Kingdoms Have Fallen

Entry 19: Ideas

Entry 19: Ideas

He skipped the usual entry at the front of the hospital — not feeling the need to announce his presence and cause a commotion. Sasuke walked up the side of the building and straight to Hinata's room. Karin must have known he would do just that since the window was wide open.

As he was slipping inside, he heard her voice and that playfulness in her tone.

"What a nice way to greet me." She tilted her head and smiled, waving lazily.

Sasuke walked closer to her and lifted his hand. He didn't say a thing but she understood. Putting her hand in his own, he pulled out the IV and caressed the small mark it left.

"You're awake."

"You saved me." She pulled his hand closer, pressing her cheek against his opener palm. "I didn't think you would." Hinata made room for him to sit down.

"Why?"

She shrugged, "I doubt many people would have survived if they were in my shoes. From day one, you made it clear that you didn't like me, or trust me. I thought that the words we exchanged, however brief they were, were lies. Until I woke up and realized that it wasn't a dream. The Uchiha and Hyuga..."

"Outcasts." He brushed her hair to the side. "I'm...sorry."

"You don't have to keep apologizing. We all hate people, we all hurt them, you're susceptible to hatred as much as the other person. You deserve to hate the world, Konoha, and anyone who stood idle while you suffered." She reassured him, she hated seeing him so conflicted whenever he stared at her.

It was as if she was a reminder of what he did.

"Sasuke?" She whispered.

He didn't respond, instead, he just looked at her with a questioning gaze.

"Come here." She opened her arms.

He was confused about what she was doing, but he sat closer to her. Her arms wrapped around him, her head nestled in the crook of his neck as she held him tighter.

"I should be the one apologizing. I don't feel bad about what I did, what I said, my reaction — none of it. If anything, I'm happy about it. My apology is because no one could protect you. No one trusted you, not your team, not your village. I may be late, but I'm here. You've given me a reason to be here. That day you saved me, I made up my mind that no matter how much I hated you, I would be grateful." She threaded her fingers through his hair. "Give me a reason to love you this time."

Sasuke's shoulders relaxed, his heart was beating rather loudly in his ears. Her words echoed through his head and made his vision feel clearer. "I want you to do the same."

"No matter what, we won't give up. Let's restart from the day we met." She mumbled, "from when you were Sasuke and I was Hinata."

"Okay." He agreed, pulling away from her.

They sat there and studied each other in silence, as if they were in a trance. She kept smiling to herself while she touched his arm, making sure that everything was real and this wasn't a genjūtsu she had casted on herself. When his gaze became serious the moment it settled on her bandages, she became weary.

"What's wrong?"

"Did Suna do that to you? Did they put that thing inside of you?" His fingers grazed the edge of the wrapping; pulling at them gently until they fell loosely around her neck.

"It wasn't Suna." She said, letting his hands slip under the hospital gown to take off the rest of the bandages. His touch was soft although his hands were calloused due to the handling of his lightning affinity. "It was my clan."