Ino leaned forward, her green eyes sharp. "Well? Don't just stand there with those angry faces. Talk to us."
The atmosphere in the Grand Pavilion shifted from quiet anxiety to heavy, suffocating tension as the boys filtered into the room.
Neji stood in the center, his expression hard and analytical, while Sasuke ignored everyone.
With a cold, distant look, Sasuke guided the sobbing Mini-Sasuke toward the far corner of the vast room, tucked away behind a decorative folding screen wall where the shadows were deepest.
Sasuke sat the boy down on the soft futon, his movements mechanical but efficient. He didn't say a word to the others; he couldn't deal with their theories yet.
He laid the small boy down and began to rhythmically, slowly thump his hand against the child's back. It was a grounding, steady motion, but Sasuke's eyes were fixed on the wall, his mind a dark storm.
Mini-Sasuke's sobs were muffled by the bedding, his small frame shaking with every hitching breath.
He was exhausted—mentally and physically—clinging to the hope that if he just closed his eyes, he would wake up at the Uchiha estate.
The hanging lantern on the high roof flickered, casting long, swaying shadows across the Grand Pavilion.
Sakura, Ino, Karin, Hinata, and Tenten stood in a tight circle, their eyes darting between the boys. They hadn't even had a chance to ask about the bath before the heavy atmosphere hit them like a physical weight.
"What is wrong with them?" Tenten whispered, her eyes fixed on Neji's rigid back.
"They look like they want to kill each other, not like they just came from a hot spring." Ino spoke.
"Look at Lee," Tenten added, her voice full of worry. "He's usually so loud, but he looks... defeated.
"And Naruto is just staring at the floor. Something happened in those baths." Sakura added
Karin adjusted her glasses, her eyes narrowing as she sensed the jagged, clashing chakra signatures coming from the boys.
"The energy in here is disgusting. It's like they all just had a massive fight without throwing a single punch. Sasuke San's chakra is the worst—it's like a cold wall."
Sakura stepped toward the center, looking at Neji. "Neji-San speak to us. Why is Sasuke-kun's younger self crying? And why was Naruto arguing with you? We heard voices in the hallway before you even opened the door."
Neji turned his head slightly, his pale eyes cold.
"We aren't just in a different land, Sakura. We are in a different reality. I noticed something on Sasuke's body. The Curse Mark... it's not there. It's gone."
The girls froze. The silence in the room became absolute.
"Gone?" Sakura breathed, her medical mind immediately jumping to a thousand terrifying conclusions.
"How? Did he find a way to seal it? Or... was it extracted?"
"He didn't do anything," Naruto muttered, finally looking up with a frustrated scowl.
"Neji started it! He saw it was gone and immediately started saying we were in the Future and that everyone we know is probably dead! He's being a total jerk about it dattebayo!"
"I am being logical!" Neji snapped back, his voice rising. "A mark of that power does not vanish unless the source is destroyed. I told them we must be in a time where Orochimaru is no longer a threat..."
"But Naruto and Lee started shouting that I was wrong—that we're just 'healed' and still in the Present."
While the group began to buzz with these new, terrifying theories, Sasuke remained in the dark corner of the room. He had ignored the girls' questions entirely.
He sat on the tatami, his dark yukata pooling around him. He had laid Mini-Sasuke down on a thin mat, and his hand was rhythmically thumping the boy's back—thump... thump... thump...
The child's sobbing was the only consistent sound in the room. He was tucked into a ball, his small hands clutching the fabric of his robe.
Sasuke didn't look at his teammates. He didn't look at Sakura or Naruto. He just stared at the wall, his hand continuing that steady, heavy beat to drown out the boy's cries.
'Idiots!'Sasuke muttered, his jaw tightening as he listened to Neji and Naruto start to bicker again.
'They are so busy fighting over 'when' we are, they don't even realize that the land we are in is a death trap of they hear us.
The lanterns hanging from the high rafters swayed slightly, casting long, shivering shadows across the floor as the tension reached a boiling point.
Tenten stepped into the middle of the group, her hands on her hips, looking from Neji's cold face to Naruto's frustrated scowl.
"Okay, enough!" Tenten commanded, her voice sharp. "If we're going to survive the night in a house full of Samurai, we need to be on the same page. What is everyone's actual thought? What are we dealing with?"
Naruto didn't answer her. Instead, he turned toward the dark corner where the rhythmic thump... thump... continued.
"Sasuke! Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto called out, his voice a loud, impatient whisper.
"Leave the kid alone for a minute! He's fine, he's just tired. You need to come over here and talk to us! We can't decide anything if you're just sitting in the dark acting all broody dattebayo!"
Sasuke didn't move. He didn't even blink.
"Seriously, Sasuke, come on!" Naruto persisted, waving his arm. "You're the one whose neck we're talking about! Stop thumping him and get over here! Teme come! Come fast!"
Among the group, Hinata had been sitting in the quiet hallway, watching the moon through the slats of the window.
But as the shouting from Naruto and the others grew louder and more frantic, she felt a pull in her heart. She knew how much Sasuke valued silence, and she knew how much the child needed peace.
She stood up softly, her purple tunic skirt whispering against the floor, and stepped into the room.
She moved past the shouting group, ignoring the debate about 'Present' and 'Future,' and walked around the thick wall into the secluded corner where Sasuke sat in the dark.
The rhythmic thump of Sasuke's hand faltered as Hinata's shadow fell over him. He didn't look up immediately, but he could feel the shift in the air—the calm, gentle warmth that only she brought into a room.
Hinata knelt down beside him, her knees resting on the tatami mat just inches from his. She looked at the sleeping Mini-Sasuke, whose breathing was finally steady, then she looked at Sasuke's weary condition.
"Sasuke-kun," she whispered, her voice a soft melody that seemed to push back the harsh echoes of Naruto's shouting.
"They won't stop until you go to them. Their hearts are full of fear, and they look to you for the answer."
Sasuke's jaw tightened.
"I don't have the answers they want to hear, Hinata."
"I know," she said, reaching out with a hesitant but brave hand to lightly touch the edge of the blanket he was holding.
"But let me stay here. I will take care of him. I will watch over him so you can... deal with the others."
Sasuke finally turned his head. In the dim, flickering light, his dark eyes searched her face. He saw no judgment there, only a deep, quiet loyalty.
For a brief second, the walls around his heart—thicker than the ones in this Pavilion—seemed to soften.
He let his hand slide away from the boy's back, his fingers momentarily brushing against the warmth of Hinata's skin as he pulled back. It was a silent, electric moment—a wordless thank you that lingered in the air between them.
"Don't let them wake up." Sasuke said, his voice dropping to a low, intimate rasp.
"I won't." Hinata promised, her eyes softening as she watched him stand up.
Sasuke took one last look at her—the way the lamplight caught the purple clothes—before he turned and stepped out from behind the wall to face the storm of his friends.
Hinata took his place, her hand gently resting where his had been, keeping the silent guard while the boy she loved went to fight the ghosts of their timeline.
The shadows cast by the interior wall suddenly shifted as Sasuke stepped into the main area of the pavilion.
He didn't just walk; he emerged with a cold, predatory grace that instantly killed the noise in the room.
His eyes were sharp, scanning the group with a look of utter disdain that made even Naruto take a half-step back.
"You're making enough noise to wake the dead," Sasuke said, his voice a low, dangerous rasp that cut through the air.
"If the Samurai don't kill us, your stupidity might."
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📊 BATTLE REPORT: 53-IRON 📊
WINNER: Hyuga Hinata 😊🌷
SNEAK PEAK LINES 💬
"When Sakura lied about the war, those guards didn't even ask questions"
"While you're busy voting on what year it is, I'm looking at the fact that we're in a city that doesn't recognize our faces"
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—With love, one forehead poke away from collapse,
Sakura Shinomiya 💫
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