Summary: Hinata's last mission as a single woman is to get married… to Uchiha Sasuke, of all people.
Author's Note: I wrote this out of pure self-gratuity because none of my ships in Naruto ever made it. A decade of following the series for naught. T.T I will try my best to update every week. Enjoy and let me know what you think!
CHAPTER ONE
Timeline: Six months after the end of the war.
"All the details you'll need are inside," Kakashi said, handing over a red-colored folder to a man draped with a dark cloak.
Uchiha Sasuke flicked the cover open with his thumb and silently pored over the missive. While he was reading, Kakashi scrutinized his face to catch any reaction, but by the time he closed the folder back his face was still impassive as ever.
"Any questions?" the silver-haired copy nin asked.
"…Why me?"
"Well… one, you're my favorite student, so of course I'd give this important mission to you. I can trust no one else," Kakashi said, his lone visible eye curving in mirth.
"Don't spew shit with me Kakashi," Sasuke growled, feeling his patience quickly ebb.
"Ah, but that is the truth!"
When Sasuke started to walk out of the room, Kakashi quickly backtracked in his teasing. "Hold up! There's no need to get all dramatic and all."
"Get to the point."
"Well, there was no one else. We're short of hands these days, and the council was desperate enough to allow you to join the mission roster. But of course," and at this, Kakashi shot him a conspiratorial wink, "you won't be going alone. It's the Land of Waves after all. It will be too cruel to send you to honeymoon-land without a honey."
Sasuke was now officially irked. He had forgotten how annoying Kakashi could be, given that in the past five years or so, their interactions had always been serious.
He glanced down at the folder again. The mission was to take down a large syndicate in the Land of the Waves, a place known for its warm weather and beautiful, powdery white-sand beaches. Lately the syndicate had grown big enough to control the government, and as part of the Five Nations' peacekeeping efforts, Konoha was given the dubious honor of dismantling the organization. The mission plan was, roughly, to sneak two nin into the country disguised as husband and wife on their honeymoon, then take down the syndicate from the inside.
"I don't need a partner for this," he stated to the silver-haired Hokage, tossing the red folder on the latter's table.
"Ahh but you will. The syndicate is becoming a little… antsy these days, especially with the heavy presence of peacekeeping forces all around. They know that they're a sore point to the goals of the Five Nations, which is why even though they're maintaining an appearance of normalcy, they're very thorough in checking who goes in their gates. It's been bothersome to infiltrate that country for some time now."
"And sending me is a wise idea because?" He, the infamous Uchiha Sasuke, was supposed to just waltz in through the security of a paranoid criminal organization?
"Here's the irony: no one there knows what you look like. You'll be going under an assumed name, and your darling wife too."
Now Sasuke wondered who the poor soul Kakashi would be assigning the mission to pose as his wife was going to be. Mentally, he did a run of the available kunoichi in the village. Sakura was off the list, as the pink-haired kunoichi was currently serving a tour of duty around the Five Nations, giving medical trainings and assisting in critical cases which had stemmed from the war. His erstwhile fangirl, the one from the Yamanaka clan, was also doing some assignment in the Hidden Sound. That left the girl with her hair in buns. Were there always just a few kunoichi in his batch? He somehow couldn't recall the rest. But he didn't like the thought of working with the hair-bun girl. She didn't strike him as someone… capable.
"I don't need a babysitter", Sasuke contended.
"Of course not! Your wife will be your babymaker!"
The ensuing silence was deafening. Sasuke glared at his former teacher, wondering what on earth possessed the man to be this playful with him. A murderous miasma soon filled the atmosphere in the room, and Kakashi's grin melted into grimness. He wisely decided not to tease the Uchiha any longer.
"It couldn't be helped," Kakashi sighed, his visible eye turning serious. He rested his elbows on his desk, linking his hands in front of his face. "You did some crazy things in the past, Sasuke-kun. And even though you're half the reason this world still exists, you really can't expect the village to just welcome you with open arms. They haven't forgotten, Sasuke. They still think that they lost some of their family and their friends because of you."
"Then they shouldn't have let me out of jail."
"That's not fair though", Kakashi replied. "You're not that man anymore, Sasuke. And with the state of Konoha now, we need your talents here more than ever. Your sentence, if you will, is best served here outside."
A soft pair of taps interrupted their conversation, and shortly after, Hyuuga Hinata stepped into the office. When Sasuke saw her, he remembered that there had been some Hyuuga children in his class back in the Academy. He remembered the boy with long hair and blank eyes… Neji was it? He had been one of the least annoying, as well as one of the stronger members of his year. But the one who had arrived… he barely remembered her. Was she going to get in his way?
"Hokage-sama," she said, giving a small bow as she entered into the room.
"Ah, Hinata. Come now, no need to be so formal," Kakashi said, becoming cheerful again. "It's so nice of you to come so soon. I hope I didn't get in the way of your wedding preparations. Are you sure you're up for a mission?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama. The clan is handling the wedding preparations. I would be more useful to the village in the meantime."
"Very well then," Kakashi smiled, and handed Hinata a scroll identical to the one handed to Sasuke earlier.
Sasuke watched the newcomer from the corner of his eyes. So, this was the woman who was going to be his… "wife" in the next few months. Sasuke soon observed her face take on a reddish shade. It annoyed him. He found it irksome that the kunoichi would be agitated by the mission details. To him, it was a sign that she had a personality that annoyed him more than Kakashi's - a weak one. Worse, Hinata's face became redder once she finished reading the entire thing. Sasuke caught her taking a small glance at him, then watched as she snapped her head back downwards and impossibly turned to the reddest shade he'd seen in a human being.
Great, he inwardly groaned. From what he'd seen, he was pretty sure the woman was going to get in the way in the mission. What was Kakashi thinking when he assigned her to this mission? Was he thinking at all?
"A-ano, Hokage-sama…" Hinata thought she would faint from the embarrassment. Never in all her kunoichi missions had she ever pretended to be someone's sweetheart, much less a wife! Tsunade had always known that those kinds of missions were never her strongest suit. But now, it would seem that Kakashi did not.
"Yes Hinata?"
"It says here that I'm g-going to be…"
"My wife", Sasuke finally snapped.
End of Chapter 1.
A/N: If you're still here, congratulations! You made it through my horrible writing. On that note, I would love to know if any of you can so kindly point me to a beta reader. I would be much obliged! 3