Day 5

Angst

So close no matter how far

Couldn't be much more from the heart

Forever trusting who we are

And nothing else matters

He wouldn't talk to her when they were together. That was probably his first mistake.

It wasn't because he was trying to be an ass. He wasn't. He just didn't want to talk. Not at that moment. Not when there were things he should have told her but didn't want to. Not when she'd look at him with those eyes of hers, like he could do no wrong.

Didn't she know? He was a mistake. Had always been a mistake.

He tipped the glass back and swallowed without tasting, the air around him stale and stuffy. He could smell the beer in the breath of the man besides him. The stench of cheap perfume, mingling with smoke and body odor. He hated people. He hated bars.

But he hated reality more.

He didn't want to think.

He didn't want to remember.

Quickly, he ordered another drink and clutched it in his hand, ready.

A woman's laughter rose above the chatter, and he gripped his glass tightly.

She never laughed like that.

He took a sip.

But she would smile. He remembered her timid grin, the way the corners of her lips would pull up reluctantly. The soft crease of her cheeks. The gentle blush that reminded him how human she was. How breakable she was.

He set the empty glass down and sighed. It wasn't working.

His chair scraped back as he stood, slapped a few coins on the counter, and weaved through the crowd.

The walk home was short. He shrugged off his jacket, tossed it to a chair in the corner, and tucked off his boots at the door. His messy bed was unkempt, sheets strewn wildly, and he crawled in without a thought in his head. Reluctantly, he stared at the space besides him, the side closest to the window, and thought of long dark hair curled on his pillow. The nape of a creamy neck.

He didn't like to talk and she knew that.

But one night, he remembered stirring from sleep, blinking drowsily, and immediately looking over to her, and she was already looking at him. They stared silently at one another, eyes lidded, and heavy, and she asked him quietly if he loved her.

He wished he answered her.

Then maybe she'd still be here.

One Year Ago

It was a privilege to be in the black ops.

Kakashi reminded him of that every time he summoned him for a new assignment. "This one will take about two weeks. It'd be good for you too," Kakashi's lone eye dropped to the desk, to the open folder he had been studying, "Gives you a chance to stretch your legs. Here is the map of the daimyo's farmland. The man suspected of poisoning his nephew was last spotted around here."

Uchiha Sasuke watched as the Rokudaime neatly stacked the loose papers together and slipped them back inside the folder. "Naruto. Go ahead."

"Ah-yeah, sure." Uzumaki Naruto mumbled through a yawn, unrolling a fresh scroll and printing a seal on it. As Naruto sealed the folder inside the scroll, Kakashi continued briefing.

"Shouldn't take you too long to find him. A specialist jonin could have done the job easily enough. I figured you would appreciate a mission."

"And what do I do with him?"

"He will stand trial. Bring him back safely."

"Then I'll be on my way." Sasuke swiped the scroll from a mildly annoyed Naruto and pocketed it in the pouch clipped to his backside.

"Just a moment," Kakashi said uninterestedly, sifting through a stack of papers. "We're waiting for someone."

Sasuke felt a dim flicker of irritation. "For who?"

"Your partner."

If he was capable of anger, he would have thrown a fit. But Uchiha Sasuke had the rage beaten out of him three months ago. So he said nothing.

Naruto, on the other hand, had no such qualms. "A partner?! With Sasuke?! Aw man, I feel bad for that sucker!" On the side of the Hokage's desk, a small folding table had been set up with a stool. This was Naruto's station and the reason why the only person in the world that Sasuke could tolerate was not going to be his partner on this mission. "Damn, Kakashi-sensei, who'd you rope into this?"

"Enough, Naruto. There was no roping. She volunteered." And before either of them could react to the impossibility of that statement, she knocked on the door.

Sasuke knew who it was before Kakashi let her in.

Only Hyūga Hinata could knock that timidly while wearing an ANBU mask.

"Hinata?" Naruto's grin dropped, previously joyful blue eyes molting into a dark blue. He stood from his chair, staring rudely, as she walked slowly inside, tucking her mask aside and letting it dangle against her neck. There was no need to hide her identity in here.

Kakashi took his place in his chair. And Hinata took her place by Sasuke.

"Thank you for agreeing on such late notice, Hinata-chan." Kakashi grinned underneath his mask, looking from one to the other. Hinata only nodded in return. "I'll give you a brief idea of what we're up against, and Sasuke can fill you in later while you're on your way." As soon as Kakashi held Hinata's attention, Sasuke glanced once at her from the corner of his eye.

Black fatigues. A sleeveless shirt. Dark body armor, plated from bone. Hair drawn back in a braid, with her usual bangs. She looked well. If not for the tired lines around those famous eyes.

Sasuke looked over to Naruto, who stared at the table, head lowered. He was angry.

In a brief moment of curiosity, Sasuke wondered just how badly their break-up had been.

"Hinata's one of the best scouts around, Sasuke." Kakashi said casually, breaking Sasuke's train of thought "I don't have to remind you that she is your partner in this mission. Listen to what she says. You're lucky I didn't pair you up with Shino, or Kiba. Don't you think so, Hinata?" The way Kakashi tried to ease the tension in the room was pitiful.

Hinata smiled and played along. "Once you get used to them, they're not so bad."

"And the patience of a saint." Kakashi chuckled to himself. "Like I said. Be on your best behavior, Sasuke. You two are dismissed."

And they vanished.

At least she wasn't slow.

Sasuke had sprinted through the treetops, sure that at some point he would have to stop and wait for her. He hadn't. She had been behind him, a couple paces slower, but keeping up.

Now they needed to stop for the night, refuel and rest. If Sasuke had been alone, he wouldn't have bothered.

But Hinata was not at his level–few people were–and he had agreed to keep her in mind during this mission. So he built the fireplace while she prepared their food for the night.

They had not spoken since they left the tower. She only had a few more questions about the mission, and he had answered by giving her the scroll to read through herself. Looking back, that had been an asshole move. He should have taken the time to speak things through with her.

At this point, it hardly mattered. She was caught up. All they needed to do was finish the mission, return home, and he could wait for the next one.

"Do you like lima beans?"

Sasuke looked over at her. Hinata, kneeling by the other side of the fire, lifted the can in question. The flickering glow of the fire painted her face in different colors than he was used to seeing on her. For a moment, he simply looked at her.

"No."

Nodding, she packed it away in her bag. It seemed she didn't like them either.

Ten minutes later, they both ate quietly. Sasuke didn't know if he cared for lentils. At least the rice was warm. Discreetly, he watched the woman across from him as she took a sip from her canteen. A split-second later she met his eyes. Sasuke dropped his stare, remembering it wasn't easy to spy on a Hyūga.

She cleared her throat. "I hope it doesn't bother you that I accepted this mission."

Sasuke looked into the fire, watching the swirling colors. Normally, he would have said anything passable and then excused himself to keep watch. But the display at the tower piqued his curiosity. "No. Unless you only did it to bother Naruto."

He watched her as he said this, waiting for her reaction. There was none. She kept her gaze to the ground as she packed her utensils away. "I didn't."

Sasuke didn't bother responding. As he watched her now, assembling her pack, he thought back to the last time Naruto had spoken of her to him.

"I think I'm ending it."

This had surprised him. Sasuke stopped sharpening his blade, and kept quiet, letting Naruto know he was waiting for an explanation.

"It's just...it's just not the way I thought it would be. She's still quiet. Like she doesn't trust me, or something. I never know if I'm saying something stupid. I never know if I'm being selfish with her. I never know if she really means it when she says she doesn't mind doing the things I wanna do. Anyways, I'm gonna talk to her today. Man. I hope she doesn't cry.

That had been about two weeks ago. They had only dated for less than a month. At the time, Sasuke remembered thinking to himself it was a stupid reason to break up over. Then again, he didn't know her well. And he didn't really care.

They took turns keeping watch and getting rest and set off at dawn.

On the fourth day of travelling, Hinata asked him to heat up water for her with his fire jutsu. She was in the mood for tea. He had half a mind to refuse, but he wanted tea too.

They sat in a clearing, taking the time to go through the map and mark the distance they had covered. Only a few more days until they reached the Daimyo's palace. As they drank their tea, Hinata rolled up the hem of her pant, showing a bright red gash across her calf. He looked curiously at it. "I actually did this myself. There was a sharp rock in the river." Earlier, they had both separated to wash up.

She pressed her palm against it and Sasuke's interest was once again piqued as it suddenly glowed green. "Sakura-chan taught me." Hinata explained quietly. "Just the basics."

Sakura.

Sasuke closed his eyes.

"She's taking extra shifts in the hospital." Kakashi said pointedly, standing at the window. Sasuke, laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering if it would be better for everyone if he just disappeared, said nothing. "You should talk to her."

What for?

Because it wasn't the way she expected it would be?

Sasuke never held any illusions of what his life would be like returning to the village. He was in custody for a whole month, his arms and legs restrained, eyes blindfolded with a chakra-reinforced cord. The way criminals were treated.

International criminals were normally killed on sight.

Sasuke was supposed to consider himself lucky.

"She'll forgive you, Uchiha-san."

Sasuke stiffened, eyes narrowing.

"Maybe it'll take her a while, and maybe she won't ever understand. But she'll forgive you." Hinata flattened a strip of bandage across her leg and secured it.

He was quiet as he considered her words. "Did she tell you that?"

"No. Some things don't need to be said."

"You speak from experience." Sasuke even surprised himself voicing it aloud.

Hinata paused, rolling down the leg of her pants. "When you love someone, you accept every part of them. See them the way you wish they could see themselves. It didn't work out between Naruto-kun and I, but I will always love him and I will always be his friend."

"He can't stand to be around you." Again, he surprised himself with this level of unabashed honesty.

She flinched at that. "I...noticed." They fell silent for a few minutes, packing their things so they could head out. "Uchiha-san. Sakura-chan only wants to help you." Sasuke pulled his mask back on, decidedly officially finished with this conversation. "I told her you didn't need it." Hinata did the same.

For the first time, Hinata took the lead, leaping into a treetop, as Sasuke stared after her.

The Daimyo's palace was lavish and expensive and everything Sasuke hated.

"Please take this room. Ma'am, follow me." The attendant beckoned Sasuke into his quarters and led Hinata away.

His room was large enough to house a family. Wood-paneled walls. Wide windows. Pieces of art in every corner. In the corner was an armchair and table, ready with tea. The ridiculously oversized bed was overrun with sheets and decorative pillows. Sasuke tossed his ANBU mask on it, along with his pack and weapons pouch.

Just off to the side was a bathroom, the only place he wanted to be in.

As he scrubbed his face clean, Sasuke thought of their schedule. Having arrived so late at night, the Daimyo would not see them. He insisted they stay in his palace, in another wing of course. Tomorrow, he would meet them for breakfast so they could discuss "terms." Whatever that meant.

Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he showered in hot water.

It scalded, burning his pale skin an angry red, and he focused on the needling sting as the water pelted across his back. Steam clouded the bathroom. After a minute, he turned the knob all the way around, and the water ran ice cold against him. Relaxing, shivering, gritting his teeth, Sasuke ignored the shampoos and combed his fingers through his hair, detangling and scrubbing.

This was a waste of time.

Apprehending his target would take him no time at all. There was no point meeting with the Daimyo. If the Daimyo only knew who was under that hawk mask...

He should have been in jail. He should have been dead. By Naruto's hand.

Instead, he was now a guest in the Daimyo's palace.

Sasuke pulled on his fatigues and boots, clipping his pouch on the back-pocket.

Pausing at the open window, he slipped on his mask, then leapt out.

The man who poisoned the Daimyo's nephew cut through these woodlands as he made his escape. Sasuke, Sharingan flaring to life, specks of red behind the mask, walked soundlessly ahead.

He would capture him, he decided, and dump him in front of the Daimyo. Then he would go back to Konoha. And wait.

Sasuke paused, his Sharingan picking up a familiar cloud of chakra in the distance. It was still. It was alone. It was a torment of emotions, dark with sorrow, heavy with grief. A thunderstorm he had come to associate with anger and hatred and an insatiable, burning, maddening need for vengeance.

Hyūga Hinata had learned how to bottle the thunderstorm long before. Hers was practiced. Resigned. Built on a foundation of purity and suffocated with years of experiences he knew nothing about.

Her chakra flared, and his own stood on edge with the sensation of being watched. He had heard from Naruto the extent of her visual prowess–she could see up to thirty miles in all directions, a record in the Hyūga clan.

It didn't take long to reach her. She hadn't moved since spotting her.

A small creek ran peacefully through the woodlands, undisturbed, hidden by flora.

Hinata sat on the edge, her back to him, mask around her neck. "He drank from here. Slept in those bushes over there." She's one of the best scouts in the world. Her eyes miss nothing. "Did you know it was his wedding night?"

Sasuke, who had been tracing the grounds with his own kekkei genkai, looked over at her.

"The Daimyo's nephew. It was his wedding night." Sasuke said nothing so she continued. "It was arranged with a noble woman from another country. When the ceremony ended, the Daimyo's nephew went to his room for tea. It had been laced with a toxin normally found in pesticide. When the attendants found him, another man was with him. He escaped out the window."

Pesticide. Sasuke mulled on that, wondering why it hadn't been mentioned in the Daimyo's request. "Where did you get this information?"

"I looked around." Hinata answered simply. "See there by the fern?"

Sasuke zeroed in on it. "Vomit."

"He drank the tea too. But his body already had a resistance built against the toxins in pesticide. It tried to flush it out on its own before he fell unconscious." Hinata paused, and Sasuke stared at her from behind. Her braid was undone. Hair freshly washed. "Poisons can be tricky. As Sakura-chan could tell you, poisons used in combat are fast-acting. Their properties are harsh and destructive. You can tell by the taste and the smell that it is meant to kill you. Unfortunately, it is always far too late by the time you realize it."

Sasuke thought of the vials of poison in his ANBU gear, labelled for usages. One for combat. One for suicide (though it was discouraged). One for assasination. Those would be clear. Tasteless and undetectable. Perfect for mixing in a drink. Perfect for an unsuspecting victim.

The Daimyo's nephew drank enough pesticide to end his life.

"I suspect they were lovers." Hinata said quietly. Sasuke glanced from her, to the bushes, to the trail the man left behind as he dragged himself out of the woods. A double-suicide that failed.

He thinks of a teacup filled with poison.

He thinks of Itachi and his katana.

Vomit near the fern.

Blood-red eyes dripping tears.

Sasuke lowered near the edge of the water, mindful not to look at his reflection. She didn't acknowledge his proximity, eyes trained ahead, staring at nothing. Her bare feet were dipped inside the creek, boots tucked to the side. "I wonder if he was a gardener." She said quietly.

"It doesn't matter."

"You're right." Hyūga Hinata's thunderstorm blackened for another. Someone she did not know. Someone wanted for murder. "The Daimyo will kill him." Sasuke acknowledged that with silence. The scroll Kakashi and Naruto gave to them was in his pack. There would be no trial, as the Daimyo had said. This was an assassination request, for political gain. The gardener's secrets were too dangerous to be left alive.

"If he's not already dead." Even if the gardener had survived his own poisoning, there were other ways to end his life.

He watched her as she lifted her face and looked up into the sky. There were no stars or clouds out, only darkness.

Sasuke thinks of a teacup filled with poison.

Hinata thinks of Neji's bloody smile and a bird flying free.

"Then we'll find him."

Flying through treetops, masks in place, dōjutsus blaring, two thunderstorms grew calmer.

In the next town over, a gardener lay lifeless in a dead rosebush.

The ANBU partners Hawk and Owl completed their mission.

Part Two coming soon.

Sorry for being late, I needed a break. I dunno how I feel about the ending, it's a little ambiguous and free for interpretation. My sister and I have different opinions on what happened to the gardener.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed it.

-Gen.