimaru's plan" Kakashi asks in a desperate tone, his voice broken and filled with sorrow. All of them stay quiet and sigh as they watch the teacher beg for a chance to save his student.
"Okay then, Kakashi, you will have your chance. Go to Konoha, and have your exchange with the Uchiha, and we'll decide what to do next after you return" Hashirama says as he closes his eyes, giving Kakashi his wish.
"Thank you, Lord first. I will be leaving immediately" Kakashi says bowing before heading out of the room. Once he leaves, Tobirama turns to Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru, tell us the names of the shinobi that we can bring back with the edo tensei" Tobirama says in a deep and stern voice. Orochimaru smirks as he takes out a scroll and opens it showing the names of all the fallen shinobis.
"All the most powerful ninjas, that we can bring back, are written here".
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"N-Naruto.......what happened" Sakura asks as she wakes up with a headache on a hospital bed, and finds Naruto along with all the other leaf ninjas.
"Sakura-chan, I'm glad you're doing well. You were out for so long that I was beginning to worry a little" Naruto says putting on a small smile, but Sakura immediately realizes he was faking it to make her feel better. Suddenly, the image of Sasuke standing in front of her with his sword touching her neck comes in her mind.
"Naruto, what happened to Sasuke-kun" Sakura asks in a sad tone gripping the sheet of the bed she was sitting on. Naruto grows quiet when he hears her question, but immediately Shikamaru joins in the conversation.
"He took Hinata and destroyed the Hidden Sand. It's a miracle that we are even alive right now" Shikamaru says in an annoyed tone leaning back on a wall. Sakura's eyes grow wide a little when she hears this but immediately sadness grows in her. He had once again tried to kill her and almost did. He didn't have the least bit mercy in his eyes at that moment, it was like his eyes were hollow and empty, devoid of any emotions.
"That scum, I will kill him for taking Hinata-Chan" Kiba says in an angered tone as he stands next to Shino and akamaru.
"Kakashi sensei and Gaara are probably making up plans to take him down this very moment. He is now the number one target on everyone's list. Even the Hyuga clan are now making up plans to take back Hinata" Ino speaks in a sad tone, as she sits on a couch next to Sai who was still recovering from his injuries. Sakura felt her heart drown when she noticed the amount of hatred everyone had for Sasuke. Nobody wanted anything more then to make him pay for his actions.
"Naruto. Do you still think we can bring Sasuke-kun back to the light" Sakura asks as tears fill in her eyes as she looks at Naruto. Naruto's smile falls as sorrow is seen in his eyes. Even he didn't think there was any hope left for his old friend, not after what he did.
"I'm sorry, Sakura-Chan. But I don't think I will be able to keep up the promise I made to bring him back........Sasuke has fallen victim to his own ambitions and the only thing we do for him, is to bring an end to him for good" Naruto says in a serious tone as his gaze falls, and Sakura's eyes grow wide as her tears fall when she realizes that even Naruto didn't want to save him. But what hurt her the most, was that she also felt the same. There was no hope for Sasuke any longer, no hope to bring him back.
Suddenly the room door opens, and as everyone turns to the door, they see Gaara along with Hiashi Hyuga standing in the doorway.
"Naruto and Shikamaru, please follow us. There are some things we need to discuss regarding Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuga" Gaara says in an authoritative voice looking straight at Naruto. Shikamaru and Naruto nod slowly, and start to follow the two figures out of the room. Once they leave, the room becomes quiet, and sadness surrounds the four walls.
Suddenly, the door opens again and this time standing before them was the younger sister of The Hyuga princess, carrying similar looks to her older sister, and her pale eyes were filled with tears, she stared at all the older ninjas with hate and sadness in her teary eyes.
"Hanabi, what's wrong" Ino asks as she tries to go closer to the sad young girl, they knew that she must be in anguish because of what happened to her sister. But just as Ino tries to go closer to her, she immediately steps back, not wanting to be touched by her.
"Don't touch me.............what happened to my sister....it's your fault. Every one of you, I blame you for my sister's cruel fate" Hanabi says in a hateful and sorrowful tone pointing towards all of them. She was probably the only person who knew of what Hinata went through. She would hear her sister's cries at night, her miserable condition, her hopeless and soulless eyes. She was aware of the cruelty her sister went through. And even though she didn't say anything, she would sometimes notice in the streets how people would treat her older sister. How cruel they were to her, how all her so-called friends ignored her. And what pained her the most, was that she would never share her pain with her younger sister, she didn't want her to worry. Hinata would always put on a smile for her and tell her that she was fine.
"You were supposed to be her friends.........and yet, you never once cared about what she was going through, what you put her through, all of you made my sister suffer. Not even one of you, ever tried to ask my sister, how she was or how her day went......and now...now that she is gone, you try to act all high and mighty about her" Guilt poured into all of them, because of Hanabi's words. Her heartbreaking look and sorrowful tone, it broke them all. They felt guilty because of their actions and they began to wonder, what did they do wrong, where did things go wrong. Hanabi slowly lessens her sobs and turns to them all one last time before walking out of their sights.
"In my eyes, you are all worse then the Uchiha who took my sister".
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Sasuke sat alone in the old Uchiha temple, where he used to go with his father and brother for important clan meetings. He would always look at his father in amazement as he would lead the clan. It inspired him to work hard and to live upto his expectations. As back as he can remember, Sasuke always tried to get acknowledgement from his Father. He wanted to prove to him that he was also a proud and powerful ninja.
The Uchiha temple was a sacred and holy place for all clansmen. Any problems that the clan would be facing, would be discussed here. Any danger or threat, it would be brought to his father and he would give them a solution here.
But the most important thing about this temple wasn't something that was known to all. Inside the temple, a wooden mat that once taken apart, would lead to an underground cave that held a very important and sacred Uchiha tablet. And only the most important men and women in the clan knew about this.
Sasuke slowly made his way down towards the underground area. He was told about this place by his brother, the day the clan was wiped out. Itachi had told him that, if he wanted to learn about the history of the Uchiha clan and the Sharingan, he would find it all on this stone tablet. And he was right, Sasuke learned his clan's bloody history.
But he wasn't here to read history again, Sasuke was curious as to why the Hyuga tablet held the information about an offspring between the Hyuga and Uchiha? Why didn't the Uchiha clan knew of this? Or if they did, then why didn't they write about it?
After brainstorming awhile, he gives up and leans his head downward. He wasn't going to find anything, so it was pointless to waste time here. Making his way out of the temple, Sasuke started to slowly walk in the direction of the village market.
It was close to sunset, as he walked through the village. He noticed that the people would bow everytime they noticed him. He observed that the village was prospering, people were happy. The streets were vibrant and full of life.
Suddenly as Sasuke is walking through the streets, he unknowingly steps on a balloon ball, that explodes the moment he steps on it. It gains Sasuke's attention as he looks down at the torn ball, wondering what it was doing here. And a moment later, a small boy, probably 7 or 8 years old, comes running upto him and just as he looks down at the torn ball, his eyes begin to fill up with tears. Sasuke's expressions suddenly shift a little, as he becomes a little concerned. The kid looks up at the brooding man and realizes that he is one who did this to his precious ball.
"AHHHHH....... MISTER, YOU BROKE MY BALL. AHHHHH, I'M GOING TO TELL MY MAMA AND SHE WILL SLAP YOU" The kid starts to yell and cry loudly, gaining the attention of other people around the market. Sasuke starts getting worried and is actually a little afraid.
"K-Kid..... Quiet down now" Sasuke says as he tries to approach the boy but his cries get even louder. Sasuke sighs a little and realizes he won't shut up. So he quickly picks up the kid and looks right at him.
"I'll buy you a new one so stop crying" Sasuke says and just as he finishes the boy zips his mouth and starts smiling, with tears in his eyes. Sasuke begins to walk towards the toy store, earning strange stares from men and women, wondering just why the fearsome Uchiha was carrying a kid with him.
"Hey mister, can I ask you who you are? My mama tells me not to go with strangers, so you should tell me your name so we won't be strangers anymore. My name is Hotaru" The boy asks as he looks at Sasuke. Sasuke sighs in annoyance.
"Didn't your mama told you to ever be quiet" Sasuke asks in a monotone voice as he keeps staring forward. The boy chuckles a little at hearing the man's words. Even Sasuke smirks a little when he hears him laughing. The two reach the toy store and Sasuke puts him down.
"Go on, get what you need" Sasuke says gesturing him into the store. The boy's eyes light up when he enters the store, seeing all the beautiful toys. And immediately runs inside. The shop keeper immediately rushes towards the Uchiha when he motices him.
"Uchiha-Sama, it's an honor for us to have you here. Is there anything we can do for you" The shopkeeper was an old woman who bended a little to bow towards Sasuke.
"I'm alright. I'm just here with the kid" Sasuke says gesturing towards the ecstatic young boy who was jumping up and down upon seeing so many toys. The shopkeeper immediately nods and backs away. Sasuke quietly observes the child, and he notices that his clothes looked quite old, and used, even torn from some places.
The boy comes back with a big smile on his face carrying a brand new ball in his hands. And walks right upto Sasuke and looks up at him.
"Hey Mister, I like this one" He says showing the ball to Sasuke. Sasuke grins a little and heads for the counter, and the young boy, Hotaru, naturally follows him.
"How much for the squirt's ball" Sasuke asks the shopkeeper in an annoyed tone, pointing towards the smiling Hotaru. The shopkeeper tells him the price and Sasuke pays quietly before turning around and walking out of the store.
Once he steps outside, he notices the sun setting. Hotaru also steps outside with his new ball in his hands and looks up at Sasuke.
"Thanks mister, you're actually not that bad" The young boy says confidently looking up at Sasuke while smiling brightly. He somewhat reminded him of a younger Naruto. The way he was confident and outspoken in his words.
"Well, I should go now Mister, I need to go make food for my tummy, all this walking made me hungry" Hotaru says and turns around, Sasuke's eyes go wide when he hears his words and immediately stops him.
"Hey kid" Sasuke says and the young child turns around.
"Yeah".
"Where is your mother" Sasuke asks in a serious tone, he had a feeling something was wrong.
"I think she went out to get my sister......you know four years ago, my mother told me their was a festival in the village, and that was why everyone was running around......she wanted me to be safe so she told me stay inside the house and keep the door locked, while she went out to get my sister......it's been some time, but she hasn't returned yet, I hope she and Suki are okay" Hotaru says in a hopeful voice with a smile on his face. And Sasuke feels pain in his heart upon hearing the young boy's words. During the evacuation, it was alot of panic and mass hysteria, some people lost their lives during it. This boy was also an orphan, and it amazed Sasuke how bright and happy he was despite his condition. Hotaru turns around and begins to walk away but Sasuke stops him again.
"Wait, kid........do you think you can make something for me as well, I'm also a little hungry" Sasuke says as he walks upto Hotaru. A bright smile forms on Hotaru's face as he looks up at the dark clothed man.
"Of course. It's going to be so fun, come on, I make the best noodles, you're going to love it" Hotaru says and grabs Sasuke's hands and starts pulling him along. Sasuke smiles a little and starts to follow the young child.
"Sure, but it's not just going to be the two of us, I have another friend and she would also love to taste your cooking".
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😭😭I actually got so teary when writing this chapter. From Hanabi's outburst, to Sasuke and Hinata's moments, to Kakashi's conflict and mostly Hotaru's story. I don't really like adding such sad plots but I feel like it was necessary to show Sasuke's more human side.
But tell me what you guys think about it. Do you like this side plot and Comment about what you liked and please vote so this story gets more recognition. And I will update quickly so thank you guys 💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘