A/N: I've been busy
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.
He was still grumbling underneath his breath once he reached home. Sasuke's pale cheeks still had a very light, faint flush. He opened the door and slammed it shut with a rather large force as if to make his angry presence known in the Uchiha manor. His bad mood worsened at the sight of his mother and brother in the kitchen.
And why were they sitting together?
"Yo, bro." Sasuke stared at Itachi. He wondered how his brother managed to say it in such a dead and calm manner.
"Oh don't mind him Sasuke-kun, he's dating one of those 'Ganguro' Hip hop girls now" Mikoto informed with a rather nasty tone. Sasuke grunted non-committed. He didn't want to be involved in one of those infamous 'type-of-girl-you're-dating' argument. He had his own problems to deal with.
"So bro. Was it fly." Sasuke stared at Itachi again. He sounded really, really weird. Yet it was also normal. Ugh. Oxymoron.
"What?"
"Your meeting dear, your first therapy… Was it successful?"
"It was…" Sasuke flushed at the memory of Shikamaru and his own lame comeback.
"I'm not a virgin by the way." That was a failed comeback.
An epic fail.
He looked at his mother helplessly and tried his luck one more time.
"Oka-san… please can I quit the therapy?" Mikoto pursed her lips before saying anything; Sasuke knew that she was thinking.
"It's for your own good you know… Sasuke-kun, you need help." His mother nodded at him knowingly.
"Stop talking like I'm sick Oka-san…I'm not. Please can I quit the therapy sessions Oka-san…the therapist…. the therapist's not…not…" he tried grasping for a word to describe Shikamaru.
Stable?
Qualified?
Serious?
"Fly…?" Itachi said monotonously.
"Shut up Itachi" Itachi rolled his eyes at Sasuke. "So can I quit Oka-san?"
With a heavy sigh Mikoto placed her head on the kitchen's marble counter. Sasuke watched his mother. Why wouldn't she answer him directly? She…she was not…she better not… but she was! She was crying.
"Oka-san…." Sasuke pleaded weakly "Please…"
"All I wanted was to see my Sasuke-kun all grown up and get married –sniff- I'm sorry Oba-chan… I have failed as a mother…. –sniff- "
"Tsk." Itachi shook his head sadly at Sasuke. "See what you have done to Oka-san… Shame on you." Itachi was right! Sasuke had just made his mother cry! The mommy's boy made his mommy cry!
"I… I… Fine. I'll continue with the therapy sessions! But I want a change in my therapist! He sucks!" Sasuke answered, frustrated. He couldn't bear see his mother cry… and for him to be the caused of his mother's tears…
That was total blasphemy!
"I'm going to work" Sasuke muttered, leaving the Uchiha house in the same manner that he had entered.
Mikoto was still crying silently when Sasuke had left.
"You can stop now Oka-san. He's gone" She looked up from the counter and grinned at Itachi.
"That was a good plan Itachi-kun."
"Stop calling me that."
"You're not fun to dote on at all…fine… thank you for helping me Itachi…" Itachi shrugged. "I still wish that you would stop dating the Ganguro girls Musuko-san. I don't see anything pretty in them."
"Oka-san…" Itachi scowled.
"Fine..."
Mikoto wondered why when it came to Itachi she knew where to draw the line. And did Sasuke just call his therapist a "he?" Wasn't his therapist a "she?" Oh well… she must have misheard him.
"And how does that make you feel Sakura-Chan? " Hyuuga Hinata asked Sakura kindly.
"It makes me feel angry! I mean he ditched me! At my wedding! I'm… I'm so ashamed… I've been ditched. At my own wedding." Sakura started to cry. Hinata cringed at the sound of her patient's shrill cries. Sakura's voice reminded her of the annual karaoke competition between Neji and her father. Hinata dreaded that time of the year much much more than when Hanabi suffered from her PMS. Neji and her father singing were just... not nice. Hinata patted Sakura lightly on her arm.
"Shh… we know that he's not worth it if he runs away from his own wedding right? I mean he was going to marry you; you're the most beautiful and wanted woman. You don't need to blame yourself. You did nothing wrong" Hinata said gently in an attempt to comfort the pink-haired woman. Sakura look up at Hinata. Her eyes were red yet she still managed to look glamorous.
"You think so?" Hinata could hear hope in Sakura's voice. She smiled and nodded sincerely at Sakura.
"Thank you sooo much Hinata… I don't know what I would do without you! You're a life saver, I have to go now, I'm meeting Ino for lunch, bye!" Giving Hinata a quick hug and air kisses, Sakura left the room as fast as the wind. Talk about a bipolar disorder. But Hinata wasn't surprised over Sakura's reaction. It was that quick manner in switching from one emotion to another which launched her into the career as the great Japanese movie actress of all time. Besides, she had to deal with Sakura ever since…forever, so she was familiar with her.
"Ow!" Hinata clutched her ears. Too bad her ears weren't familiar with Sakura's high-pitched voice. She could somehow hear Sakura's voice still ringing in her ears.
"Are you going deaf Hinata?"
"Wh-what? Oh… Neji-nii, Hanabi-chan… I didn't hear you guys come in."
"It figures… you're going deaf then" Hanabi snickered "what with having to deal with Sakura."
"I…Yo-you shouldn't said that. I'm not deaf. And be nicer to Sakura will you" Hinata blushed as both Neji and Hanabi smirked at her accidental stutter.
"Yeah right. As if you don't complain about her voice at all." Hinata pouted. Why must they tease her? Ever since the both of them found an affinity in beautiful hair and expensive bottle of shampoos, they seemed to be teasing her a lot lately.
"What do you want both of you?" Hinata asked instead "You rarely visit me while I'm at work. You must have wanted something." She gave them an accusing look.
Hanabi flipped her hair. Neji smirked. "Smart. Spill it."
"Spill what?"
"Sakura" Hanabi answered as if it was the most obvious thing.
"What? I can't tell you what happened, the meeting's confidential. Besides, since when do you care about Sakura? Hanabi, yes, only for gossips. You?" Hinata gasp, "Do you like her? But what about Tenten-chan?"
"No…" It was Neji's turn to blush. "It's Tenten…her magazine… juicy details…Sakura..." Neji mumbled.
"Oh!" Hinata had forgotten that Tenten was working for a very popular tabloid.
"So can you… please?" Hanabi gave Hinata the puppy-eyed look.
"It's confidential." Hinata stated firmly.
"Wasn't confidential when it came to that Orochimaru…"
"I… that was different" Hinata reddened "He was a creep…" Hinata shivered involuntarily at the memory of Orochima. The two-faced gay hag had pretended to be her patient jus to get close to Neji. Ew.
"Right…" Hanabi answered in a I-don't-believe-you tone. Neji poked Hanabi.
"That's true. He's a gay pedophile."
"Fine then… at least answer this. Is it true that Uchiha Sasuke's coming here for therapy?"
"I can't answer that!" Hinata said indignantly "And the both of you know why!"
"It's confidential" Hanabi mimicked her sister.
"Yes…and… who's…? Uchiha Sasuke?" Hinata asked somewhat not paying attention. She opened the new document on her latest patient. A sticky note was attached to it with Shikamaru's sloppy handwriting. Hinata read the note:
Patient:
In self-denial.
Stubborn.
Troublesome.
Good luck,
Shikamaru
Hinata smile to herself. It wasn't much information but it was sweet of Shikamaru. Usually he didn't bother.
"… You don't know who's Sasuke?" Both Neji and Hanabi were looking at her as if she had committed some horrendous crime.
"Am…I suppose to?" She asked still not looking up, she flipped through the document randomly.
"Have you been living under a rock?" Now Hinata looked up. Hurt was written all over her face.
"That's not a nice thing to say. You know that I've been really busy" Hanabi bit her lip. She felt guilty.
"I'm sorry… but really onii-chan… he's the most eligible bachelor ever!"
"And my number one business rival!"
"I don't read the tabloids or the stock exchanges."
"Well…yeah…" Hanabi sounded exasperated "but still you should know! He's the one whom ditched Sakura! I mean doesn't Sakura ever mentioned about him before?
"Oh! So that's his name, she mentioned him by the term 'bastard' now and 'hubby' before." Hanabi wanted to hit her sister on the head. Was she ever this daze?
"You really don't know him then?" Neji confirmed.
Hinata sighed. "I don't…"
" … You sure…help us a lot onii-chan" Hinata grabbed a pen and tossed it at Hanabi's head. It bounced of her head, yet her silky brown hair was still neat and in place. Hinata wondered what new expensive shampoo Hanabi and Neji was using now. They never bothered sharing secret hair tips with her. Not that she mind but still... she should be privileged to some of their secrets right?
"Get lost, I have a lot of paper work to do" Hanabi poked her tongue out cheekily and exited the room.
"What have you done to her nii-san?" Neji raised his hand as if in mock surrender.
"Don't ask me… she's your sister."
"Maybe it's one of the new bottles of shampoo. I need peace! Go bother Hanabi" Hinata said playfully, Neji allowing her to shoo him out of her office. Hinata made sure to lock the door to her room. She didn't need anyone else to burst into her room. God knows, Rock lee or Tenten maybe the next person to burst in, despite it being a daily occurrence.
Finally left in peace, she continued flipping through the page randomly to sketch a view of the type of patient she'd encounter; she caught sight of random words like "commitment" and "marriage".
She tutted under her breath. How come all her recent cases are related to marriage?
Turning to the front page to start reading the documents properly, she gaped at the picture of her patient.
He had beautiful onyx eyes and smooth white skin. He was beautiful, except for the scowling face which ruined the beauty. She checked the patient's name.
Name: Uchiha Sasuke
It was like Déjà vu. Or destiny as Neji would have put it.
Did she believe in fate?
Hinata didn't know.
He was still stuck in this hell hole.
He was in room reminiscence as previously. But a few noticeable changes were made to it. Like how the room was no longer all white. Different shades of purple were present. Lavender colored frames, plum colored rugs, the works. Strangely enough even the smell was "purple-like". It was a faint mix of lavender and bluebell. But the most noticeable change of all was the person seated in the chair opposite him. It was no longer his ex-classmate (Sasuke scowled at the thought), it was someone very, very different.
Sasuke watched as the lady in front of him gave him a smile. It was one of those calming, gentle smiles. Her lips was a shade of very faint, almost non-existent light pink (thank god not purple!), like a fresh rosebud blooming in a wonderful spring morning.
All these descriptive words he was using didn't meant that he had fallen in love with her at first sight and had decidedly began to sprout poetry. No!
It was just that he had picked up one of his mother's romance novel and read it out of boredom, the same paragraph over and over again, struck by the extreme cheesiness (and stupidity) of the phrase that it remained stuck in his head. He was after all not a romantic person. God forbids any Uchiha men to be romantic. It was a sad fact in the Uchiha's ladies life. Most of them like Mikoto had to rely on a steady supply of romance novels and shows.
Sasuke was now scowling at his therapist. He wasn't surprised to find the therapist eyes lavender hued. What at first surprised him slightly was that she was a Hyuuga. He could tell that she was a Hyuuga due to her eyes. All of them have lavender hued eyes. He couldn't have a Hyuuga as his therapist, not when his family's rival was the Hyuuga clan.
Did Oka-san actually care for him? She should know better than to hire a Hyuuga.
"Good morning Uchiha-san, my name is Hyuuga Hinata. I am your therapist and you can call me Hinata." Her voice matched her demeanor. It was friendly and soft. It was also unlike all the other Hyuugas he had met before. He wrinkled his nose thinking of his business rival. Hyuuga Neji's voice was never friendly nor was it soft obviously; his voice was full of authority and confidence as well as a dash of haughtiness.
Sasuke cleared his throat.
"You're a Hyuuga." He said accusingly.
She could feel herself feeling flustered, then quite rarely, annoyed. First words out of his mouth and he had accused her of something?
"Yes I am a Hyuuga." She counted to ten slowly. This was just another day at work with disturbed patients.
"I want a change of therapist." Excuse me! What had she done to offend him? By being a Hyuuga? That offended her now.
"You're not allowed to do that, Uchiha-san" Hinata told him in a somewhat forced pacified manner. Incredulously, her patient stood from his seat, folded his arms and look at her as if she wasn't worth his time. He then smirked arrogantly.
"We'll see about that." She watched as he took out his mobile phone and began to call someone. "I want a changed of therapist." Hinata studied his face. The arrogant confidence was wiped away from his face and replaced with annoyance. "What do you mean I can't?! I had a change of therapist before! What's the difference if I have another one? What! O-!"
Apparently whoever it was her patient was talking to had hung up on him. Hinata gave Sasuke a sickly sweet smile.
"Would you like to seat down now Uchiha-san?" She was answered with a scowling face but nonetheless he sat down grudgingly.
This was by far the most unsuccessful session Hinata ever had. Usually all her patients would start pouring out their problems to her and never stop but Sasuke just wouldn't even open his mouth to address her. All he ever did was scowl, curse and mutter under his breath. And all his answers to her questions were a disgruntled "hnn".
She had to keep in mind though that unlike all of her other patients he wasn't exactly willing but actually- Hinata smiled to herself glancing at the note, forced by his mother. She was unaware that Sasuke saw her little smile which he mistook as a snicker. How he mistook the gentle Hyuuga lady smile as a snicker was unfathomable but being around people like Neji and Itachi corrupted his social interpretation of certain simple actions and gestures. And her being related to Neji certainly wasn't a bonus point.
"What are you snickering at?" he growled. Hinata looked up in surprise as he finally decided to 'talk' to her.
"Ano?"
"What are you snickering at?!"
"I-I wasn't snickering" Sasuke rolled his eyes at her. Her lips quivered at his appalling behavior, she just couldn't communicate humanely with him! Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself off anymore anger. He was her patient; it was her duty as therapist to provide him with a listening ear. She grabbed a candy from the table and handed it to him as a truce. "Candy? Uchiha-san?"
Sasuke reached forward for the piece of candy- finally she was making progress- only to have him placed it unceremoniously into his pocket before barking at her, "I don't eat sweet things!" How dare she think that he was going to talk just because she offered him a piece of candy!
Hinata bit her lips. "….Sorry Uchiha-san… I…do you want to go…?" She was no longer willing to stay in this room with Sasuke at this rate.
"Finally!" he huffed angrily. Sasuke stood up to leave but Hinata beat him to the door.
How rud-! But when he saw her downcast eyes and sad face he couldn't help but feel guilty. Was that a tear splashed on her cheek? He shook his head out of that thought, why should he let a woman whom was a Hyuuga at that make him feel guilty?
Placing his hand in his pockets, he involuntarily rolled the given sweet in his hand. It was still warm from Hinata's touch. Not that he noticed it of course.
Hinata swung herself to and fro slowly on the swing. She felt so let down over the meeting between Sasuke and her. All her life, she devoted herself to helping people, yet she couldn't even help a man whom has trouble in marriage commitments? She had failed everyone. Hinata gave a big sigh. She couldn't help but feel so let down.
"But it's not your fault; Sasuke is an ass to talk too." She nodded her head in agreement but stopped in midst action, that wasn't her thought talking, that was-
A man was occupying the swing next to her swinging slowly.
"Uchi… ha-san?" It was another Uchiha, he was as beautiful as Sasuke though a few years older and much more friendlier looking. The Uchiha stopped swinging and turned the swing slightly to face her.
"I'm Sasuke's aniki. I was waiting for him to end his therapy session but couldn't help notice you dashing out of the room instead of him. You look rather upset."
Hinata blushed. Did it show that much on her face?
"Ano…it's nothing…." She mumbled ever so softly… Hinata didn't want to kick a fuss. Sasuke's resistant to not want to talk was her fault, not his. The Uchiha nodded understandably and resumed his swinging. Both of them swung in silence though it wasn't as uncomfortable as it had been with the younger Uchiha.
"Uchiha-san…"
"Hai…"
"What does Sasuke-san like to eat?" The Uchiha paused momentarily at her questions.
"He likes to eat tomatoes. He likes cherry tomatoes especially"
"Arigatou Uchiha-san…" Hinata got up from her swing and bowed to the Uchiha, she gave him a soft smile which caused the Uchiha to feel warmth fleetingly go through his body.
"Hyuuga-san." The Uchiha stood up. Hinata look over at him. "Itachi." Hinata's face was that of confusion until she managed to grasp what he had meant.
"Hinata then." She gave Itachi a wave before proceeding to cross the street back to her office.
"Hinata-chan…" Itachi uttered her name under his breath.
Sasuke tapped his foot edgily. His stupid aniki was late in picking him up. He didn't want Itachi to pick him up but he had no choice.
His mother just had to go on a shopping spree today and had to take the family limo and chauffer along with her (why couldn't she just get a license?) whereas his car was sent to the garage for fixing so he only had Itachi left as the last resort. Stupid Naruto kept on saying he was too busy even to pick up his best friend.
The door to the building opened and for the thirteenth time Sasuke cranes his neck from the business times magazine only to find that it wasn't his stupid aniki. Instead it was his dear therapist. He tried shielding his face from her with the magazine but couldn't help sneak a peek at her. His dear therapist was obviously in a better mood judging by the way the corners of her mouth was crinkling in a smile as she greeted the people coming out of the elevator.
"Spying on someone my dear aniki…" Sasuke jumped from his seat.
"You're late." Sasuke replied instead. Itachi shrugged indifferently. He led Sasuke outside the building to his vehicle. Sasuke was staring at it with contempt.
"We are riding….this." His brother gave him a conceited smirk and just handed Sasuke an extra pair of helmet. "I have an image to maintain unlike you. I can't ride a motorbike while wearing a suit!" Neither was he going to ride a motorbike with his hand on or around his brother. Itachi rolled his eyes. He didn't realize that his younger brother was that much of a prat.
"For once can't you think of someone else other than yourself?" Itachi said somewhat impatiently "and stop fingering whatever it is in your pocket and wear your helmet!" Sasuke scowled. It was rare of his brother to tell him off, taunt and mock him, yes, but to tell him off…
Sasuke took out whatever it was he had been fingering absent mindedly in his pocket. It was a cherry-soda flavored sweet that Hinata had given to him. He frowned at the reminder of the failed therapy session with her. Itachi glanced at his brother and the sweet that he was frowning at. Sudden realization dawned on him. He grabbed the sweet from Sasuke's palm, unwrap it and proceeded to eat it. "Taste sweet." Itachi was met with a rather sour gaze. "You don't eat sweets do you?"
Starting the ignition of his motorbike, Itachi could still hear his brother's bitter voice over the loud noise.
"She gave it to me."
Uchiha Mikoto was enjoying a rather pleasant time with her best friend. It had been years since they caught up with each other even though they lived in the same district now. Previously, both of them had been moving and changing house constantly that they lost contact. Yet the times lost didn't seem to have affected their friendship.
The shopping was wonderful and now they were having a tea break at one of the most expensive five-star café. Mikoto pursed her lips while studying the menu. It wasn't that she couldn't afford the expensively priced cakes and pastries. It was just that she couldn't choose which she wanted.
"Oh my… I'll guess I'll have to order one of everything." Her best friend looks up from the menu to gaze into her eyes disapprovingly.
"You shouldn't waste your money and food liberally Mi-chan."
"Ahaha….ever the saint you are Hime-chan, even when you can afford it yourself and even more than me at that. I'm not going to waste it; my boys can have the rest if I'm done."
"I don't see why you can't just come over to my house. I can bake as well, even better than this ripped off cafés." Hime grumbled under her breath. It was true, her baking skills were divine, Mikoto shook her head though declining Hime's offer as tempting as it was.
"I don't think your husband approves of me." Hime giggled. It was true. Her husband was a stickler for proper etiquettes and Mikoto's wild antics was disapproved by him the first time she introduced Mikoto to him. "But that is not what I want to talk about, it's my boys."
"What's wrong with them?" Hime asked, worry evident in her tone and facial expression.
"Both of them refused to get married… and I'm no longer young!"
"Oh."
"What do you mean 'Oh'… this is an important matter! I want to see some grandchildren running around the house before I go!" Hime snorted at her best friend over dramatic dismay.
"You're just 32 and this is the matter of the heart you're talking about. You just can't force love." Hime grimaced at the taste of the too bitter, lukewarm coffee.
"We'll see about that." Mikoto said. Hime frowned at Mikoto.
"What are you planning?'
"Nothing… do you want to order now? I think I'm just going to order the chocolate soufflé…Waiter!"
Hime stared suspiciously at her friend. Even though it was Mikoto's business since they weren't her sons, she couldn't help sympathize over them. Mikoto caught her eyes still watching her. Hime smiled at her not wanting Mikoto to think that she was somewhat doubting her.
"So…how are Hinata and Hanabi now? I'm sure they've grown into wonderful women now." Hime's amethyst eyes twinkled at the change of topic to her beloved daughters.
"Oh… they're so wonderful! They've grown beautifully too! You should meet up with them one day!"
"I'd like too" Mikoto smiled charmingly. "When Hiashi's not around though."
Both women burst into giggles.
"He's not that bad though my Ashi-kun." Mikoto rolled her eyes at Hime's pet name for Hiashi. "At least, he's romantic, Mi-chan, unlike your Fufu-kun."
Mikoto coughed violently at what Hime just said. "That's it. I'm not treating you anything. You can pay your own bills."
Hime smiled covertly at her friend. "I love you too Mi-chan."
A/N: Updating :)