Chapter Text
Dark clouds slowly took control over the clear sky and the bright round moon that had been shining proudly now disappeared, hidden in the darkness of the sky as the clouds reigned. The rain began to fall, drop by drop, and the villagers ran seeking shelter to escape the upcoming raging storm. For the first time in years, rain was finally appearing again in Amegakure, the Hidden Village of The Rain, where it had fallen to darkness in the hands of a feudal lord ever since the death of their god, Pein, and their Lady Angel, Konan.
In the middle of the village, a huge mansion now stood extravagantly, its elegance envied by many villagers, but what was happening inside, nobody knew. A beautiful woman stood quietly in one of the room, her small and lush lips bleeding as she bit it hard to muffle her soft cries. Her arms were bruised and her thin purple kimono did little to help cover the wounds on her delicate neck. Her midnight blue hair was a mess, revealing the curse seal on her forehead and she quickly evened out her fringe to cover it up. Her pale white eyes which used to glisten beautifully were now empty and lifeless as she stared at the metal door. Her room was like a prison to her, no windows, nothing to show her the outside world, but she could hear it, the sound of raindrops and the sound of footsteps coming nearer and nearer towards her. Her legs moved and her body shifted as she raised her hands ready to strike.
It had been years and she had fought. She had always fought. What went wrong, she had no idea. It was supposed to be the next stage of her life, of any women's life, but she didn't agree to this. Yet again, she was a failure, unable to fulfill a simple arrangement the elders had set for her, but she couldn't take it. The pain, both physically and emotionally, she had enough. She was Hyuuga Hinata, a shinobi and so she would fight. She would fight for her rights.
The footsteps gradually got louder and she switched into her position. Her eyes were fixed on the door and the moment it opened, Hinata made her move. She jumped and she struck the wretched man who entered, locking all of his chakra points so he couldn't activate it.
"You insolent woman!" The man yelled as Hinata made her escape. "Guards!"
Hinata paid no heed to the men chasing her as she searched for an exit. Her only focus was just to escape from here. With her Byakugan activated, she rushed towards the nearest exit, evading the kunai's flying towards her. She gritted her teeth in pain when one kunai stabbed her right arm, but Hinata ignored it. A guard caught up to her, slashing her in the process, but she fought back. She then ran and ran, but the guards were gaining on her. She needed to get outside. Knowing that she would be outnumbered, Hinata jumped out of the window, shattering the glass into pieces.
"Catch her!"
She ran throughout town as fast as her legs could carry. It was dark and most of the villagers were inside, too afraid to go out. However, there were still some lingering outside in the rain, watching as she ran, observing as the guards continued to chase her. She slipped and fell and she heard the footsteps of some villagers coming to her and Hinata could only hope that they would allow her to escape freely and not hand her over to the guards. She looked up and her pleading eyes met their empty ones.
"Run. Quickly, before it's too late!"
Hinata eyed them thankfully. She quickly stood up and continued running. She increased her speed, but the guards continued to chase after her. She turned and turned, but wherever she went, they would be there. She changed her direction again and smiled when she saw the gates. She knew once she went beyond the gates, she could enter the forest and ran past the border where it would then be harder for them to track her. However, her happiness was short-lived and she grimaced when she saw the guards near the gates. Hinata stopped knowing there was no way she could escape without a fight. The three guards at the gates took a step forward and surrounded her. Hinata didn't run. She stayed on.
"Go back, Lady Hinata. You don't want to create any trouble do you?"
"I refuse to go back to that wretched place."
"Then we'll use force, Lady Hinata." The guards warned.
Hinata didn't move. She didn't run. She just stood still and waited for the guards to attack. There was a reason why she chose this day. She could try to escape anytime, but tonight was special, because tonight, the rain was here. The rain would help her. Water was her element. The rain would protect her. Without further ado, she got into her stance. As the guards struck, Hinata closed her eyes and she envisioned the raindrops. She focused her chakra and absorbed the rain. Controlling the flow of the water with her gentle fists, Hinata pushed it towards the guards, sending them flying to the walls.
Wasting no time, she dashed out of the gates. Never once did she look behind. She was finally out, that was all that matter. When the forest was within her line of sight, hope crept into her heart and she increased her speed. This was it. She could finally escape. She had no destination in mind, but she couldn't care less. She could finally escape, from this wretched place, from this pain and from this nightmare.
She entered the forest, and she knew they were still chasing her, but as she got in deeper and deeper, their presence gradually faded. However, Hinata took no chances. Even though her hand was bleeding profusely and she knew she should stop to heal it, she could not risk it. She had no desires to go back there again, not anymore, not after what she had been through. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes at some of the painful memories, but she held it back and continued running.
The thunder roared angrily and mercilessly as she leaped from trees to trees. She held back a scream when another struck again, but again she didn't stop. Despite now drenched and shivering in the cold, Hinata kept on going. She had to be brave because now, she had no one. She was alone, but no matter what she vowed to survive. She won't let herself fall. She won't let them catch her.
Hyuuga Hinata would keep on running as far as she could because she never ever would want to return to that place anymore.
To him, life no longer had a meaning to it. There was no reason to smile, nor was there a reason to kill. There were only bitter memories which continued to haunt him repeatedly. Uchiha Sasuke wondered why he was still alive when he no longer had the will to live. Yet, even when life now meant nothing, he couldn't end his own life. He never dared. Perhaps he was afraid, fearful to experience the pain of death when he had killed many.
Or perhaps deep down, his heart desired life, and even if life couldn't offer him anything, that one day, he will find something, anything, to live for.
It had been two years since the war ended and Sasuke now was a lone traveler. As much as he tried to start anew, memories of the war were still fresh. He remembered how deeply he wanted to destroy his own village. He could still remember fighting Kabuto alongside his dead brother, brought back to life by a forbidden jutsu and even now, he still remembered Itachi's final words to him before the man departed from the world of the living forever, the words that continued to play in his mind every single day till now.
Perhaps it was because of Itachi that he ended up fighting alongside Naruto instead of against him. Maybe it was because he remembered his brother that he decided to help the Allied Five Nations to stop Madara and Tobi's plans. It was because of his brother's love that Sasuke chose to spare the village instead of destroying it.
However, things didn't change much for him. He was still angry, and he still hated the village his brother adored. Till now, he couldn't bear to lay foot into the village. Granted, he had some good memories there with his former team that he couldn't deny, but bad had overshadowed the good. No matter how he tried to forget, the village still reminded him of his clan's massacre, of all the collusion behind it, but most of all, of Itachi's pain. Sasuke still could not forgive.
Hence here he was, travelling aimlessly for about two years now. As he had helped during the war, the Five Nations had agreed to pardon him— thanks to Naruto's persuasion who was now the Hokage after Tsunade stepped down. Naruto fought for his defense, and even though he did not condone Sasuke's actions, Naruto argued he at least deserved justice for what had happened to his clan. Since he had also helped end the war, the least he deserved was to be at peace. The Allied Nations were reluctant to let him go unpunished, but with Naruto's constant persuasion and when the Kazekage finally backed him up, they agreed to let the Uchiha go and he was free to reside wherever he wanted, as long as he remained well-behaved.
Of course after his trial, Naruto had beaten him up, yelling at him for making his life miserable ever since he left. Sasuke knew he had caused him pain, so he allowed the blond to inflict pain on him, but it was not for long before Naruto cried and laughed at the same time, and told him how he was glad to finally have his friend back.
Naruto tried to persuade him to stay in Konoha, He promised that he wouldn't have to suffer anymore, that he could start anew, but Sasuke declined. Wounds would never heal. He knew till the day he died, he would never forget about Konoha's part in the annihilation of his clan and he could never forget that night where everyone died in front of his own eyes.
While he was thankful of Naruto's offer, Sasuke wanted to start afresh and in order to do that, he must first stay away from the source of his pain— which is the village. Hence, he became a traveler. He traveled from rural villagers to the urban ones, from open lands to deserted ones, and he continued on travelling hoping that one day, he could find his peace.
It had been positive so far. There w no one to annoy him or slow him down and he didn't need to socialize, unless necessary. Life had been relatively peaceful.
"100,000 yen." The innkeeper told him.
Except when he encountered unwanted situations like this.
Sasuke stared in disbelief at the pure extortion he was facing. 100,000 yen for one small room? It was impossible. This woman was toying with him.
"You are kidding," the Uchiha grimaced.
"I'm not. It's the normal rates here," she winked seductively, which only irked the Uchiha further, "of course you can just spend a night with me in my room and that would definitely be free. So what do you think, handsome young man?"
Sasuke frowned at the woman in disgust. "No thank you."
Ignoring the flirtatious look the woman was giving him, Sasuke stomped out of the inn. It seemed that the Uchiha's curse of attracting ladies, be it at what age, was still prevalent and Sasuke had to brace himself to deal with female stalkers and flirtatious innkeepers. Such unwanted actions made him realise that spending the night in the forest would bring him more happiness than tackling unwanted situation in town.
And so he did. Wasting no time, Sasuke headed towards the riverbank in the forest — the perfect spot to start a camp. Starting a fire, he then sat down and allowed the warmth of the flames to reach him, staring at the clear skies above as his thoughts wandered.
He thought about Naruto and wondered how he was doing right now as a Hokage. He thought about Sakura and wondered if the medic had finally come to term with her feelings. He thought about Kakashi-sensei where he believed that he was just somewhere reading his perverted book. He also thought about Team Hebi which had split up ever since the war ended. He wondered if Suigetsu was still annoying, if Juugo could finally control the monster inside him and whether Karin had found someone new to admire. He suddenly recalled the moments where he had traveled with others and Sasuke suddenly felt alone.
He had to admit, travelling by himself could be lonely. Maybe it could be nice to have a companion at times— companions that wouldn't annoy him though. A desirable companion to him would just be someone who was as quiet, someone who could emit a calm and comforting presence, someone such as ...
All of a sudden, Sasuke heard a rustling noise. It was soft, but he heard it. Someone else was here. Alert, Sasuke whipped out a kunai and stared at the direction the noise had came from. As the rustlings got louder, Sasuke prepared himself to attack, but when he finally saw the approaching figure, he paused.
A woman with long midnight blue hair, clad in only a torn purple kimono stood before him. Her entire body was shaking, her skin was pale, almost lifeless, and her breathing was uneven. Whether she was panting or struggling to breathe, he could not tell. However, what he found confusing was that she looked strangely familiar. . .
He knew this person. He had seen her somewhere before and it was only when her confused white eyes met his dark ones that he realized who she was.
"Hyuuga."
She was a Hyuuga. He vaguely remembered her from the academy, but he just couldn't recall her name.
She took a step forward and it was only then did Sasuke realized that she was badly injured. Her legs were swollen, her small neck was covered with bruises and she was bleeding badly. Their eyes met again and as if realizing who he was, she wobbled weakly to him, staring deep into him with her pleading eyes.
"What the— " Sasuke grimaced when she suddenly clung to it as if it was her only source of life.
"D-Don't send me back there, p-please. . ."
The barely inaudible plea were the only words Sasuke heard before the woman closed her eyes and fainted in his arms