Warning: SasuHina, Slight angst, Possible grammar mistakes, Hairdresser terms, Bad summary (need new one, offers? :D), OOC-ness, You might be unsatisfied with the ending… but this is a one-shot.
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto
Snipping at My Heart
"Young boy!"
Sasuke Uchiha turned around. Just past his overgrown ebony-black bangs covering his eyes, he could make out a person gesturing with her hands. Turning to both of his sides, it was clear that she was talking to him due to there being only a few elders who are able to wake up at such an early hour. Cautiously, Sasuke walked towards the woman. He felt no threat from the person; she was almost his height.
"Hello there." Her voice was just below a normal talking voice, which was very soothing to Sasuke's ears.
Her smiling face emitted a gentle warmness, making Sasuke a bit more comfortable. "H-Hi…"
She reached for the side of Sasuke's head, nearly shocking him. "You have gum in your hair."
Sasuke frowned deeply as he jumped a foot away from her.
"Would you like me to help you?" She giggled. "My name is Hinata Hyuuga. I work as a beautician in this store."
Thinking ahead of how his first day of high school would attract unwanted attention (besides coming in the middle of the school year as a new student), and possibly compel bullies to pick on him, Sasuke nodded slightly.
"Would it be all right if I cut your hair? The gum is actually on a large portion of your hair, and it has been dried up now."
Sasuke touched the side where the gum was. Indeed it was as she said. 'It might have been from yesterday when I ran into those delinquents from middle school before I moved... I just hope it didn't get on my pillow…' Seeing as Hinata was waiting patiently for his answer instead of rushing him, he nodded again. Having gum in his hair is worse than a haircut.
Leading him into the shop, Hinata told Sasuke to leave his school bag on one of the waiting chairs and settled him down near a sink. She wrapped a towel around his neck and reclined the chair.
"Your hair is pretty greasy. As a young boy, you must take care of your health – and that includes your hair." Hinata began washing Sasuke's hair.
The soothing feeling of her fingers running through his hair in gentle, but firm pressures was incredibly relaxing. Sasuke's shoulders stopped being tense and his eyes began to droop – just having enough sight to see a part of Hinata's face. This woman who suddenly decided to wash his hair was absolutely beautiful. Her heart-shaped face to her eyes which seemed like radiant pearls were incredibly stunning. Had Sasuke's head not been tilted, he could have sworn his nose would be bleeding at seeing such a beauty up close.
"You can talk to me if you'd like."
This snapped Sasuke out of his trance. "What!?"
"A beauty salon is where you can spill out all your problems and share practically anything you'd like. Being a beautician, I can make you into a completely new person."Hinata smiled as she began applying conditioner. "When I saw you walking past the shop, your head was cast down and you seemed quite miserable."
Sasuke felt an anger boiling up within him. Yes, that may be true but he didn't need some stranger to insult him. He was ready to burst out of the chair and storm out, but not before giving this know-it-all lady a piece of his mind. "Y-…"
"You reminded me of myself." Hinata continued. "I thought of myself as someone inferior to everyone else all throughout my childhood. My younger sister received better approvals from everyone compared to me. I guess you could say I was the trial product of my family and my little sister became the perfect, completed fruits of their labor."
All of his thoughts to tell this woman off were wiped clean from his brain. Hinata shared something very personal to Sasuke, and actually he knew what it was like. "I've always been compared to my big brother. Everyone looked up to him and expect the same from me because I'm an "Uchiha." I always feel excluded from everyone as they desert me once finding out that I am not good enough."
Tears began pricking around Sasuke's eyes. Hinata saw this and gave the warm smile again. "Let it all out. Have the tears and sadness go down the sink with the suds in your hair." Somehow that triggered Sasuke to let out all the repressed emotion he was feeling as if she somehow broke the faucet tap to his heart.
After wrapping a neck strip on Sasuke's neck, careful of not pulling too tight, Hinata grabbed the white cape and draped it around his body. Securing it tightly and comfortably, she unfolded the top portion of the neck strip so it rests nicely on the edge of the cape.
Sasuke's body was incredibly rigid. When Hinata brushed her slim fingers around his neck preparing for his haircut, shivers ran through his body. Sasuke looked in the mirror in front of him. There he was, hair cleaned and dried but still slightly damp in a white cape showing nothing but his head (not even the chair he was sitting in could be seen). Hinata was standing behind him organizing her supplies on a hair salon trolley cart.
"Don't be nervous." Hinata grabbed his shoulders and stared at him in the mirror. "You're tensing up again."
As if stating the obvious helped with anything, Sasuke tensed even more.
Smiling softly at him, she began running a comb through his hair. "Little boy, what year are you in?"
Sasuke looked puzzled at the random question thrown his way. "High school, first year."
"Oh how precious. You must be 15, still a little boy." Snip!
"Excuse me, but I am not a little boy. I'm 16 years old." Sasuke frowned deeply. "Also you've been calling me "young boy" or "little boy" for so long now. My name is Sasuke Uchiha!"
Snip! Snip!
Hinata cracked a smile and continued cutting his hair. "Don't worry, that's a good thing to be young. You have so many experiences ahead of you. Possibilities are endless."
Sasuke's expression lightened up. That comment of possibilities being endless seemed to reflect upon his brother inferiority, saying that he can discover himself as years go on. Sasuke glanced at Hinata. She didn't seem to be as old as she is implying. "How old are you? You don't seem very old. Actually you might even look to be my age."
Snip! Snip! Sni-!
Hinata stopped her snipping movements and blushed. "I-It's only because I have a baby face! I actually turned 20 just a while ago."
"When was it?"
"December 27th." Hinata began cutting his hair again.
Snip! Snip! Snip! Snip!
"Happy belated birthday." Sasuke gave a small smile to her through the mirror.
"Thank you Sasuke." Hinata smiled back ever so brightly. "No one has said that to me… so thank you."
Sasuke blushed. The white cape around his body showing only his head made it more prominent. Hinata's eyes sparkled with pure happiness and it seemed to radiate off her like a star. "I-'s...Um…N-No…" The mumbles never reached her ears – much less, his own.
Snip! Snip! Snip! Snip! Snip! Snip! Snip! Snip! Snip! Snip! Snip!
Aside from the scissors' noise working around his hair, the silence returned – something Sasuke didn't know he hated when the other option he had was listening to her tuneful voice. He blurted something – anything to hear her lovely sound, "So… How did you spend your birthday?"
'Did I just say that…?' Sasuke froze. 'I am such an idiot! She even said no one wished her any birthday greetings! YOU IDIOT, SASUKE!'
Hinata also stopped all her movements. Sasuke saw through the mirror that she was stuck in a pose with her hand over a hairspray bottle.
"Miss Hinata… Y-You don't have to say anything. I'm sorry." Sasuke turned his head to try to see her face.
"No… It's fine. I…I am over it." Hinata grabbed the sides of his head and faced them forward again but this time tilted Sasuke's head downwards, making him look at his cape-covered lap as she worked her fingers around his hair. "You see… I was actually dumped a few days before my birthday. He decided to tell me right before Christmas… that… that he got asked by his crush for a Christmas date…"
Sasuke couldn't bear to lift his head up, afraid of the face he made Hinata make by his foolish, insensitive question. 'WHY? Hinata is such a wonderful person… How can anyone give her up!?'
"I am actually fine with it." Hinata brushed off the hair near Sasuke's neck and removed the cape and neck strip. "I sent him off with a smile and wished him the greatest luck in securing her heart."
Sasuke looked at Hinata's smile. It held no warmth or happiness and like his heart, it was painful.
"How do you like your haircut?" Hinata used a hairdryer to try and rid of any small trims of hair on his neck and body.
Sasuke stared at his reflection. His bangs were cut shorter, framing his face. The hair that once grew past his shoulders was significantly cut. When Hinata brought a handheld mirror so he can look at all angles, Sasuke couldn't stop looking at the back of his hair. "It looks like a chicken's ass!"
"Really?" Hinata tilted her head to look at different angles. "I actually thought it looked more like a duck's."
"Why did you give me a haircut of some poultry's ass?" Sasuke was honestly confused and slightly angered.
"I rather like your hair." Hinata wrapped her arms around his head to grab his bangs. "The bangs frame your handsome face nicely and the styled portion in the back gives your head more depth, which I find makes you even more attractive."
Sasuke was blushing red. Hinata's face was almost touching with his right cheek as she explained. Not only that, Hinata was smiling excitedly once again – Sasuke though he would never see that face again.
"Are you all right, Sasuke?"
'And… I-It's DEFINITELY NOT her breasts pressing against my sh-shoulders that I'm blushing!' To be honest, Sasuke could have died happy.
"I-I'm sorry! You don't like it, huh?" Hinata looked very worried and cautious. "I'm n-not actually a professional beautician right now… I am apprenticing at this shop a-and didn't even take your decisions into consideration."
The woman had already started bowing deeply to him. Sasuke grabbed a hold of her shoulders. "It's fine, Miss Hinata. I like what you did with my hair. Thank you." He actually meant it. Hinata did say he looked very attractive after all.
Hinata smiled at him. She glanced at the clock. "Oh no! It is almost time for you to go to school. It's your first day so make a good impression."
Sasuke watched as she scrambled to find his school bag. He smiled when she almost tripped over the small coffee table.
"Here's your school bag, now be a good boy and hurry before the bell rings." Handing it out, she gave a bright smile. "Wow them with this new you! You have the looks to do so, just stand tall and stay confident."
Rushing out the door, Sasuke bid farewell to Hinata – which she did the same. He stopped in his tracks after running three blocks and ran back. 'I didn't even thank her enough for changing me into this new me.'
He stopped outside the shop and peered into the window. Hinata was there. She was holding a photograph of what seemed to be a smiling man. She collapsed and slid down the wall, crying softly through her hand trying to muffle her sobs.
Sasuke quickly took two steps to the entrance door, his right hand on the doorknob. His heart broke seeing her cry. He wanted ever so much to run in there and hug the sobbing Hinata…but Sasuke knew he couldn't. He removed his hand off the doorknob. 'I love her… I love her… I love Hinata, but I can't just… not yet…'
He stared at his left hand holding the school bag and then at his right hand that grasped the doorknob.
"Young boy!"
"Little boy, what year are you in?"
"Oh how precious. You must be 15, still a little boy."
"Here's your school bag, now be a good boy and hurry before the bell rings."
He clenched his right hand into a fist and muttered, "I'm not ready to be by her side…"
As much as it killed him, Sasuke continued watching her tears flow down her cheeks… crying for some guy! Having one last fleeting look, his mouth flapped out words but no sound came out. He went towards the direction of school with great determination for the future.
I'll come back for you…
A/N: I think I have this disease or something of never finishing anything (as you can tell from most of my stories). But also anime… I still haven't watched all of No.6, Free!, Hellsing Ultimate, Naruto (I gave up when shippuden started…), etc. I wrote this all in a day! Kinda proud of that but will be busy with school for a while now… My friend told me to just write one-shots since apparently I've got a small attention span and can't concentrate enough to complete my stories.
P.S. A Love Story may have to be put on hold… I know I promised but I've got a disease.. D: be kind…
But really, I'm sorry!
I've seen a couple of reviews and I am incredibly happy! Thank you :D I will not continue this story. I've concluded that it's a one-shot because I don't know how long I can continue before I become lazy and leave it unfinished. If you'd like to do something with this story, feel free to! As long as you site me somewhere and I'd love to read it so send me a link! ^^ And I actually mean it when I say I would like help with my summary. It bugs the hell out of me! _