Midnight

Chapter Five

The investigation led to nothing. From the people they spoke they learnt what was already on the files. The sight that he was found held no clues. Time has passed since they put together the pieces to start looking into this matter. By the time they had given the case a month had passed. Maybe the teams of the other hidden villages had better luck. They should return thought they had much to report back. They were packing their few things when she addressed him.
"Uchiha-san I have a suggestion."
His eyes focused on his weapons, placing the knives at the right positions on his clothes. She must have thought that he didn't heard her as she didn't continue with her thinking.
"Speak." He said thought he didn't want her to. His instinct told him he wouldn't like what she was about to say.
"I think we should visit the victim."
There it was. He felt relieved that this mission was over. He had to suffer only a day or two to her presence and then he would threaten Kakashi as to never match them again. His rest was sort followed by a non existent sleep. He could feel her awake and alert to a danger he couldn't sense. Every time the sound of her voice reached him, chills were sent to his spine. If his eyes met her face he felt an unreasonable disgust because all she did was smile. His hand was always at the reach of his kunai as he finally observed. He was exhausted. The anger controlling him at the beginning of this mission had transcend into uneasyness. He was finally at the end and she proposed to continue.
"There is no need. He doesn't speak or interact in general."
She stayed quiet for a moment before she added more words to his suffering.
"But you can tell a lot from a person's eyes if you really want to look."
I'm sorry Sasuke. Two red eyes flashed before him. It wasn't the words that pained at that moment, but the sencirety his gaze held.
He sighed in defeat.

____

They were keeping him at a hospital on the next town. The building was small but still it was a success that more clinics were showing these days. The sterilised smell hit his noise as he reminded him of someone he knew. The nurses showed to the room they were keeping him, troubled still for their intention to speak to him.
The man was placed in a chair by the window. A book was at a table next to his bed with a marker on a page. Sasuke's hands reached for it with a frowned expression. The nurse explained his family came to visit and often read him. This used to be his favourite book. His eyes examined the white around him. It was as if a person wasn't staying there. All was neat, almost untouched. He turned as he heard her steps closing to the lifeless body seating on a chair. He seemed to look outside at first. Yet his stare was that of a corpse. She bent her knees to match his height. Her face held no expression as she leaned closer to study him.
"You must have been through something terrible." It was the first time the uneasyness departed, with overwhelming saddeness filling the room. "I'm sorry." Her hands slightly touching the skin that only the heartbeat underneath revealed that the person was alive.
She got up again and moved to the door.
"I've seen what I wanted."

_____

The travel home was sour. They were both awfully quiet. Now that the missions had come to an end their minds were occupied by the events that happened between them. They could made it back in a day if they didn't stop. There was no rush regarding the mission but they seemed determined to be back as fast as they could. The fatigue stroke and their feets became slower. They finally stopped at the outskirts of the village. Walk would add time but it was better than standing.
When the lights played through the leaves they knew they were close.
"Will you tell them?" She was a little behind him.
"Do you plan on betraying Naruto or the village?" He stopped on his tracks.
"Never." She sounded determined.
He started to walk again.
"What gave me away?"
He slightly turned his head, the red was beaming in the darkness.
"I see." She looked at the pebbles dancing on the ground under her feet.
"You should have cried in silence. That's how you truthfully do it right?"
Her eyes stuck on his moving back.