catriana_fiction

itle: It's All A Lie
Series: Naruto
Pairings: SasuHina, some mildly implied one sided NejiHina. One sided NaruHina and SasuSaku
Genre: Drama/Romance(?)
Rating: T for now
Chapters: 3/??
Summary: Set during the 4th Shinobi war. Sasuke encounters the two Hyuuga and Hinata's words make the Uchiha strive to prove her wrong. No matter what it takes. Madara, however, has bigger plans for this unexpected scenario...
Notes: Part 2 of the memory implants.

The stench of copper was strong in the air as the two children walked down the streets of the seemingly deserted Uchiha district. Hinata clung tightly to Sasuke who was trying very hard to shove aside the dark feeling of being watched. He was so scared but he didn’t want Hinata to worry. If he made her cry for no reason he’d feel bad.

She buried her face in his shoulder as they neared his house, whimpering softly. It was so quiet. It was unnatural and the stench of copper was strong. Another whimper from Hinata. If he were honest with himself, he wanted to whimper too.

“Just stay near me, Hina-chan.” He tried to reassure her and she nodded against him. “I...I promise I’ll protect you.” It used to be he would make that vow to show his father he was taking his duties seriously. It wasn’t like that now and he knew it, but he had a sinking feeling that his strength wasn’t going to mean much. They rounded a corner and both started, eyes widening to saucers at the scene before them.

Bodies. Weapons. Signs destroyed. Blood everywhere. The two took a step back, Sasuke slowly shaking his head.

“No...” This wasn’t happening. Was this an attack on the village? But everywhere else had looked normal so why...?

“Mikoto-mama...Fugaku-papa...” Hinata’s tiny voice came in, cutting him from his thoughts. Shrugging her off his arm, he took her hand instead and took off running.

No, no, no... he thought, going into a small state of shock. This isn’t happening. Otousan and okaasan are fine. They have to be okay. This isn’t real, this isn’t...

The house was dark when they arrived. Panting, the children’s grip on each other’s hands tightened almost painfully. Slowly, they walked inside. Sasuke’s thoughts were running a mile a minute because none of this made any sense to him. Why? Why was this happening? He was young but he was intelligent enough to know that more than likely, most of his clan, if not all of them, were dead or hiding.

Sounds came from one of the rooms and the two froze, breaths quickening. Something was moving in there, and they had a feeling it wasn’t Sasuke’s parents. Taking a deep breath, he turned to Hinata who was near tears. “Stay here, Hina-chan.”

She shook her head almost violently and reattached herself to his arm. He tried to shake her off again but this time she wasn’t budging. They would go in together or not at all. Nodding, he turned and opened the door. What he saw would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life.

His mother and father dead in a pool of their own blood. They both stood there, stunned, at the scene before them.

“O-otousan...okaasan....” a gasp from Hinata snapped him out of it and his eyes immediately snapped up to his brother’s crimson glare. He stood there in his ANBU gear, gaze cold and unforgiving. The killing intent in the room was palpable and it took Sasuke only a second to realize what happened.

He didn’t want to believe it but it was true, wasn’t it? Itachi had...his brother had...

“You shouldn’t have brought her here...foolish little brother.”

He’s going to kill her.

Itachi moved, Hinata screamed and Sasuke also moved. Without even thinking, he jumped in front of Hinata and tackled her to the ground. His arms wrapped around her and his back faced his brother, knowing that he was probably next, that his own brother was going to kill him. He had to protect Hinata, no matter what. He made a promise and she was...all he had left.

“Don’t...aniki...” the boy held his best friend tighter, sobbing. “Please don’t...”

The tip of Itachi’s sword pointed to Hinata’s face and she let out a choked sob, closing her eyes and clinging to Sasuke for dear life. The ANBU traitor’s face remained emotionless.

“You two aren’t worth killing.” He sounded unimpressed and perhaps even disgusted. His blade did not lower. “You’re pathetic.”

Sasuke turned to face his brother again, realizing that he wasn’t going to, in fact, kill Hinata. When he did, however, what he faced instead was the Mangekyo Sharingan.

xxxxx

"Foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me. And yet survive in an unsightly way. Run, run and cling to life, and when you have the same eyes as me, come to me."

With a shout, dark eyes opened and Sasuke’s body immediately started shaking. Still suffering the aftereffects of Itachi’s Tsukuyomi, it took him a moment to realize where he was. Soft beeping of machines and the stench of a sterilized room let him know he was in the hospital. He looked down at his shaking hands, at the IV on his left. Tears were still streaming down his face, the horrors of that night replaying in his mind over and over and over...

Hina-chan...

Forcing himself to focus, he looked over and saw her in another bed. Her eyes were open and she was looking up at the ceiling. Itachi had also subjected her to the Tsukuyomi and fear lanced through him. What if she didn’t awaken? She looked so out of it, like the undead. No, he couldn’t lose her, he couldn’t lose the only thing he had left.

Panicked, he ripped the IV from his body, ignoring the pain. That was nothing compared to what he had gone through. Throwing the sheets back, he jumped out of bed. His legs gave out and his head slammed onto the ground with a hard crack. Dazed, he laid there for a while until the ground stopped spinning.

Sitting up, he touched the now tender spot and was glad to find it only swollen and not bleeding. That confirmed, he struggled to his feet and was forced to settle with crawling. His body was just too weak to do anything else now that he wasn’t running on adrenaline. With more strength than he thought he had, he was able to crawl into his friend’s bed.

Sasuke hugged her tightly, burying his face into her shoulder and sobbing. It hurt so much, his feelings were all over the place. Everyone was gone. Killed. Itachi. Why?

“Hinata...” fingers dug into fabric and he shook his head. “Don’t leave me too...please wake up.” Still sobbing, he sat up and looked into her vacant white eyes. His heart was pounding and he felt absolutely desperate. She had to wake up, she had to. He needed her, there was no one else left. He prayed to any and every god that would listen to him because she couldn’t leave him.

It would only be years later that he would realize the truth of what awakened Hinata that night, and it had nothing to do with his prayers. After a long moment of silence, eyelashes fluttered and pearl-colored eyes filled with light and emotion. She blinked a few times before her gaze slid over to Sasuke.

Eyes watered and then the children were clinging to each other as they cried. So much pain, so much trauma. Never again would the two of them be the same now. Everything was different, every single thing about their lives had just changed.

When their tears finally ceased to small hiccups, Hinata spoke. “W-when Itachi-niisan...put me under,” she began, snuggling closer to her friend whose arms tightened around her small body. “He...said something to me.”

“Your life now belongs to Sasuke. Remember the words I said to you that day. Hate me as one. Come to me as one. If you fall behind, if you falter, I will kill you. You live now only to support the path I have set for him. To support him.” He smiled thinly. “As a fiancée should.”

Sasuke frowned. “The words he said to you?”

“’A fiancée should strive hard to be just as strong and resilient as her betrothed.’ Is what he said.” Hinata said quietly, frowning. It had been years ago and yet she remembered the words as if they had been spoken yesterday.

So Itachi wanted both of them to go after him? Maybe Itachi didn’t think he could be defeated without help. It wasn’t that Hinata wasn’t strong, because she was. He definitely had a hard time keeping up with her and she trained very hard to stay with him as an equal.

It doesn’t matter. I don’t have to lose Hina-chan as long as she can keep up with me. If he were honest with himself, Hinata had every right to go after Itachi. She was practically a part of the Uchiha clan with the way she had always been over and had been considered family. She was his fiancée and Itachi had also exposed her to the Tsukuyomi. His family had welcomed her with open arms and had given her the family she had craved.

Hinata was a Hyuuga but her family had been Uchiha. They had given her love and had cared for her; something she stopped receiving from her own a long time ago. He needed her; he wasn’t sure if he would be able to do any of it without her.

“Hinata...” he looked away. “What do you want to do?” It would be a long and hard road. They would have to do whatever it took to kill Itachi. Whatever it took. He would do it alone, because in the end it was his path to follow; but he wanted her by his side. He wasn’t ashamed to admit it. “What happened tonight...you can back away from it. It’s not your problem in the end.”

“W-what?” she looked stunned, hurt and angry. She actually looked angry, something he had never seen from her. “N-not my...” she was stammering, but it wasn’t from nerves. “He killed Fugaku-papa, Mikoto-mama...I can’t...” she choked on the name and Sasuke closed his eyes. His mother was like a mother to Hinata, who had lost her years ago after her little sister had been born.

“I won’t forgive him.”

His eyes snapped to hers and he took in the pearl-like gaze that was so different and yet displayed the exact same emotions he felt. Sasuke nodded, understanding. They pulled each other close and laid down on the bed.

“We’ll do this together.”

xxxxx

“Thank you for the offer to stay in the Hyuuga estate, Hiashi-sama,” Sasuke began respectfully. “But I want to stay in the apartments near the Uchiha district.” The young Uchiha shouldered his bag. “I’ve already imposed enough by staying the few weeks I have.”

“It is no imposition.” The Hyuuga head said blandly but they both knew he was being as genuinely polite as Sasuke was. Now that Sasuke had nothing, Hiashi truly didn’t want to have much to do with him. He was only doing so because Sasuke now owned all of the Uchiha district and its coffers. It meant that he couldn’t legally break the engagement without some sort of real legitimate reason.

Since the Sandaime had endorsed the engagement, only he could determine ‘rightful cause’ in regards to breaking it. This was annoying, as Hinata was proving to be a promising heir now yet because Sasuke was ‘technically’ clan head it would be Hinata who would have to leave the house. The only two things he could hope for now would be for Sasuke to either accept his proposal to take Hanabi instead – which he knew wasn’t going to happen – or to proclaim Hanabi as his rightful heir. He would have to brand Hinata and that would be such a waste of good talent.

He had already been forced to do that with Neji. He didn’t want to do it with Hinata too.

So Hiashi would wait. It would be a while yet before they turned eighteen, perhaps an opportunity would present itself. No need to be hasty.

“I would like to ask if it would be alright to come by every now and then...maybe to train with Hinata?”

“You are still engaged to Hinata, feel free to do as you wish. She has benefitted much from training with you, far be it from me to discourage it now.”

He looked relieved at the news and the Hyuuga realized too late that the boy hadn’t been aware that the engagement was still on. Not that it would have changed anything legally.

There was one real reason why Sasuke was leaving and it had everything to do with Hyuuga Neji. The arrogant male made it no secret that he hated the Uchiha and that he hated Hinata. Neji was very cruel to the person he was supposed to be protecting and he taunted Sasuke whenever he could. Neji was bitter concerning his ‘fate’ and took it out on Hinata – and by extension the Uchiha. Hiashi did nothing to discourage it, he pretended not to notice it at all.

Hinata quietly took the abuse but he could see the steel determination in her eyes whenever Neji directed his anger towards the other male. If he remained, eventually a fight would break out. It was just better to leave now. Besides, if Hinata couldn’t even handle Neji...Sasuke would be forced to give up on her. Regardless, he was firmly convinced at this point that her family wasn’t really a family at all.

The Hyuuga estate was cold and emotionless. It should have been a welcome change, considering, but all it did was make Sasuke feel the urge to be alone. He wished he could take Hinata with him, but it would look scandalous.

“If you honestly believe Hiashi-sama is going to allow your...’engagement’ to continue,” Neji had said the word as if it were a joke “you are sadly mistaken. You’re nothing. Washed up. A pathetic remnant who has nothing. Enjoy it while it lasts, eventually, your ‘Hina-chan’ will go to someone else who actually has a clan.”

Gods, he hated that guy. He didn’t want to leave Hinata there but she had been handling herself well so far, she’d continue to do so.

Sasuke only had two goals in his life and both involved Hinata. One, was to kill Itachi for destroying their clan. The second was to rebuild his clan. He wanted to do that with Hinata and they had agreed. No matter what, they would reach those goals together.

One day it would just be the two of them. One day, there would be nothing and no one standing in the way of their friendship. No, what they had went deeper than friendship now, even he understood this despite being so young.They were something more now. Much more.

They were avengers.

xxxxx

Years pass and with each year Sasuke’s personality becomes less innocent. He becomes more cynical, angry, introverted. His nightmares haunt him and the days blur in a never ending cycle of loneliness. When it becomes too much he seeks out Hinata to train, and that is it.

They have grown apart.

His visits become less frequent as his mind continues to focus on the past. He trains until he can train no more. It’s not enough, it’s never enough. He keeps going, keeps struggling. He never forgets Hinata, never could he do that, but when he realizes the distance he’s putting between them, he does nothing to stop it. Most of it is fear. Fear that she’ll leave him, fear that she’ll hurt him, betray him. She has everything, while he has nothing. In the end, she has her clan she can always fall back on and humans were fickle creatures.

It was a horrible thought to have and yet in his depression he couldn’t help it. His mind was constantly spiraling downward and he had no one to help him, encourage him, or reassure him. The only person who could even remotely understand him he was pushing away. It didn’t help that she wasn’t doing anything about it. She knew, he knew she knew, but she said and did nothing. It confirmed his fears and it hurt him more than anything.

By the time they had graduated from the academy, he knew that his feelings were no longer platonic. Now that he was older and he truly and fully understood just what a fiancée was, he had been unsurprised when he realized he still wanted that with her. He liked her, maybe he even loved her like those his fangirls claimed they loved him. All Sasuke knew was that he wanted nothing but to have her at his side...yet he wanted her to go as far away as possible.

“Team seven will consist of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke.”

Wait, what? He had only been half paying attention until his name had been called. They didn’t pair him with Hinata? Why? He looked over at his future teammates and fought the urge to grimace.

The school’s deadbeat and one of his stalker-ish fangirls with zero fighting skills. Great. What a pathetic bunch of losers. He couldn’t believe his rotten luck.

Dark eyes slid over to white on the other side of the room. Hinata glanced at him and offered an apologetic smile. With that small smile he felt his chest constrict and his lips twitched shyly upward before he turned away. This feeling...

“Hinata-chan!”

A different sort of emotion crawled up when he saw Naruto practically bounce up to her, a huge grin on his face. “Hey, now that we’re genin, there’s something I wanna ask ya! Meet me at the park later?”

He took in the flush on her face – that had already been there but he didn’t know that – and the small smile on her lips. He took in the way Naruto was blushing and awkwardly scratching his head like an idiot. Considering how he had been trying to get bubble-gum hair and Hinata’s attention for years, Sasuke had an idea of what Naruto finally wanted to ask. It seriously pissed him off.

Hinata was his fiancée. She was his best friend and she was his girlfr...

No...she’s not.

She was his fiancée because of an arranged marriage but she wasn’t his girlfriend. Not really. He had been distancing himself from her, was it any surprise that she liked Naruto now?

This feeling...

“Sasuke-kun?” Pink-haired girl – what was her name again? He didn’t at all remember – came up to him and latched on to his arm. He almost shrugged her off until he heard Hinata agree to meet Naruto. Didn’t she know what he wanted? Maybe she didn’t care. Maybe she truly didn’t care about him anymore. Maybe she had moved on. He felt so confused and conflicted. He was angry, sad, and frustrated. He knew this feeling.

“Sasuke-kun,” she continued and he looked up at her blankly. She was blushing, trying to smile demurely. “I was, um, wondering...could we take a walk? Just you and me? I was thinking maybe we could get to know each other a little better.”

He almost said no. Normally would have, except the strange feeling kept burning hotter in his chest. He knew this feeling.

Jealousy.

He stood up, looking away from her. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

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