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Disclaimer: I don't earn any coins from this. I could be doing more productive things with my life but instead I choose to write fanfiction. Idk what that says about me. Kishimoto and co own the characters blah, blah, blah.

Special Thanks to my Betas: KCMC66 and Starvixen64

I.

Becoming Necessary

"What do you think?"

What did she think?

What did she think?

How could they ask her such a loaded question? Hinata bit her bottom lip and looked back at the hospital bed that had been Uchiha Sasuke's home for the last six months. Hooked up to thousands of wires which connected to state of the art machines all whirring a mile a minute just to keep the once great ninja alive. His name alone had instilled fear in the hearts of millions of people.

Tales of his Sharingan and supposed acquisition of the Rinnegan had elevated him to the levels of power that were rumored to surpass even Madara. He was integral to helping Naruto end the great ninja war, without him she knew that it was a strong possibility that she and everyone breathing in Konoha right now would be dead.

Yet, the culmination of the man known as Sasuke Uchiha was reduced to nothing more than a vegetable in a back corner of the hospital basement. Aside from the machines crowded together in the dark, dank space, Sakura had placed a vase of purple flowers. It was a paltry attempt at making the basement less of a crypt than it already was.

Hinata looked at the sad, broken man lying unconscious before her and noted how visible his veins were against skin that hadn't seen the sun in months. His hair had grown significantly during his incapacitation, staining the white pillow his head rested upon like black ink. His eyes, eyes that possessed two of the strongest kekkegenkai Konoha had ever known, remained closed and for that she was grateful. With nothing but a thin, white hospital sheet to cover his lower half, Hinata would have thought he were a cadaver ready for autopsy except for the almost imperceptible rise and fall of his chest.

So…what did she think? At this point, it would be more merciful to just pull the plug on the man but she couldn't say that. She couldn't give her honest opinion on the matter when Naruto and Sakura were counting so heavily on her. They may have asked what she thought but they didn't want the harsh truth.

"Well?" Sakura asked nervously. "Do you think you can do anything?"

Hinata's shoulders slumped as she picked up on the undertone of suppressed desperation in Sakura's voice. If Konoha's best medic couldn't help Sasuke what could she possibly do for him? She knew that Sakura had been working tirelessly to find a way to revive him, Hinata was the one who had to pick up her slack after all when she stole away from her regular duties. There had been countless mornings that she'd found Sakura passed out with unraveled scrolls spilling off of her already cluttered desk.

She was trying her best to bring the last Uchiha back to the world of the living but it appeared that her best wasn't good enough. Hinata turned her eyes away from the unconscious man to look at his teammates huddled together watching her with expectant eyes. She could handle disappointing Sakura, the woman was a medic after all and was used to receiving unfortunate information on a daily basis. No matter how much she loved him, no matter how broken she felt, Hinata knew that Sakura would be able to continue on. Sasuke was not the first patient she'd lost and he certainly wouldn't be the last.

Naruto on the other hand…she couldn't even look him the eye. His entire life had been spent trying to bring back one of the people he loved the most in this world. If Sasuke died Hinata was positive that a large part of Naruto would die as well. That was something she couldn't allow to happen. Taking a deep breath in through her nose and clenching her fists by her sides, Hinata gave the only thing she could to them.

Her best.

"I'll try." She said softly.

As if a switch went off inside of her two companions, their brightly colored eyes lit up. Sakura left Naruto's side to wrap her up in a tight hug, blubbering out a chocked 'thanks' mixed with instructions on what to do. Hinata couldn't really focus on what she was saying though. Not when Naruto was smiling so genuinely…so hopefully at her. The sight made her heart selfishly skip a beat. She couldn't give him much but she could, at the very least, do her best to save his most important person.

'Because he's my most important person.' Hinata thought as Sakura finally broke their embrace.

"Okay. Sorry for crying like that Hina-chan!" Sakura sniffed. "I don't mean to get so emotional on you."

"I understand Sakura-san." Hinata replied, averting her gaze as the pink haired woman wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand.

Naruto offered her a crumpled-up handkerchief from the pocket of his jacket and Sakura didn't think twice about accepting it and blowing her nose in it. He took the dirtied cloth back without hesitation and returned it to the same pocket. He then placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and she didn't even punch him for doing so. The closeness of Team 7 was something none of the other Rookie 9 could understand. Each team was close in their own way but none so much as them. Inwardly Hinata frowned at t heir innocent interaction but tamped down her own insecure feelings. Now was not the time for petty jealousies.

"Alright. Okay. Let's do this!" Sakura said confidently, steel returning to her green eyes. "As a Hyuuga, you will be able to see his chakra pathways unlike me. I might have a generic map of where they are in the average body but as you know the more chakra a body can hold the more pathways there are to contend with. I've tried just about everything but I'm still going in blind. Your chakra is a lot more gentle than mine is. Mine is just too strong. If I were to attempt this I'd probably make things worse."

Hinata nodded along but she wasn't quite sure if she was supposed to take Sakura's assessment of her chakra as being 'gentle' as a compliment or an insult. Sure she couldn't demolish buildings with her fists but her chakra wasn't weak. To handle the power of the Byakugan without going blind meant that she had to have more chakra pathways in her own body as well as the means to control it. She shrugged off the conundrum and focused instead on the details of the procedure Sakura was asking her to do.

It seemed simple enough. All of Sasuke's pathways were blocked, she'd assessed that with only a simple scan of her Byakugan upon entering the room. The plan was to slowly open the pathways starting with his brain and hopefully once his pathways were restored he would wake up on his own. Hopefully.

"So, let's get started-" Sakura said but was interrupted by a knock on the heavy basement door.

The conscious occupants in the room immediately tensed up but relaxed when they saw that it was only an Anbu operative. Their white dog mask muffled their voice, but their message still got across.

"Hokage-sama wishes to see Sakura and Naruto."

The pair exchanged worried looks as soon as the operative disappeared, neither one sure whether to stay or go.

"Shit." Naruto cursed under his breath, running his hand through his hair. "The council."

"What are we going to do?"

"Dammit. I thought Kakashi would be able to hold them off a bit longer."

Hinata looked back and forth at her two worried companions as they tried to hypothesize what to do. She didn't quite understand why such a summons would make them anxious like this.

"We have to do something Naruto!" Sakura said. "They-they're going to take his eyes and pull the plug. They're going to kill him. They-"

"Hey! Didn't I say that I wouldn't allow that to happen?"

"You're not the Hokage."

"Even still. I won't let them do that."

"Naruto-" Sakura started to say but the blonde shook his head and started to push her out of the room.

"You head up first. I'll be right after you." He said. Sakura's brow furrowed worriedly and she looked back over her shoulder at the Uchiha being kept alive by machines. "Just trust me Sakura. Okay?"

Sakura bit her bottom lip and reluctantly tore her eyes away from Sasuke's unconscious form, allowing Naruto to give her one last push toward the door. When the basement door shut with a loud clang, Hinata felt her breath hitch slightly. This was the first time she'd been alone in a room with Naruto. Well, not alone exactly since Sasuke was there but he didn't really count. With a heavy sigh, Naruto approached her and took both of her hands into his own. Hinata blushed at how warm they were, immediately conscious of how cold her own felt in comparison.

"I'm sorry to ask this of you Hina-chan but could you get started now." He asked. His blue eyes stared straight into her own, imploring her to work a miracle. "I'll explain later I promise but please…please try."

Hinata opened her mouth to respond. Part of her wanted to assuage all of his concerns and declare proudly that of course, she could save his most important person. Another part wanted to beg him not to hate her for failing. The conflicting thoughts within her mind continued to go to war with one another simply resulted in her closing her mouth and trying to make sure she didn't start hyperventilating. All she could do was nod before Naruto wrapped his arms around her in a hug, pressing her close to his body. His breath tickled her ear, turning the skin there red as she held her own breath. Her heart skipped a beat at his closeness and his whispered words, those two simple words, were more than she'd ever thought he'd say to her.

"Thank you."

….

Tired…that was the only way to describe his current state of being.

Never in life had he felt so weak and he hated the sensation. All he wanted to do was finally let go of his earthly, broken body. Perhaps he already had. Perhaps this was what death was, a mind-numbing expanse of nothing. Somehow, he found that hard to believe no matter how hard he tried to come to terms with it. His inability to do so wasn't because he was afraid of dying. In fact, he wanted to die. He wanted to end the cursed Uchiha line once and for all so that it would no longer plague the earth. That desire, that wish to die, was out of his reach. Something or someone was keeping him here, trapped within the recesses of his own mind.

If he was a betting man he would have put money on either Kabuto or Orochimaru becoming successful in finally making him into the vessel they'd always dreamed he would be. How they managed that feat Sasuke had no idea but it was the only reason for this prolonged state of purgatory he was experiencing. It was odd though that he couldn't feel them. He couldn't feel his own body for that matter. Is this what it meant to become a vessel? If so it was a fate worse than hell. At least hell was a place that could be interesting. Fire, brimstone, eternal suffering? Sure. Anything would be better than the utter nothingness that he'd been presented with.

The only thing he could hope for was that his body rotted quickly like all of the others. Maybe then he'd finally be able to die. Suddenly a spark of electricity pricked the tip of his tongue and the taste of blood flooded his mouth. The coppery sensation set off an oddly comforting feeling within him and confirmed that he was in fact alive. He focused on the taste and tried to harness that small pinprick of electricity. He wanted, no needed more. He needed to get out. He needed to kill whoever made him suffer like this.

Slowly but surely that electric feeling grew sharper within him, honing his senses and causing a familiar spike of adrenaline. The taste of it had a seductive edge, drawing him further from the lethargy that had previously overtaken him. That spike set off an involuntary response of fight or flight and the Uchiha knew all too well what his body's answer would be. To fight. To kill. The electricity started from the tips of his toes and ran the length of every vein and artery in his body, growing rapidly to an almost unbearable point.

For a moment Sasuke was almost confused as to if it were really adrenaline or if his organs were being cooked. If he wasn't being used as a vessel before he surely must be undergoing the process now. As the burning intensified, the feeling of his own body returned along with a gentle sensation gliding against him was. It was an odd juxtaposition. He focused on the softness, blocking out the pain as it began to crescendo. It was a longshot but if he could just grab a hold of the softness he could end his own suffering.

Blindly, Sasuke reached out into the darkness and his hands found purchase on something warm and smooth and strangely beating. Without a second thought, he squeezed. There was a gasp, the first sound that he'd heard in so long that wasn't from inside of his own head. He squeezed harder.

The burning ceased.

….

"We have given you ample time Kakashi. It's high time that you stopped being unreasonable. We understand that he was your pupil but he is a traitor, an S-class criminal at that. Surely you would not extend this same song and dance if this were someone else?"

Kakashi narrowed his uncovered eye at the worried councilman but didn't speak on the man's question. His silence was more than enough to cow the elderly man into slumping in his seat but the other people in attendance were not to be sway. Gathered all around him were not only Konoha's councilmembers but the heads of all of the surviving clans of their nation. Normally he wouldn't involve Konoha's clan in a matter such as this but he had no choice.

The council wanted Sasuke dead, however, maybe it was his sentimental side or maybe Naruto had finally gotten to him, he wouldn't allow that to happen. He'd stalled the council up to this point to give Sakura a chance to revive his former pupil before the council executed him in his sleep. The least he could do for Sasuke was allow him to be conscious while he stood trial for his crimes. However, the council was rabid and the villagers equally so. They wanted to see someone, anyone, pay for tearing husbands away from their wives and mothers from their children. For genin being dragged into a war that they had no business being in and comrades dying needlessly.

They wanted blood, Uchiha blood.

The only thing Kakashi had at this point was to gain some sort of leverage and that came in the form of the other clans. From the Aburame to the Yamanaka, all of Konoha's great clans had taken a large hit during the war. They had already sacrificed so much to keep Konoha safe but he had to ask them for this one last thing. To keep Sasuke alive. After the truth of Itachi's sacrifice had been revealed to those within this very room, no one could make eye contact with anyone for they knew the reality they'd been faced with.

Any one of them could have been the Uchiha. All of them had jockeyed for more power at one point or another during Konoha's history. If things had gone another way, if there had been someone like Danzo pulling the strings, they would have been slaughtered as well. What the council was asking now was to finally put an end to the Uchiha line in Konoha and if the Uchiha fell what kind of precedent did that set? One whiff of insurrection and their clan could be next. Kakashi let out a slow breath through his nose and threaded his fingers together in front of him.

"Sasuke has awoken." He said, picking up where he had left off before the councilman had interrupted him. "Naruto and Sakura confirmed it to me just before you all entered the room."

"Wonderful! Now he can wreak havoc on the innocent citizens of Konoha."

"That boy is a menace and it would have been more merciful to have executed him months ago."

"Are you going to be responsible for the slaughter."

"Hokage-sama-"

Kakashi silenced the outrage with a simple raising of his hand.

"Enough of this. Sasuke is no longer a threat to the village." He said firmly although he didn't fully believe his own words.

"Right now maybe but what happens when he's restored to his full strength? What's to stop him from going on a rampage?" a councilman asked and Kakashi opened his mouth to answer but Shikamaru beat him to the punch.

"What is there to stop you from deciding that the Nara pose such a threat next time?" the newly instated Nara head asked and the councilman sputtered.

"We would never! The Nara are an honorable clan to Konoha they are nothing like the Uchiha!"

"What you mean to say is that you believe that we can be easily cowed into submission."

"Not at all!"

"Your tongue says one thing but your eyes say another." Ino Yamanaka perked up, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the wooden tabletop. "I don't need to read your mind to know that you are a liar."

"Kakashi!" a councilwoman gasped. "Why are these children even here in this meeting? None of this pertains to them."

"We are the acting heads of our clans and survivors the Great Ninja War." Shikamaru yawned. "I would hardly call us children. I don't like Sasuke. I wouldn't trust him further than I could throw him but he is half of the reason that this village is still standing. There are other ways of dealing with this than ending one of the most powerful kekkegenkais the world has known."

"Then just take his eyes and be done with it." A councilman sneered.

"No." Kakashi said. Taking Sasuke's eyes would be a fate worse than killing him.

"Then what do you propose we do Kakashi?" the councilwoman hissed. "Allow him to roam free unchecked and unrepentant to his crimes? How can we ensure his continued loyalty to Konoha."

Kakashi's uncovered eye closed at the woman's words. They didn't want loyalty. They wanted submission. They wanted control. They wanted-

"Hokage-sama." Hiashi Hyuuga spoke up. "If I may interject? I have a solution."

Kakashi eyed the man warily. Hiashi Hyuuga hardly ever spoke up during meetings like this, making him a hard to predict player. It was strategic on the Hyuuga's part to keep his cards so close to his chest. Once considered the strongest clan after the Uchiha, it would have been very easy for the Hyuuga to take the Uchihas' place.

"The Uchiha bloodline is too powerful to be ended. If Konoha is going to defend itself against future threats we will need as much power as we can get. Taking his eyes may work for us in the short term but there will never be another true Uchiha." The Hyuuga said calmly. Shikamaru sat a little straighter in his chair, paying close attention to the older man's words.

"You wish to breed him." The brunette said and an uncomfortable mummer spread over the room.

"I would not be so crude as to use that term but the line has to continue somehow."

"And how do you expect him to stay in the village long enough to have a child or even agree to such a thing?" a councilwoman asked.

Hiashi folded his hands in his lap and looked the elderly woman in the eye.

"The same way the Hyuuga have always kept our secrets from falling into the hands of those outside of the village as well as those within it."

Kakashi frowned behind his mask at Hiashi's words but the council members seemed to be intrigued. As the councilwoman opened her mouth, Kakashi stood up and cleared his throat.

"Thank you for your time."

The tone of finality that seemed to surprise the room's occupants, objections hanging on the tips of their tongues. Reluctantly they shuffled out of the room but Hiashi Hyuuga remained seated. His pale eyes turned toward him as soon as the door to the conference shut.

"Hyuuga-san." Kakashi started but Hiashi interrupted him.

"I will get straight to the point." He said, rising from his seat as well. "The Hyuuga's numbers have been decimated. We are not as powerful as we once were. However, we are the only ones that are capable of standing between that boy and his inevitable execution."

To be continued…II. Becoming a Pawn