Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Duty ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4

 

Hinata stared at the ANBU woman on her doorstep, the woman's words of sympathy unheard over the sudden roaring in her ears. It wasn't possible. She had to be lying. Darkness intruded on the edges of her vision and she reached for the doorframe for support.

 

Seeing that the dark-haired woman was clearly not handling the news well, the masked woman stepped forward as Hinata sagged, boneless, toward the floor, and caught her. Haruna hated this part of being ANBU, almost more than hunting down former colleagues. Telling a spouse or parent that their loved one wasn't coming back was the most unsavory of jobs. Her heart clenched as she carefully carried the drooping woman into the silent Uchiha mansion and settled her on a soft couch. Everyone liked Hinata, so being the one to break the news to her was heartbreaking.

 

As if by magic the housekeeper appeared and instantly began to fret over her downed mistress. “Oh what happened? Madam? Are you alright?” Nao cried, stroking Hinata's hair back and patting her cheek gently. Hinata simply moaned in soft distress, in response. After a quick explanation to the shocked housekeeper, Haruna managed to get the well meaning old woman to go get her mistress some water and a blanket.

 

Once Nao was gone, she settled on the floor and watched the young woman carefully. It wasn't uncommon for wives to react this way, though she was a bit surprised with this one. She had heard the marriage was arranged, not a love match. Uchiha was nice enough, if a little grumpy, but she'd never seen him as loveable. It would be hard to live with such a lovely young woman, though, and not develop some sort of feeling for her. Perhaps they hadn't seen the whole picture when it came to the strange couple.

 

Hinata groaned softly and stirred, her pale eyes opening slowly. She spotted the masked woman on her floor and instantly she was sitting up eyes wide and her face sickly pale. She heard the ANBU's words echoing in her head and choked in horror. Sasuke was missing, most likely dead! He'd disappeared two weeks into the long escort mission and the clients, and his team of Chuunin, were all dead. The message rapidly played over and over in her head until she felt like screaming. She clutched her shirt as her heart clenched. It wasn't possible. Not her husband, one of the village's strongest ninja, the Uchiha genius. It was a mistake. He'd returned from Orochimaru, trained with Naruto daily, and finished countless missions. She shook her head in denial as the tall woman stood and slid next to her on the soft couch.

 

“He is missing. You need to believe me when I say that. We have no proof he's dead, but he is most definitely gone,” Haruna said with a gentle firmness she used in delivering all bad news. “I'm so sorry.” She slid her arm around the small woman's shoulders and, as if she'd flipped a switch, the quiet woman burst into heart wrenching sobs against her shoulder.

 

***

Tsunade rubbed her eyes and sighed in exhaustion. It had been three weeks since the news of Sasuke's disappearance reached them and there wasn't a single sign of the young Uchiha heir. The thought that he'd abandoned his village again had lingered only until she saw his grieving widow. She'd seen a little of what they'd had with each other and didn't believe even for a moment, after that, that the young man would ever leave Hinata. Besides Naruto had sworn vehemently that Sasuke wasn't the same spoiled, vengeful child he had been. He knew for a fact that Sasuke would never again leave his home, especially with his wife there.

 

The only possibilities lay in kidnapping or death. Since no ransom letters had arrived, it didn't seem that the former was a likely situation. The amount of blood at the attack site would suggest that it was a definite possibility. Medic nin had reported to her within two days that some of the blood was from the Uchiha. As if to top off the whole horrid situation they still hadn't discovered the identity of the person responsible for Hinata's brief infertility. Tsunade had a nagging feeling that they were somehow connected.

 

Naruto was sitting across from her, dark circles under his eyes. He'd just finished giving his report. He'd set out the moment the initial news had come and had only just arrived back to tell her what everyone else had told her. It was like Sasuke had fallen off the planet. They couldn't find tracks or clues anywhere around the whole attack site. There was plenty of blood, but due to the fact that five people had been killed, that wasn't a big surprise. It wasn't even a surprise that some of it did come from Sasuke. Shinobi lost quite a lot of it on most missions. Scars came with the territory. Kyuubi had even admitted he couldn't follow Sasuke's scent, though it was mostly due to all of the other scents in the area. He complained that if the brat wanted his help to find an area a little less saturated.

 

“How's Hinata?” he asked, his voice husky with exhaustion. He rubbed his face and blinked wearily at Tsunade. Gods he needed a shower and about three days of sleep.

 

“I don't know,” Tsunade admitted. “She cried a lot those first few days, but now she's just her quiet, shy self again. She has always been a bit difficult to read,” she murmured rubbing her eyes again. “Maybe you could go stay with her for a bit and see if you can get anything out of her. She needs the company and you could use a little rest.”

 

Naruto nodded silently and stood up. He waved as he turned to leave the room, leaving Tsunade to wonder what in the hell to do. She didn't like the vibes she was getting. Something was horribly wrong with this whole situation, aside from the obvious one concerning Sasuke's disappearance. “Shizune!” she yelled.

 

The dark-haired medic hurried in a moment later. “Yes ma'am?”

 

“I want you to pick a few people and research the Uchiha family. I want you to list every one of their enemies, especially those you can connect to Itachi. I'm sure he had his own share of pissed off enemies. We need to figure out why someone doesn't want the Uchiha line to continue,” Tsunade ordered with a soft frown on her perfect lips. Shizune bowed and hurried out. Tsunade didn't like mysteries, but she did like a gamble. She'd wager the Sasuke was still alive, somewhere. Now they just had to figure out where that somewhere was and hope that her propensity toward losing didn't pertain to this situation as well.

 

***

Hinata opened her eyes and, with dread, realized it was morning again. It meant she had to get up and pretend like everything was normal, that Sasuke was coming back and that she was patiently waiting for that day. She wanted to believe that it was true, but as each day passed, she felt her hope slide just a little bit more towards the black pit of despair growing inside. The place in her heart that had once been swollen with happiness, and perhaps even love, was little more than an open raw wound now.

 

She sat up, trying to shake off her melancholy, and abruptly wished that she hadn't. Nausea swept over her and she barely made into to the adjoining bathroom before vomiting up what was left of her dinner from the night before.

 

As she wiped her face with a damp cloth she wondered what was wrong with her. This was the third day of this. She'd barely kept anything down for a week and now her stomach was revolting completely. Perhaps it was just the stress. Either way she was mildly irritated by it. As if she didn't have enough to deal with, with Sasuke's memorial coming up at the end of the week and his mysterious disappearance. She sighed and brushed her teeth before wandering back to their room and throwing on her training clothes. Maybe she'd stop by the hospital and get something to quiet her stomach before heading to her favorite training area. She needed to work off some of her stress and hopefully wear herself out enough to actually sleep that night.

 

She wandered down the empty streets of the Uchiha section of town and for the hundredth time, wondered if it would ever be filled with Uchihas again. For the first few months of their marriage she'd begun to despair of it never happening, up until Tsunade found the problem. Then just when the problem disappeared, so did Sasuke. No one knew where Sasuke was or when he'd return, if he'd return. She didn't want to give up hope, but walking down the haunted streets didn't help in the least. It didn't seem likely that they'd ever hear the voices of the proud Uchiha clan ever again.

 

She was nearly to the hospital when she saw Naruto trudging down the path toward her, looking more exhausted than she'd ever seen him. Hinata knew that he couldn't possibly have good news. If he did he'd be yelling it from the rooftops and racing out to pursue the lead. Instead he just looked like a disappointed, lost little boy. She had to remember that she might very well love Sasuke, but to Naruto Sasuke was family, his brother. Another little piece of hope died inside and it was nearly impossible for her to summon even the smallest of smiles. “You're back,” she murmured softly, trying to hide the disappointment in her tone.

 

“Yeah,” he said back, trying to summon his own smile, but failing. His shoulders sagged and his gentle blue eyes pooled with tears he refused to shed. “I'm sorry Hinata. I'll rest and get back out there, I promise. I'll bring him back again. I've done it before.”

 

“It's okay Naruto. Don't make it your obsession,” she said softly, fighting down a new waved of nausea. She really needed to get to a medic before this got worse.

 

“Sasuke has always been my obsession Hinata. That won't change,” he said with a sad smile. He noticed that her skin looked even paler than usual and stepped forward. He frowned when she winced and rubbed her stomach. “Hey, are you okay…I mean you look like you don't feel well Hinata.”

 

“I've been sick this week…throwing up a little.” She shook her head. “It's probably just the stress. I'm headed to the hospital to get something for it.” She took a deep, slow breath and just managed not to vomit on his shoes as he stepped closer to her.

 

“I'll walk with you,” Naruto said slipping his arm around her shoulders and walking forward with her. Now that he was paying attention he could smell the faint scent of illness and sweat on her. She must be taking Sasuke's disappearance harder than he'd imagined, if she was actually making herself sick over it.

 

“You should get some rest Naruto. You've been gone for weeks,” she murmured softly. “I can make it there on my own, it's not far.” Despite her protests she was grateful for the gentle contact of her long-time friend. Being around Naruto had always made her feel a little bit better. He had that effect on most of the people he came in contact with.

 

“It's okay,” he said with a smile. “I promised you and Sasuke I'd keep you safe and I won't forget that. Come on. Let's see if we can pin down a medic to give you something to make you feel better. It should be quiet, since there aren't many teams in town at the moment.” He guided her toward the hospital with a small smile on his face, happy to be doing something for his missing friend, even something so simple.

 

They checked in with the nurse at the front desk and she pointed them towards an empty room, telling them that a medic would be with her shortly. Hinata sat silently on the sterile examination table and Naruto sagged into an extra chair, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. Hinata frowned softly, thinking she really should send him home. For Naruto to droop this much, he must have gone almost non-stop for the past three weeks.

 

She was about to open her mouth to tell him as much, when Sakura swept in smiling softly. She was dressed in her white medic uniform and carrying a clipboard. “Oh Hinata! So you're my first patient of the day? How are you holding up?” she asked gently, rubbing Hinata's arm in sympathy.

 

Hinata shook her head. “Honestly, it is very hard for me Sakura.” She glanced at Naruto who had begun snore ever so softly. “Every day that goes by…it's harder and harder to maintain hope,” she whispered, her voice catching slightly. “I feel like screaming, but I'm afraid if I started I wouldn't be able to stop it.”

 

Sakura regarded the shy, sweet woman with an inward frown and a worried face. Hinata was different. She was still as quiet and kind as ever, but something was dying in her. Some of her inner light had dimmed. Sakura knew what it was like to wait for the Uchiha heir to come home, but somehow she knew it was far worse for Hinata than it had been for her. She realized, with a pang that Hinata had fallen in love with her missing husband. This wasn't a childhood crush, like Sakura's had been.

 

She shook off her sad thoughts and smiled as best she could. “Keep up your faith in Sasuke. He'll make it back to you. He always comes back, even if it takes a little time.” She leaned against the examination table and held up her clip board. “Now tell me what brings you here,” she said. She glanced over at Naruto, who was still gently snoring. “Unless you were bringing him in. He looks really tired.”

 

“No, it's me,” Hinata said with a small smile toward Naruto. He looked so mellow and sweet when he was sleeping and the mischievous look in his eyes was hidden. She turned her attention back to Sakura and sighed softly. “I have been nauseous lately. I was hoping you might be able to give me something for it. It's hard to keep food down…nerves I think.”

 

Sakura cocked her head to the side and looked at the young woman thoughtfully for a moment. “For how long?” she asked.

 

“About a week now,” Hinata replied softly.

 

“Any soreness anywhere?” Sakura asked writing on her clipboard.

 

“A little tenderness I suppose,” Hinata admitted, turning her eyes to Naruto to make sure he really was sleeping. “I'm close to the time of my cycle I think though.”

 

Sakura flicked her gaze to the snoozing blond and then back to Hinata. She had a sneaking suspicion of what was causing the problem, but with Naruto in the room…should she say? She set her clip board down and reached for Hinata's belly. “Let me take a look at your abdomen,” she murmured gently. Hinata nodded and lifted her shirt a bit so Sakura could touch her skin. Sakura placed her hand on the woman's belly and concentrated her energy.

 

Sakura felt elated and sick all at once at what she found there. There was no doubt about it. Hinata was pregnant, by approximately five weeks if Sakura had to guess. It would certainly explain the vomiting. Sasuke was missing and Hinata was caring his child…no, his children. She felt two strong life forces mingling with Hinata's own. How would Hinata take this news? “Hinata…were you and Sasuke intimate in the time before he left?” she asked softly, pulling back. Tsunade had filled her in on the ordeal about the potions in their well, so it would have had to happen right before he left.

 

Hinata's eyes filled with understanding and tears. “Yes,” she whispered brokenly.

 

Sakura glanced at Naruto again. This was big news that Tsunade would definitely need to hear about. Hinata could be in serious danger if there really was someone trying to wipe out the last of the Uchiha line. “I don't know if you want others to know this…but….”

 

“I'm pregnant,” Hinata said softly, her arms wrapping around her belly. This is what she'd been waiting for. Only now Sasuke wasn't waiting at home or out training with Naruto. She couldn't run to him and tell him the good news. She couldn't tell him she'd finally fulfilled her duty to his clan. She'd conceived the next, and probably only, heir to the Uchiha clan. Visions of Sasuke smiling and scooping her up in his arms faded to those of her standing alone and cold in the darkness.

 

“Yes,” Sakura said softly, gripping at Hinata's hand over her belly. “Twins it would seem.”

 

“Twins?” Hinata gasped softly.

 

“Hinata,” Sakura said softly, nearly whispering. “I don't think this should get out, not to the general public at least. Tsunade already told her top medics what happened, so she'll need to know and so will they, but no one else. I think, for your safety, and your children's, you need to keep it to your self.”

 

“Keep what to her self…children?” Naruto mumbled sleepily, blinking his eyes open. He rubbed his face and quirked a brow at the two women clutching each other. “What did I miss? Are you okay Hinata?”

 

“I'm pregnant with twins Naruto,” Hinata said softly, an odd light brightening her eyes. Sakura desperately wanted it to be hope. Hinata needed that more than ever now. For weeks she'd looked listless and the lovely light in her eyes had faded. It was nice to see a little bit of it shining through again.

 

“What?” Naruto cried jumping out of his seat, his gaze flying to where the women's hands lay over Hinata's belly. “How? Sasuke's gone!” he hissed accusingly.

 

“Naruto shush!” Sakura whispered fiercely. “You idiot! It happened before he left. It's not like this happened last night or something! It had to have happened within those few days before he left.”

 

His face cleared and suddenly he looked sad and a little embarrassed. He remembered Sasuke carting his wife away just before he'd left on his mission. Naruto hadn't seen him again until Sasuke had dropped by to say goodbye the morning he'd left. “Oh Hinata…is this okay?” he asked softly, realizing that as wonderful as babies could be, she might very well be raising them on her own, constantly reminded of the man she'd lost every time she saw them.

 

Hinata actually smiled and nodded. “Yes. This is okay. Even if Sasuke doesn't come back, at least I have his babies,” she murmured, rubbing her still flat belly. Tears pooled in her eyes and spilled out over the edge. “I wish I had both….”

 

Sakura murmured soothingly and wrapped her arms around the sobbing woman. She looked at Naruto over Hinata's shoulder. Naruto's liquid blue eyes firmed and he straightened to his full height, despite his weariness. “You will Hinata. I swear it.” He rushed out of the room before either woman could stop him.

 

***

 

Sasuke groaned and blinked open crusted eyes. Bright light seared into his head and he gasped in pain. His head was pounding. It felt like someone had kicked it in, repeatedly. He vaguely wondered if he'd gone out with Naruto the night before and forgotten about it. Every time he went out with the loud blonde chunks of his life magically disappeared and he awoke with a blinding hangover. Once he'd even wound up in his boxers, passed out, on the 4th's head. That was a fantastic memory. He always swore it wouldn't happen again, yet it inevitably did anyway.

 

He blinked a couple of times and finally managed to get his eyes open enough to look around. Well this definitely wasn't his bedroom. No soft bed and no Hinata. He groaned and tried to sit up, surprised at how much his body protested the movement. He wouldn't be surprised if that was a cracked rib he could feel. Hinata would definitely be worried about him, and he doubted she'd be pleased if he came home in the condition he was in. Unfortunately when he really looked around, he realized a mad wife was the least of his worries.

 

He was clearly in some kind of cell. The walls were made of smooth cement and the only openings were a small barred window and a narrow, metal door in the ceiling. The floor was bare, except for the small, crude mattress that he was currently sitting on. Why was he in a cell?

 

He wracked his throbbing brain for any clues, frustrated at how slow it was working. Where had he been before this place? He remembered being in Konoha with Hinata. They'd made love for almost two days, leaving their bed only for food and to bathe. Why was he away from her? He rubbed his head in frustration.

 

His head shot up and he hit the floor angrily. A mission! He'd been on a mission before this. That's why he hadn't wanted to leave Hinata's side for a moment. He fell back. Oh god the mission! They were attacked a few weeks in, still a week from their destination. It had taken longer than they'd planned. One of the clients was an elderly man and the other was his young wife. They'd been dignitaries from a tiny town, far west of Konoha, deep into Wind Country. They'd traveled slowly, escorting the couple's carriage. The two hadn't wanted to travel more than twelve hours at a time, so it had been slow going.

 

Neither had stood a chance as Sasuke's team fell under the brutal attack. Sasuke remembered that they'd triggered a genjustu and hadn't been able to break out of it. It had felt like they were suffocating at first, and he'd been unable to fight back as a large man beat him senseless. The last he remembered before he blacked out was the woman's strangled scream.

 

He doubted it was anyone from the Sand that had attacked. Gaara wouldn't have allowed it. It had to be rogue shinobi. Why didn't they just kill him? What was the purpose of keeping him like this? He had money, but not enough to be worth all that trouble. The dignitary and his wife weren't influential, beyond the walls of their tiny town, so sure they weren't the target. His team had been primarily made up of Chuunin getting a little field experience. It wasn't supposed to be a dangerous mission after all. The only thing he could figure was that they had something personal against him or the Uchiha.

 

He sighed and decided that his captors would have to show up eventually, and then he'd find out. In the mean time he needed to figure out how to escape.

 

***