"Sooo…" Tenten said, once Sakura and her team were out of earshot. "Is no one going to point out the obvious, or am I going to have to be the one to do it?"
"Neither the time nor the place," Shikamaru snapped. "Leave it be, Hinata needs to concentrate."
Shikamaru turned his attention back to Hinata, who was staring in the direction of Kusagakure. Thick veins stood out around her single, milky white eye, and the faint outline of her pupil was just discernible, making it clear to anyone even remotely familiar with the Hyūga clan that she had activated her Byakugan.
"I'm just saying," Tenten said, shrugging. "Don't you find it odd that Sakura, of all people, ended up becoming Hokage, and the very next day she tells us she has the power to change people's minds without them realising it?"
Before the truth about Sakura's powers finally came to light, Tenten had been the closest person outside those already in the know to discovering that Sakura could steal Kekkei Genkai. As a regressor, she was naturally suspicious of anything that did not align with the timeline she knew, and in the Land of Rivers she had obtained proof that Sakura had somehow acquired the Kurama clan's powers…
"Sakura wouldn't do that," Sasuke said coldly. "She doesn't care about being Hokage."
"Oh, come on," Tenten sighed. "Of all people, you're the one who should be the most suspicious of her."
Had it crossed Sasuke's mind that Sakura might have used Kotoamatsukami on him? Of course it had. For her sake, he had let go of his anger and abandoned pursuing revenge at any cost, even though he had sworn to become an avenger on his parents' graves.
"Sakura promised me she would never use the Kotoamatsukami on me," Sasuke said haughtily. "It's my choice to believe her."
Even though Sakura had subconsciously awakened to this power to stop him from leaving the village, she had only ever used it once; against Doctor Shinnō, and accidentally at that. Partly because she was saving it for someone powerful like Obito or Madara, and partly because she disliked the idea of brainwashing people.
"You mean you've known all this time?" Shikamaru blurted out, completely forgetting about giving Hinata the peace and quiet she needed to concentrate on her task. "This sort of power, it changes everything. You should have told someone…"
"Tsunade and Jiraiya knew, it's part of the reason Sakura was sent to Hōzuki Prison," Sasuke said coldly. "Don't you think Sakura would have used the Kotoamatsukami then? But she didn't, because she cares about the Hidden Leaf Village..."
…more than she cares about me.
That was the part he left unsaid.
Sasuke knew for a fact that Sakura loved him, but even though she had accomplished the Uchiha clan's long held wish to hold a position of real power in the village… he couldn't help but worry about her priorities. One day, she would give birth to an entire litter of Uchiha babies, but the Hokage had to look out for the entire village, so she could not show favouritism to a single clan…
Of course, every Hokage since Hashirama had given preferential treatment to their own clans and to their lackeys of the Ino-Shika-Chō clans, but since Sasuke did not really concern himself with the affairs of clans beyond his own, he was mostly unaware of Konoha's rampant corruption.
"Hinata-chan," Tenten said pleadingly. "Mind checking inside our heads, just to be safe?"
Hinata gave a start upon hearing her name.
"I don't see Sakura-chan's chakra in any of our brains," she said, shaking her head lightly. "Besides… Sakura-chan is the one who gave me back this eye… and she's the one Naruto-kun loves, so even if I didn't have this eye, I would still choose to believe in her…"
Shikamaru quietly let out a relieved sigh.
Tenten gave a little snort of disbelief. "Oh, come on, girl!" she said. "Aren't you in love with Naruto? What kind of attitude is that? You'll never catch his eye if you don't even try! At this rate, Sakura is going to end up with him!"
Sasuke scoffed. As if a prize catch like Sakura would ever fall in love with that dead-last idiot who permanently reeked of ramen and sour milk.
"W-w-who told you I wa-wa-was in love with Na-Na-Naruto-kun?" Hinata stammered. "...And besides! As long as Na-Na-Naruto-kun's ha-ha-happy, I'm ha-ha-happy too!"
"No one's told me, it's written all across your face that you're head over heels in love with him, girl," Tenten said, rolling her eyes. "Well, maybe this is for the best…"
If Boruto was never born, then Momoshiki would never possess him and destroy the world…
"It is for the best," Sasuke said coolly. "You shouldn't marry outside your clan. It dilutes the blood that makes you strong… not that I'd ever consider the Hyūga clan to be anywhere near the Uchiha clan's level."
"Says the bloke who's never won a single fight against Neji," Tenten snorted… and then Sasuke angrily whipped off his blindfold, revealing his blood-red eyes. "...whoa, scary."
"Enough."
Hinata, Tenten and Sasuke looked to Shikamaru.
"Ugh, do I really have to do this? What a drag," Shikamaru groaned. He scratched the side of his head, then shot them a stern look. "All right, listen up, you idiots; like it or not, we all answer to Sakura now, and we can't afford to fight amongst ourselves… so unless you have something important to say, shut up and let Hinata do her job, got it? We're all Chūnin and Jōnin here, so you'd better act like it."
Tenten and Sasuke harrumphed, stalking off to sit in their own corners beneath the rocky outcrop where they had taken shelter. Hinata returned to her post, staring off into empty space with her one and only Byakugan, occasionally waving a flag to her cousin ten kilometres away, when a few minutes later, the wind began to howl…
A shadow flitted across the crescent moon hanging in the starry night sky.
"In the sky…! Multiple enemies, including a Jinchūriki…!" Hinata broke off. "Ah! I've been seen!" she gasped. "One of them has my missing Byakugan!"
The Byakugan's chakra signature was unmistakeable; and how could Hinata fail to recognise her own chakra?
"Damn it, it's too early!" Shikamaru said nervously. "The infiltration team's nowhere near close to completing their mission! Sasuke!"
There came no answer. Shikamaru looked around wildly, but Sasuke was nowhere in sight.
"That hot-blooded idiot!" he hissed under his breath. "Where did he disappear to?"