Theme and Variation

Summary: {Sequel to "Mixed Drinks and Techno Beats"} Unexpected things leads to unanswered questions and unexpressed feelings... That is, until a moment of clarity appears in a blurred mind. [SasuHina]

Rating: PG-13

Pairing(s): Sasuke x Hinata (very small Gaara x Hinata for the sake of tying up loose ends)

Warning: Het, slight bashing, possible light citrus, possible IC 'Cotton Candy' (Sweet Fluff)

Disclaimer: If I owned it, Itachi would have made more appearances and Kakashi would have shown his face at least once by now.

Momo-kun-chan: Hi all. Here is the requested sequel to "Mixed Drinks and Techno Beats". (If you haven't read it, you might want to do that. )

I wrote this specifically for 'The Great Thing'. Your review brought a big ol' smile to my face, so this was the least I could do. Thanks to everyone for all of your support.

Keep in mind, I'm writing this so that it's plausible, and will hopefully persuade some people to believe this pairing could truly happen.

...Oh my. I've never written a fic so soon after another before. blush, scratches back of head

-

"Ah. Pompon, belladonna, some ergot..." Hinata subconsciously checked off the mental list as careful fingers mixed the herbs in the medicine bowl. The leaves and liquids ground and combined into a greenish-white blend as she continued to stir.

The frosted-glass clock chimed on the table beside her to signal the coming of a new hour. Hinata paused to look out the large window, out to the steadily rising sun on the horizon. The cool morning breeze blew the sheer white curtains; bring the fresh scent of daisies to her nose. Hinata smiled at the beautiful scene of the village. Hinata rarely got to see the sunrise; she'd always slept until eight. She would have last night, if her mind wasn't racing.

"Thanks for the dance, Hinata. Ja."

The words echoed again and again in her mind. It was like a lost puppy, running at her heels and following her home. It even seeped its way into her slumber like an over filled sponge. Thoughts and dreams molded into one. She was beginning to think that she'd stayed at home all night and dozed off, not having gone anywhere at all. She wasn't even sure, if and when, she had fallen asleep. But Hinata was pretty sure she did. The damp pool of saliva on her pillow was evidence enough for her.

Hinata remembered clearly from when she sat up almost dazed from her soft fleece linen, then resting her head on up-drawn knees to help gather scrambling thoughts. She didn't know what had possessed her to dance in the first place. Then to end up dancing with none other than the number one most wanted man in the village. Hinata could almost feel the gently strong embrace still on her delicate skin. The lustfully pleased look in his dark eyes. Hinata could barely believe herself. Hinata was so caught up in the moment, she had lead him on before she knew it. 

The scenario played over and over to the point that going back to sleep was no longer an available option. She gave a burdened sigh of contemplation while finally hoisting herself out of bed. It was a little before 5 o'clock then. Since that time, she busied herself with the decided preparation of the medicine for three specific people. Hinata was on the last mixture before she'd taken her break. Odd how he was the most vivid in her mind than Gaara was; Hinata nearly forgot about the red haired man completely.

While focusing back at the bright morning star, her mind strayed to flurried thoughts once more. No matter how much she tried to put logic into the situation, it never panned out completely. Hinata was positive she wasn't as beautiful or interesting as the other kunoichis. She'd thought Sasuke had zero interest in the girls of Konoha anyhow, but evidently she was wrong. Although, she did feel his eyes staring during group missions together as she recalled the rusty memories. Hinata figured he was just making sure she didn't mess up. He seemed to hate weakness.

Hate. The pit of her stomach tightened and chilled. Oh how the girls were going to be more than angry with her today. Hinata shuddered at the thought of those furious and hateful eyes. Glaring at her. Judging her. She was becoming somewhat fearful of what everyone might say. Hinata was more than sure everyone had seen her last night. Ogles and stares of pure astonishment.

Hinata released a light giggle at the mental image as she turned back to her work. She did say when you're having a good time you didn't really care what was going on around you. Honestly, she didn't mind the attention at all. It felt nice to have someone notice you in a good way, for all she could tell, for a change.

Hinata shook her head while sealing the last of the medicinal cream into a jar, then attaching colored ribbons around the neck to identify them. Well, what's done is done. There's nothing that I can do now, even if I wanted to. Maybe, I can just try to avoid everyone until they forget. Hmm. How long could that take...?

...A decade or three...

She mused in defeat when she realized the new Jounins were supposed to meet today for their mission assignments. Looks like that ideal is over... Hinata sighed and wiped her hands on a towel that she had tucked away in a nearby drawer. Her colorless eyes traveled to the clock again. It was around six thirty now, so she might as well start the day. After cleaning up the small table she was working at, resealing the used portions for later and tossing out some old pieces she didn't need, Hinata grabbed her ninja clothes from the back of a chair where they rested and spread them over the bed. She suddenly needed a long shower badly. Hinata didn't know how, but she could tell already this day was going to be a long one.

-

Bit by bit, the wood splintered and crumbled. The bark of the tree had long been crushed off by the blows. It was the only lone tree standing in the desolate clearing, the rest had long fallen victim to the Chidori as the technique was being perfected. Sasuke had improved the skill to get at least six in one day, thanks to his Uchiha bloodlines. Now he was practicing his speed and accuracy. True, he was pretty good already, but there was still room for improvement.

He pulled a few shurikens from its holder and tossed them into the targets of the tree; each one struck dead center into the thick trunk while he flipped gracefully through the air, tossing a few more which hit their bull's eye as well. Sasuke landed with a solid thud as he hit the ground firmly. He paused to inspect his work. His face shifted into a mere frown when he noticed one shuriken was off by a few inches.

"Damn. I can't afford to make mistakes like this on the field." He cursed under his breath before going to pull the weapons out of the tree.

"You were still pretty great, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke glanced over his shoulder before he finished putting the shurikens back in its holder. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh nothing in particular. I was just walking through." She plastered a shallow smile on her face and tucked some loose hairs behind her ear. Sasuke only walked past her and grabbed the bottle of water from the ground.

Sakura pretended look around the landscape to make it seem like she was interested in the scenery. But Sakura hadn't just stopping through like she'd said; she had been looking for Sasuke most of the morning. She'd stopped by his house and didn't see him there, so she went where she'd seen, previously followed, him most.

To be honest, she wanted some answers about last night's little stunt. Her Inner Sakura was nearly tearing down the walls of her mind. Running around smashing any defenseless window in sight. Oh what did that Hyuuga vixen do to corrupt her poor, sweet, innocent Sasuke-kun's mind?

"So... I was looking for you last night, but I couldn't find you." Sakura gave another opaque smile.

Sasuke flashed a look while taking a sip of his water. "If there's something you want to say, just go ahead say it."

"Okay." She looked up with glinting green eyes and frowned a bit. "Sasuke-kun, I saw you with Hinata."

"I know." He responded coolly and twisted the cap on the bottle.

Sakura looked dumbfounded as Inner Sakura cried. Damn that super cool, sexy attitude of his!

"Ah Sasuke-kun, why... did you dance with her...? I was saving a dance for you." 

"Because I wanted to, Sakura." His lips pressed into a thin line. He was becoming annoyed. He wasn't hers to control or claim. He could do what he wanted. Didn't she realize he wasn't a child anymore?

"Sasuke-kun..." Her arms dropped to her sides before she instantly became angry. "Why? Why Hinata?" In other words, why not her?

"That's none of your business."

"Like hell it isn't!" She fumed and planted her hands firmly on her hips. "I waited all night for a dance from you and you blew me off for Hinata?! What did you see in her anyway? The girl still has a crush on Naruto for Christ's sakes! I bet she doesn't even like you the way I do!" Sakura suddenly paused and brought her hands to her mouth to stop her rant. Her eyes quickly found the ground in embarrassment. Me and my big mouth... Damn Ino. I've been hanging around her too much...

"Sakura." Sasuke sighed with a frown. "I don't like you, in that way. You're a teammate, and a friend. That's it. I never once thought of you any other way."

The pink hair women gaped then bit her lip to keep from crying. "Sasuke-kun."

Now that Sakura seemed to be instantaneously put into a blank trance, Sasuke mentally decided just to leave. Right now. Before this scene could carry out any farther.

He bent down picked up the dark shirt that was discarded on the ground before his training session, and began to walk out of the clearing, leaving Sakura to stand there shocked and deeply disappointed. Sasuke sighed heavily with a touch of remorse. It wasn't his intention to crush her on going intentions, but he wasn't even intending to sugar coat it. Besides, she would find out one way or another anyway. As smart a girl as Sakura seemed, he was surprised she didn't figure it out before. How many years were they teammates? Sasuke suddenly wished Naruto was there to break the uneasy tension in the air, but quickly retracted the thought. He didn't want to get into a fight, for right now at least.

As he began to unwrap the protective bandages on his hands, he threw over his shoulder, "You might not want to stand there all morning. We get our missions today.", and disappeared into the coverage of the forest.

His shoulders slack almost immediately when he was out of sight. That entire situation was highly uncomfortable for Sasuke. He never had much experience with trying to talk things out. Why draw out the inevitable? It was best to get the information out there, skip the small talk, and get it over with.

For years, Sakura has dropped hint after hint, tried to spend unthinkable amounts of time with him, including after training sessions, even trying to buy the whole lot of gifts to win his favor over the other girls. This doubly increased when he was returned to Konoha after the little 'power rift' fiasco collapsed.

That was a big mistake, in more ways than one. He could never seem to get rid of her after that. She always said things like, "I don't want you to leave again, Sasuke-kun." to get her a free 'spend-the-night-over-the-Uchiha's-house' ticket. It never worked thankfully. Secretly, he was disturbed that Sakura confessed her love for him the night he'd left.

He was grateful to be loved, but not in that way back then, and not from her. As years past, he focused more on training to still avenge the clan and kill Itachi, but it was becoming less 'important' now somehow, as in not the top of his priorities. For the years obsessing over it, how his perspective change so quickly was beyond him. But, this was also around the time when he actually became acquainted with Hinata Hyuuga. At first, it didn't make sense the feelings he had for the quiet girl, but it soon became abruptly clear, mainly after yesterday evening.

The sun cut between the leaves of the trees, leaving a tapestry of light on the forest floor. It almost resembled light reflecting off a kaleidoscope. Sasuke suddenly felt a bit at peace as a few birds chirped and sang at the coming of the sun.

The sun.

Sasuke didn't try to hide the easy smirk forming at the corners of his mouth as memories rekindled. It was worth the trouble of a few queer glares to be with his light, Hinata. The simple glow in his eternal darkness that was the true color of his soul. His heart was nearly racing at the thought of her dainty, warm hands tracing the exposed outline of his chest again. Her warm body next to him in a tender, grinding motion. His lips tightened into a bitter line.

By all of the chances in the world, why did the one person he wanted attention from was more focused on Naruto than him? Such cruel fate had made it even harder on him to say what he was dying to say. It would be way too awkward to just walk up to her one day and say, "Hey Hinata, I think you're the best thing since sliced bread. Be my lady and forget that ass Naruto."

Not only would it be incredibly cheesy, but Hinata would probably faint from sheer embarrassment, thus causing a scene. It was extremely difficult to find her alone anyway. Whenever she wasn't with her team, she was with her cousin Neji, who had grown more protective of Hinata over the years, or off aiding the doctors in Konoha Hospital to help improve her medicinal jutsu. If someone were to see them 'together', it would lead to questions he would rather not answer. For example, not too long ago.

Sasuke shrugged some doubtful thoughts away as he reached the entrance of his apartment. Just seeing her today would be enough for now. No doubt she wouldn't be there for today's assignments. Maybe he would get a chance to get Hinata by herself before they left Konoha. Now, he just had to find a way to get the words out without it being too painful.  

-

Once Hinata was done washing up for the morning, she ate a modest breakfast of chopped cantaloupe and mango with some orange juice and a bagel before she'd gotten dressed. Her new outfit was laid across the bed, ready to be worn for the day. Hinata had only worn it once, when she bought it before graduation. It was something different with a touch of her old look.

She still had her navy capris, which she found the most comfortable, and her forehead protector around her neck, but her top was more form fitting and only came up to the sternum as a halter top, leaving from there up with a white fishnet covering. The fabric knitted all the way down to her thumbs, which they looped around to keep in place; her nails were still painted from yesterday, so it was a good thing the color was matching.

Hinata had also decided to toss her infamous beige coat too. She'd been using it to shield the world from her truly vulnerable self for a long time. Hinata had finally gained some amount of confidence about herself over the years and pitched it. It was all for the better, but she had to admit, it was hard letting the worn thing go.

After putting on her sandal boots, Hinata reached over the bed and grabbed the travel bag to put her supplies in. She didn't want to have to come all the way back home to pack after the mission was assigned. Hinata placed some clothes at the bottom, along with some products to freshen up with; A Rank missions usually spanned over a period of a few days, even weeks or months, and she'd rather not be smelly while doing it.

Then, she grabbed a few weapons and scrolls, and placed them into various pouches for easy access. It was mainly a few extra senbon that wasn't occupying her holder. She'd grown quite accustom to using the needle-like tools during her Chuunin years. They were quick and much lighter to use than a clunky kunai, and much easier to throw as a matter of fact. Next, she filled the side pockets with some bandages and herbs for injuries, and finally placed the newly made jars of medicine on top to deliver them.

Hinata tied the drawstrings of the bag tightly before she slipped it on her slender back. Thankfully, the cargo was light. She looked at the clock and decided now was a good as any time to head out. It was seven thirty and the meeting began at eight. Hopefully, she would get there early so that no one would notice her coming in. Please, please let today go by smoothly.

-

"You two are too slow." Gaara frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, as his siblings grabbed the rest of their equipment and prepared to head out.

"Well sorry. Some people have more than just a gourd to carry." Kankuro snorted sarcastically and tossed the huge duffel bag over his shoulder. He was stuck carrying everything plus Karasu on his back. Man, life was unfair.

"Oh stop complaining Kankuro and suck it up. I bet Gaara's gourd is twice as heavy than what you're carrying." Temari chided while tightening her last spiky ponytails. Boys. They can complain more than girls do. "Okay, ready. Let's get out of this dump."

Gaara nodded in agreement as he led the way, followed by Temari and the still grumbling Kankuro. The trio was halfway through Konoha when Temari spotted the dark head girl from last night and smirked.

"Hey Gaara, isn't that the one from yesterday?" She pointed to Hinata, who was walking in the opposite direction.

At that moment, Gaara stopped and watched the girl with his glassy, peacock-blue eyes. Hinata glanced behind for a second, feeling someone watching her, then did a double take when she noticed who they were.

"G-Gaara-san." Hinata called and rushed over. Her face was becoming red already. "I-I'm glad I caught you. You're leaving today right?"

Gaara nodded and watched as Hinata took off her knapsack.

"I-I have something for you." She produced a small jar with a red ribbon around it from out of the bag and held it out to him. Hinata was blushing madly and ducked her head a bit. "I-I made this medicine for you, Gaara-san. You may need it someday... or for your team."

Gaara took the jar, though he doubted that he would ever need it, thanks to his sand, and stared blankly at the Hyuuga for a moment. "...I don't have anything for you."

Hinata blinked in surprise, along with Temari and Kankuro, and shook her indigo head. "T-that's all right, Gaara-san."

"No its not."

The gourd's cork promptly popped off, causing the rest of the Sand team to stir as Hinata's eyes widened with amazement. The sand poured out into the pale boy's palm, where he covered it with opposite. He placed the sand shape in Hinata's velvet hand, causing her to blush deeply and smile. It was a tiny sun made of sand, complete with the customary spiky sides, and a smiley face center. Though it was quite cartoon-ish, Hinata found it immensely adorable.

"That's for you." Gaara stated, his expression still bland as ever.

Hinata nodded, blush spreading to her entire face. "Ah. T-Thank you, Gaara-san."

Gaara nodded and signaled to move again with a slight cock of the head. Temari and Kankuro nodded as they began toward the exit of the Leaf village again.

Hinata waved bashfully and stuck the gift in her pocket. She would have to drop that off at home before she left. She would hate it if it was damaged in a mission.

On second thought, I have enough time, so I'll do that now. Hinata nodded to herself and made a hasty retreat back home before meeting with everyone else. She could always run if she really had too.

-

"Oh no, I'm late." Hinata nearly cried, when she heard the loud murmurs of a crowd inside the large, old building. She caught her breath, which was lacking from running most of the way there, and peaked into the small crack of the door. They were all there, talking to each other casually. Most of the girls looked upset, and were all gossiping about last night's little incident. Too bad this building didn't have an extra exit. True, it had a few windows, but how crazy would she look jumping through a window when a door was fully functional.

Hinata mustered some ounce of courage and began to pull the door open. She opened it just enough for her to fit in, attempting to keep the attention on herself to a minimal. She sighed while closing the door back carefully. No one had noticed her yet, that is until a familiar voice rang in her ear.

"Oi Hinata-chan! You finally came!"

"Ah Naruto-kun!... Um... Good morning. How are you?" She brought her hand to her chest and blushed at the sight of the blonde's whisker marked face.

He smiled that infamous foxy grin; his breath was saturated with the scent of fresh miso ramen. "I'm good! How about you? I better you're great, ne?"

Hinata looked surprised and blushed. Naruto nodded in agreement with his own loud comment, gaining the attention of most of the crowd, who quieted considerably at that precise moment.

"Hm hn. I saw you with Sasuke yesterday. Haha. Who knew you were such a freak!" Naruto grinned as if he just stated the best comment in the world to her as Hinata's mouth fell open into an 'o'.

Hinata could feel red burn across her pale face. As she looked around, and stammered a few miscellaneous words that didn't really go together, but she couldn't help it. All attention was on her now. She could feel their prying eyes. Hinata wished she could disappear into a cloud of smoke, and run until her legs collapsed from under herself. For what felt like an eternity, only a second truly passed.

Before she could piece together an actual sentence, Kiba ran over and pushed Naruto over by the head. "Hey, don't call her a freak, Naruto."

Kiba had only come in at the part that said "Such a freak!" from Naruto's obnoxious voice, and saw Hinata looking fearful. No matter how much Hinata liked the other man, Kiba wasn't going to stand around while he put her down.

Shino, who had been listening to Kiba muse about irrelevant things, was now at the rim of the crowd, hands in his pockets, shaking his head slightly at his freshly angered teammate. Why couldn't everyone just be quite and mind their own business? It wasn't that hard to do, and besides, it was too early to be fighting anyway. The Aburame was obviously not a morning person.

"Ow! Kiba! What was that for? You bastard!" Naruto frowned as he held the newly forming lump on his head while he jumped up to his feet.

"Because you were being annoying as always, dobe."

Naruto frowned, and pointed an accusing finger at the Uchiha that appeared behind Hinata. The Hyuuga blushed at the attention from everyone, not to mention the warmth of Sasuke's arm brushing lightly against her mesh covered shoulder.

"Stay out of this Sasuke! Unless, you want a piece of this!" Naruto stated boldly and turned his nose up. "Come on. I'll take both of you on!"

Kiba gritted his teeth as Sasuke snorted. "Che... I'd like to see you try."

He smirked as Naruto rolled up his sleeves.

"That's it! I'm tired of your damn cool act, Sasuke. Now that I'm a Jounin, I'll really kick your ass!"

"Well, none of that right now, okay Naruto?" Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke, and patted Naruto's head as if he was a Genin again, all while his masked nose was buried in the latest issue of Icha Icha Paradise.

"Eh? Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing here? I thought the obaasan was giving us our missions." Naruto squinted his eyes suspiciously at his former teacher as the others voiced their compliant opinions.

The silver-haired Jounin smiled under his mask, his one visible eye also shifting happily. "Well, that was true Naruto, but the Hokage-sama had some very important Hokage duties to attend to this morning (Sleeping in, but no one knew that), so she assigned me to give you all your missions." Kakashi nodded and placed the little orange book in his back pocket. "If you would all be so kind as to follow me, we can get this over with."

Everyone shrugged and whispered to each other as they followed the older Jounin. Naruto 'hmph-ed' and followed along with a defiant pout. Shino sighed and Kiba sneered before he turned to white eyed woman, who was still blushing madly.

"Come on Hinata. Let's go get our missions." Kiba grabbed her thin wrist and pulled her along a little before Hinata could agree.

For a moment, she turned back, the longer parts of her bangs whipping in front of her eyes briefly, to look at the man behind her. Sasuke looked up and flashed her a barely noticeable smile from where he stood. Hinata blushed and brought her finger up to her partially beaming lips. She didn't know how, but the Uchiha seemed to stand out in a crowd that was swarming around and past him. He then turned and stuck his hands in his pockets before blending off into the crowd. Just then, Hinata suddenly remember the jar of medicine in her backpack and sighed. She would have to give it to him later then. If she had the time later.

Hinata got into line behind Kiba and Shino. The line was moving fairly slow so Hinata busied herself with her surroundings. She saw quite a few people holding colored tags when they got out of line and wondered what they were for.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei! What the hell are these?" Naruto had asked her question aloud, and looked at the grey colored tag in front of him as if it was poisonous. Kakashi looked annoyed behind the table he was seated at.

"Well, as you all know, Jounin's are the only ninja's who complete A Rank missions. This is your first, so you'll be paired off into groups of two for this one. If you can complete this mission successfully with your teammate, you can go on solo mission from here on."

Naruto frowned. "That's stupid! We've been on teams for years!"

"Well, you could just go home Naruto." One lazy eye turned back to Icha Icha, which he was reading again, while checking off the names as people picked up their tags.

"It's still stupid." Naruto huffed and snatched the plastic piece off the table. "Hey, who's got the match to this one?!"

Naruto stomped off in search for his partner as Hinata moved up in line. Pretty soon, she was in the front of the row and grabbed the purple tag from the table with a timid bow to Kakashi before she walked off. While moving around to find her match, she heard two voices cry in unison.

"Oh no! Not you!" Naruto and Kiba were glaring at each other, both holding identical grey tags.

Hinata heard Kakashi chuckle from behind her at the scene. She could have sworn he intentionally planned that by the amused look in his eye. Hinata turned away from the pair's show of rebellion in search again. If Naruto wasn't her partner, she hoped someone else would at least be a little nice. As she looked, she saw Neji had paired up with TenTen, Ino paired with Shikamaru, Chouji had somehow paired up with Shino, Hinata did not see that one coming, Sakura was with Rock Lee, Kiba and Naruto, who was arguing over who would be the leader... The only one that was left...

"Looks like you're my partner." Hinata nearly jumped at the husky tone over her shoulder.

She spun around quickly, blushing before she even noticed it, and bowed her head a little to the foot taller Uchiha. "I-I guess so, Sasuke-senpai..."

"You don't have to call me 'senpai', Hinata. I'm not that much older than you." Sasuke said curtly yet gently.

Hinata nodded quickly and apologized. "Forgive me, Sasuke..." It felt strange to talk to someone without an honorific attached to their name, Hinata noted. She blushed again, this time warmth even spreading to her ears. She had just mustered enough courage for a weak smile, but closed her eyes as soon as she lifted her head, fearful to look at those rumored cold eyes. She had rarely any opportunities to make eye contact with him.

Hinata's face was a pink glow by now as she lifted her hand to her chest. "S-should we get our papers now?"

Sasuke nodded and motioned for her to follow, who adhered obediently. Trailing behind the brunette man, Hinata's heart wouldn't stop beating wildly. She was on a mission with Sasuke Uchiha, of all people. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, just... unusual. They rarely ever spoke outside of the normal small talk, consisting of greetings and such. They were acquaintances, and that was it. Wasn't it? Hinata honestly couldn't think for the moment.

All she kept thinking was now this meant Hinata would have to give it her best on this mission so that she would keep up with the stronger Jounin. Hinata nodded to herself as she smiled a bit. Her heart wouldn't stop fluttering for some peculiar reason. She wasn't even working her body hard at all either. Hm, unusual indeed.

-

Momo-kun-chan: First chappie complete. Good? Bad? Believable? In character? OOC? Please tell me. This is my second Naruto fic and I need feedback. Suggestions are welcome.

Oh yeah... Gaara's little sun was cute, but that's the last you'll see of him here. I feel so bad. He needs a loving woman. nods Must write non-angst Gaara/Hinata fic. scribbles notes

...Oh and if you're going to flame, please tell me exactly what was crappy. (Pairing flames shall be ignored) And have some courage to sign in. Don't be a complaining coward. -

Review please. Thank you.