Chapter 2

"Demo, Okaa-san—"

"Iie. I told you. It was either you stay with me or your baa-chan and you-"

Sasuke tuned them out as his mind absorbed what he just learned, forming a mental checklist of the facts that were presented to him in those few minutes. Although his mouth hung unknowingly, nothing escaped the Uchiha's eyes. First name, Shikakumi. Kage Mane no Jutsu-obviously trained in the style of the Nara clan Poorly. He sniffed, remembering the sloppy jutsu the kid performed, consciously brushing off the fact that the kid could not be older than five years old. There were no traces of Hyuuga on the child's features. Maybe she adopted. Sasuke turned a trained eye towards the mother-and-son duo and studied the pair's features. At first, he could see no similarities. But suddenly, subtle resemblances unmasked themselves as Sasuke's experienced observation skills took over. Shikakumi's spiky, chin-length hair grazed his red, flushed cheeks, mirroring Hinata's flustered porcelain skin. Sasuke hadn't seen many people turn that shade of pink except for the Hyuuga girl herself. Choppy bangs brushed his furrowed brow, a messier version of Hinata's perfect straight-cut bangs that framed her heart-shaped face. The boy's eyes were far from white, but he shared the same innocent, doe-eyed glance as he stared up at his mother, even as his mouth turned downward. Sasuke could have dismissed all these characteristics as chance, but then there was his hair. The kid's hair was dark, almost black. As the boy shook his head violently, denying something that Hinata was saying, Sasuke noticed that the kid's strands captured the sunlight and threw off a subtle indigo tint. The same tint that distinguished the Hyuuga girl apart from the other members of the clan, silently announcing the marked differencethat could only be explained by direct hereditary inheritance. There was no doubt. This kid had to be hers.

Sasuke stiffened abruptly. Wait—why the hell do I care? The only time that he remembered he had ever tried to care to interact with this girl was when their fathers had put them together as children during clan meetings. Memories of a small girl with indigo hair cropped to the same length as the kid in front of him and a shy, brilliant smile flashed quickly through his mind and he blinked. He cocked his head in confusion. Where did that come from? He blinked again and shook his head to clear his mind. The past is the past, he reminded himself. Upon entering the gates of Konoha, he had tried to make it a point not to dwell on anything that would trigger an explosion of anger—usually the times when he thought about the days before the war. Sasuke began to inch slowly away, hoping to escape the Hyuuga's sharp eyes.

No such luck.

Catching sight of the slight movement in her periphery, Hinata finally turned to the Uchiha. "Gomen, Sasuke-kun," Hinata smiled apologetically. She looked down sternly at the boy who was pouting behind her leg. "Apologize, Shika-chan."

"Uh, it's okay you don't nee—" Sasuke's deep voice rumbled awkwardly, one foot ready for flight, had he had to make more conversation than necessary.

"Gomenasai, ji-san." The boy bowed politely. He kept his gaze downcast and peered at the silent man through his lashes.

"Hn," Sasuke managed. It was still weird being around anyone else besides Naruto. It was weird being social in general. He just wanted to leave.

The Hyuuga smiled in approval, trying to smother a chuckle at the thought of Sasuke as an 'ojii-san.' Realizing the Uchiha was still dripping in tomato juice and eggs, Hinata clasped her hand over her mouth. "Oh, Sasuke-kun! Let me help you!"

Sasuke raised one eyebrow, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Please don't. I'm heading ho—."

Ignoring him and turning to her son, she instructed, "Go get me some water from the ojii-san in that stall, ne, Shika-chan? Hayaku!"

Shikakumi took off running in the opposite direction. Turning, Hinata used the sleeve of her yukata to reach up and wipe the egg yolks off Sasuke's face, fussing and muttering to herself. Sasuke had no choice but to stand frozen and accept her help. It was funny, really, the boldness that she displayed. He could only remember his former classmate as a stuttering little introvert at the academy and a weak, sympathetic kunoichi on the training field. He tucked away the little thought that her nerve may have come from being mother.

As she mumbled to herself, Sasuke realized that he should not be seen interacting with a woman, the Hyuuga heiress no less, on his first full day back. It'd spark the attention of the fangirls, or worse, the Hyuuga clan. When he heard the little pattering of feet making its way closer, Sasuke grabbed her wrist. "Enough," he demanded in a monotone voice, leaning down to glare at her. "Thanks, but no thanks. I can do this by myself."

Blushing at the close proximity of his face, she ducked her head shyly. "G-gomen." Sasuke released her and shook his head at the napkins and the water the little boy offered.

"Ja," he muttered, sloshing his way back to the apartments. Juices squished between his toes as he stepped gingerly back through the crowd.

"Um—have a good day, Sasuke-kun," she called hesitantly, raising a hand to wave and putting her other hand on her son's head.

Sasuke ignored her. Expecting Hinata to give the boy a scolding, he kept his attention on their conversation. However, when he didn't hear the softspoken woman's voice rise at all, Sasuke's curiosity grew. Ducking behind stall, he turned to to spy on the Hyuuga and her son. Sasuke watched as she picked up the little boy who still had a pout on his handsome face. Laughing, she nuzzled her nose on his cheek, earning a grin and a kiss. "Ne, Shika-chan. Smile for your okaa-san. Daijoubu." She set him down and took his hand. "No more jutsus, okay? Not yet." They walked off towards the center of the market.

Sasuke felt a pang in his heart as an image of his dark-haired mother brushing her nose against his own as a child rushed through his thoughts. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he brushed aside that memory as well. Past is past, he repeated again. And, it's sure as hell not my business.

Sasuke yawned and pushed opened the door to the Hokage's office. It had been a long day and he was eager to get Sakura's impending dinner over with. Realizing there were people inside, he stopped his hands from removing his mask and left it on, moving swiftly to stand behind Naruto. Quickly, he racked his memory as he studied the jonin in the green vests, equipped and ready to depart for their mission. Hyuuga Hanabi. Sarutobi Konohamaru. The most skilled jonin of their generation, or so Kakashi says.

Kakashi had taken Sasuke on a mini tour during his ANBU orientation, as though he had never lived in the village before. Sure, it was slightly different than before, but he did remember quite a lot without having to listen to Kakashi's monotonous ramblings of 'things worth knowing,' he said. Among these 'things worth knowing' were the important points of most of the shinobi's profiles. Aside from his former classmates' information, Sasuke grudgingly listened to those of the younger and older generation, people he had previously deemed even more unworthy of his thoughts, so it was easy recalling information about the two in front of him. He stifled another yawn.

"Dismissed." Naruto finished with a cheeky grin threatening to grace his face. It was hard to be serious when he truly trusted his comrades.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Hanabi bowed briefly.

"Ja, Naruto-nii-chan," Konohamaru grinned, flicking his wrist in a quick wave.

They glanced quickly at the masked ANBU standing behind the rokudaime and saluted respectfully, somehow knowing that it was the captain. Sasuke nodded back once in greeting, and they relaxed their stance, heading for the door. Catching a glance of Hanabi's impassive stare and her white, indifferent eyes, he remembered his encounter with Hinata in the market.

The door shut. "The other Hyuuga—is she still heiress?" Sasuke removed his mask and shook out his shaggy hair, already beginning to take off his armor.

Naruto nodded, raising his eyebrow at Sasuke's sudden interest. "Nn. Nande?" He continued to stamp the papers on his desk.

"I ran into her today. She has a kid." Sasuke took a sip of the sake that sat untouched on Naruto's desk, his armor piled neatly on the floor. He stretched, cracking his neck loudly.

"And? I have two."

"She obviously isn't married if she's still the Hyuuga heiress living in the Hyuuga compound counseled by the Hyuuga elders. You know, instead of living outside of Konoha with another man."

Sasuke was rewarded with a blank stare.

Frustrated at his friend's failure to grasp the point, he snarled, "Is that even allowed? I thought those tight-assed bastards didn't allow that in their clan." He sighed, taking the whole sake bottle for himself.

"Since when are you interested in anyone other than yourself, teme?" Naruto teased, stopping his work for a bit to stretch his muscular arms over his head. He snatched the bottle back.

Sasuke shrugged. "It's just…weird." He paused. "You're married…and even Kakashi is with someone now. You know, that Yuuhi sensei. It seems like everyone's settling down, living their lives. I feel like…I've been left in the past, and I'm struggling to catch up to everyone. I'm here, but I'm still not sure what to do."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find someone." Naruto teased again as he got up to get ready to leave.

Sasuke shot a glare in his friend's direction. "That's not what I meant."

Naruto chuckled. "Sorry, Sasuke." His whiskered grin turned serious as he eyed his solemn friend. "This whole, starting fresh-type thing is really important to you isn't it?" He put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Aa. I don't want anything holding me back anymore," Sasuke murmured. Naruto observed the way Sasuke's eyebrows pulled downward as he frowned, mulling over his thoughts. The Hokage smiled softly, musing that Sasuke must have been really distracted if he didn't punch him in the face for touching him. Not wanting Sasuke to feel sad on his first night back, he offered, "I'll tell you on our way to dinner."

The Uchiha shook his head. "Just forget it. I don't care anymore." He shrugged off Naruto's hand. "Let's go already. I want to get this over with."

The pair prepared to leap out the window into the night.

"Better yet. You can ask her yourself tonight, 'ttebayo."

Sasuke snorted. "Hell no."

He wouldn't mind a rasengan to the face right now. The Rookie 9, or 11, or 10, or however many there were now, did not mix so well with sake on the table. Including himself. It had been fine at first. He tolerated the greetings from his former classmates. He knew they were here mainly out of Naruto's insistence. The food was good too, he had to admit. And not having to cook most of it was a plus. But then, unsurprisingly, the noisiest bunch of the group were also the most drunken, and, when drunken, were even more noisy. He couldn't even think straight anymore. It was giving him a headache to hear Lee go on and on about the youthfulness of his genin team and a tipsy TenTen trying to get her wide-eyed boyfriend's attention and was it just him or was Chouji looking a little fuzzier?

"Sasuke-kun!'"

Sasuke grimaced at the sound of the all-too familiar, whiny voice and turned slowly, squinting to see a very pregnant Ino rushing towards him with her arms open.

"Please tell me you're not drunk," he said tonelessly as he stuck out a callused palm to her forehead, halting any chances of her getting her arms around him in a hug.

Ino paused, frowning. "Of course not!" She huffed. "I'm not stupid!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, unconvinced, and took a whole step backwards. "I see you're…pregnant. Congrats, I guess. Are you married, too?"

"Why, Sasuke-kun, I'm flattered by your interest, but yes, I am!" Ino batted her lashes at him and he fought the urge to gag.

He rolled his eyes again. "Not interested."

A pink blur that was apparently Sakura came up behind the two and laughed. "Don't worry, Sasuke-kun. Ino and I are both over our fangirl phase." Her eyes glittered merrily. She winked and continued, "Sai takes too much of her time nowadays."

Sasuke blinked.

"Oh, please, Sakura." Ino retorted, sniffing daintily. She grinned back, putting an arm around her friend and pressing her forehead close to hers. "It's surprising to see that you and Naruto have enough time to get down and dirty with your busy, busy schedules."

Sakura gasped and shoved Ino away as they both burst out in laughter.

Sasuke grimaced. He was not having this conversation, he was not having this conversation, he was not – Sasuke gagged and walked away. He hoped he would make it to the bathroom in time. The sake just did not agree with him.

Sasuke groaned and put a hand to his forehead, leaning against the bathroom wall and wiping the vomit from his mouth. He almost laughed to himself. Uchiha Sasuke, the former missing-nin, a lightweight. He had never really seen the need to drink before, so the amount of alcohol he had consumed affected him more than he had thought. Of course, he stopped paying attention to the amount he had been drinking after Naruto and Kiba opened their mouths and just wouldn't shut up.

He took a deep breath and opened the door, ready to head back to the festivities, and took a shaky step out of the bathroom. No sooner than five steps down the hallway, he stumbled, landing on the floor with a bang. Well, fuck, he thought. Somewhere in his thought process, he was actually grateful for the steady surface the floor gave him, but Sasuke hoped that no one would be needing to use the bathroom anytime soon. He wondered vaguely if anyone would mind if he fell asleep right now. He let his eyes shut, welcoming the relief the darkness gave him compared to the glaring lights above his head. Stupid dobe… he thought drifting off to sleep. You owe me.

Update/Revision: 6/29/14

Hey everyone,

I started writing this story about two years ago. It was my first fanfic. I have had the plot basically completed and have had various sections of the fic done as well. All I really needed to do was tie everything together. I started writing this fic, as someone mentioned, in a sort of SasuHinaShika (mostly SasuHina with a side of Shika because I loved ShikaHina almost as much) phase. Now, two years later, the story, even to me, seems pretty ridiculous. But I guess I wanted to finish up what I started (for once) and put something complete up so that I could continue writing other fics with a clear conscious (ha!). So bear with me (only if you want to :3) as I try to make do with this crack ship. In any case, I'll continue updating this fic for my sanity's sake.