I got a ton of requests to do a SasuHina because of Dignity of a Criminal, and I actually got this idea because of a prank my sister pulled on some guy in a bus. I just combined the two and twisted it to fit my fancy. Romance totally comes from scaring the pee out of people, folks! That's just how it works. Well, not in my sister's case, but I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from, right?
The prank goes like this: You wait until it's just you and one other person on a bus, making sure you ignore everything and everyone else until this situation arises. You do something to attract the other person's attention once you're alone and very close to a place where you can get off the bus, like crying suddenly like my sister did, and wait until they speak to you. You turn to them slowly after they speak to you and whisper in horror, "You can see me?" And then run off the bus the second it stops, making sure they don't follow you. They will be so freaked out!
No one shall kill me for doing this when I have other stories that have yet to be updated! I just couldn't let this story idea go to waste. I'm working on it, so I thank you all for being so patient with me. Please let me know if you have any pairing requests or if there is anything you'd like if I wrote for you. I'd be happy to listen to ideas, and all I ask in return is some feedback if you enjoy what I write! Thanks.
I'd like to ask if there is anyone who would be interested in becoming the editor for the future chapters of this story. If you're interested, please send me a PM!
Disclaimer: AmenToTheMangaBible11 (me!) owns no part of Naruto, and dedicates this story to her older sister, who is such a support to her at all times despite the times she wishes that she wouldn't help her as much as she does. Anyways... Love you so much Kat!
Chapter 1: It Began Years Ago
The dampness of the fog soaked through the wool of Sasuke's thin overcoat in thick droplets, slipping sneakily through the smallest gaps in the fabric to his quickly chilling skin. Goosebumps broke out across his flesh in the morning air, a shiver trembling from the base of his spine up to his shoulders and racking through him almost violently down to his very fingertips; a silent crescendo. The cobbled sidewalks were slick with morning dew from nearby lawns as the black-haired boy clacked quickly across them, the grime from the flooded sewage piping running underneath them mixing its' foul scent with the smell of burnt diesel from the expensive motorcars in the neighborhood. He scrunched his nose as the malodorous smell assaulted his senses. He rushed through the heavy traffic that was at a standstill in the street, ignoring the angry blare of car horns that rang out in the brick and mortar jungle. The frigid lad scampered over to the parallel walkway to escape the churning in his stomach caused by the horrid, putrid stench.
Sasuke skipped between the fender and bender of two cars stopped at a slowly blinking traffic light and tipped his hat in a friendly gesture to the young driver that honked at him in greeting. He reached the other side of the four-lane street and breathed a sigh of relief at the slightly cleaner air, ignoring the chilling fog that hung low in the air that morning. Sasuke checked his heirloom pocket watch, and his steadily beating heart fluctuated dangerously at the time; he was going to miss her if he didn't hurry.
The short young boy rounded the corner, pushing and shoving his way through the mass of noisome people on the side of the street, all of whom seemed to have followed in the same belief as he that this route was much more pleasant than the rotting mess that coated the air on the other side of the wide road. Sasuke's rubber-soled boots slipped a bit on the thin layer of mud that covered the slick walkway, and he was glad that none of the adults bustling about him were upset when he used the edges of their jackets or their arms for balance on occasion.
The sign that was jammed hazardously into a hole in the gravel came into view in the cracks between all of the taller people around him, so he shouldered his way past several businessman and got down on his knees in the mud to crawl under a newspaper stand that had been set up near the curb on side of the street. Sasuke hurriedly got to his feet when he'd reached the sign, ignoring the angry calls from behind him telling him to use better manners when dealing with someone of higher status.
"I never got taught any manners," he grumbled aridly to himself. He spit in their direction with a sneer at the disgusted expressions that appeared on their faces. "Stupid dignitaries. I don't have to respect you if you can't hurt me from all the way over there." His voice was hoarse from disuse, and he felt relief knowing that those who had the power to imprison him couldn't hear his smart remarks.
The behemoth of a vehicle pulled up in front of him, and the rumble from the engine rattled his rib cage, his small fingers trembling in excitement as he dug the coin out of his patchwork pocket. The accordion door groaned open in front of him and locked into position with a hiss. Sasuke stepped aside to let the elderly people onto the bus first before finally stepping onto the grungy metal steps himself. His ebony gaze flickered around the interior of the bulky vehicle, taking in the patrons of all shapes and sizes with an excited gleam in his eye.
"You gonna pay or not kid?" Sasuke heard the bus driver addressing him, but the elderly gent's concerns were at the back of his mind once he spotted the person he was looking for seated in her usual place at the back of the bus. Sasuke dropped his copper coin, the dented metal warmed from resting in the sticky palm of his hand, into the slot on the box beside the steering wheel and waited until the doors closed with a loud hiss of steam before making his way to the rear of the bus.
He ran his hands along the worn and cracked leather seats on the right side of the bus, doing his best to not be trampled by the overcrowded line of people holding on to the rings that were hanging down from the metal ceiling of the vehicle by rusted chains to his left. Two younger children, twins it would appear, were bustling about in front of him, their clothes pristine, the needlework of their hats freshly finished, and their white knee socks held up tightly by powder blue straps resting just above the crook of their knees. Sasuke brushed past them, too afraid to take them up on their offer to play when the woman watching over them looked down on him condescendingly, as if he was no better than the rubbish that flowed under the streets of downtown. She was a bird-like woman with dark beady eyes, masses of gray curls swept back into a large bun at the base of her neck, and a delicate, royal blue hat tied beautifully under her chiseled chin with a matching velvet overcoat. Sasuke hurried past the two boys and their caretaker, keeping his eyes covered by the filthy, brown tweed hat sitting atop his head to avoid the disapproving looks raining down on him from all around. The two young boys didn't even spare him a passing glance as he shuffled past them.
Sasuke raised his gaze from the grated floor underneath him, forcing himself to look away from the incredible view of the ground the tires of the vehicle were grating over at top speeds rushing just under his worn out boots. He finally reached the seat in the back, and slid into the empty spot abreast the beautiful girl beside the grimy window; that seat beside her was always empty.
She was the fairest girl he'd ever seen in his short life. Her skin was the color of the cream he used to see his father use in the bakery on occasion whenever they'd have an especially profitable business day; that was before it closed, ages ago. Her skin seemed so smooth and luxurious that the raven-haired boy often dreamt about getting the chance to run even just his fingertips across her cheek for a fleeting moment. Her eyes were as wide as the saucers he'd seen richer folks use when drinking tea, and were the color of the sweet milk they poured into the aromatic drink itself. They were always glistening as if she was sorrowful, and every time he could see them, he wished to ask what had happened that made her appear so hurt. Her hair was like his own, yet shorter than the matted spikes that were crammed under his hat, and styled in a fashion that seemed almost rebellious due to its' boyish length; Sasuke thought it suited her perfectly.
Sasuke pulled his hat from his head and averted his eyes from the epitome of elegance seated to his left; it wasn't in his rights to look at her for so long.
The pale young boy wished he could speak to her, ask for her name, or even just learn the sound of her voice to see if it was anything like the sweet melody he imagined it to be. If she would only speak first, then he'd have to respond if she pulled rank on him and demanded an answering reply, but Sasuke would answer whether she forced him to or not. He glanced up at her from the corner of his eye and wondered if she was some sort of royalty, the delicate, lilac robe with golden stitching that she was wearing leading him to believe she was of some kind of wealthy upbringing. Sasuke had always imagined her to be a princess, and he somehow believed he was right in the assumption.
She never looked at him, although he never really expected her to. She didn't have to look at someone as poor and unattractive as him. Sasuke hid behind his long bangs and bit back a weary sigh. His hopes of her speaking to him today seemed to have been proven wrong yet again, just as they were at every chance he got to see her there.
Half of the bus emptied at the next stop, and Sasuke was forced to stand beside the seat he'd vacated in case anyone of higher class were to board. One young man, several years older than his own delicate age of eleven, ambled drunkenly to the back of the bus to the last available seat on the rich half of the public transportation vehicle and fell onto the seat haphazardly beside Sasuke's regal and unknowing companion.
Sasuke's face burned red, and he suddenly felt warm despite the cool air that was flowing up from the open, grate floors of the bus. 'How can that drunk idiot not notice her? She's the most beautiful girl in the world, and he's too much of a fool to notice her. Tell him to leave!' He inwardly glared at the man, too fearful to actually glare at someone who had the rights to openly maim him; someone who was currently drunk out of their mind.
Several minutes passed, and the scent of the air inside the bus changed from that of the lingering scent of the sewage and exhaust fumes that littered the downtown area to the stale, purified air that the Richies, as Sasuke liked to call them, preferred. A great shadow passed over the vehicle, the entire inside growing momentarily dark until it had passed. The inner wall.
He looked out the window behind him, swaying slightly as the bus came to a stop and the last of the passengers clambered out into the sterile room he'd never set foot in, and filed into single file lines before disappearing through a dark door that led out onto the other side of the wall. It was just Sasuke and Her now, like every other time they'd fulfilled this never ending ritual.
The bus doors closed and the vehicle turned around on the looping street and headed back the way it had come from; through the large separation wall that divided the city into sections, and back into the loading station for the downtown district. The stench hit Sasuke like a pile of bricks, and he understood then why the Richies preferred the overly clean air to this; it was far more tolerable.
The girl's gaze moved from the back of the seat in front of her and glanced his direction, looking to the windows almost shyly, and Sasuke's face lit up like the blaring red lights in the streets that signaled an approaching storm.
"It's so different," She said to herself wantonly. Sasuke blinked in shock at the small and unexpected voice before he scrambled to get to the seat beside her. He hunched over just a bit and fiddled with his thumbs in his lap, occasionally tugging at the end of the gray, knit scarf that was draped across his shoulders. Now was his chance.
"My name's Sasuke, ma'am." The young girl's moon-like eyes widened, but she didn't focus on the boy beside her, her gaze still locked firmly on the window or perhaps something she saw beyond it. "I've always seen you riding this bus, and I've always wanted you to address me so we could talk." He hadn't spoken out to another person in so long. Sasuke's throat felt dry, and his tongue was slow and clumsy. He wiped at a drop of cold sweat that was sliding down his dark brow and swallowed thickly. The elegant young girl's lips parted almost imperceptibly, a light exhale fogging up the glass of the window beside her. "You see, you really fascinate me ma'am, seeing as how you never attract anyone's attention, aside from my own, despite the way you look. I'd have thought you'd be riding in a carriage with soldiers protecting you at all times, not this run down public bus. You're very brave."
Sasuke blushed at the awkwardness of his words and wrung his hat in his hands, avoiding the weight of her gaze when she finally settled it on him, her face a twisted look of utter disbelief.
"You can see me?" Her words were a near-silent whisper, breathed out in a heavy sigh.
"You can see me?... Can see me?... Can see..."
. . . . . . . . . .
The mattress creaked impossibly loudly in the small attic, dust flying up from the sheets when Sasuke woke with a start. He fell back to the grungy mattress and lay lifelessly still, taking a shaky breath after a few moments of silence. The young man ran a hand through his shaggy, black hair and exhaled as steadily as he could, fighting off a shiver. The dust in the air around him settled back down on the thin, scratchy woolen sheet covering his long legs.
Sasuke shivered in the crisp air of the attic, the thin insulation he'd stolen from a building scheduled for demolition down the street and put up against the drafty walls doing little to nothing to keep the frost outside from creeping in. A few icicles hung from underneath the white, circular windowsill that sat high up on the wall behind his bed, and he jumped when a drop of cold water landed on his neck.
The scraggly nineteen year-old pulled his blanket back over his head and curled up tightly, pulling his pocket watch from the deep recesses of the pocket on his night trousers. The metal was warm in Sasuke's shaking hands. He pressed the small button on the side of the heirloom with his thumb and smiled when the glistening crystal covering of the watch shone in the darkness under the blanket. He ran his index finger along the circumference of the face and then over the faded photo jammed into the lock mechanism on the inside of the metal cover.
The teenager in the photo was grinning widely, the amount of teeth in his smile and the way the corners of his lips all but touched his eyes hid the pained look that glistened in the ebony of his irises and the dark circles that were etched onto his young face; he was beautiful. An echo of pain rang through his chest in time with the beating of his heart until it steadily settled back into its' constant, throbbing rhythm. He felt hollow. Sasuke brought the watch closer to his face and thought of his own features, trying to find some resemblance between the handsome young man in the photograph and himself, and became frustrated when he realized he looked nothing like his brother.
"Itachi..." He spoke in a deep, gravelly voice caused by years of abuse, and later, disuse. Sasuke scowled and shut the cover on the watch with a resounding click of the lock sliding into place on the small mechanism. He threw the cover from his broad shoulders and clutched the ends of his sleeves tightly in his fingers. His bare feet slid over the dirty carpet quietly as he walked to the only dresser in the attic that he called home. It was just a few feet from his twin-sized bed, seeing as the room could be crossed in just ten strides. The dark-eyed young man rummaged in the top drawer for an over shirt that was at least cleaner than the one he currently wore, settling for the first sweater he dug out instead. He hurriedly pulled the navy blue wool sweater out of the drawer and on over his cotton night shirt. Sasuke untied the strings holding his pants around his waist, shivering when they slid down to his ankles. The tall teen stepped out of them and pulled a tight-fitting pair of trousers onto his legs and over his black under shorts. His footsteps thudded quietly with each of his heavy strides as he crossed the room to the latch-locked door on the floor in one corner of the small, square room.
Sasuke undid the latch holding the door shut and lifted the hatch up and leaned the wooden door against the wall behind it. A rush of air blew up into the attic, and the frigid lad leaned down into the warmth that caressed him gently from the heated ground floor. He quickly lowered the ladder to the ground below, the wooden steps and rusted metal creaking loudly as they unfolded, ice cracking from a few spots and falling to the floor, where they quickly melted into small puddles. The bottom step hit the wooden floor of the ground below and Sasuke lowered himself over the lip of the ledge, his foot resting on the third step of the ladder.
He scaled down the rickety ladder in a matter of seconds, his abnormal height helping him reach the floor faster than if he'd been shorter. Sasuke curled his cold fingers stiffly under the bottom step of the ladder and thrust it upward, watching as it folded in on itself, the hatch falling shut on top of it with a bang. He cringed when the sound echoed down the dimly lit hallway. Sasuke ran hurriedly across the wooden floor to the end of the long corridor, passing several doors on his left and right; the rooms of the other tenants he was sure he'd woken up in his carelessness.
He skid around the corner, his chest heaving from the exertion of sprinting with poor lungs. Sasuke sat on the slick banister that ran down alongside the steps that were carved into the concrete brick wall and pushed off of the top step with his toes. He slid down the short flight of steps and leapt from the railing once he'd reached the bottom. It was a quick trip down to the building's only entrance and exit. The door was set one flight of steps lower than the actual first floor of the building, so he'd have to climb up the other cement steps once he'd made his way outside.
Sasuke stopped at the hooks screwed into weakened spots of mortar on the wall in the tiny foyer in the front of the building. He pulled his hat down from the hook that was so high up that he was the only one that rented a room in this place tall enough to reach anything on it except for the gray knit scarf that hung down a few extra inches. He shoved his slightly greasy cap over his thick hair and pulled the dark locks loose of the ensnarement to let it flow down to his shoulders messily. Sasuke scratched at the irritating stubble on his cheeks, desperately wishing that he could shave, knowing that he couldn't waste the money on a razor.
The scarf was stiff from the cool air that was wafting in under the door. Sasuke draped it around his neck and shoulders, concealing the lower half of his face, and tied it tightly behind his neck. His worn out boots were inside of the locker built into the wall with his name written above it in chipping paint. He pulled the ratty shoes out by the laces and slipped them onto his cold-numbed feet, tucking the ends of his pants into the knee-high shoes. There were worn out buckles that he used to tighten the sturdy leather around his knees, and then he laced them all the way from the ankle up. Sasuke donned his coat and checked his pocket watch, hurrying towards the door and out of the building.
Sasuke opened the door and the cold wind that was blowing ferociously bit at his cheeks, hitting his face like a harsh slap, carrying with it the eye-watering stench that surrounded the entirety of the poorer district of the town. The tall young man stepped out into the early morning sun and set off down the sidewalk, turning left at the fork at the end of the cobbled road. He had a bus to catch.
. . . . . . . . . . .
He hated them; he cursed them; he resigned them all to a fate worse than Hell, if there was such a possibility.
The only good thing about the Richies, which was his own disrespectful term he used to secretly mock the upperclassman who so graciously allowed the poorer people like himself to live within the city walls of Konoha so long as they agreed to live by a biased and unfair slandering of the word freedom, was that whenever they had to come out of the inner walls that segregated those they deemed worthy from those they considered lowlifes and scum, they had to do so in comfort. Sasuke was perfectly content to take their kindness for granted in light of the situation.
It had been two years since the invention of the heating system that now circulated through all of the public transports in the outer parts of the city, and he was grudgingly grateful that he no longer had to huddle between people that cared not a single iota for hygiene to keep warm while on his way to work. He was of the same unfortunate lower class, and understood perfectly how difficult it was to keep clean without using money, yet he still believed in trying your hardest to appear in front of Richies and not look like a wet rat killed by an alley cat. In retrospect, if all of the outer people were a bit more polished in something aside from their sweat and grime, they wouldn't be forced to toil in the slums of the city. He'd be arrested for lunacy if he even considered sharing this with anyone, though.
Sasuke glanced forlornly towards the empty seat at the back of the bus where the window was steamed up from the difference in air temperature on the inside and outside of the glass. The young man rubbed at his tired eyes and tore his gaze from the heartbreaking sight. He hadn't seen her in eight years. Sasuke often ran scenarios through his mind of what exactly might have happened to the beautiful girl he used to waste all of the money he earned to come see in his free time, and often, these little stories became things that he'd be forced to jot down and sell to publishing companies to pay off his rent; having a job didn't cover food and shelter these days.
The bus jolted over something in the street, and Sasuke sent out a silent prayer that it was an animal and not another person; he couldn't stand it if another suicide situation happened like last week.
The bus slowed to its' first stop on the schedule and Sasuke relinquished his place at the front of the bus for the people that had paid a higher rate than he had and moved backward to the rings near Her seat. He clutched the rusted ring hanging from a creaky chain that was bolted firmly to the metal roof of the bus with his left hand, his right shoved deeply into the pocket on his jacket as he took advantage of the only heated enclosed space he'd be in that day. The bus set off again, slowly at first as the large machine worked up momentum.
Sasuke glanced out the window with half-lidded eyes, taking in the view from the top of the only large hill outside of the inner walls. The skyline in the horizon was beautiful, the fog and mist swirling through the air adding a sense of mystery to the image. The large, domed section in the center of the beat down buildings was like an eye at the center of a storm; calm and dangerous. He blinked slowly and exhaled a deep breath through his nose. It was times like this that he really didn't mind putting up with sharing his space with Richies for the twenty minutes it took him to get to the labor mill.
People milled about on the sidewalk just a few feet from the bus, ambling around with briefcases or chatting amiably among themselves with friends. A chill ran up his spine, and for the first time that morning, he knew it wasn't from the crisp coolness of the January season. Someone was watching him.
His ebony eyes scanned the crowd quickly, his fingers tightening their grip around the ring that held him upright out of anxiety. He saw her eyes first and immediately let go of his support, slamming both open palms against the window with a bang that startled nearly every passenger on the bus. His breath fogged the window in front of him, but he couldn't tear his eyes from her long, navy hair that shone softly in the crepuscular rays that crept through to the land below as the sun rose up above the horizon, or her opalescent eyes that glittered with tears. She was there, standing in the street beside the bus until a group of people blocked her from view.
Sasuke was torn backwards by a pair of strong hands, and was spun around quickly, only to recoil in shock at the bursting pain in his jaw, white spots flickering across his vision. He blinked a few times, and swallowed thickly when he tasted blood. The Richie before him was shorter than he was, and most surprisingly, a young woman. Her hair was an unusual pastel pink down to the roots, so he assumed that it was either natural or dyed extremely well, and it spread in thick waves down her back, her bangs held back by a brown, leather headband. Green eyes flashed ferociously up at him from underneath darkly made-up lashes, her pink painted lips pursed together tightly in irritation.
The young woman couldn't have been more than sixteen years of age, but she felt no fear in confronting a man twice her size and physically assaulting him just because she knew for certain that he wouldn't dare fight back against her because he was from outside the inner wall; Sasuke cursed this young lady in his mind, knowing that she had been ruined by the sick city of Konoha and its' twisted rationalizations. If ignorance was bliss, why did those with the easier life get granted with the gift of not understanding every twisted and cruel thing that happened within the outer wall? Sasuke fought back his fury and screwed a blank mask in place, angry at this Godforsaken teenager for wrenching him away from something far more important than her temper tantrum at having her little bus ride to paradise interrupted.
The girl pushed him to the ground, knocking his head violently against the wall. He saw someone steal his hat when it hit the floor. The pastel-haired young lady grunted gruffly and stomped back over to her seat, plopping down beside a handsome young man that must have been travelling with her. His red hair clashed with her own, and it appeared that he was wearing more make-up that his female companion was. The male was much larger than her, and Sasuke was glad that it had been her that had confronted him and not the ticked red-head that appeared to be chastising her for causing a scene.
Sasuke spat to his side, a bit of red swirling in his saliva. He sat up and adjusted his aching jaw and stood as quickly as the pounding pain in the back of his skull would allow. He clutched tightly to the ring hanging evenly with his head and fought back each wave of nausea as it rolled over him like waves crashing onto a beach. Sasuke glanced back to the window, and fell back down to the ground the second he let go of his support. Now his back ached, to top off his morning, but he hardly even noticed as he stared at the misted window above his head.
'Can you still see me, Sasuke?' Tears prickled behind his eyes at the words written across the window and he lay his head back against the disgusting floor of the bus, attracting the attention of a few passengers, but he didn't care. She remembered him too.
. . . . . . . . .
His headache pulsated with every swaggering step he took, and he was fairly certain that he'd be called into the head office by the end of the day to be confronted about drinking habits he didn't have; he couldn't afford alcohol even if he wanted it. He cursed the young lady from earlier for the second time that day.
The developed muscles on his forearms ached, and every bruise that had formed over the past twelve hours was pulled and strained to the maximum levels of his endurance. Sasuke's skin stung and sweat streaked down his naked flesh in rolling beads. He struggled to get a breath into his burning lungs, but he continued to hold the steel supporter he'd been given the task of stilling above his head, like he had for nearly the past hour, while another worker screwed it into place. There were machines for this sort of fools' job, but Sasuke knew he'd be paid to do it, even if he ended up spending the money at the only hospital in the town to repair the physical damage from taking the job in the first place. It was worth the money.
The din of the wrench being cranked by hand above him ceased and the sound of the worker's whistle rang down from up above. Sasuke sighed in relief and lowered his arms to his sides, grimacing at the pain of moving. The black-haired young man pulled his sweat-soaked hair back behind his head and tied it in a messy knot at the base of his neck in an imitation of a bun he'd seen his brother wear once when he worked at the bakery with their father.
Sasuke shuffled over to the workers corner, opening his locker with stiff fingers. He wiped the sweat from his chest with a towel he kept there for said purpose and hung it back up on the lone hook in the dark recesses of the metal locker. Sasuke pulled a plain, white shirt over his head and slung his bag over his shoulder, shutting his locker door and locking it with a click.
His head ached and his body felt like it was being slowly torn in two with every move he made. He imagined that this was how it felt to be set on fire, and he was fairly certain that if he found someone who had been, they'd agree with him. Imaginary flames skittered along the flesh of his arms as he opened the door to the head office.
It was nearly silent in the small, sectioned off room aside from the occasional tap of a pencil against a table. The chaotic rumble of machines that were in use outside or in the factory-like room he worked in was just a steady hum in the background. Sasuke held his head high and made his way through the maze of empty desks, curious about the cause of missing six executive employees all at once, but not curious enough to stop and snoop around; he couldn't afford to lose this job.
The headmaster was a kind man in general, and was also just about the only Richie that Sasuke could stand to be around. He was a slightly older man, around middle aged if Sasuke were to guess, but his well-kept physical condition more than made up for it; the older man could probably run circles around Sasuke, who had yet to even reach his twenties.
"Jiraiya, sir. I'm through for the day," the young man mumbled quietly. Jiraiya smiled at the awkward young man, glad that he'd finally gotten him to speak more than one or two words to him every day. He knew that the young man probably held some resentment towards him for forcing him to speak or be fired, but it was easier on his heart to hear an angry teen than the silent boy that always looked perfectly prepared to kill himself if the time came. That was the boy he'd hired at the tender age of twelve.
Sasuke shifted his balance just a little bit, his boots spreading a few inches apart while he tried to stay standing on his own two feet. Everything was in navy and white, black occasionally fuzzing in around his vision. It was difficult to focus on his boss's face even though it was just feet in front of him. Bile rose in his throat, and he bit his tongue to distract himself from the overwhelming nausea churning in his gut. His blood was boiling underneath his skin, pulsating from a single point on the back of his head. His eyelids felt like lead, and when an especially strong throb jolted down his spine, he suddenly couldn't remember his last name.
Jiraiya tossed his long, white ponytail over his shoulder and nodded in response to Sasuke, trying to hide the worry that was rising up from his heart and clogging itself in his throat. The boy looked pale, far paler than usual. Jiraiya swallowed the lump thickly and jumped out of his seat the second that Sasuke hit the floor. "Uchiha! Hey, Uchiha, are you alright?." Jiraiya rushed around his desk, toppling a tall stack of filing he'd failed to complete, and knelt down beside the young man that was seizing violently.
Sasuke had wet himself, and the smell of urine was strong in the once sanitary room. A bit of blood dripped from the corner of his cracked lips and his dark eyes were stark white, the irises rolled back in his head. His entire body jerked around, occasionally slamming against a desk or chair that was in the immediate vicinity. He only felt pain.
"Oh my God." Jiraiya turned Sasuke onto his side, cringing when a pool of vomit wretched from the Uchiha's mouth and onto the tile floor. The world around them froze for just a moment before Jiraiya came to his senses and sprinted for the door, knocking several chairs and even a filing cabinet out of his way. Jiraiya threw it open, the handle slamming violently into the wall from the force of the push behind the door. Jiraiya looked around frantically at the faces of his startled workers, his breathing past any point of regularity and his eyes gleaming manically. "I need medical help! Uchiha is having a seizure!"
. . . . . . . . . . . .
"Of course I can," Sasuke whispered humorously to the small girl seated beside him. "It'd be difficult not to notice you." Her eyes narrowed just a bit and a few tears leaked from the corners of them, her long eyelashes dusting her cheeks as she blinked to get rid of the nuisances. "Are you alright?" Sasuke felt himself blush when she looked up at him and sniffed quietly, her lower lip between her teeth and her eyes once again glistening with the tears caused by circumstances he wanted to hear about.
"You come here every day to see me then, do you?" Her tone was slightly resentful, and Sasuke wondered if it was because of him, but her gentle gaze reassured him enough to nod to her quiet question. "If I'd known..." She drew into herself a bit, her face schooling itself into a small smile, lips quivering just slightly.
"Known what?" Sasuke touched her hand with just the tips of his fingers, fearful of soiling any of her clothing. Her skin felt more rough than he'd imagined, but it added to her realism in his mind.
"You have to leave. He's dead." The bus drew to its' final stop during its' rounds and the door opened, the driver knowing that Sasuke was to get off here seeing as he did so just about every day.
"He? Who... Wait!" She rushed from the bus and down the steps, Sasuke clambering after her. The young boy jumped down from the final step and onto the street, searching frantically for the young girl he'd been chasing. The bus doors hissed closed behind him, but he didn't pay it any mind; he'd lost her.
"Sasuke! I found you." Obito rushed towards the small Uchiha, kneeling down beside him once he'd caught up to Sasuke.
"Uncle? What are you doing here?" Sasuke took in Obito's disheveled appearance, and touched his uncle's face gently with one hand, tracing one of the spiraling scars that lined his cheeks. His small fingertips brushed the edge of the patch covering Obito's bad eye. Sasuke frowned when Obito threw his arms around him, smothering the poor boy in the heavy woolen scarf that must have been eight feet long for it to be draped around his neck so many times.
Sasuke patted his uncle's back when Obito's shoulders began to shake. He didn't like this; Obito never cried; Obito was never sad; Obito was cheerful, even when he was told that he'd have one year to live after sustaining his severe injuries six months ago.
"It's Itachi, he... He's," Obito choked it out into Sasuke's small shoulder.
"You have to leave. He's dead." Her words echoed in his mind and Sasuke drew back from his uncle, tearing himself from the sobbing man's hold.
"No." Sasuke took a step backward towards the small home he shared with his brother, who was his only remaining family aside from his dying uncle. "NO!" Sasuke ran, leaving Obito kneeling in the mud behind him.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Itachi!" Sasuke's eyes shot open, but his body refused to move aside from panting heavily and the occasional shudder. He knew he was lying down, the white ceiling above him saying as much, but he didn't know where. His head hurt, but it wasn't as bad as it had been since he'd gotten off of the bus earlier that day, or was it even still the same day? "Wheremi?" His speech was slurred and he knew he sounded dreadful, though he couldn't hear himself too well because of a dull ringing in his ears.
"My place," Jiraiya said quietly. "Do you remember what happened, Uchiha?" The white-haired man stood, worry shining in his brown eyes as he observed the young man laying as still as a statue on the bed in his guest room.
Sasuke tried to shake his head, but his neck wouldn't obey what his brain was telling it to do. "No," he croaked out weakly.
"You had a seizure in my office two days ago. Are you alright?" A pins and needles feeling worked its' way through Sasuke's limbs, leaving his skin tingling in its' wake. Sasuke curled his fingers, the reaction time slow, but still good enough to make him feel glad that he wasn't paralyzed.
"I'm inside the inner wall?" Sasuke's throat burned and his body felt weak, but he pushed himself up to a sitting position at a slow pace, shaking slightly in the cool draft that flowed in from the large window on the wall to his left.
"Technically speaking, yes, but inside of inner Konoha, no. My house is actually inside of the inner wall, along with the other people who live inside of it but work in outer Konoha. I'm sorry you didn't wake up in a hospital or with a real doctor," Jiraiya spoke calmly to the pale young man, "but the hospital here wouldn't take you, and I didn't trust the ragtag doctors at the outer clinic. They'd be more likely to just kill you than try to fix you." Jiraiya handed Sasuke a mug filled with a liquid that he didn't recognize. The smell was delicious, and it tasted slightly bitter as it went down his throat. "Do I want to know why you suddenly went down like that? You've never had any kind of medical problems aside from some asthma."
"I must have gotten hurt worse than I thought. I got beat up by a Richie on the bus that morn-" Sasuke caught himself, his eyebrows creasing together in worry. He swore quietly to himself at his idiotic slip up. 'Now I've done it. Jiraiya's a Richie himself. He's going to get me locked away for being disrespectful. Maybe he'll just beat me senseless and fire me.'
Jiraiya's laughter rang out in the small room, and Sasuke's headache pulsed a bit because of the volume of the outburst. "Richie, huh? Is that what you call us? I like it, kid. It fits." Jiraiya sat on the foot of the bed and waited until Sasuke took another sip of the medicinal tea. "So, how big was the assailant?"
"She was about half my size." Sasuke set the empty mug on the bedside table beside him and scooted backward until he could lay his head on the cool wall behind him.
"She?" Sasuke nodded, noticing that the pain and stiffness in his body was slowly going away. "You let a little girl do this to you?"
Sasuke hesitated. If he answered honestly, he could be arrested or killed, but Jiraiya had known him for years. Sasuke had even just insulted his status and the man had laughed it off. He'd take his chances. "It's better to take a beating to your pride and body than to have your life ruined for trying to protect yourself." Jiraiya's smile fell, and the white-haired man stood quickly and walked to the closed door of the small room, resting his hand gently on the glass knob.
"That's not true. You should never think that someone has the right to hurt you like this." Their eyes locked for just a moment, and Sasuke saw that Jiraiya really believed every word he'd just said. The older man smiled gently, but his nod was firm and resolute. The door slid shut behind him with a click, and Sasuke had never felt so relieved to be alone.
He glanced out of the wide window, noticing quickly that it wasn't, in fact, the sun that lit up the large, cave-like room Jiraiya's house was in. Some kind of electric lights ran along the impossibly high ceiling outside, which was covered in a crackling screen that was the color of the afternoon sky. Jiraiya's house was at the top of a small hill that looked down on a simple park where a few children were rough housing in clothing that Sasuke wouldn't have even worn to church, they were so ornate. Cobblestone streets and paved sidewalks ran between the large, industrial looking buildings that were behind the more natural features Sasuke could see.
"Inside of the inner wall, huh?" Sasuke turned away from the window and swung his feet over the edge of the bed, the false sunlight beaming through the window behind him. "If all of the people are like Jiraiya here, I might not hate everyone." Sasuke cleared his throat loudly and licked his lips to get another taste of the delicious drink he'd had a few minutes before.
The carpet under his bare feet was plush, and with every step, he sank into it just a bit. The walls were a gentle cream color that blended nicely with the different shades of blue on the bed sheets and the long curtains that hung dramatically from the large window. There was a long seat in front of the glass with a small door carved intricately into the dark-stained wood. Sasuke made a mental note to check it out before he left. Bookshelves lined the wall above a simple desk, and it was full of titles he'd never heard before.
The door creaked opened again just as he pulled down a thick, hardback book. Jiraiya approached him slowly, the smell of food wafting in from the door he'd left open. "That's a good book. 'The Count of Monte Cristo.' Can you read?"
Sasuke nodded slowly, still a little bit stiff. "My mother always had a dream to be a teacher before she died about ten years ago. She never did get to work in an actual school house since we lived where we did, but she was really happy teaching the neighborhood children in our home. I learned to read and write, even do a bit of math, but nothing advanced." Jiraiya smiled sadly behind Sasuke's back, his chest heavy.
"That's the most I've ever heard you say at one time," he said airily. He saw Sasuke flinch in front of him, and he laughed obnoxiously loudly. "Well, anyways. The lady I share this place with made some lunch if you're interested." Sasuke's stomach did a flip at the sound of food, and he nodded enthusiastically. "Come along then." Jiraiya tilted his head upward just a bit to look the young man in the eye before helping him down the flight of stairs and towards the delicious smell coming from the kitchen.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Why didn't you tell me you had someone here?!" Sasuke bit back his grin when the short woman smacked his boss in the back of the head hard enough for him to hear from across the room. The raven-haired young man leaned a bit more heavily against the counter top when the strain of getting down the stairs caught up with him. He hated feeling so weak.
"But, Tsunade, darling-" Jiraiya groaned in pain when she pushed him out of the way and rushed over to Sasuke, letting him lean a bit of his weight on her shoulders.
"Don't call me that, you idiot! What's your name sweetheart?" Sasuke inwardly cringed at the nickname, but kept his face screwed into a passive look.
"Sasuke Uchiha. Jiraiya's my boss." Tsunade lowered Sasuke into one of the chairs at the small table that sat in a little nook off to the side of the kitchen. She hurried back over to Jiraiya and dragged him out of the room, not that Sasuke couldn't still hear her yelling behind the door she'd shut behind her; the woman couldn't be quiet when his white-haired boss was involved, it seemed.
The two came back into the room, Jiraiya a little worse for wear, but otherwise in one piece. Tsunade busied herself with dishing out whatever it was that had been simmering deliciously on the stove while Jiraiya shuffled over to the seat across from Sasuke.
"She's got a temper, but she really is a nice woman. She just got back from a week long medicinal training program she was teaching at the hospital. It's thanks to her that I knew enough in the medical expertise to help you out over the past few days."
"About that, I want to properly thank you for all of this." Sasuke bit the words out, his throat so scratchy that he felt like he'd rather be punched again than speak.
"You sound dreadful, Sasuke. What exactly happened?" Tsunade set a big bowl of a hardy stew in front of Sasuke and then one at Jiraiya's place, glaring at him when he asked if he should tip the waitress. Sasuke brought the spoon to his lips and ate as fast as he could without getting sick, practically shoveling the food down his throat.
He paused when he realized that Tsunade had finally sat down with her own meal and that she was waiting for an answer. Sasuke set his spoon down on the side of his bowl, which was already half-emptied, and cleared his throat. "I got beat up on the bus two days ago on my way to work, and sustained a head injury. I guess I overworked myself that day, and I blacked out in Jiraiya's office. I don't really remember much."
"He had a seizure," Jiraiya finished after shoving a bite of soup into his mouth.
"Did you have a concussion?" Tsunade put the back of her hand on Sasuke's forehead, which was a little warm considering that the room was a comfortable temperature, a bit cool even. Sasuke fought back a blush at the feminine touch and shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, what exactly were you doing at work after you were injured?"
"Holding up steel supports." Sasuke took another bite and averted her eyes; the fire burning behind them made him nervous.
"You're both idiots," Tsunade said, hanging her head. The room was silent for a few minutes except for the occasional clink of silverware on glass dishes. Sasuke glanced up at the woman sitting beside him through the corner of his eye. She had long, golden blonde hair that was tied into two ponytails that hung down her back. Her eyes were a light brown, almost the color of honey. She was a shorter woman, made more obvious by the fact that even Jiraiya, who was slightly below the average male height of 5'8", towered over her. Overall, she was a beautiful young lady, her generous figure adding to what he'd call, "the total package" effect.
"So, Sasuke. How old are you?"
"19." Sasuke fixated his gaze on the intricate grain of the wood that flowed across the table top.
"You look so much older, I'd have never guessed. Do you have a girlfriend? Siblings?" Tsunade stood and collected her dishes, taking Sasuke's bowl with her. She returned a moment later with his dish, which she'd filled again and set it back in front of him. Sasuke was grateful that he wasn't forced to ask for something from someone from the inner wall; he felt uncomfortable enough just sitting in the same room as two Richies.
"Neither. I live alone." Sasuke shoveled another over sized bite between his lips and took a long swig from the large glass of water she'd brought him.
"That's too bad. You're a handsome young man." Sasuke froze, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Was she complimenting him? Or maybe she was mocking him. No one had ever said he was handsome.
"I... Thanks." He took another sip of water to avoid looking her in the eye.
"You don't believe me." Tsunade laughed quietly as Jiraiya dismissed himself to go and wash the dishes. "That's alright. No one believes that I'm 54." She leaned back in her chair and swung her heeled feet up onto the table, a demure smile playing across her lips. Sasuke looked at her in disbelief.
"You don't look much older than me," Sasuke said gruffly. The raven-haired young man stood slowly, gripping onto the back of his chair for balance. "I suppose I'll be leaving now. I've intruded enough."
"No, no! Please stay for just one more night. I have a prized student of mine coming in a few hours and an actual patient would be a great thing to have. I'll let you clean up, if you'd like." Sasuke's heart skipped a beat. He could bathe, change clothes, trim his hair; today was the best day he'd had in years.
"If you want me to stay, I have to. Thank you for your kindness, Tsunade." Sasuke dipped his head to her before heading back the way he'd come from earlier to face the stairs for the second time that day.
Tsunade turned to Jiraiya once Sasuke had left and said, "What exactly did he mean when he said he 'had' to?"
"Have you ever been outside the inner wall?" For once, Jiraiya's handsomely aged features weren't lit up with a megawatt grin. Tsunade shook her head disdainfully at the thought of going outside of inner Konoha. "He's from the slums." The blonde's eyes widened in shock; he'd been a polite, if not a quiet young man. "The way he's been raised, either he answered you favorably or you could kill him on the spot, best situation being you got him arrested." Her eyes narrowed, and Jiraiya felt bad when they filled with tears. He placed a finger under her chin and raised it so she would look at him. "He had to."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Sasuke." He turned at the gentle call of his name once he'd reached the top of the steps. "Sasuke." It was followed by a quiet giggle, and Sasuke hastened his pace to something that was almost painful for his stiff limbs as he made his way to the room he'd been in for the past two days. He pushed the door open and leaned against the white-painted frame, dragging a deep breath into his tight chest.
She was there, sitting at the window seat. Her teal dress draped down in a Grecian style from under her bust line to her knees, and rose up in a high collar at her neck. Her eyes gleamed at him from behind her bangs that framed her face delicately. Her long hair was pulled into a waterfall of curls that flowed over her left shoulder in a ponytail. She was barefoot, and the nails on both her hands and feet were painted a solid black that contrasted beautifully with her pale skin.
"What are you?" It came out more angrily than he'd intended, but she didn't seem offended at his outburst. She smiled shyly at him and stood, motioning for him to come closer. Sasuke took a few slow steps into the room, but stopped once he'd come within ten feet of her.
"I'm Hinata Hyuga." Her smile enhanced her features, but Sasuke was too angry to appreciate her beauty any more than he had in the past.
"Every time I see you, something bad happens. Since you actually spoke to me this time, I'm probably dying right now, aren't I?" Itachi's death, falling into a coma for two days, and now he could hardly move without being in pain; she was always there. Beauty was deceiving.
"I'm here for you, that's correct, but to kill you? Not exactly." Hinata's voice was the most delicate and quiet voice he'd ever heard, and it actually frightened him. "I'm actually the one person on earth that can't hurt you in any way."
"I'm insane. I've lost my mind. I'm still in a coma. I'm dying slowly in my sleep." Sasuke covered his ears with his hands and dug his fingernails into his scalp to try and wake himself up. Hinata approached him, but Sasuke took a step back for each one she took forward. His back hit the wall behind him, yet she continued to come toward him until she was close enough to touch him.
"You have a contract with my people. When a person can see a Hyuga, it means that they are destined partners. That Hyuga must do everything within their abilities to help that person get whatever they want most in life until the contract is terminated, or the Hyuga is successful or dies." She touched his cheek gently and rubbed her thumb in circles under his wide, dark eyes.
"You-You disappeared for nearly a decade." Sasuke relaxed a bit when she stepped back and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"I was young. No one was supposed to have been able to see me for several more years, at least not until I'd come of age." Hinata crossed her legs at the ankles and patted the space next to her. Sasuke eyed her warily, but eventually sat down beside her. "Once you tell me your objectives we can seal the contract and become partners. I'll be bound to help and serve you until you release me from contract."
"And if I refuse your help?" Sasuke looked down on the shy woman.
"I'll stalk you, and since no one else can see me until we've completed the contract, they'll all think you're crazy," Hinata mumbled into her hand. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her.
"You know what, this doesn't exactly hurt me in any way, but I still want to think it over." She nodded. Sasuke held his hand out to her, and she shook it gently. "How exactly is someone like you supposed to help me though?"
"That depends, what is it you most want to do?"
Sasuke smirked maliciously. "I want to destroy inner Konoha."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Let me help you, please." Tsunade was determined to never give Sasuke an order, never ask him for anything unless she gave him an option, even though she knew he'd always do what would benefit her in the end.
"I'd really appreciate that, Tsunade." The words tasted like vinegar in Sasuke's mouth, but he forced a small smile onto his face when he saw how relieved she looked that he'd agreed. Sasuke sat down on the wooden stool she'd brought up to the room he'd deemed 'his' until he'd return to his apartment outside the inner wall. Tsunade pulled a small pair of scissors out of the desk drawer and wiped them off on a rag.
"How short do you want it Sasuke?" Tsunade hurried back over to the young man and began running a long-bristled brush through the masses of his black hair.
"Short enough that it won't need to be cut for a while." Because there won't be another chance for a long time. The words he'd left unsaid still hung in the air between them, but Tsunade smiled nevertheless. She pulled the brush through a particularly tangled spot in his hair.
Hinata's lower lip jutted out in a pout, and Sasuke shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Could Tsunade really not see her? She was sitting just a few feet away, after all.
"She can't hear me either, in case you're wondering." Hinata crossed her legs and leaned back against the window. Sasuke rolled his eyes and jumped when Tsunade's nails scratched against his neck as she gathered his hair back behind his head.
"You're sure, right?" Tsunade held the long hair in her hand, a few strands of the shoulder length ponytail slipping through her fingers. Sasuke dipped his head in a nod and closed his eyes when he heard the scissors snip quietly. A bit of his bangs fell down into his face, but he didn't bother to move them since Tsunade had already begun cutting and snipping away in the back; she'd get to it eventually.
Hinata tapped her fingers impatiently on the brown cushion of the window seat and frowned when she noticed Tsunade was running her fingers through Sasuke's hair somewhat unnecessarily. It'd taken her eight years to work up the courage to talk to Sasuke, and she was glad he'd bought the 'coming of age' excuse. She was shy; sue her. Eight long years she'd planned this meeting, and this woman had to interrupt them just as she was about to form her contract with Sasuke and become his partner just so she could hack off his hair and play with it. Sasuke didn't even seem to like this Tsunade person.
Tsunade knelt down in front of Sasuke and worked on his bangs. "You're pretty tall."
"I'm aware," Sasuke said, fighting to keep the strain out of his voice.
"How tall?" Tsunade ran her fingers through the hair that was framing his face, pleased when it looked better than she'd imagined it would.
"A little over six feet." Sasuke sat up a bit straighter when she moved back around him and started fluffing up the back of his hair.
"That's incredible. I've never met someone that tall before, and I work in a hospital. Those places see all kinds of people every day." Sasuke wondered if she worked at the hospital that had refused to see him. "Of course I work much farther into the inner city, but if I'd known you were a friend of Jiraiya's I'd have gone down to the hospital here inside the wall that wouldn't help you and done anything I could to fix you up." That answered that question. "There, I'm finished. Do you want to dye it? I bet something different would look great on you."
Sasuke shook his head. "I can't. It's against the law. Sorry." Tsunade smiled apologetically.
Tsunade helped Sasuke stand and showed him to the bathroom that was down stairs and at the end of a hall near the back of the house, then left him at the doorway to give him some privacy. Hinata followed along closely behind until she stood beside the irritated young man in the hall.
"It does look quite a bit better, you know." Sasuke rolled his eyes and opened the sliding door of the bathroom. Steam drifted out of the room from the natural pool of water that was in the far corner of the large room. The walls were a beautiful sea foam green, and the floors were a patchwork of deep blues. The ceiling was covered in some sort of ventilation system. Sasuke's jaw dropped, but he snapped it shut quickly once he noticed Hinata staring at him with amusement.
"You're not going to follow me in there, are you?" Sasuke said with a smirk. Hinata visibly paled, her cheeks glowing a bright red.
"Technically I'm supposed to not leave your side until we've completed the contract, but I think I can 'not leave your side' from outside the bathroom door," Hinata squeaked.
Sasuke shrugged and then stepped into the incredible bathroom. A floor-to-ceiling mirror covered the entirety of one wall, so Sasuke hurried over the damp tile floor to it to inspect the damage done to his hair. He closed his eyes and counted to three, building up the courage to look up and see what he had to work with. He snapped his eyes up to the mirror and did a double take.
It was gone. He ran a cold hand over the bare back of his neck and up into the spikes on the back of his head that seemed to be from the natural way his hair grew. His bangs were long in the front, were parted just slightly off-center, and hung down to his chin. Tsunade hadn't just cut his hair, she'd styled it. He secretly wondered what it'd look like if he could actually dye it; he'd probably go with a blue, seeing as how much he actually liked the color. His face was framed perfectly, and he even seemed a bit younger, aside from the scruffy beard that was growing from the sideburns on the side of his face. He scratched at the itchy hair on his cheek and then pulled his shirt off over his head.
Just to his right was a set of shelving units that had been set up within an easy walking distance to the bath, so he supposed he could find soap and maybe even a razor if he was lucky. He opened the first drawer and was shocked to find a small shaving kit that hadn't been opened. There was even a card on top with his name written in Jiraiya's scrawling handwriting.
He smiled eagerly and took the small green box, sitting it on top of the shelves along with a bar of yellow soap and a half empty bottle of shampoo that he'd found in one of the other drawers. Sasuke took one of the fresh towels that was folded on a rack beside the shelves.
He undid the button around his trousers and threw them over in the direction he'd left his shirt, his under shorts following the same path a moment later. Sasuke lined his soap up beside the pool, which must have been five feet in width and breadth and at least the same amount in depth. Richies had it all.
Sasuke slid into the warm pool, and he felt most of the tension leave his body instantly. He probably didn't have as long of a time here as he wished he did, so he rushed through his bath after just a few minutes of relaxing and then shaved properly for the first time in at least a few months; he couldn't remember the last time he had, exactly. He frowned as he noticed the ugly purple bruise on his jaw that he hadn't been able to see before.
There was a knock at the door, so Sasuke wrapped his towel around his waist and hurried over to answer it, his muscle movement a bit more free now that he'd used the bath like heat therapy. He slid the door open a few inches, surprised to see that Hinata was leaned up against the wall across the hall and seemed to be asleep, her hands in front of her face. A small pile of neatly folded clothes sat on the ground in front of the door. Sasuke knelt down, his knees and several vertebrae in his back popping as he did so.
"Tsunade left those for you," Hinata said from behind her hands, startling Sasuke.
"I see. I'll have to thank her." Sasuke collected the clothing and headed back into the bathroom to change. He shut the door behind him and hurried back over to the mirror, inspecting the clothing as he walked. The pants seemed like they'd fit well enough, maybe a little short, but with his boots he didn't think it'd matter. He pulled the black under shorts that had been given to him on, and they were soft against his warm skin. The pants were skinny-legged trousers, and were solid black excluding the silver zipper and button. The cotton shirt was a deep, sapphire blue, and he instantly liked it, but was upset when it was too small to button.
"I guess I've built up a bit. Thanks Jiraiya," he mumbled sarcastically. Sasuke shrugged and just left the shirt unbuttoned, leaving his pale, broad, and freshly shaven chest exposed. He checked out his reflection one last time, surprised at how young, different, and surprisingly good-looking he seemed. Money really changed a person.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"You know you can uncover your eyes, right? I'm not naked." Hinata fell into step beside Sasuke, her eyes still clenched shut tightly.
"You're half naked, and I barely know you. It'd be rude to stare." Sasuke glanced down at the short girl as she spoke, laughing inside of his head at how awkward she was about seeing a man without a proper shirt. It wasn't even that big of a deal, but he was still having a bit of fun being the source of her embarrassment. She looked even more beautiful when she blushed.
Sasuke climbed the stairs slowly, glad that he didn't ache with every step anymore, but cautious about returning to that state. He heard Tsunade's voice drifting out of his room, the door of which was partially cracked open, and the voice of someone else he didn't recognize.
"He's pretty quiet, so he's either shy or he doesn't really have much to say. Jiraiya says he's very intelligent though, and I think he's actually fairly good looking. He's just a few years older than you, Sakura." Sasuke froze outside of his door, Hinata hovering behind him.
"Is he? I'm excited to get to learn how to do a recuperation examination on a real person. Thank you for giving me a chance." Sasuke only felt mildly guilty for listening to the conversation, but when it drifted on to a more feminine topic of this Sakura girl's recent love life, he felt like it was an appropriate time to enter.
He knocked on the door lightly and heard Tsunade give him permission to enter. Sasuke rubbed at the back of his head, his slowly drying hair spiking up again in the back, as he pushed the door open and walked into the room.
"Thank you so much for your hospitality, Tsunade." Sasuke kept his head bowed for a few seconds and then chanced a look up, only to notice that the girl Tsunade had been speaking with was the girl who'd caused all of this in the first place. Her pink hair was pulled back in a ponytail behind her head, the same headband as before still pulling her bangs back from her forehead, which he noticed was a bit too wide. Sasuke bit his tongue hard to keep back the urge to maim her, knowing that if he did, so much worse would happen to him.
The two women in front of him were openly staring at him, and Sasuke just stood and waited for instructions on what he was supposed to do as the little pink-haired demon performed some sort of medical study on the body she'd damaged. He inwardly laughed at the irony; she'd created her own patient.
"Is that you Sasuke?" Tsunade got to her feet, the mattress squeaking once she'd vacated her seat next to Sakura. "I hardly recognize you now."
"This is my patient?" A frown etched its' way onto his face when Sakura spoke, but he bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood to keep from blaming her for putting him in a coma. He expected her to mock him, or feel pride at having done this to someone from outer Konoha, but he didn't expect her to smile and jump to her feet in front of him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his bare chest with the same unreal strength she'd used to hurt him just under half a week ago. "It's nice to meet you Sasuke!" He tensed, and she pulled away, hurrying over to whisper excitedly with Tsunade.
"She doesn't remember you." Hinata's delicate voice drifted over his shoulder, and he relaxed when he felt her hand on his bicep. "You don't look anything like you did. It's understandable." Sasuke nodded slightly in agreement; at least someone in this room was in their right mind, even if it was someone that only he could see.
"Tsunade, while I'm appreciative you brought me something to wear, I'm sorry to inform you that I'm quite a large man." Tsunade finally seemed to realize his state of dress, and hurried out of the room with the promise of bringing something to put under it. Sasuke was glad that he'd get to keep the blue shirt. It suited him well.
"You may as well just take the shirt off for now so that we can begin," Sakura said from beside the bed. Sasuke did as he'd been told and folded the shirt up neatly, setting it on the bed. "Come sit right over here." Sakura pulled a stethoscope from inside of her small bag while Sasuke sat on the edge of the bed where she'd told him to go. "So, Mr. Uchiha. Where are you from?"
Sasuke stiffened when the cold metal of the stethoscope touched his chest, but he relaxed when it began to warm to his skin temperature. "Outside the inner wall."
"I see. How'd you get injured?" Sasuke took a deep breath on command, but he was really just trying to calm his breathing.
"I got in a fight." Sasuke glared at the wall in front of him when Sakura climbed onto the mattress behind him to continue the check up from there. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt her press herself against his back, her hands sliding down his shoulders to lace together at his collarbone.
"I see. Why didn't you fight back?" A wave of nausea rolled through him when he felt her lips on his neck. He felt like his skin was crawling, and he suddenly wished he could go back to the bath and clean himself all over again. He stiffened in her arms, his back as straight as a steel rod, yet the young girl didn't release him.
"I couldn't." He spat out the words. 'She's going to try and use me for sex since she knows I can't say no. I'm better than the people who whore themselves out to Richies for money. Come on Tsunade, I'd never be so happy to see your face then if you walked through that door right about now.' Sasuke's gaze stayed firmly locked on the door, openly ignoring the woman kissing around his shoulders without being disrespectful enough to tell her to stop. Hinata had vanished, and he cursed her for being a coward at a time like this. Why was he considering letting her help him?
Sakura's hands slid down to his abs, tracing the firm lines of the muscles with her nails. Sasuke grimaced in disgust, glad she couldn't see his face. "I like you, Sasuke." Her hands slid a little lower, and Sasuke really wished he was allowed to punch the girl's lights out. "I'd pay top dollar for someone that looks like you, even if you weren't much a few days ago."
Sasuke froze, his furious eyes meeting hers over his shoulder. Her fingers played with the button on his trousers "You-"
"I know you," Sakura whispered into his ear. She backed away and off of the bed when she heard Tsunade coming up the stairs. The door opened quickly, letting in a rush of cooler air, and blowing out the tension that had been thick enough to cut with a knife. "Oh good, you found something." Sakura's voice was sickeningly sweet in Sasuke's ears; she was quickly becoming a big reason herself why he didn't like Richies. They were obnoxious, cocky, rude, selfish, flamboyant, ignorant, and Sakura. Sasuke felt she fit into the list nicely.
Tsunade handed Sasuke the plain white cotton shirt, and he slipped it over his head, quickly pulling the blue button up back over his shoulders. "Brilliant, if I do say so myself. Well, Sakura, how is our patient?"
Sakura and Sasuke stared each other down until she turned away and smiled at Tsunade. "Cooperative."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Where did you go?" Sasuke glared at the only other occupant in the room until she was visibly shaking under the intensity of the stare.
"I-I l-left to g-g-give you s-some p-privacy," she stuttered out. Sasuke buried his face in his hands and plopped down on the window seat beside Hinata. The lights outside of the window had dimmed, the sky screen having turned as dark as the night; it was just after eight.
"I thought you weren't supposed to leave my side." Sasuke peeked between his fingers at the blushing girl beside him.
"Would you have stayed during that?" Sasuke recoiled at the thought of having to watch someone he'd just met have sex with a person like Sakura. Hinata made sense.
"Suppose not." Sasuke leaned back, his head pressing lightly against the window pane.
"Now that there isn't another interruption, can we continue where we left off earlier?" Sasuke nodded, but otherwise didn't move. "Alright, just to make sure you understood properly, I'll tell you again. You can see me, so I am bound by Hyuga law to become your partner."
"Question," Sasuke said, opening one eye to look at Hinata. "What exactly are you?"
"Not sure. The most I can tell you is that I'm a Hyuga and what that means exactly."
"Well, alright. Continue." Sasuke closed his eye and settled back in his seat more comfortably.
"Okay, then. This partnership doesn't start until I get your consent, and it doesn't end until I've satisfied your desires and you release me, or either you or I die. Only you can see me until we've completed the contract and we're officially partners. You still with me?" Sasuke hummed his assent. "Have you decided yet?"
Sasuke looked at Hinata and nodded. She held out her delicate hand and asked, "Do we have a deal?" Sasuke felt like he was signing with the devil when he shook it with a nod. Good thing this devil looked so much like an angel.
. . . . . . . . . . .
End Chapter 1
R & R if you want to find out what happens next. Love, AMB11!