She froze as the shower door opened. Her hands flew to her breasts and between her legs in an effort to cover herself up.

"What?" said Mirai Sasuke, tiredly rubbing the side of his head.

"Nothing," said Mirai Hinata. "You just—surprised me." Her face pink, she lowered her hands.

"Un," said Sasuke. Doffing his towel, he joined her in the shower. She expected him to go for the soap, but he went for her. Hinata backed into the wall.

She released a grunt as he kissed her neck, Sasuke's hands sliding to her hips and his body pressing hers. Her arms were frozen, suspended at her sides. She whimpered.

Sasuke looked up.

He eyed Hinata's deep blush, closed eyes, and parted lips.

It wasn't working for him.

Sasuke pulled away. "You can go," he deadpanned.

Hinata's eyes snapped open. She opened her mouth, then closed it, before hurrying off. Still blushing profusely, she didn't seem perturbed that he had interrupted her shower then dismissed her like a whore.

Eying her as she left, Sasuke turned up the cold water.

Her behavior confirmed it. Hinata was different.

When he finished showering, Sasuke pulled on a robe. He returned to the bedroom to notice his wife sitting on the edge of the bed in a towel, her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. Her hair was sleeked back from moisture.

Sasuke approached. "We'll work through this."

Through what, exactly? Her newfound intimacy issues? But were they issues, or was this the authentic her?

Because of the changes, Genzai Hinata had never been sexually assaulted. Consequently, his wife's persona seemed to have changed. It was strange to him. He wasn't used to seeing her so vulnerable.

Maybe the issues were on his part. He didn't mind when she was shy, but during sex, it made her seem so innocent. He, in turn, felt dirty and wrong.

But it essentially was a resurrected innocence. History had been rewritten, and his wife had never been raped. He was the only one to have ever had her. This realization stirred strange sensations in his chest.

Sasuke sat beside Hinata and she looked up from her hands. He surveyed her for a while. "Let's..."

"Okay."

His lips met hers, and she didn't hesitate this time. She welcomed him into her mouth. Explored his.

Maybe it wasn't so much an intimacy problem as it was an adjustment. She had been given a new emotional capacity, and was left to experiment with it. She just had to get accustomed to her new mental make-up. He was her husband, and they had obviously been intimate throughout their remade relationship.

Kissing was a start. She wrapped her arms around his neck, trying not to become overwhelmed again. When their lips broke, she buried her face in his shoulder. "Sasu..."

He wouldn't have it. Sasuke pulled back to observe how flustered she was. He cupped her cheek, brushing against it with his thumb. "You seem happy," he mused. "But let's see how strong you are."

Genzai Hinata lowered a rose to her father's coffin upon the few dozen others that had already been placed there. The gates to the Hyuuga compound were left open that day. People came and went, offering their condolences to the ancient family.

Everyone at the wake was dressed in white. At Hinata's side stood her sister, head down and brows furrowed.

Genzai Hinata felt worse for Hanabi than she did for herself. At eleven years old, Hanabi had already been robbed of both her parents. Hinata wondered if she would remember their father a decade from then. Two?

Someone touched her shoulder. Startled from her thoughts, Hinata looked up at one of the elders. "The council has a lot to discuss with you, Hinata-san." The woman indicated a side door.

Hinata gave a distracted nod. "I'll b-be right out."

The elder nodded and walked off, but lingered by the door, waiting for her. Hinata drew a long deep breath. She threw a final glance toward her sister. "I-is it okay if I—?"

"Go," said Hanabi, continuing to glare upon the coffin.

She was so much like Hiashi.

Hinata walked, knowing that Hanabi savored solitude, and had a lot to process. As she moved toward the waiting elder, she took notice of Kiba, and then Shino, and found her path diverting, found herself walking to them. She was sure that her original intent was just to greet them, to thank them for coming.

"Hinata…" said Shino.

"I'm so sorry," Kiba muttered.

Hinata attempted a smile. "Will you—will you come spar with me?"

Both boys momentarily stared at her.

"Sure…" said Kiba awkwardly. "I mean, of course. Now?"

"Yes," she said.

The three walked off, leaving the funeral behind, along with the waiting elder, and her new duties as impending clan head. She shed her haori in the gardens.

I think I'll miss him, she mused, as they took to the trees.

Kasai liked to explore the past Konoha and examine its nuances from her world. She especially liked seeing the past versions of her parents and uncle and aunt. To Kasai, they were prototypes.

Unfortunately, there was only an arbitrary group of people to keep her entertained that morning.

"Tell us about the future," said Tenten, her fists clenched in determination.

They were on the training grounds and Kasai was playing with Tenten's infamous weapons scroll. She'd somehow conjured a bow, and took to idly shooting arrows at that annoying red bird that circled around her.

"Tenten marries Shikamaru. Temari ends up with Lee," said Kasai, who wasn't good with names.

"What?" said Tenten.

"You've got to be kidding me…" said Temari.

"Shika-san, you will be killed by some deer north of here." Or would he capture some deer? she wondered. She wasn't sure, but doubted it mattered.

"How troublesome," said Shikamaru, all but interested in his sketchy fate. Chouji dropped his bag of potato chips and turned worriedly to his friend.

Kasai had gone through at least a dozen arrows by then, each time missing the bird which aptly dodged.

Tenten had been looking on for a while. She had come to notice that the bird tended to evade in one of nineteen ways. When the arrow came from below it, the bird dodged to the right. When the arrow veered slightly to the left, the bird always shifted upwards.

"Let me see that," said Tenten, taking the bow from Kasai. Ignoring Temari as she bitched about Lee's freakishness, Tenten took aim for a few moments. She adjusted and re-adjusted her arrow, the bow waving in rhythm with the bird's movements. She drew the string taut.

"It just can't be right!" Temari shook Shikamaru.

Tenten released the bow, and laughed as it struck. The bird strangely dissipated, inorganic, like chakra. Grinning victoriously, Tenten turned back to the others just in time to notice Kasai's eyes roll upwards.

"Ano—?"

The child collapsed to the ground unconscious and her company froze. Chouji dropped his recovered bag of chips.

Temari summed up everyone's thoughts in one utterance: "Shit."

They darted off in different directions, abandoning the unconscious Kasai.

None of them wanted to explain this to Mirai Sasuke.

They were dressed in the dark clothing usually worn beneath their uniforms, Hinata in a sleeveless turtleneck, and Sasuke in a long-sleeved shirt. To some, they might have been in mourning. Maybe it was their subtle contribution of respect.

"Are you worried about Kasai?" Mirai Hinata asked.

Mirai Sasuke narrowed his eyes. She was twiddling her thumbs, and she realized she didn't usually do that. He eyed her and she stopped.

"We shouldn't be," Hinata continued, perhaps just to distract herself.

Sasuke ignored her, instead taking inventory of their surroundings. They had found a clearing deep enough in Konoha's woods to ensure privacy. She hoped.

"I think sh-she'll be fine," said Mirai Hinata, despite Sasuke's evidently bubbling frustration. She wanted to fix herself for him, but didn't know what that meant. He saw her as less than she had been.

She felt that way at times. But at others, she felt whole.

She knew she had probably lost many of the skills she had adopted solely because of the Kumo attacks—some of the sensory training she had adopted from Hanabi. The hate and will she'd had to become stronger, and never get hurt again.

She wondered if other skills had supplemented the lost ones. It was her chance to find out.

Still, the concept of sparring with her husband unnerved her in ways it never had before. Panic crept up her chest as she watched him approach.

"C'mon," he said.

She gasped as he made a swift strike to her throat leaving her struggling to breathe. A kick to her torso sent her backwards, but she managed to regain her footing. Hinata knelt down and grasped the earth as she watched Sasuke continue to approach.

So maybe you are emotionally healthy for once in your life.

Did it disappoint him?

Physically, you're lagging.

She tried to intercept his next strike, but he was stronger than her. She fell to her side, the grass caressing her face.

"You can't even fight back."

Hinata wearily climbed up to all fours. "Sasuke—I—"

"—can't even get a sentence out." Sasuke drew his sword.

Hinata rolled out of the way, dodging the blade. She resurfaced behind him, and slammed his kidney with chakra, more out of instinct than intent. Her eyes widened as he grunted in pain.

She should have followed up with another attack, but could only stare as Sasuke's legs trembled. He spun to face her regardless, his sharingan activated, tomoe turning. She lunged at his heart, but he caught her wrist. Hinata cried out as a pulse of electricity shot through her body. Her knees buckling, she crumpled to the ground, muscles twitching and shuddering of their own accord.

"Hn," said Sasuke, turning, as though to leave.

Hinata arduously climbed to her feet behind him.

Sasuke spun and struck out expecting to catch her off guard. Hinata instead twisted to the side, using the mili-second that Sasuke's dominant arm was extended to press several spots along it with her pointer and middle fingers.

She wasn't supposed to know how to do that...

Sasuke raised and stared at his palm, failing to accumulate the electricity he was so apt at using. He turned back to Hinata, who looked stunned; defenseless.

Hinata flipped backwards just in time to dodge his sword. It caught her shirt though, leaving a tear along her torso. Sasuke pursued her, and she continued to meticulously dodge the blade, all the while accumulating more tears upon her clothing and cuts along her arms. She noticed her hair was mostly spared, though it swung about freely unlike her clothes and limbs.

Maybe he liked her hair.

"You're distracted," said Sasuke, his latest assault leaving most of her chest and torso exposed. He knew his wife had reverted to a socially shyer state. He expected her exposure to distract her from the fight.

On the contrary, it was he who was scrutinizing her face when his focus should have been on her limbs.

He choked as she unthinkingly cuffed his groin in a move that was usually ignoble for her tastes. Before he could recover, her fist caught his jaw, then her palms slammed his chest.

Jyuuken.

Sasuke was thrown backwards, his back connecting with a tree. He kept his footing, though the air had been knocked from his lungs.

He watched Hinata freeze, her eyes wide, as though she was startled by her own actions. She clumsily began to back away, when something stung her ankle. She hissed in pain and looked down.

An intricately-patterned snake slithered in the grass about her feet.

Hinata looked back up again, meeting eyes with Sasuke. He had not moved, but his left thumb was in his mouth. She didn't miss the glimmer of victory in his eyes.

With even less composure than she'd had before, Hinata continued to retreat, though the effects of the venom were already gripping her. She felt sluggish and numb. She staggered away from the clearing, away from Sasuke, through brush and trees, eventually coming upon a lake she had subconsciously recounted. Cupping her trembling hands, she leaned over it, desperate to rinse the snake bite, but instead her muscles resigned and she fell forward into the water.

Her body resurfaced and she floated about on her back, half-lidded eyes unfocused on the canopy of leaves above her.

She heard Sasuke approach. "The venom wasn't poisonous. It paralyzed you, but it should wear off shortly," he muttered.

She heard the sound of him stepping upon the water's surface, followed by a gasp, a splash, and an eerie silence as tendrils of water drew him rapidly towards the bottom of the lake.

Hinata focused on cleaning her snake bite, navigating smaller tendrils of water into the wound, though the venom had already affected her significantly. She allowed the water to push her towards the banks, where she climbed heavily onto the mud and grass. Body slumped, she dragged herself farther away, throwing one last glance towards the lake.

The water was rippling and bubbling unnaturally. Hinata staggered more hurriedly. She heard a splashing noise and spun just as he launched himself at her.

They became a tangle of limbs on the ground, both fighting for leverage. Sasuke pinned her, raising his right arm, and belatedly recalling that his chakra in it had been sealed.

Hinata threw all her weight against him, knocking him to the ground beneath her. Straddling his waist, she snatched a kunai from his holster and pressed it hard enough to his throat to draw blood. Both remained frozen in their positions, panting. Sasuke glared heatedly up at her, sharingan glowing.

Sensing the fight was over, Hinata began to climb off him.

Sasuke grabbed her collar and pulled her back down.

Kasai groggily opened her eyes. Hovering over her were three figures. Her gaze drifted from Kiba, to Shino, and lastly to the younger version of her mother. "Eugh," she vocalized how she felt.

The members of team eight were all dressed in white. They eyed her quizzically, two with suspicion, one with unease.

"What are you doing out here?" Kiba wanted to know.

Kasai didn't know, so she habitually deflected. "What are you doing out here?"

"We just finished training," said Kiba. "We were just going to treat Hinata to ice cream—"

"Ice cream?" Kasai interrupted. "Yatta!"

Several birds vacated the surrounding trees.

The progression back to the village was an uneventful one, the members of Team eight silent and solemn as Kasai yammered almost—hysterically—about her favorite ice cream flavors. Hinata fidgeted madly.

"Why is she older?" Kiba mouthed.

Hinata just shook her head discouragingly. Probably best not to ask. Kasai had not reacted that well to Genzai Sasuke inquiring about it.

Hinata was mostly avoiding Kasai's eyes. She was absolutely phobic of being identified as her mother, especially by this older version of Kasai, who had more wisdom, awareness, and more potential to make Hinata's life really uncomfortable and awkward.

"What's your favorite flavor?" Kasai interrogated Kiba. "Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"

"Er—peanut butter."

"What? Eww!"

As they passed Ichiraku, Hinata noticed that Genzai Sasuke was there with Genzai Naruto. Face reddening, she averted her eyes.

She wondered what she would do if Sasuke wanted to talk to her. Would it be rude if she did not acknowledge him at all?

What about Naruto, looking so goofy, warm, and affable? Was she willing to surrender everything she felt for him because of a feeble forecast?

But Sasuke...Sasuke was…

She realized that she was looking at him. And that he was looking right back, holding her gaze.

Sasuke climbed to his feet, maintaining eye contact as he carefully began to approach.

And Hinata did the only thing she could think to do at that cardinal moment. She turned on her heel and ran for her life.

Genzai Sasuke watched Hinata and her teammates walk by Ichiraku ramen.

"Ask her to be your girlfriend."

It must have been really obvious if even Naruto was catching on.

"What?" he said, feigning confusion.

"Ask her."

"No."

"Why not?" said Naruto.

Girls usually just declared their love for him. He didn't ask them out or anything like that.

"Suit yourself," said Naruto, slurping.

And now Sasuke was getting annoyed. At Naruto, Hinata—everyone who contributed to his mounting uncertainty.

He should have left it alone. Her father had just died. Someone had brutally attacked her.

Still, he was irritated. There was something fucking wrong with him. He again glanced at Hinata to notice that she was watching him. Gathering his resolve, he stood and began to approach her—

Before freezing at the sight of her running off, arms raised in terror.

Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek. He didn't know what compelled him to take chase.

Hinata tore through the woods, failing to see the irony of this. She also failed to notice the fact that Uchiha Sasuke was chasing her—that Kiba and Shino were chasing him, and Naruto, chasing them.

She wasn't aware of anything really, not her rash behavior, or jumbled surroundings, just that she had to get as far away as possible.

She stopped just short of a clearing, when something finally did penetrate her haze of panic and hysteria.

Panting noises.

Grunts, as though someone was in pain.

Hinata cautiously crept into the clearing, and immediately regretted it.

Mirai Sasuke and Mirai Hinata were half-dressed, on the forest floor, all over each other. Mirai Sasuke was kissing Mirai Hinata's neck, one of his hands in her torn turtleneck, and Mirai Hinata's hand, it was—it was down Mirai Sasuke's pants!

Genzai Sasuke entered the clearing after her, abruptly stopping beside her, going rigid, and looking alarmed. He was quickly followed by Shino and Kiba, trauma blooming in their young eyes. The last to arrive was the gaping Naruto, who crashed into Kiba, knocking the both of them to the ground.

Genzai Hinata released an extraterrestrial squeak.

Mirai Sasuke and Mirai Hinata looked up, finally noticing their audience.

"Fuck."