Gift 2

[catriana_fiction]

Title: Gift
Series: Naruto
Rating: Unknown for now
Pairings: ItaHina(flashbacks), SasuHina, NejiGaa
Chapters: 2 (WIP)
Summary: Based off of 10. Innocence from the 100 Theme Challenge. After five years Uchiha Sasuke has finally been given his freedom. Shortly thereafter he learns of a shocking truth: his older brother had a child ten years ago. The mother? Hyuuga Hinata. How it happened he has no idea, but he's going to Suna to find out. It can also be read here.

2

xxxxx

Hot. It was so hot. Her entire body felt as if it was on fire and she was sweating so badly. She wanted to move, she was so uncomfortable and felt so very ill.

Something cold and wet was placed on her forehead and she made a small noise that sounded like a whimper. Her chest hurt and the heat was making it difficult for her to breathe. She wanted to get up but her body felt like lead.

Then she felt herself lifting and something cool was placed against her lips.

“Drink.” It is a warm command but a command nonetheless and she automatically complies. It was a voice that seemed used to having orders obeyed. The cool liquid felt good going down her throat but if it had a flavor she could not taste it. It helped her feel only slightly cooler. When the voice spoke again this time it was very close to her ear.

“Nezumi-san,” The voice was familiar…oh, he was the man that had saved her! He still sounded so warm and kind; she wished she could just wrap herself up in the warmth of his voice, it was so soothing. A hand brushed along her damp forehead “Listen to me very carefully. Some of your wounds have become infected and you’re running a fever because of it. You are not well enough to be properly moved but if I must, I will have to take you to the healer in the next village. It is a day and a half worth of travel so as I said, I do not wish to do that unless absolutely necessary.”

Weakly, she found herself opening her eyes but he hadn’t removed the cloth so only darkness greeted her. He didn’t sound hurried or agitated but there was a small note there. Concern perhaps? It was so subtle that she was sure she was imagining it, especially if her wounds were infected as he was saying. Although she was blind folded her hand shifted and brushed along thick fabric. Closing it into a small fist she let out a shaky breath.

“I…stay…with you…please…” the words sounded so thick and clumsy on her tongue. She didn’t want him to leave her. It was completely irrational and foolish – she would probably be better off at a healer’s than in a cave – but the compulsion to stay with this person was powerful and Hinata was too delusional and ill to question it.

Tension filled the air and she didn’t quite understand why. He spoke again but this time his voice sounded guarded and cold “You are a shinobi, Nezumi-san. The last thing you should want is to be around someone you do not know and who refuses to reveal himself to you.”

He was scolding her but there was something else there she couldn’t make out. Still delirious she tried to shake her head and completely failed “Different.” She was able to croak out “Warm…kind…you…d-don’t…want to…hurt me. Peaceful.”

She had no idea what the hell she was saying but she had a feeling he understood whatever message her oblivious mind had been trying to convey.

When he replied, his voice sounded even colder “You are naïve.  What if I told you I was a killer?”

Oh gosh, he was really trying to make her brain function and she just wanted to sleep. Biting her lip briefly she sighed “I…have…” she swallowed although it did nothing to help her dry throat “shinobi kill but…you…like me…don’t…e-enjoy it…”

Once again he seemed to understand her incoherent babbling, well, it felt as if he did anyway. This time, however, he didn’t scold her. He didn’t say anything at all.

xxxxx

Sasuke could not remember ever going to Suna or having a reason to step into the land of wind. When he had been with Orochimaru for the most part he had done whatever the hell he had wanted to do if the snake had nothing for him training-wise. Some of that had been traveling but only to certain areas to train himself. For the most part, he had never lived in an environment where the weather was a bit rougher than normal. This meant one thing.

He hated this place.

Whoever told the founding fathers of this place that it would be an outstanding idea to build a city in the middle of the damn desert should have been beaten to death by their own limbs after being slowly removed from their bodies with a dull knife. So what if he was born during the summer? This heat was absolutely ridiculous and it was making him irritable. An irritable Sasuke was not a fun Sasuke as his escorts soon learned. He almost tried to seriously kill Naruto a few times after the blonde had made some sort of retarded joke, he glared at Sakura whenever she had so much as looked in his direction and he had almost tried to kill Kakashi, for the same reasons as situation number one.

That had been day one. Needless to say, everyone left him the hell alone after that.

Hatred of the location extended to hatred of the citizens. Sasuke, never short of abundance concerning said emotion, really wanted to beat the hell out of Gaara for suggesting they bring his brother’s son – he was still having difficulty identifying him as his nephew – out to this hole. Seriously, if Hell had a temperature, Suna would be it. He hated Hyuuga Neji and his cousin for agreeing to come live out here and he hated every other nation for not have offered to take them into their lands because any place was better than this. He really wanted to go beat on something; preferably soft, fleshy, and alive.

He had been able to quell his homicidal urges once they had entered the village and he learned they believed in air conditioners. Once they had arrived some jounin who he hadn’t even pretended to give a damn about escorted them to the Kazekage tower and situated them in guest rooms. He was rooming with Kakashi and it was somewhat of a slap in the face. He had served his time and they had declared him – after he had made a million vows and oaths – a Konoha citizen. The thought of it was gag-worthy but freedom was freedom. Now it seemed that he wasn’t exactly free at all; they didn’t trust him to have his own damn room.

For now he’d ignore it, Itachi’s son was more important. They had told him that he’d be meeting with the boy’s mother, the Kazekage, and Hyuuga Neji in the morning. They did not mention whether or not he would get to see the boy and since they didn’t mention it he was sure it wasn’t going to happen. Not right away at least. If he were honest with himself he was glad that they were being cautious – five years ago things would have been different. It meant that the boy was being cared for and was loved.

The Uchiha spent the rest of his day taking a long cold shower and lying around his room trying to keep himself cool. He didn’t want to go anywhere, he didn’t want to do anything, he wanted to be left alone. Once he pulled out the picture of the boy, going over features that looked so similar to his brother’s. He was still stunned over the fact that the child actually existed, that Itachi had gotten a girl pregnant before he had died. Why her? What had that girl done to have touched Itachi’s heart? That had to be it; somehow or another Itachi had fallen for her and let his guard down. He wanted answers and he would not be pleased if she tried to dodge him like she had everyone else.

As promised, first thing in the morning another insignificant jounin had come for them and he was escorted to a small conference room. His former team mates were actually denied entry which was promising. Sakura had claimed Hyuuga hadn’t told anyone all these years, since he was the only one allowed entry it probably meant he was going to get the truth. Good, it saved him a headache.

As promised, the only individuals in the room were Gaara, Hyuuga Neji and Hyuuga Hinata. All three of them had changed from what he had remembered of them. Neji was tall, probably even an inch taller than him, with wide shoulders and white robes similar to what he had worn as a teenager. He still had his hair in that long style but now a Suna headband graced his forehead. He was standing between the Kazekage and the boy’s mother who were sitting. Gaara seemed to also look a little taller and his features were a bit more angular. Although it was sitting off to the side, Sasuke immediately noticed that he had brought his gourd. His face was a blank mask as always and for some reason the Uchiha felt that he had looked better when he had been a homicidal maniac instead of bland and unemotional.

Last time he had seen Hyuuga Hinata she had been twelve years old and had looked rather boyish with her short hairstyle. At twenty-six – he had learned that Hinata had been sixteen going on seventeen when she had been with Itachi as her birthday was at the end of the year – she looked as if she was a good five foot two with long dark purple hair that stopped at her lower back. She was wearing some sort of long-sleeved getup that all but engulfed her body, hiding her figure. Well, attempting to anyway. She could try all she wanted to hide that chest and fail every time. Her round face had thinned out but she still looked as if she had more weight on her than Sakura or Ino. She still had those sad-looking eyes, as if she were about to burst into tears at any moment. He was glad the boy had Itachi’s eye shape if not the color.

“I take it you two are the only ones who know what happened.” He said to Neji and Gaara. Neither male answered and Hinata broke the silence.

“Yes…” her voice was still soft but not as high pitched as he remembered; she definitely sounded like a woman. There was also a hidden note there, something that had never been there before. She did not avoid his gaze and she didn’t look nervous. Worried, but not nervous “We decided that with how everything had happened that it would be best if we kept –“

“Your clan claims my brother raped you.” He cut her off, not caring. It didn’t matter to him who they wanted to tell. He didn’t tell her that he knew what she had told Sakura, he wanted to see what she’d do first.

Guilt, disappointment and even a bit of frustration emerged on her features before she sighed and shook her head “My father…”

“Hiashi-sama is the reason for the misconception.” Neji cut in “Your brother was considered an international criminal and murderer; no one had known the truth about why Uchiha Itachi had done what he had. Hinata-sama refused to get an abortion and Hiashi-sama was convinced that she was delusional and had been manipulated. She was forced not to tell anyone her side of the story. I am sure I do not need to explain why, you are considered a genius after all.”

“The scandal.” Sasuke immediately concluded. The Hyuuga were considered a powerful and prestigious clan. How would it have looked then knowing that their heir had willingly slept with a man who had murdered his entire clan and had been considered a disgrace to the shinobi world? No wonder they had been more than happy to ship her off to a foreign land – out of sight, out of mind. “What did happen then?”

The mother looked a little sad “I had been on a mission and we had been attacked by an overwhelming number of enemy shinobi. My team mates were killed and they had planned to kill me and take my eyes.”

“Itachi saved you then?”

She nodded “I don’t remember it, because I had been unconscious at the time. He took me to an underground cave that he had been using as a sort of hide out. He did this to help hide the fact that he had been ill from everyone. My injuries had been severe, fractured and broken bones, stab wounds and a lot of deep gashes. He kept me there until I had fully recovered; I hadn’t been in a position to be moved far.”

“And you recovering took a full six months?” he had a hard time believing that and the look on her face confirmed it. She shook her head “Why did he keep you around then?”

“He…” she sighed “It had taken a few months for me to heal and…to be honest I don’t know why he did not chase me away. One day I had awakened and he had left…” she looked as if she had wanted to say more but refrained.

“He didn’t leave a note or anything?”

“No, he did, along with some rations and enough money to get me back to Konoha.”

“Okay, what did the letter say?” he really wished she would just tell the full story instead of stopping and making him have to ask her what he wanted to know.

She surprised him by her eyes narrowing slightly “I...refuse to tell you that.” it was said firmly and she did not raise her voice. Before he could snap at her she dug into her sleeve and pulled out a small scroll “He said that if I ever met you to give you this. I don’t know what it says, I never read it.”

“Aniki left that for me?” he didn’t know why he should be surprised, he had given some of his powers to Naruto after all, why not leave the woman he had slept with a letter for him? Walking forward he took the scroll and tucked it into his back pouch; he wasn’t going to read it in front of them. Regarding the group once more he found himself feeling a little less irritable for some reason. He actually felt tired “Why?”

A simple question that implied much. Everyone in the room knew what he was asking. Her smile was sad “I don’t know.”

This was slightly confusing for him “He never told you how he felt?” he had to have felt something if he had slept with her. She shook her head.

“Not with words. When I found out that I was pregnant I…knew then. How he felt.”

So she hadn’t thought it was an accident, she had came to the same conclusion.

Damnit. It wasn’t as if he could ask his brother now but he was fairly certain that Itachi had actually fallen in love with this woman. Itachi had wanted him to rebuild the Uchiha, to guide them on a different path; a peaceful path. Apparently, he had felt that Hinata would help him achieve that goal as well. He had believed Hinata would raise their son to follow the path he had wanted for the clan and well, he had probably been right in that regard. Just looking at her it was obvious that she was a lot like his brother. Quiet, unassuming, loyal and dedicated. She didn’t seem like the type to enjoy fighting or killing, but she would do it. Sasuke could see it clear as day, this woman had killed and could kill if she needed to.

That was enough; he had a pretty good understanding of the situation, anything else was just unnecessary background. Even when Itachi had been in Akatsuki he hadn’t tried to kill unless absolutely necessary; it was not a far stretch then that he would have helped the girl. Eventually, his brother had found himself falling for her and had allowed himself to slip up just once. His brother had never made a mistake in his entire life that he could remember. He had trusted Naruto by giving him some of his powers, he had trusted Hyuuga to raise and guide an Uchiha on the right path. Considering Hyuuga’s relationship with Naruto, he found the situation rather funny.

“Where is he?”

Gaara, had not as of yet reacted to any of the exchange taking place. Neji, however, stiffened at the question and cold white eyes narrowed. He wasn’t pleased about that and if the guy thought he was going to keep him away from his brother’s son he had another thing coming.

“Okojo is seriously ill at the moment.” Gaara finally spoke for the first time since the meeting had begun “He cannot be moved. We will take you to him but only if there is an understanding that you will not do anything foolish like try to take the child or harm him.”

“You don’t trust me.”

“You have dutifully served your time and while limited, you are basically a free man. However, trust is earned, not given and no one in this room has any reason to trust you.”

Sasuke would never admit it but he respected them for that. Naruto and Sakura, in their efforts to ‘help’ had tried to make him feel comfortable; that he could trust them because they trusted him. He had thought it dumb and naïve of them at the time. This wasn’t the same, he’d have to prove himself, they weren’t going to treat him as if he was special just because he could help the boy. He hated to say it but it was probably good they had sent them to Suna; Konoha wouldn’t have been as hard ass about the situation.

“Alright, fine.” He crossed his arms. It was time to get to the reason he was here in the first place “I read the reports about his condition; you say he’s been locking people in genjutsu accidently right?” at their affirmative gestures he continued “Let me use Tsukuyomi on him.”

Neji was the first to react “Are you out of your mind?” When Sasuke merely smiled humorlessly at him he shook his head “Never mind, consider that a rhetorical question.”Gaara looked only slightly surprised but said nothing and the mother’s face was carefully blank, as if waiting for him to reveal his reasons “In any case we asked you to help him, not torture him.”

The Uchiha resisted the urge to roll his eyes “Since you obviously don’t know what you’re talking about I’ll educate you. The Mangekyo is an evolved, more powerful version of the Sharingan. Tsukuyomi is a genjutsu so powerful that, if the user is good enough to use it properly, is unbreakable unless you possess the Sharingan yourself. Even then, you’d actually have to be good enough with your Sharingan to break the genjutsu. In short, it’s not just used for torture, it can be whatever the user wants it to be, like with all genjutsu techniques.” He sounded as if he were explaining it to a small child or an idiot “Days will pass by in seconds and all I need are a few days to see what’s going on and possibly fix the problem.”

Briefly, the redhead closed his eyes “You will not harm the child.” It wasn’t a question.

Sasuke made sure he had everyone’s eyes on him before he spoke “I loved my brother.” And that was all he was going to say on the subject.

It seemed to be enough for Gaara “Very well, I approve.” He looked at the woman “But the decision is yours, Hinata-san; he is your son.”

For the first time he actually felt a bit uncomfortable when her white eyes stared into his, obviously analyzing him like Hyuuga were known to be proficient in. She was no longer the shy, easily intimidated girl of before. Looking at her, at how she seemed to be looking into him, he had a very small understanding of how Itachi could have been intrigued by her.

Thankfully, she closed her eyes and then turned to the two men at her side “If it will help him…” she looked at Sasuke again “then please…do what you feel you must. He’s suffered enough, I can’t bear to see him like this any longer.”

“When do you want to do this? If he’s sick I’m assuming he’s at wherever you are living. I’ll have to go there unless you want me to wait until he can be moved.”

She shook her head and something very uncomfortable moved through him when she smiled at him. For some reason he couldn’t explain that smile reminded him of the day Itachi died.

xxxxx

“You’re awake.”

She still hurt everywhere but managed to turn her head in the direction of that deep and warm voice “I’m sorry…I was hoping not to disturb you Okojo-san.” Her voice still sounded horribly scratchy.

He was then at her side and a wet cloth was removed from her forehead. It was replaced by something warm; his hand.

“Your fever has broken. How do you feel?”

Her lips twitched “Horrible.”

Okojo didn’t say anything but she could feel that he was amused. He pulled her up into a sitting position and the bitter taste of an herbal remedy slid down her throat. Three times a day he did this, then he would inspect and change any bandages. Now that she wasn’t so delirious and confused her face began to heat when she remembered that he had also changed the bandages around her chest, meaning that he had…

A small grunt came from him and she was placed back down, his hand moving over her forehead again. He must think she was feverish again. Well, she wasn’t going to tell him the truth, let him think what he wanted.

Of course, Okojo-san seemed to not only be very smart but a mind reader as well. Well, that and she had tried to raise her arms in an attempt to cover herself and had failed miserably. When he spoke he sounded genuinely confused.

“Nezumi-san, you are not the first woman I have seen nude.” She made a high pitched ‘eep’ sort of noise and when he spoke again this time he sounded amused, as if he finally got why she was acting so strangely “What if I told you I was only interested in men?”

Well, that wouldn’t be so bad…she guessed “Um…are you?”

“No.” It was said flatly.

Face flaming she opened her mouth, closed it and proceeded to repeat the gesture like a fish out of water. Then she paused, had he just…cracked a joke? For some reason she had a feeling it wasn’t something he did often and it was because of that she felt herself wanting to giggle which in turn made her feel more relaxed.

He did change her bandages, although he did not touch the ones around her chest she had a feeling he’d probably just do it while she was asleep later. She didn’t smell so more than likely he was…bathing her as well. Dear gods, how embarrassing.

 He didn’t say anything else but the atmosphere was comfortable, not tense. When he finished he spoke again ”In a few weeks I will remove the stitches.” He informed her “You had several very deep wounds, there are probably parts of your skin in various places that you’ve noticed feel tight and especially painful.” She did her best to nod and he continued “It will take longer for the wounds that were infected. Your right leg was broken almost in half, it will take a few months before you will be able to properly use it. You had several fractured ribs, I would not recommend trying to move too much even if you begin to feel as if you can. Your left leg was fractured in a few places, which will also take weeks to heal. You will scar, my medical skills are basic at best.”

She shook her head “That’s…I’m alive so that’s really…th-thank you for treating me. I…the moment I can I’ll leave. I don’t want to continue to impose on you. I’m sorry I –“

Once again a finger pressed against her lips and she was glad she was already blushing because when he spoke again his voice was very close to her ear “You apologize too much, Nezumi-san. If you have enough energy to talk then try to rest. You will need it.” She heard the rustle of fabric as he stood.

“Okojo-san?” her voice was soft and a little tentative. When the silence went on but he didn’t move she took that as her cue to continue “Um…I’m sorry for the things I said.” And she had said some crazy stuff, especially when she had said she had wanted to stay with him. It had been an absurd thing to ask and incredibly selfish on her part.

His reply surprised her “Please,” a pause “do not apologize.” It was said low, almost a whisper, and had it not been quiet already in the cave she would have missed it. When she heard his receding footsteps she didn’t know why but she suddenly wished she could move as she had the irrational urge to wrap her arms around him and offer reassurance. Reassurance over what she had no idea, she just knew that hearing that, hearing the way he said it, her heart wanted to weep for him.

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