Author's Note: I am sorry for not updating sooner! I had a major writer's block, although I knew what I wanted to do with the storyline. I hope you enjoy this one!

Chapter 7

Quiet.

Through a gap in the sliding door, Hanabi watched her father with his knees firm atop a tatami mat. He sat by a short-legged tea table, staring into the distance. The girl could feel something heavy weighing on her chest — it was pain unlike any other she'd ever felt. Hanabi knew that if she were to make a sound, Hiashi wouldn't budge from that deep state of silent thought he'd been falling in and out of lately. Still, she feared the tea tray she held might slip out of her hands — break and echo the empty house at this late hour. The fall might shatter the porcelain. The noise might shatter whatever kept him moving. She bit her lips. It made no sense. From where she was standing, it was almost as though she could hear the screams inside his mind.

Heavy breathing.

Dark shadows embraced him like an old friend.

Seven days.

Seven days ago, Kakashi had come and delivered that news. During said week, her father seemed to have aged twenty years. His hair was still a warm, youthful brown, but the curve of his back was ever so slightly bent in dismay as though old age was weighing on his spine. The skin around his iridescent orbs was tinted with grey. Hiashi looked sickly and soft to the touch. Her heart ached for him, but Hanabi had never seen him this way. He'd never exactly equipped her with the skills of caring and tending to another person.

Her father wasn't bleeding or ill. All she knew to do was serve him tea at even intervals and bring fresh water to the lilies decorating their dining table every two or three days. If she didn't do that he would subtly frown and flare his nostrils in discomfort upon noticing the emerging scent of stale water lingering about. No, she couldn't have that. And in spite of all the missions and training sessions she'd missed, the girl stuck around because nobody else could — or would.

Hyuuga Hiashi mooned around the place like a ghost and Hanabi was his shadow. He refused to see anybody else. Keeping the windows closed and blinds drawn, the man made the house appear haunted from the outside. Konohamaru mentioned over the phone that people had started talking. Rumors surrounding Hiashi's odd behavior and sudden withdrawal were the fresh meat villagers of various social standings had been feasting upon lately. For the first time in forever, there was something tangibly odd about the mighty Hyuuga clan that they could point their fingers at.

Hanabi was tired of it.

It was embarrassing. She was embarrassed, but Hiashi was nothing but lifeless at this point.

In a second she would break all of those who dared take the Hyuuga name in their filthy mouths — prove them wrong. But how could she do that when she needed to tend to this, once powerful and spiteful man, who was suddenly reduced to a pile of misery.

Did she pity him?

God, no.

She took a sharp breath and slid the door open with her foot. As expected, Hiashi didn't budge. The girl eyed him with a distasteful frown as she walked towards him. His back was to her. Though the light tapping of her footsteps against the tatami mat was making her presence beyond obvious, he did absolutely nothing to acknowledge it.

A shadow, that's what she'd become.

Hanabi placed the tea tray in front of him and deftly poured some of the liquid from the pot into his delicate cup. She then bowed, straightened her back and aimed to leave.

But she was interrupted in the middle of this attempt when his words suddenly broke the deafening silence. "This is not my tea.", her father said unexpectedly.

The girl stopped in her tracks for a second. It took some time to process the first time she'd heard his voice for days. It was as smooth and deep of a baritone as it had been before. Yet, something about it made her… angry? Hanabi rolled her neck as she took a polite step back and stood before him.

They made eye contact. Just a week ago Hanabi saw the man kneeling before her, to be the epitome of dignity and reason. Now she could see in him both the posture of a depressed old man and the gleaming eyes of a stubborn child. She couldn't distinguish which one prevailed.

"What do you mean?", she uttered in confusion, staying guarded and composed with hands neatly folded in front of her.

Hiashi slowly took the teacup and brought it up to his nose gently. The white fumes from the hot beverage were brushing against his pallid skin until he inhaled deeply and tilted his head upwards to face her once again. "This is the tea from our garden. Though it is excellent, I wanted the loose leaf Doshu green tea. It is superior in both taste and medicinal quality," he stated.

Hanabi blinked several times. Somehow, staring him in the eye was making her squirm, but not with fear. It felt as though she was talking to a stranger. A clock was ticking in the background, yet she had no sense of how long she'd made him wait for an answer.

"We ran out," she mustered to say. "We ran out of the Doshu tea. They haven't been making deliveries for some time now and you haven't been exactly keen to listen when Ko tried telling you that in the meeting let week. I've been told it's because one of their transport carriages brought along some foreign pest… which they are struggling to exterminate from their fields. That is very unfortunate, but I was hoping you wouldn't be opposed to drinking the homegrown… kind." Hanabi's voice grew thinner and quieter as she finished her last sentence.

Hiashi grunted and shook his head in disbelief. "Impossible. Those carriages have been used for trade around the continent for hundreds of years and never has anything of the sort happened. People of Doshu are far too cautious to allow such a mishap." He crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at the brewing liquid at his table. "What do I do now…?"

"You… could… get in contact with our clan members who live in Doshu, ask for an explanation and drink our tea in the… meanwhile…?" Hanabi suggested, lowering herself to sit in front of her father as she recognized an opportunity to get him talking.

"Preposterous," he immediately declined.

Hanabi abruptly raised her eyebrows in bemusement. "Well… Why not?", she asked whilst becoming increasingly irritated by his attitude.

Hiashi proceeded to heave. "I simply cannot bring myself to do such a thing right now. The pain and confusion I am… feeling at the moment are… overwhelming. I require time to think."

His daughter sat there for a moment, squinting, biting her lip, as his gaze was once again directed through her. Like she faded into the background, merged with the scarce furniture or melted into the tatami they sat upon. All the words she'd wanted to say for the past seven days were at the tip of her tongue. They had been boiling and accumulating within her gut for way too long. Blood was rushing to her face.

Driven by the fury in her chest, Hanabi finally frowned and shouted, "What the actual fuck, dad?!"

Suddenly, Hiashi's eyes snapped wide open in disgust and disbelief. His lips parted open, itching to say anything, but the entire moment felt so surreal to the Hyuuga Head, that he was rendered almost speechless.

"How— How dare you?!" He hissed in a higher pitch, hands slightly shaking in his lap, from anger and surprise. Nobody had ever spoken to him like that before.

Hanabi shook her head. "No, no… How dare you?" The girl pointed at him spitefully. The frown on her face was that of a fighter on the battlefield; one full of rage and on the verge of their spirit being broken. She realized she couldn't put up with this nonsense any longer. She continued, "How dare you act as though you have all the time in the world to waste? Do you know how irresponsible you're acting now?! How entitled do you think you are to abuse my respect towards you like this?!" Her voice was loud enough to be heard from anywhere, but she was in a headspace where all those things seemed irrelevant. Hanabi's face was burning as she subconsciously understood the magnitude with which she'd crossed the line. Nevertheless, she kept going.

"The leader of the mighty Hyuuga clan has been moping around his expensive little house, relishing his precious thoughts and complaining about the taste and medicinal qualities of his green tea, whilst he has no fucking idea what's actually going on behind those doors! Why? Because he is in a bad mood." She tucked her hair behind her ears and leaned in, jabbing her finger against his chest. Hiashi flinched though his arms remained limp at his side.

"Are your people starving, father? Has the village burned down? Do I have a life that doesn't center around cleaning up after you and your puddle of sadness?!", she asked angrily and gulped. "Can you answer any of these questions? I don't think so!" She faked a laugh. "Why? Because you heard some bad news? Because your darling daughter is gonna do something bad to herself? The same darling daughter who hadn't known anything but your wrath and torment as a child? And you are surprised?" Hanabi stopped, and yet Hiashi kept quiet.

"Say something, dammit!" Hanabi's fist slammed against the table. The fine wood broke and chipped, as did the tea set. The glass scattered across the floor around them, but she wasn't paying attention. All she could see was the horror in her father's eyes.

"What's that look on your face, father? Are you scared of me? Or worse," she paused theatrically. "—are you disappointed? In me? The one who's never abandoned you, never questioned or rejected you." Suddenly, Hanabi's tone became somewhat less infuriated and the hurt she was feeling became prevalent.

"I know you feel pain," she gritted through her teeth. "We are going through all the same things, father. I don't sleep at night either, you know? But I also live knowing that there's nothing I can do to help either of you. Have you any idea of how pathetic that makes me feel?" Hanabi sobbed as she saw Hiashi's countenance transformed like he'd witnessed an epiphany.

She pulled the edge of her sweater over her wrist and wiped her tears with the white cloth before whispering, "I'm here, father. I've been here all along. Not her — me. I don't know when you are going to see it, but she wants nothing to do with us anymore. Hinata always chose Team 8 over family — then Naruto, then the Black Ops, then Kakashi — she always chose everybody over her own clan." A pressure behind her eyes kept growing and fresh tears started gathering at her waterline.

A minute of silence ensued as father and daughter sat there, surrounded by splinters of wood and shattered porcelain, in the middle of a dark room. The sun had set. Hiashi was still speechless as Hanabi inhaled and started again.

"Father, I love her," she gulped. "I love my sister, I really still do. But it's just not worth what you're doing. And I… refuse," her voice trembled and grew stronger, "—to be treated this way. As the future head of this clan… I demand that you get your shit together and do what a powerful leader should. That can be anything — just not this."

The Uchiha sunk further into a brown leather sofa with one arm stirring a chilling glass of whiskey on ice and the other toying with a ripped piece of fabric peeling off from the armrest. Biting the inside of his cheek, Sasuke's sights were set on a particular moldy brick and its upper right corner — for no particular reason. For the past several hours, he'd been sharpening out the details of his recent past and anticipating the arrival of a someone sent to gather information. In his gut, there was an unsettling feeling — anxiety unlike any he'd ever felt. There was a black hole in his memory leading up to a moment he experienced something that left such an indelible impression that he felt like it had changed every atom of his being.

Yūgao Uzuki, a Konoha embassador, was killed in the Land of Water.

Akira Suizen stood up to him on the rocky cliffs of the Hidden Sound.

The gaze of one woman sent him into overdrive when he fell unconscious somewhere in the Land of Snow.

Next thing, he found himself seeing the ghost of her from a hospital bed in Naruto's hidden basement.

Sasuke's heartbeat picked up substantially as he recalled the multitude of crucial details in this sequence he failed to understand. Nonetheless, there was no benefit in getting carried away. Keeping a cool head, the Uchiha finally registered approaching footsteps.

Soon enough, he recognized the languid and spirited stride of one former teacher of his.

"Didn't expect to see you first, Kakashi," his words echoed against the stone walls of Konoha's most covert detainment facility.

Hatake appeared before the cell's entrance, sheepishly ran a hand through his silver mane and peered through the bars detaining his former pupil. "I live to please," he said in a coarse monotone, "I see you're receiving quite the star treatment."

Sasuke took a sip of his whiskey. "Got the whole place for myself," he chuckled, referring to the dozen empty cells filling up the vacant floors underneath a small gardener's supply cottage just outside Naruto's mansion. "An uncomfortable bed, a sofa, a mini-bar… Five stars."

The Hatake toyed with the lock hanging off the bars and assessed Sasuke could have easily broken himself out - not that he had any reason to do so. "Don't go too hard on the liquor, soon enough you should expect to be drilled on just about every second of your life for the past three months," Kakashi advised.

"Seeing Naruto locked me up in here, not much I do could give him the right to complain," Sasuke put the glass down on the stone floor.

The former Hokage tilted his head to the side inquisitively, "After the stunt you pulled in his house you can't blame him."

The Uchiha frowned slightly and Kakashi observed the way his charmingly cynical disposition faltered.

"I woke up not knowing where I was, it happened out of instinct," Sasuke uttered calmly.

"Say that to anybody else, but don't expect me to believe it."

A pregnant pause ensued — two men exchanging dangerous looks begging for a reaction.

The Uchiha gave in first. Slowly, he stood from his seat, stretching every sore and aching muscle down his back throughout the ascend. His bandaged torso gleamed ominously in the candlelight as Sasuke took three long steps towards the prison bars, rested his elbows against a horizontal iron column and edged his face closer to his unexpected visitor's. Sasuke played his cards cautiously, still unsure of how to present his recent past.

"Why are you here, Kakashi?" He whispered as their eyes met.

The Hatake took a deep breath through his nose, staring at the natural, focused ferocity in Sasuke's eyes. His quiet fords scarcely filled the silence when he started. "Just about two hours from now, Naruto will wrap up a meeting with someone from the Capitol and make his way here, beyond driven to find answers," Kakashi emphasized huskily, "many of which I'm sure you still don't have".

Sasuke's fingers tightly wrapped around the rusty metal bars, feeling their moisture on the palms of his hands, "How do you know this?" He asked, failing to suppress his frustration.

"Shikamaru Nara testified that on the first of October, an ANBU was well on her way to Ame in navigated search of you. She was meant to inform you that your presence was needed in Konoha and proceed to join a group in Suna. Once they realized she was alarmingly late, Kiba and Shino searched for her," Kakashi's voice grew quieter and more stern, "This attempt lead them to the borders of a lake at the northernmost point of the continent, light years away from where she was headed to. The search party found the two of you after a week-long journey, buried underneath a growing pile of snow, frostbite and all…" As he uttered those words, Sasuke's eyes widened in disbelief.

"So," Kakashi continued placidly, "there are multiple aspects of this narrative which call for my interference… First and foremost being the ANBU, Hyuuga Hinata."

Then it clicked — her name. The Uchiha's lips parted as adrenaline rushed through his system. He felt this inexplicable relief upon realizing those two words. Ever since he first laid his eyes on her, they'd been at the tip of his tongue. Now as they rang in his mind, they were more akin to an ethereal chant than a mash of syllables.

"Judging by the look on your face, I'll take the liberty of assuming you are familiar with her, correct?" Kakashi quirked an eyebrow, watching the younger man gulp in all seriousness. Sasuke nodded.

"Cool," the Hatake continued, "Well, out of all the plot holes in this story I will go about, there is one I find most significant. You woke up on the morning of the fourteenth around 9 AM, setting off an extremely powerful Chidori that caused a rupture in several tons of stone and concrete. Interesting thing is, at the very same time in the Hidden Sand, Hinata rose from her sleep in a manner that could have resulted in the death of two medics and the Kazekage," Kakashi inhaled the scent of rust and mold that lingered in the air, which seemed to be seeping out of Sasuke's lungs with an exponentially increasing velocity.

"I have a feeling this cannot possibly be a coincidence, and I'm pretty damn sure Naruto doesn't think so either," said Kakashi.

"I don't understand it myself," Sasuke growled. He paused to think before continuing, "I met Shikamaru in the Land of Water where he directed me towards Akira Suizen… I followed her north towards Mountain's Graveyard—"

Both men suddenly jerked their heads towards the west end of the corridor Kakashi was standing in, only to find that it was only a rat crawling out of its hole in the wall that alerted them. Sasuke licked his lips, deciding to continue.

"She moved fast, never stopping at nearby towns — rested covertly every few days. Eventually, she noticed me. I should have been more careful. Somehow, I think I fell under her genjutsu and I don't remember anything after that," The Uchiha's visage was saturated with anger and disappointment. "Next thing I know I'm knee-deep in a pile of snow. I see Northern lights up in the sky and feel somebody's presence before me. I panic, thinking it's Akira and leap onto this… woman."

Kakashi bit the inside of his cheek, anticipating the turn of events. The Uchiha's rage seemed to evaporate into thin air, his voice becoming gentler and gaze drifting off to the side as memories played out in his mind.

"Her eyes," Sasuke mused with an expression of complete bewilderment, "There was something about her eyes…"

"How come?" Kakashi prompted.

"They were a pale shade of violet, not white. Unusual for a Hyuuga as it is, but there were some kinds of… blue streaks around her eyes and… down her cheeks… her neck…" The Uchiha's words withered into silence.

"What happened then?"

Sasuke blinked, regaining his focus, "My Mangekyo activated instinctually. That second I felt like I was being pulled out of my body. It was insane, there's no word to describe it."

Kakashi edged his face closer to the young man, driven by intrigue. "Was it painful?"

The Uchiha gulped, obviously shaken by the memory. The sensation of that event still lingered in his bones.

"No," he said. "It felt…"

"Good?"

Sasuke rubbed his temples in frustration. "Look, Kakashi, my head feels like it's gonna split in half and I don't like being the one who does all the talking."

The Hatake let out a deep breath, loosening his grip on the metal bars, "I'll tell you everything you need to know—"

"Wrong," Sasuke interrupted, "If you want me to cooperate, you're gonna tell me everything you know. No lies, no exceptions."

Sakura propped her knees up on the black leather stool. Edges of her lab coat wrinkled up in her lap as the girl tirelessly adjusted the optical lens of an electron microscope to tower over a paper-thin sample of an iridescent material. Her emerald eyes squinted at the semitransparent slice, evaluating the optimum angle at which the beam of electrons could penetrate it and produce the best quality image of the crystalline structure.

Lost in thought, she failed to notice that someone had inconspicuously slipped past the blurred glass doors of Sunagakure's most state-of-the-art biochemical laboratory. Through the maze of bulky machinery, glassware and cupboards riddled with samples, a man sheepishly walked towards the Haruno.

"Sakura," a voice startled her.

The girl's pale hands jolted away from the frail sample as she quickly rotated on her heel to face her visitor.

"Kankuro," Sakura's startled expression turned into one of mild relief. "You scared me…"

The tall brunette ran a hand through his hair and scratched the back of his neck, "I—I didn't mean for that to happen, I'm sorry…"

"Don't worry," Sakura let out a nervous laugh. "I… haven't seen you in a while. What brings you here?"

In all honesty, seeing the familiar war paint and wilding brown tresses momentarily brought her back to an earlier time.

"I bring news," Kankuro said, taking off his hood and letting it drift down his broad back. "Hinata is awake."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Oh," she exhaled, "Thank God…" Her palm reached up to clutch the white fabric over her chest. Kankuro empathized as he saw the wave of relief that flooded the Haruno. "How is she now?"

"The second she opened her eyes, these… deep blue flames started seeping out of her body. Gaara shielded the two nurses from them, but the shit was everywhere. It burned through his sand and caught his arm. By the time I realized what had happened, Hinata snapped out of it, and I watched it retreat." Kankuro elaborated before muttering a 'thank you' once Sakura motioned him to sit down on the stool opposite her.

"Tell me more," Sakura was eager. "What kind of chakra was it?"

The prince of Suna fidgeted in his seat, slightly peeved by how small it was. "I have no idea, to be honest… It spread like wildfire but didn't burn anything physical. Well, except for the Kazekage," he chuckled.

Sakura mused, trying to piece the puzzle together in her mind. "Fascinating… What happened with his arm?"

Kankuro shook his head, "My brother's too proud to let anyone take a look at it. Bottom line is, Hinata is with him now and they're both fine."

"That's odd… I thought she'd be with her teammates," Sakura prodded.

"Nah, Gaara and Hinata are super close; have been, since they first met back when she was tried in a Kage Summit here a few years ago," Kankuro consciously overlooked the surprise plastered all over her countenance. "Kiba, Shino, Ino – All Konoha people have been told to keep their distance until the dust settles, anyways."

"I haven't—" Sakura furrowed her brows.

The young man's tongue traced his bottom lip inarticulately as he awkwardly responded, "I've been told you probably wouldn't even attempt to make contact because of... well…"

"Oh." Sakura feigned acceptance as she turned around in her seat and faced the electron microscope. "Because of Sasuke?"

"Is it true?" Kankuro asked warily, eyeing the curve of her nape exposed by boyish strands of pink that fell down her neck while she bent over the crystalline sample.

Sakura scoffed, "Why do you care about Sasuke?"

"I don't," He stated, sounding almost offended by the notion. "I care about you though… as much as you'll let me." Those words filled the room with such vibrancy a surplus of memories flooded both of their minds.

"Kankuro…" Sakura sighed shifting to face him, "You don't owe me anything." She stared into the eyes of a grown man – same ones she peered into all those years ago when they were bloodshot and wide with terror when she anxiously extracted poison from his body.

He gave a forced smile, avoiding her gaze. Kankuro felt explaining himself would be out of place.

"Well, he's awake too. I thought you should know, we just got the news," he blurted out.

Sakura's lips parted and she let out a labored breath. "Thank you," she murmured, trying to remain as collected as possible.

"It's a miracle they're both alive… Considering where we found them."

"They are both very strong people," The girl gulped, instinctually placing her palm over her chest again, "They would survive anything."

Kankuro slowly nodded, observing her reactions. "You really like Hinata, don't you?"

Sakura chuckled, "And that surprises you?"

"Is it bad to say yeah?" The brunette tilted his head back, leaning against a heavy laboratory freezer.

"I hate what Hinata does to my best friend, and I don't think she's honest all the time. How secretive she is annoys the hell out me, not gonna lie…" Both of them grinned at her confession. Sakura continued, "but… in the bottom of my heart I don't think she's a bad person. I'm a scientist, I test theories and provide evidence to support my conclusions. With her, I can't do any of that. I can't shake the feeling there might be a reason for everything she does... I was angry at her, but the moment I heard what kind of danger she was in, my heart sank. I don't wish anything bad on that poor girl..."

Kankuro listened carefully as the Haruno toyed with her spinning chair ever so slightly, looking at her knees.

The man took a moment to think before speaking up. "I don't know much about that girl or her relationship with Naruto, but I do know my brother. She's very dear to his heart, and Gaara doesn't let anybody in so easily. They seem to have some deeper understanding... Gaara would never attach himself so strongly to someone who's not one hell of a good person."

Sakura groaned in frustration, "I just hate being so in the dark! How did they even get to the Land of Snow if Sasuke was in Ame? I heard about what happened in Doshu, how did Naruto find out about it? They say it came by letter, but they were on an S-rank, nobody is stupid enough to send out a messenger that might compromise their secrecy… None of it makes sense."

Kankuro empathized. "It does feel like it's all connected, somehow, doesn't it?"

"Yeah… But, those people should be the least of my worries now. I have Akira Suizen to think about now," said Sakura.

"What are you looking into?"

The pink-haired girl licked her lips in concentration as she prepared to elaborate. Standing up from her seat, she motioned Kankuro to scoot over and take a look at what she was pointing at.

"A Konoha ambassador, Lady Uzuki Yūgao, was murdered in her residence in the Land of Water. Our main suspect is Akira Suizen, who is allegedly a survivor of Orochimaru's human experimentation, and a shared asset between Kiri and Iwa. This sample I have here is a slice of the crystalline suspension they found her in – shattered in pieces." Sakura ended with a low note, her eyes filled with remorse.

"And how is this related to what's going on right now?" Kankuro pondered.

"Shikamaru met him in the Land of Water during his mission. Sasuke, I mean. He was going to tail this woman. I don't know what happened of that, but… My duty is to do basic research on Akira's technique, identify which blend of kekkei-genkais she possesses." The Haruno explained.

Her company nodded, soaking in the information and eyeing the iridescent sample underneath the electron microscope with wonder. "Is there a possibility that this could be just a technique she uses?"

"Yes, actually," Sakura replied with a jumpy disposition, "One reason we suspect it might be a bloodline is due to its rarity. The other reason is that for a while, Akira Suizen was an apprentice of Mei, the Mizukage, who is infamous for her kekkei-genkais."

"Mind if I took a look at it?" Kankuro queried, to which Sakura muttered a 'yes, of course', and handed him a bulkier chunk which contained several strands of Yūgao's purple hair trapped within the crystal.

"Interesting," he murmured whilst inspecting it, "It's incredibly durable. It won't shatter—"

"Please don't break my sample!" Sakura panicked.

The man stared at her baffled expression before chuckling, "I won't. I couldn't, even if I tried… Have you tested how it responds to chakra?"

Once he asked that question, something clicked in Sakura's mind. "No… actually… I didn't."

Kankuro then brought his hands up so that his palms were face to face. Swiftly, a bright blue string of glowing chakra appeared, bridging his middle fingers. Sakura's face lit up and she took a step closer to examine his creation.

"It's so pretty," She was mesmerized. "Can I touch it?"

"If I were on the battlefield, touching it would make a clean cut right through your hand. Here, yeah, of course…" He laughed as she withdrew her hands and hid them behind her back. "Don't be scared, here—"

He thrust the string forward. "Trust me," Kankuro reassured.

Sakura slowly nodded and stretched out her fingers to caress the entity. It was void of texture and was felt only in the form of light pressure against her skin. Pushing it up and down it was very elastic and made some warmth gather in her hand.

"I… I like it," Sakura sheepishly admitted. "But… how do you manipulate it so variedly?"

"Good question," Kankuro proceeded, "I have four chakra affinities, but in combat, I scarcely use any of them. To connect with my puppets, I use unfiltered chakra. It is derived straight from my body and when the bond breaks, it pours back in. Makes it easier to stay ready and conserve energy. Raw chakra is more malleable, so with a little bit of practice I can induce it into any state or consistency I like."

Sakura's heart skipped a beat in excitement. "To inhibit the process of chakra differentiation, you must understand it very well."

"I don't know how to explain it," Kankuro admitted, "but it's a technique that's been passed on for generations by clans in Suna. Chakra has a main line that it follows through our bodies, right? But it's in the branches of that cycle that all the fun happens."

"Not a lot is known about those junctions," Sakura suggested thoughtfully.

Her visitor's hands moved articulately as he spoke, "There are several pathways it can take before being expressed by its user, and some techniques can only be achieved by those who have the biological capacity for transforming chakra in a certain fashion. Those are bloodlines."

"So, are you suggesting that somehow we might be able to use the chakra from this sample and… reverse-engineer it into its undifferentiated state?" Sakura's mouth went agape.

Kankuro gave it some thought as he scratched the back of his head. "If we can successfully reverse-engineer it using the same stimuli generic Earth Release responds to, then we'd be free to dismiss the theory it's a bloodline. If otherwise, then the evidence to support the claim would be pretty solid, to begin with."

The Haruno stared into his brown eyes with inexplicable joy, yet no smile on her lips. "How do you know all this?"

The brunette rolled his eyes humorously. "Why does everybody always forget," he said, "I'm an engineer. I build humanoid puppets. I'm the master of my craft… And I learned a lot from reading your columns for the Medical Ninjutsu Express."

Sakura couldn't contain a burst of laughter that escaped her. For a second there, she imagined this guy with his war paint on, clad in pitch black, hiding out in a lair with his creepy puppets, snuggled up against a cup of multi-vitamin tea and a crisp copy of the latest edition of the Express, reading an article on chakra malignancy.

"I'm an educated man, Sakura, your mockery is hurting me," he joked.

"I'm sorry, Kankuro," she managed to catch a breath through her fit. "You just don't really make an effort to present yourself as so… enlightened—" Sakura buried her face in her hands.

He grunted jokingly, "Rudeness…"

"Don't worry," she finally said with a smile, "I can help you with that. Go grab yourself a lab coat and some goggles… Help me out with this and we'll make a real intellectual out of you."

"Since when do you drink?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the sight of his old friend riding up his sleeves and pouring rice wine into an old mug which he'd got as a souvenir from the Land of Earth. The liquid spilled over the brim messily and yet Naruto proceeded to mindlessly put the lid back on his expensive, gold-embroidered porcelain bottle and laugh.

"When one's been the youngest, most inexperienced Hokage in history on top of finding oneself in a constant state of being broken up with, one may find the extensive imperial liquor stash to be quite useful to drown one's sorrow on a lonely day at the office." Naruto's voice was dripping with sweet irony and Sasuke couldn't help but let out a throaty chuckle. His friend eagerly jumped into a brown leather sofa at the center of this hidden room they'd come to within the ANBU HQ. There were an old bed and a small table with a few wooden chairs to complete the interior. Sasuke stood leaning against the wall — underground and inside this cramped space he felt restless and weirdly uncomfortable.

The Uchiha eyed suspiciously as his friend downed the mug and reached over the armrest to just grab the entire bottle.

Naruto said, "Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not like Tsunade. I don't do this very often…"

Sasuke nodded in understanding. "That's good to know. On top of everything that's going on, I don't believe you could afford getting drunk on a regular basis." The Uchiha instinctively raised his hand to catch as Naruto swiftly threw the bottle in his direction.

"Try it," the Hokage suggested with a grin.

Sasuke shook his head in disbelief, but ultimately took a sip of the surprisingly strong beverage. "That's foul." The Uchiha cleared his throat before putting the lid back on and passing the bottle back to Naruto.

"Don't be a wuss." The blond teased. "You'll get it when it kicks in… In a few minutes, you'll feel like all the bullshit life has thrown at you has been nothing more than a… friendly pat on the back. And I need that."

A pregnant pause ensued. Both men remained in their comfortable positions and nobody was saying anything, in spite of it being so abundantly clear that there was much on everybody's mind.

"Sometimes I drink when I'm stressed, Sasuke." Naruto resumed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Right now, you're one of the many things keeping my glass full."

The Uchiha chuckled, half-amused by the Hokage's unusual mood. "I'm listening," he said.

Naruto ran his palms up and down his thighs, no doubt sore and stiff from all the desk time consuming his daily schedule. As Sasuke watched the blond open his mouth to speak, suddenly his line of vision became blurred and the noise of his best friend's speech faded into nothingness. White light rapidly emerged from all sides and he saw a red blur before him. Panicked, he gripped the edges of his seat, as so close to his ears the Uchiha could hear the muted sound of a woman's breathing; something warm against his neck. The image gradually came together and his focus landed on the aquamarine eyes of one Kazekage.

"None of this is your fault. None."

Gaara's words enveloped him. He felt like his throat was choking up, a maddening sensation of guilt buried in his bones and spreading through his chest. He was so sorry, it almost drove tears to his eyes. Why? The familiar scent of wet sage after a desert thunderstorm hit his nostrils.

As quickly as it came, the picture of Gaara faded and the quiet crackling of candles in the interrogation room resurfaced. Sasuke's breathing slowed as he tried to stay calm. Feeling the texture of cold leather underneath his fingertips once again was comforting beyond words.

"Oi, something wrong?" Naruto's voice made him snap out of this daze.

Sasuke ran a hand through his unruly raven locks and nodded. "Yeah, just... tired. The mini-bar you left in my cell doesn't make up for the lack of mattress on the bed, you know." He spoke coyly, though his heartbeat was still raging from the moment before.

"Anyways… I need you to debrief me, starting from the last time you were dispatched from here," Naruto insisted, though Sasuke had other plans.

"Before I get there, I need to ask... How did I get from Iwa to… here?" He looked up and stared into the Uzumaki's eyes with such conviction. What a stellar performance that was – showing off genuine concern mixed with a generous dose of egotistical reluctance to admit ignorance.

Hearing that question, Naruto's blood boiled. Quietly.

"Is that the last thing you remember?" The blond asked very slowly, emphasizing every word as though it's of immeasurable importance. Naruto's ocean blue orbs reflected fury and distress, but regardless of his personal feelings, Sasuke wasn't about to falter.

"I saw Shikamaru and then," pausing for a second, the Uchiha looked to the side and feigned an attempt at the recollection, "and then I was on the way to my… inn." There it was – the perfect example of a moment one had an epiphany so undesirable it deserved silence and an ashamed countenance.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Naruto yelled angrily. "That can't be, you need to think, Sasuke, please!"

Sasuke bowed his head as though in shame. As his companion proceeded to vent, the Uchiha hesitated to look up. In the back of his mind, he prayed Kakashi and him weren't making a mistake.

"None of this is your fault. None," Gaara's words echoed against the domed ceiling of his office. Hinata gulped, watching him stand behind his desk, showered with sunlight creeping from the windows. His eyes were kind, genuine - a taste of his calm was rubbing off on her as she sat before him, clutching a blanket close to her chin.

"I fell terrible," Hinata whispered, "I don't even know what that was... I should've been in control."

Gaara shook his head adamantly. "Don't be absurd. You were out cold for days, who knows what kinds of changes your body has been through. No damage was done, so please, Hinata. Don't worry."

The girl's brows furrowed as she eyed her friend's right arm, tightly wrapped in bandages and hidden underneath his kage robe.

"What did I do to you?" She asked softly.

"You didn't do anything. My flesh and bones are intact... but..." Gaara hesitated to explain, knowing how badly the girl suffered for her mishap. "It seems to have obliterated my chakra supply in this arm."

Hinata buried her face in her knees. "I can't believe myself... First thing I woke up, I was fine, I took out my IV and then blacked out, I-"

"Stop it," the Kazekage chastised, "What's done is done. My arm will heal eventually, and we need to focus on you."

A pregnant pause ensued, as Hinata took a minute to gather her thoughts. She licked her lips before glancing up at her friend. "I found Sasuke," Hinata uttered.

"I know," Gaara nodded to Hinata's surprise. "We found the two of you together in the Land of Snow." As he made his way around the desk, the Hyuuga's mind drifted and buzzed reminiscing the last thing she saw before losing consciousness - Uchiha Sasuke's crimson eyes. "You just woke up and I don't want to shock you with all these questions, but-"

Hinata's mind suddenly went blank. Her body and mind seemed to have violently detached from the present moment. Darkness filled her vision. Several specs of light emerged before they acquired the shape of candles. They illuminated the furious visage of Uzumaki Naruto.

"She was there with you! Why, Sasuke? Why?"

The Hyuuga felt a bitter taste in her mouth. Vulnerable, guarded, obsessed and nervous - she was jittery yet unmoving. Seething, yet placid on the outside. For a second there, she couldn't breathe.

Swiftly, all that pressure evaporated and she felt like she'd fallen into her seat from zero-gravity. Gasping for breath, she gripped the folds of her blanket.

"What's wrong, Hinata?" Gaara fell to his knees before her and brushed the hair out of her face. "Tell me," he pleaded.

Her gaze was shaken as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Kakashi," she said, "I need to talk to Kakashi."

End of Chapter

Author's Note: Hi guys! I hope you liked the chapter. I've been trying to be more experimental with my writing so let me know what you think! All constructive criticism is more than welcome. Have a nice day!