He was never a man who was overly fond of displaying his affections, or expressing any semblance of emotion. His actions spoke thousands of words, especially the little intimate ones that were few and far between, rare treasures meant to be treasured for as long as they could be.
Hinata was well aware of her boyfriend's mannerisms, but she didn't mind much, if at all. She was just happy to be with him and spend time with him when she was able to, and that was that.
They rarely held hands in public, arms only brushing together when one of them strayed a little too close as they walked side by side. Hinata would then blush just slightly and create some distance between him, knowing that he would be more comfortable that way, and Sasuke would glance to the side and raise a hand to sheepishly rub the nape of his neck.
It wasn't to say that he couldn't be affectionate or that he didn't know how to be affectionate. It was just that there might have been slight awkwardness in doing so, perhaps the slightest feeling of embarrassment. They were private things, and even then, they were rare.
Hinata never asked anything of him in regards to such gestures, not even for a bit of reassurance; she never needed any reassurance, after all. There was never anything to worry about. She knew that he liked her, and that his eyes saw no one else, much to the dismay of other people. His gaze would wander, but it wouldn't be long before she had his attention again. He didn't stare with lovestruck eyes of adoration, no, but even so, the whole world would be able to tell that Hyūga Hinata had snagged his heart.
Out of all the times Sasuke had kissed her, and she could count all the times that he had on two hands, she had never been kissed on the lips, and she wondered — was there something wrong with her lips? They had been dating for a little over a year, and yet…not once.
Was it her or was he simply shy about it?
Hinata decided that it was the former, although she couldn't really understand why. She had always been told that she had nice lips, and eventually she had come to see them that way, too. They were pink and full, but they weren't large. Well-proportioned and just slightly plump — they were cute.
Right…?
Today, she decided that she wanted to find out once and for all.
For once, she had a day off, and it was nice that Sasuke finally had one, too. It's been four years since the end of the war, and one and a half of those years had been spent, for him, in the Correctional Facility to atone for his crimes. Only half a year ago was he allowed to become a shinobi and take missions again, although clients were almost reluctant to take him, which didn't make it any easier on the Uchiha. Still, he eventually became busy in order to rake in a source of income to survive, and to prove that he had changed and would be a hard-working citizen of Konoha.
After truly meeting one another, then getting to know each other, and then dating (which took a while, mind you), it left little time to spend with one another, as they were both active shinobi, and Hinata was the Hyūga clan heiress.
But today, the two of them had found time to arrange for a date in a small little restaurant near the outskirts of all of Konoha's businesses. It was tiny, and it was a little on the side of the unknown, which Sasuke had liked. Unbeknownst to Sasuke, however, Hinata might have spoiled the secrets of their date to Kiba, Shino, and maybe Ino.
Hinata broke relatively easily, and Kiba had taken advantage of that after seeing that she looked like she had dolled up for something, or someone, special. Shino had been a bystander, and earlier, Hinata had asked Ino how she should style her hair that day, to which she received some help for. Ino became curious but said nothing to the heiress, getting all her information from Kiba instead.
The three of them sat in a booth together in the back corner of the restaurant where they could easily see Sasuke and Hinata sitting together in the center of the little establishment. The couple ordered their drinks and finally their lunch, and they relaxed in their seats as they waited on their orders.
Sasuke sat on the end of the table that faced the direction of where Shino, Kiba, and Ino were seated (although right now, he couldn't see them), and Hinata sat with her back turned and eyes focused on Sasuke. She was just thrilled to be out and spending time with him.
After a moment, Kiba — who, along with Ino, was sitting on the side of the booth that would allow him to see Sasuke's face — poked his head out and narrowed his eyes at the raven-haired man. Nothing was happening —yet. Hinata was sipping at her sweet tea, and Sasuke was crinkling his nose at her.
How could she drink sweetened tea? And cold, of all things! She was a little odd — or maybe he was the only one who thought so, considering he wasn't the biggest fan of anything sweet — but he liked her all the same.
Time went on and the three spies continuously poked their heads out. Sasuke eventually saw movement in his vision and focused his gaze on the back booth, watching carefully. As a head of brown hair poked out (a head whose face still had the Inuzuka clan markings, and a pair of sunglasses on), and Sasuke's gaze turned into a glare.
What were they doing here? The Uchiha almost shrugged, but he decided not to outwardly do anything that would alert his date to their presence. She didn't have to know. Lips only held the slightest trace of a sly smirk, however — did the dog-nin look jealous? Sasuke was aware of their close friendship, but now he couldn't help but to wonder if Kiba felt something more. Typically not prone to showing his affections, he felt the burning to desire to now that there might have been jealous eyes glued to them. It would make quite the spectacle.
What should he do? He could pretend there was something on Hinata's cheek and brush it off, or brush her hair behind her ear. No, no, that wasn't enough. In fact, he wanted to…he wanted to kiss her! But..a public display of affection, kissing to be precise, seemed a little bit much to him. Still..his girlfriend's cheeks were tempting.
Pale like porcelain with just the lightest pink dusting her skin, and smooth like nothing else he had ever felt. They were soft and irresistible, just like everything else about her. He liked kissing her cheeks, despite the few times that he had done it, and he wasn't quite ready to kiss her on the lips, although they had been dating for quite a while now.
It was now or never. Now, while he had the gall to do it, now, before he changed his mind.
Hinata was staring at him curiously with a somewhat amused expression pulled up over her countenance. Sasuke was making a couple of interesting faces.
"Sasuke-kun…?" she began softly, her tone questioning. "Is..is something wrong? You..you're..ano, you're making..weird faces…"
"Hm?" Sasuke's attention was brought to her once more, and a brow raised. "No, nothing's wrong, other than the fact that..you've got..something on your cheek. Lean over."
"—-I do? I—..all right…"
Hinata leaned across the table, and Sasuke reached a hand out to gently dust her cheek. A second later, his head leaned forward (and everyone in the back booth was watching intently), an act that began to make Hinata's heart race. Was he going to kiss her? Out in a restaurant? Eyelids fluttered shut as she anticipated his lips pressing upon her own, but only felt brush upon as cheek.
His soft lips lingered for a moment before moving away, and his expression was just as indifferent as before, though perhaps there was a bit more color to his own face. Hinata's pale cheeks, however, had flushed brightly, and she looked down at the table top in embarrassment.
Maybe there was something wrong with her lips after all!
She didn't know that that wasn't the case and it was just that Sasuke had quite the adoration for her soft skin, but moving up a step would come within due time.
In the back, Ino was holding Kiba back, and Shino stared across at them, unmoving and seemingly uncaring. Some of them might not be so pleased, but Sasuke most definitely was, and Hinata was as well — for the most part.
One day, he would find that her lips were just as feather soft as her cheeks.