Author's Note: is a Modern AU fic centered around Sasuke and Hinata's progression in their lives, for the most part and how their situation affects any potential relationship they could have, but it's my intention that their relationship play a bigger role in this story more than their individual ones(but I would like to develop them). Not really any character bashing here-every character that I focus on assumes their own flaws that will be addressed. And NaruSaku isn't a given for this fic either, but I largely haven't planned that far.
I'm also a writer who works more efficiently with feedback and reception (sorry?), and that's not to say that I'll "hold chapters hostage" (lol I rarely have multiple chaps finished at once as soon as I finish a chap I want it out of my hands) it's just harder to continue to be as motivated when it feels like no one's reading so constructive commentary is welcome but I can't really talk update schedule right now, though I have started ch. 2.
Btw this will probably be the only time I do a long A/N intro.
Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or make any profit from what I write.
Please Enjoy!
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Transgressions: Part 1
::
It was obnoxious...and ingenious, Hinata had to admit as she peered over the windowsill along with every other student on that side of the building.
Class was basically adjourned, completely drawn to a halt because of this massive symbol parading the school's front lawn. It's not like much was holding it together anyhow, she was in her second to last week of class on a Friday of her senior year in high school. She might as well dip a toe on the adventurous side.
And so she did.
Ino peered over her shoulder, arms crossed, aura smug. "Amazing. This is the defining mark of this year's senior class of Konoha Academy. Never thought I'd be more proud to be a student here. Too bad the sentiment's so late in the game."
Hinata glanced at her. "Do you know who did it?"
Ino snorted, all confident and assuredly, like she usually would. "Of course I know."
Hinata turned her head back, pretending to believe her while ignoring the teacher's commands to make their way back to their desks, along with the rest of the class. It seemed pointless especially in the face of something as...tumltuous-in the eyes of the administrators that is-as this.
A male phallic was ingrained upon the bright green grass of the esteemed high school. It was drawn largely and...with rather a much detail. There was a slight curve at its end, the balls hung sort of low along the erected member, the head was made clear, and even indicated the small window to the world inside it.
Though, the truly stellar part to this plan was that, unlike everyone had assumed, the perpetrator hadn't used spray paint or anything of the like. In fact, they used weedkiller. A highly efficient and potent one. The first day, the school was in a chaotic shock-all the other senior pranks had been tame and remote thus far-completely to the adminsitrators fortune and capability of dealing, but now there were pictures parading its magnitude around the internet-its presence disseminated without fail. The second day people were already integrating its existence into their lingo, a school wide inside joke that just about everyone found hilarious, until, it was no longer "inside"-no longer an isolated incident. The third day made sure of this as people from other schools and communities took it and ran; it was all over everyone's snapchat, everyone's instagram, and its fame continued wider by students from local schools trying to get a glance, a look, at the infamous...penis. It was all anyone had been talking about for the past week it'd been there; every attempt by administrators to cover it up was sabotaged by student supporters until, finally, they gave up. In one foul sweep the whole school was consumed by it, its reputation tarnished.
Certainly, the proximity of summer was no cushion. The higher ups could do very little to control the decency of the institution-their students falling pray to the tempting jokes at any and every point during classroom time: the rates of sexual innuendos skyrocketed-but it was, all in all, a harmless senior prank.
And though harmless, it was poignant; no matter how the custodians tried to get rid of it, it was a lost cause. According to speculation, they may have to uproot the whole lawn altogether before the fall.
In any case, the prankster succeeded wildly beyond anyone's expectation; that phallic would be sticking around for sometime to reign down chaos so long as it remained.
::
Monday
::
What Sasuke wants, assuredly, was not always what Sasuke gets.
Things Sasuke wanted at the moment: a relaxing joy ride to the beach in his jeep, to be far from the disgusting and scorching heat on the inland, and overcome by the refreshing breeze of the shore, far, far away from the responsibilities of his current situation.
What Sasuke got, was a headache.
And not without an earful.
"What the hell is that thing doing in front of our school?"
Tsunade, as she faced the window of her office with a direct bird-eye view from the courtyard, wasn't speaking to anyone in particular-room consisting of him, Naruto, and Shikamaru-but the anger was palpable nonetheless. Her arms were crossed as if trying to physically hold back her wrath upon them-
She said she would wait for the others.
She turned to them, eyes closed, futilely withholding her boiling frustration. "The board of ed is going to wring my neck," She murmured, though somehow with more irritation.
She looked up at the door, and to her own relief, Ino and Hinata had arrived settling into their seats.
Ino tried to offer up some form of excuse. "Sorry we're late, Headmistress. The parking lot was full-"
She held a hand out to her-
Shut up, She wanted to say, but instead Tsunade exhaled before continuing.
"Ino, Hinata," She started before looking at each of them. "I've called my senior student council officers here today in meeting of a catastrophe that's recently occurred. I'm sure you know what I'm referring to when I say this- you may've even seen it on your way back here, girls. Tch, who am I kidding, it's impossible to miss," She tried to visibly restrain herself from glaring at it again, and attempted relaxing herself by releasing the tension in her shoulders, and loosening her posture-it of course, didn't work. "I am supposed to be conducting 'investigations', but I'm also aware that 'snitching' is against teen protocol, but I need to get to the bottom of this, and I do have to start somewhere."
Shizune, always the diplomat, spoke up this time, a worried furrow decorating her brow. "We're not accusing anyone in here, by the way. The headmistress would like to clarify that as well."
But her sardonic snort said otherwise.
Sasuke's sigh seeped into the fibers of his bones, and slouched him into his chair. He didn't even have anything to do with it, although he silently wished he did. It would be an astounding accomplishment to have under his belt, and the timing was perfect-only days of school left, and he was about to graduate; the perpetrator was a genius.
His eyes couldn't help but lock onto Shikamaru.
"By bringing us in here, I can't help but feel like I'm being accused anyway," Naruto remarked.
"Yeah, it's hard to look at it anyway else right now." Ino stated.
"Again, I'm just asking the senior class a couple questions in small groups at a time." She clarified. "You kids are are the class officers. This is your last mission as such. I need you simply to cooperate."
Shikamaru huffed. "Did this guy take out your cameras or something? Why can't you just check those?"
Tsunade grew visibly perturbed again, even more so. Shizune, sensing this, answered for her. "That's another thing. They weren't circumvented or covered, or anything messy like that. Either the footage from that time was erased or someone must've scheduled to have the cameras sleep within that time frame the crime was being done."
The room was silent, and questions hung themselves in the air, one by one.
Naruto unfolded his hands from behind his head, and leaned out in his chair. "Guess I'll be the one to ask: what happens to the culprit?"
Tsunade pursed her lips. "It depends if they come forward or not by the end of the week-the last week of school."
"If they come forward?"
"Suspension."
Pointless, Sasuke mused. A vacation for the final days of school? She was either lying or an idiot. Sasuke knew better though, she was a careful woman. So for her to lie to the students in this room- students she supposedly trusted-only meant...
"And if they don't?"
The phone in the main office leading out of Tsunade's went blaring. Shizune got out of her chair, and excused herself, and Sasuke watched the headmistress watch her as she left.
"If not, they won't walk at graduation and earn a call to their intended university."
Hinata sat perfectly in her chair pushing her glasses further up her nose, unmoved by the day's events. It was uniform day-as all Monday's were-and hers was pristine maintaining her streak with only a week left and not a thread or seam out of place. Her hair was slightly sifting at her shoulders and sprawling largely but orderly at the back. Nothing threw her off today, not the closeness of summer and her imminent graduation or even when she got scheduled to go to the principal's office out of the blue. She was on alert, and focused still. Because of this she was able to assess the situation before her rather quickly. They either wanted a witch hunt out of them, or were being ambushed. Tsunade had laid out the punishments, but it seemed to her that it was more likely all three repercussions would occur either way, but she kept that to herself. It was likely, Hinata deduced, that she was lying in some form, and Hinata also had her suspicions as to why. In any case, the best option for any guilty party was to stay quiet.
But of course as Vice President, of a most prestigious and eloquent academy, it was her duty to defend the school's honor, assert goodness, and take a stance that justice be served.
Or come off that way, at the very least.
She was largely unmotivated by the task. The prank was harmless; the janitors didn't have to clean it up, it was too late to try and penalize the entire class, and the worst outcome she could think of was the smaller school kids seeing it from across the lawn as they ventured outside.
"What can we as a student council honestly do? We don't have any more resources than you do to figure this out." Ino said.
Tsunade closed the blinds with a pained sigh at the admonishing subject of vandalism before walking to the door of her office and shutting it, and closing the blinds on that one too. She walked back toward her desk, her heels clacking on the wood with a sharp beat, and everyone slightly on edge suddenly. Her demeanor was now even more overbearing and domineering than before. It were as though Shizune's presence had caged it if only slightly, and her absence released it. She sat back into her chair sinking in the leather, and crossed one foot over the other. Her elbows rested on the arms of her chair as she skillfully interlocked her fingers.
"Ino, let's not play dumb here." Tsunade said between her fingers. "But now that I do have all the people I need in here, currently, I'll start being upfront as well.
"You'll have to forgive me, but I lied. The only people with the type of knowledge of access to those cameras would potentially be the student council officers or, admittedly, the national honor society officers, whom I've scheduled to speak with as well," She started, then intensely staring down each of them. "Specifically, however, it's my opinion that the culprit is in this room."
The reactions varied between them-one shifted in their chair, one's mouth gaped, one scratched their hair, one had done nothing, and one crossed their arms-
before they all exchanged glances.
::
He was out of school, finally, but not home. His blond best friend got him to go that Johnny Rocket's in the mall he was in no favor of.
"She's really lost it man," Naruto said between bites of his burger. "It's so late for this shit."
Sasuke hummed an agreement. He had things to do-work on his speech, secure his earnings for the summer, relax-he didn't have time to be immersed in this extra nonsense.
"I mean, it's not actively hurting anybody. Let The Thing do its thing." He huffed picking at his fries.
Sasuke nodded, tooth on his straw. "Did you do it?" He asked half-joking, mindful of the answer already.
"No," He deadpanned. "but damn, I wish I thought of it, and I definitely would've brought you along 'cause no way it'd come out that right on my own, ya know? I mean weedkiller? Not even spray paint or anything? Genius. Shit, it might've been one of those artsy kids 'cause who's that creative? Whoever did it, has my unwavering respect."
"You're not wrong." Sasuke said. They were in full agreement.
"Who do you think did it?"
Sasuke paused before drinking his ginger ale. "Shikamaru seems like an obvious candidate."
Naruto chewed on his food some. "True," Naruto said, though he didn't look convinced. "But there were five of us in there."
Sasuke hadn't even thought to consider the late comers. He knew little of the blue one, but he'd thought enough to know that she was tightly wound. And Ino simply wasn't one to get her hands dirty. Literally and figuratively.
He shrugged to himself. "And there are about three hundred kids in our class. And almost twelve hundred kids in our school. Her suspicions don't rule them out. And she said that she'll talk to the NHS officers."
The blonde hummed. "Oh yeah, Sakura and them."
Naruto looked thoughtful before he rerouted the conversation. "By the way, you think you can drop me off at Neji's?"
Sasuke made a face expressing emotion even he couldn't be bothered to hide, and Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Still mad I chose him over you to be my tutor, eh?" Naruto jested, "Don't worry. It's not a tutoring sesh I just left something there, I'll be in and out."
Sasuke only sank further into the palm of his hand. "I was never upset. Guy just rubs me the wrong way," He countered.
Naruto bellowed a loud laugh, hiking its way to his shoulders that also turned a couple heads."It's funny when you say things like that about a person who's as close to your persona as you can get. You two are too similar for your own good."
Besides not liking being compared to a tight-ass like Neji Hyuga, Sasuke didn't like when naruto spoke like that-in that manner-either, like he were smarter. As if it were so matter-of-fact and Sasuke were plain clueless. When he spoke so confidently that things even his idiotic self said started to ring true. Sasuke continued to stare out the booth refusing his gaze as sipped on his Canada Dry.
"What time do you have to be there?"
:
Sasuke liked to think himself practical, methodical, well-plained out, and independent. He's gotten rather well at taking care of himself and his own business like a true adult although he was only on the cusp of seventeen. His parents hardly ever hounded him for anything-he'd started a small job to make his own cash, succeeded in high school, and got into a good college to do the same thing. He did exactly what was expected of him, an Uchiha, if not more, and he did it without question.
However, his absolute faith in himself would sometimes cloud his judgement. His decision making skills were quick, reflexive, and sure; once he made a decision he stuck to it, anyone could attest to that. Stubborn and true. But, Sasuke Uchiha was not as careful as he liked to think he was. Meticulous, was he? Thorough? Well, he believed his first time should count for everything. He only took his SAT once after all, and got exactly the score he aimed for, he was a natural and gifted learner in all practices and...projecting these principalities into a universal context, would be his downfall...today.
Namely, he'd underestimated (not forgot) the distance between the Johnny Rockets at the mall, and The Hyuga Residence. That was his first mistake, or rather, his second. His first one was agreeing to go anywhere near the home of a person he didn't trust. Thirdly, he'd succumbed to the heat's overbearing presence, and instead of buying food, asked the server to continue bringing those ginger ale's because nothing was more satisfying or sensible (fiscally anyway) at that moment. In conjunction with that, had overestimated the comfortability of his bladder with the amount of ginger ale he'd consumed.
And so, while driving out of the mall district, Sasuke suddenly realized
he needed to go.
Terribly.
Maybe, possibly, Sasuke could've battled through it, if only for those minor details.
But it was rush hour. Goddamn this traffic.
A normally fifteen minute drive turned to almost thirty. By the time they'd made it to the Hyugas, he was twitching.
"Dude, just go inside and use it. Neji's not cruel. He's 'college guy' now, mature and what not." Naruto reminded him.
Sasuke side-eyed him. His words did not quell his pride.
Naruto easily received the stubborn energy radiating off him, that was trying to override his suffering silence. "You gonna piss in your car or something?" He questioned.
"Dude, just go!" Sasuke half-exclaimed.
"Ugh, and I'm the idiot." He said as he jumped out the white jeep.
And it's not like he could get out and pee in a bush.
These were the Hyugas. He was on their territory. Their large, gated, surveil-lanced territory.
They were in regular contact with his own family, and he didn't want his piss all over their front lawn to be the reason a relationship froze over. He'd never hear the end of it.
There were cameras everywhere. There was an external gate, to get to the main gate of the entrance-
he was trapped.
At that point Sasuke's head was on the steering wheel running over scenarios in his head, and he thought about Naruto going in there and retrieving whatever he left, trying to find it, and him striking up conversation with anyone and everyone who comes his way-and he remembered the size of Neji's family, and that he'd had a history with them, and that there'd be much to catch up on, and that Naruto had a short attention span and even shorter memory and that'd he'd be liable to forget him and that Naruto wasn't one to answer his phone right away, and even when he did, he liked to hang up on Sasuke when he caught a tone and might hold it against him and still not hurry, and he imagined Naruto getting out the house-he could see him walking not even quickly back to the car only to start driving-then he remembered the traffic and like that his resolve dissolved into nothing.
Sasuke hopped out, trying to ignore the weight of the liquid as gravity pulled him down.
"Alright, Asshole," Naruto cheered hearing the car beep behind him.
They buzzed the large gate, and a voice came through. "It's naruto."
"You've brought something with you," Neji voiced back.
"Yeah it's just my chauffeur. He's gotta use the can," Naruto responded, and shrugged as Sasuke rolled his jaw.
The buzzer beeped, and Naruto walked ahead of Sasuke. "See? What'd I tell ya?"
"Hey Neji," Naruto walked in the mansion ahead of Sasuke all comfortable and welcome.
"What happened? You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago. I have things to do."
"It was this guy driving not me."
His head turned, and strange white eyes narrowed on him. Sasuke stood shakily and...desperate even at the door as Neji surveyed him.
"Uchiha."
"There was traffic." He said beside the greeting. He looked to him without words: a reluctant plea through the eyes.
Neji's lips curled and his eyes twinkled for the smallest of moments. He must know, oh how he must know how he suffered to be asking like this.
"As much as it'd be fun to ruin your day a little I do have places to be," He started, smirk retreating, twinkles dwindling. "Down that corridor and third door on your left."
He tried not sprint.
He brushed the door behind him, and saw white as he torturously fiddled with his zipper, positioned himself and sighed into his release. It was orgasmic, so much so that he leaned over the toilet. He heaved a sigh, but his relief was cut short-pierced and destroyed by a loud crash- replaced with worry that settled upon his brows, and commanded his eyes to the source, that he snap his neck to the door he failed to close properly, and brace the consequences that came with it.
Oh fuck.
::
"Shikamaru-kun?" Hinata asked.
Ino sipped at her straw. "Uh-huh."
"But I thought you said he didn't mention anything by name?"
Ino sighed and gave her a poor innocent look. "He told me not too long ago, in the group chat, he had something planned. Then boom. Penis."
Hinata turned forward continuing at the pretzel in her hand as Ino drank down her mango smoothie beside her. So she wasn't sure, Hinata concluded.
"Do you think it could be anyone else?"
Ino sighed. "It very well could be someone else I guess. But who cares? They'll likely make it out alive no matter what."
Hinata tore off bits of her pretzel and ate it with a steadiness. She didn't like being accused of things or being in any sort of trouble, but if Ino was confident then she would be too.
"Have you been working on your speech?" Asked Hinata. The mention of it completely swerved the conversation and fueled Ino's mood.
"God I'm a wreck. I've been going through drafts of pure trash and then suddenly having zero ideas. And it's in like two weeks!" Ino started, and then continued rambling on about the transitions, and which hook was better: anecdote or intimate direct address of her predicament, or how to make things sound the same way they did in her head as she wanted it to for an audience, whether she should subliminally message students, teachers, staff or if she could shout out her friends or whether anything she wrote down made any sense. and she went on like that for quite awhile, Hinata contributing her nods, and "really?"'s here and there and other acts of assurances before Ino finally put the ball in her court.
"What about you?" Ino asked licking what remained of her smoothie.
"What about me?" Hinata returned.
The blond looked to her incredulously. "You're writing a speech too, I'm president of the student body and the val-I can't write and recite two speeches, and you're the vice president."
It's true that there are traditionally three to four student speeches given at graduation. The valedictorian of course, the salutatorian, and one class officer if not two, and on occasion, if not two class officers, then a highly recognized individual student of other matters. That thought of writing a speech did cross Hinata's mind, and it did briefly terrify her and gift her a few sleepless nights, but she shook her head. "It'll go to Naruto I believe. He's the co-vice president and far better at the speech making and administering process. Plus, there's no need for a fourth this speech this year.'
"Naruto?" Ino asked.
"Uh-huh." Hinata mocked like before.
"Did he tell you he got the speech?"
There was a pause. "...No,but-"
Ino's demeanor became smug. "Hm. Interesting."
"It's...not." She responded loosely.
"Yeah..." She said gathering her things, and ignoring Hinata's eye roll. "Well, I've got to meet Sakura soon so I'll...see you on stage..." She joked ignoring Hinata's eye roll.
"And before that, at school tomorrow, bye." She waved behind her with a kiss at her fingertips before proceeding to the mall exit, and Hinata nibbled on her pretzel trying to unsettle the anxiety that built up from that possible truth she'd forced into the back of her mind. When she decided her thoughts alone couldn't diffuse it, she realized it was time to go as well.
::
There wasn't much to expect when she got home from school. Her father was often away on business, Neji locked himself in his room most of the time these days to study or sometimes tutor, Hanabi was always out of the house for something as though she didn't have a shortage of friends, and there were a various but not plentiful other family members (two cousins and an aunt) who lived in the residence, but on extreme sides of the mansion-more or less a guest house turned Hyuga Inn.
Today was no different, and she afforded herself the same relaxation ritual she descended to with her academic career coming to a close which started out by face planting onto her bed like dead weight, and refusing to turn herself over until she was in dire need of breath. She had work soon, so she didn't have the liberty to fully decompress.
To avoid lulling into a regretful slumber she sat herself up, headed for the kitchen and went through her mental 'to-do list', for the entire summer before university. it was all mundane and usual, but she could live with that. She'd just recently gone through various hurdles and hoops to get to her current situation. She'd made a major switch in terms of college last minute, far beyond the committed date for the more competetive universities anyway, but lucky for her, she'd deposited the commitment fee into multiple universities behind her father's back so that she could potentially choose whichever one on her own without the struggle of begging the admissions office an extension on her fee submission. To her relief, things had turned out exactly like that: her father was prepared to allow her the university of her choosing, considering the ones she was looking at were all still of high prestige, under the condition of course, that she still obtained her MBA.
There was time to potentially change that too, she mused.
If she wanted, that is.
The family business doesn't appaul her or scare her, but she was sure she wanted more than to do exactly what she was told. It's taken time and a lot of failure, pain and reflecting, but Hinata Hyuga learned how to play into her father's hand, mirror him in some ways, and gain the dragon's trust. He didn't question her every move anymore, allowed her some autonomy even, sometimes praised her decisions too. If she failed to meet some form of expectations in one way, she made it up in another.
Which is sometimes bewildering to Hinata, because although she isn't at the very top of her class now, at a time she was-standing above the others. That was early tenth grade, and her father was still so...unsatisfied with her; his expectations, his drive, they were insatiable.
A true business man.
But now, she was third, maybe fourth in class, but he actually...liked her now. And it had soon clicked to Hinata that he wasn't qualifying her based off achievement. He didn't want to know that after every step she took, she'd look back to him with a wavering hope of praise, that everything she did was to please him because one day she might be tasked with the job as head of the company, and should her drive be based off purely off what he thought of her? How competent she thought he thought she was? Because when he was gone, so would his praise be too, and his guidance and what would her focus be then?
What he wanted from her was initiative and, possibly, above the others-
Nerve.
He wanted to know that she had substance to her. That she had a will.
It was a sturdy lesson, one that she had to pry from her own failings, not his very well functioning mouth, that he largely never used. And it was ironic truly, because all those years, all that time invested into being good enough for him-that was exactly what made her lesser,
in his eyes.
Hinata snagged a few rice cakes before proceeding away from the kitchen. She wanted to spend her last couple minutes alone and snacking before work, she thought hearing voices at the door. She was glancing behind her shoulder as she slipped into the corridor, she liked to steer towards her own solitude-
Bam!
The world was black long enough that she feared it, and felt pain crashing around her cranium, and her glasses narrowly escaped destruction with a minor crack in it, but she saw-
Everything.
She heard the loud zipper, the metal of the belt, the-
"Jesus fucki-!"
"Ah-shit. S-Sorr-ohmygod." She stammered, moving quickly to shut the door forcefully, with both arms.
She felt that composure she'd begun to master dissipate, replaced by a chaotic fluster with no end or cooling in sight. She could feel the red inferno in her cheeks swirling about, making her dizzy.
-From the red of her blood on the dull edge of the largely open bathroom door, to the dust on the white blinds in the tiled bathroom, to the shocked, enlarged black eyes of the black haired classmate she hadn't really ever spared a second thought and his slightly wrinkled uniform ...and his...
She couldn't un-see it.
Hinata put the rice cakes in a napkin afterwards, and left the Hyuga residence for work rather early that day.
::
Wild...anyway, if you made it to the end, hope you enjoyed! And please review and let me know how it was!