DISCLAIMER: if naruto is mine... then so is gaara! kyaaaaaaa!!!
Chapter Two
I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I don't get jealous.
XXX
HISOKA
It's over.
GIN
(turns around slowly) What are you talking about?
HISOKA
(points at Gin's chest)
GIN
(looks down at his bleeding chest then glares at Hisoka) Fuck you!
…END…
"What a lousy ending," Sasuke stated, tossing the script on the left pile labelled 'NO'.
"But the start was good," Hinata pointed out as she eyed the still empty space beside it labelled 'YES'.
They had been reading and trying to select a good material for Sasuke's next project but he always had something to complain about – lame ending, character inconsistency, too much laughing, the plot twist was too predictable, kissing scene/s, and some other things he didn't like.
Since he wrapped up his filming for The Snake's Apprentice, he has been in a stagnant mode. It's not for the lack of offers. It was just because he didn't seem to be in a hurry to find some work soon. He seemed to be fine with just posing and looking cool for some magazine. Hinata wasn't worried, though. Uchiha Sasuke was already filthy rich since before he was born. He also gained access to his trust fund when he reached twenty-one last July. No, she wasn't worried about him being unemployed. Hinata's worried about the opportunities he has been letting pass him by.
Uchiha Sasuke was an excellent actor. Hinata was literally frozen on the spot as she watched Sasuke act on her first day as his assistant. Goosebumps erupted on her arms and neck when Sasuke transformed from a rude brat into a cold-blooded assassin. Because of that superb performance, even though he wasn't the main character, The Snake's Apprentice has garnered numerous praises and awards.
Critics were raving about him. Majority of them picked out the scene wherein Sasuke's character accidentally killed a child as their favourite. That was Hinata's favourite part, too. The emotion Sasuke conveyed was gut-wrenching it made Hinata sob uncontrollably on the set that the production assistant ordered her to stay in the dressing room until the filming was finished.
The Snake's Apprentice was an independent film released in selected screenings. However, Sasuke's most loyal fan girls were on constant alert on Sasuke's activities that they were popping out of nowhere at those screenings. They swarmed the film festivals the movie premiered on hence, making it popular.
The fans went gaga over that film. Hinata read from a blogger, who conducted a poll on what their favourite part of the movie was, that majority of them loved Sasuke's shower scene under a waterfall. Also most, if not all of them, had to be rushed out of the cinemas because of massive fainting and loss of blood due to that particular scene. Hinata smiled, remembering Sasuke's reluctance to take off his shirt at first. The director won that argument, naturally. Sasuke was in a real bad mood afterwards.
"It doesn't change the fact that the ending is lame," Sasuke countered, snapping Hinata out of her spacing out.
"Maybe it's supposed to end that way," she reasoned.
Sasuke just grunted in response. He was lounging on the plush armchair with his head thrown back and eyes closed. Hinata had to force herself not to stare at the exposed throat and over-all adorable sight. Adorable because he was still wearing his reading glasses. She resisted the urge to sigh dreamily.
"But what exactly are you looking for?" Hinata asked, flipping the pages of the newly rejected script.
Sasuke contemplated for a while before giving his answer. "The right role."
Hinata glanced up with a frown. She was about to point out that maybe what he was looking for was not in Japan because there were about 46 movie offers and endorsements that he rejected already and there were still a few more waiting for him in Kakashi's office. She closed her mouth before she could voice out her opinion. Looking at the clock, she arranged the pile orderly.
"What do you want for dinner?" she asked the quiet man opposite her.
"Whatever you want," drawled Sasuke.
"I…" she hesitated before continuing, "I won't be here for dinner."
Sasuke's eyes snapped open and he sat up straight. "Pardon?"
"I'm going out," she replied quietly.
"Going out where?" he regarded her suspiciously. "You're not supposed to be anywhere but here. With me."
Hinata gulped nervously. "O-oh, that! Yeah, I forgot to inform you. It was sort of a last-minute thing."
Hinata continued arranging the pile to keep her hands busy but stopped when she felt something ominous coming from the place where Sasuke was sitting. She glanced up slowly and gasped. Sasuke was glaring furiously at her.
The atmosphere in the room abruptly changed from comfortable into dark and cold. Hinata could not help but shiver. She could not seem to move either. She could only stare as though those penetrating onyx eyes rendered her motionless and speechless.
"You're not going anywhere," Sasuke hissed coldly.
"Eh?" Hinata exclaimed in bewilderment.
"You can't go anywhere. I won't give my permission."
Hinata stared, dumbstruck. Say what? His permission? Sasuke never required her to ask for permission before. Simply because her life was basically tied with his. Wherever he went she was with him as well, like a shadow.
"But," she reasoned gently, "Sasuke, I don't really need… your permission."
The glare on his face intensified but he remained silent.
"I… I mean… I didn't have a day-off before," Hinata asserted eagerly. "Maybe I can have the night-off."
"You can't have the night-off or the day-off," declared Sasuke pompously.
"Why not?" questioned Hinata. She's getting more and more confused. "I'm supposed to have a day-off and a night-off."
"Says who?" Sasuke asked angrily, vowing to beat the crap out of whoever gave Hinata that idea.
"Says the government?" she said uncertainly.
Sasuke shot up to his feet. "It doesn't matter. I'm your boss. When I say you can't go, you can't go."
Hinata stared incredulously at Sasuke, a muscle twitching at his cheek. He was never like this. Sure, he had some moments. He would throw tantrums and would be very grumpy for some unknown reason. But never this. As though he doesn't want her out of his sight.
Taking a deep breath she said bravely, "I'm sorry, Sasuke. I have to disobey your orders. I have to go out tonight."
Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise. This is the first time she said no to him and that stung.
"What's so important about you going out tonight? If you absolutely have to go then I'll go with you."
To his astonishment, she looked like she had to deliberate the answer first. She doesn't want me with her? It felt like a knife was being stabbed into his chest.
"You'll have to ask him first, I guess." Hinata replied, turning back to arranging the pile.
Sasuke blinked several times. "Who?"
"Gaara-kun," she answered, getting to her feet.
"You're going out on a date?" he said in a dangerously low voice.
Almost instantly, Hinata's face became as red as tomato. "N-No! No, I'm not!"
"You're going out with Gaara for dinner, right?"
Hinata nodded, eyes wide and face red with embarrassment.
"It's a fucking date, Hinata," he snarled viciously.
She gasped out loud from both the language he used and the conclusion he construed. "It's not a date! We were just going to have dinner. As friends!"
Sasuke gave her a look that said 'stupid' before saying with exaggerated patience, "Hinata, when a woman and a man meet up for dinner or whatever, just the two of them, it means they are dating."
"It… it doesn't mean that way," she insisted, clutching her flaming face.
They stood there quietly for a while. Hinata was trying to regain composure. Sasuke was staring pensively at her. In the months that she worked closely with him, the feelings he thought was buried so deep in the back of his mind came bursting out with a vengeance.
She became his daily sustenance. Whenever she was not around the perimeter of his vision he became agitated. He won't eat anything else but her cooking. His goal everyday was to see her smiles. He was content with what they have and he never let himself hope for something more. He was complete with her by his side. And despite his friends' persistence that Sasuke must confess his love for her, he could not. Because Hinata was still in love with Naruto.
Or so he thought.
XXX
For the rest of the afternoon, Hinata stayed inside her bedroom. As she lay on bed she thought of Sasuke's reaction when she told him about her plans for that night. It was like… he was jealous. But, no. There's no way he'd be jealous. Why would he be?
With a sigh, Hinata rolled on her side to gaze blankly out of the window. To say that she was surprised when Gaara asked her to have dinner with him the other day would be an understatement. She was quite sure her jaw dropped to the floor.
She was doing her weekly grocery shopping and bumped her cart on something – Gaara himself.
"Oh, oh my!" she cried in dismay at her clumsiness, "Gaara-kun! I'm so s-sorry!"
"It's fine," he said dispassionately, looking his usual impassive self.
"I'm really sorry. I'm not p-paying attention to where I'm g-going," she apologized smilingly.
"Sasuke giving you a hard time?" he asked.
"N-no! Not at all," she replied softly.
He nodded. "How are you?"
"I'm doing great. I'm having fun trying out new recipes," she smiled.
"Let's catch up on old times," Gaara suggested out of the blue. "Have dinner with me on Sunday."
Hinata refrained from mentioning the fact that they just saw each other three weeks earlier during his book launching. She just nodded in a bewildered sort of way.
She and Gaara were friends but he was not as close to her as Shino and Kiba. They never hang out together, just the two of them. The only times they spent together was when she was with Naruto in their school days and more recently with Sasuke.
Sadly, Hinata ran out of any idea as to why Gaara asked her to have dinner with him. She felt her face grew hot when she remembered Sasuke's comment about her and Gaara. Is it really a date? A vision from earlier of Sasuke looking disappointed swam before her eyes.
She sat up abruptly and shook her head. No, I won't let that happen again. Tonight is the first and only time I'll disobey Sasuke. I won't disappoint him again.
With that, she began preparing for her 'appointment'.
XXX
Growling threats under his breath, Sasuke clicked furiously. He retreated to the gaming room after that situation with Hinata and has been playing online. The chat window opened which made Sasuke curse loudly.
fOxBoi: wth??? Im beating u, teme!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sasuke ignored that. A few minutes later, more appeared.
fOxBoi: oi teme! what the hell is ur problem???
fOxBoi: ur losing
fOxBoi: TEME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sasuke abruptly closed the game, stood up and began pacing. He needed a distraction. Anything that would take his mind off the looming prospect of Hinata going on a date.
His cell phone started ringing and he grabbed it, thinking it might be his salvation.
'Dobe Calling'.
Sasuke turned off his cell phone immediately. Anything but that, he thought in annoyance. His eyes caught the time on the clock and with a sigh; he went back in front of his laptop.
A couple of minutes later, the landline phone was ringing. Sasuke knew who it was and didn't bother to answer it. He heard the sound of his own voice after the third ring, "I'm not here so get lost". A beep and then…
"SASUKE-TEME! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! YOU BETTER ANSWER THIS OR ELSE I'LL TELL HINATA HOW MUCH YOU L – !"
"Naruto, you idiot!" Sasuke growled into the receiver.
"Heh, I know you're sulking in there," said the amused voice of Naruto. "So what's the problem? I beat you up and then you just logged out. What's up?"
"It's time to harvest my pumpkins," Sasuke replied nonchalantly, plopping down on the oversized couch. He seemed to have forgotten the laptop in front of him for he was staring off at space.
"Just you wait, teme! I'll catch up to you in no time! My farm is going to be the biggest!"
When Sasuke remained quiet, Naruto continued. "But tell me what's wrong with you first! You're acting really strange. Did something happen? Is someone pissing you off? I'll go there right now and beat them up for ya. Believe it!"
"You're in New York, idiot."
"So? I can use our private plane. I'll be there by tomorrow."
"It'll be over then," Sasuke muttered quietly.
"Over? What's going to be over?"
Sasuke sighed. Might as well tell him. "Hinata's going out on a date."
"A date? You two are dating?"
"Weren't you listening? I said Hinata's going. Without me."
"I don't understand," mumbled Naruto confusedly. "She's dating herself?"
Sasuke counted one to ten before answering evenly. "Hinata and… Gaara… are dating."
This confused Naruto even more. "Gaara and Hinata? Why are they dating?"
"Don't ask me. Believe it or not, I'm as confused as you are."
"Gaara wouldn't do something like that. He knows you like her! I'll call him now."
Sasuke threw the phone beside him without pressing the end button. There's a huge possibility of Naruto calling again.
"Was that Naruto-kun?" a soft voice asked from the doorway.
"Hn."
"Oh. Well, I'm going now."
Sasuke neither responded nor turned to look at her. He remained unmoving with his glare fixed on the ceiling.
"There's lasagne in the refrigerator in case you get hungry. I taught you how to use the microwave, right? But in case you… can't… uh, recall, I put the instruction on the table."
Hinata hovered by the doorway for awhile. Half of her wanted to stay with him but she could not. She gave her word to Gaara. Plus, she thought a little time away from him might do her good.
"I'll see you later then."
man! is sasuke difficult to write or what? the whole time i was writing this chapter (that was two months, hehe) i was having this internal conflict because i feel like sasuke's being out of character in some situations. i was always fixated on wanting him to stick to his character it drove me crazy. but then i thought, it can't be helped. so this is what i came up with. it may not have met your expectations but i hope you like it just a little, lol!
THANK YOU to the amazing reviews i got!!!!!!!! if it weren't for you guys, i would still be running around with uncertainties as my company. oh, and please excuse the mistakes and if i didn't elaborate more on the online game thing. i don't know any games (at least those rpg-stuff). that's why i thought of having sasuke play farmville, lol!
hope you enjoyed this chapter!