Notes: Hey again guys, thanks for the reviews! Really got me amped to start the next chapter right away. School starts in a month, and I really want to finish this story by then (seriously).

Also there was a review that mentioned this plot had been done before, and on that note I'd like to confess: I write on a whim, with no planning. Even my one shots go wherever they want. I always have an idea of where things will go, for long stories like this, I always change my mind multiple times before I post a new chapter. Writing is a hobby, definitely not a specialty. I'm in engineering for Christ's sake (probably no one actually reads my bio)

In other words, I'm kind of an amateur D: Hopefully though, you find as much joy in my spontaneity as I do.

By the way, record time update, am I right? ;) Thanks for the amazing reviews, really gets me going! Sending love to you all! And enjoy!


Artichoke Heart

Chapter 2: Living


After a week, Sasuke had time to keep track of Hinata's regular activities. She was an early riser—not quite as early as himself, though he had difficulties sleeping, whereas she slept a strict seven hours per night. In the mornings she would greet him and cook breakfast.

If there was anything noteworthy about the woman, her cooking skills suggested she should have been five star chef rather than a shinobi.

After breakfast, Hinata would busy herself with cleaning the entire house, though she respectfully avoided entering the guest bedroom. Not that Sasuke had anything to hide. This took her only an hour or so to get the entire house clean to her liking. Afterwards, she would go on a walk to the neighboring village and return with ingredients by noon, and would cook again. Between lunch and dinner, she would tend to both his and her laundry, work on her garden, lounge in the living room with a book—these midday activities would vary until evening, when she would cook dinner, then shortly after, bid goodnight.

Frankly, Sasuke surmised that she lived the lifestyle of an old lady.

She spoke little in the past week, as Sasuke had anticipated. Perhaps it was because he had been less approachable. Most days he trapped himself in his room with his scrolls, or was in the forest perfecting his jutsus. Either way, when their paths crossed, while she did make an attempt at small talk, she never seemed to want the conversation to deepen.

Sasuke rather appreciated her presence, and equally the lack thereof. He began to understand the advantages that came with living in seclusion like she had chosen. The fresh air and forest sounds were soothing. The small house was proximate to a river where Sasuke sometimes chose to train, and it seemed that Hinata did not mind the walk to the village.

It was interesting to him that she would abandon the lavish lifestyle of the Hyuga for a simple life like this.

It was fairly late in the afternoon on a Wednesday, exactly a week since Sasuke had first moved in. Hinata seemed to be running late from her trip to the village.

He had been situated at the dinner table, a hot cup of tea and a book before him. He peered up at the digital clock on the microwave—1:47 p.m. Hinata usually arrived home by noon.

Though he enjoyed her meals, he always wondered if she made sure to prepare herself three meals a day for herself, or just because he was there. It seemed every meal was filling and substantial—and far too much for a small woman like the Hyuga.

Hinata stumbled through the front door at 2 p.m., announcing her presence curtly and removing her sandals.

He watched her as she heaved several large grocery bags to the kitchen, plopping them on the table opposite from him. She began rummaging through the bags, withdrawing several food items that she did not grow herself, including apples, honeydew, bananas...

"Sorry that I took long," she uttered as she began to store the empty bags beneath the sink. There was one shopping bag remaining, and she gestured towards it, "I um, bought that stuff for you. That's why, well, I needed to ask advice from the man that sells me seeds for my vegetables, and I figured that since you're living here you should have some... manly things."

She seemed increasingly awkward and uncomfortable, and Sasuke remained impassive as he reached for the bag, peering inside.

She had taken the liberty of purchasing basic hygiene products for men, such as deodorant, a few razors, shaving cream, shampoo that did not smell like flowers, his own body lotion—it seemed that she had thought of everything. She had also bought him a clock.

When he held it, she was standing at the sink, rinsing grapes, "I noticed you didn't have one in the guest room. Sorry, I just... well, I've said I don't really have guests."

She seemed to be rushing whatever it was she was doing, much to his chagrin. He sat back, watching as she began assembling a bowl of fruit.

"I wanted to ask why no one visits you, actually."

She didn't cease her motions. She glanced at him, paling slightly, but her fingers continued to hurry. "W-Well... you see not many of my friends know I'm here, I mean, I sort of... ran away."

Now this surprised him. "How is that possible?"

Hinata set the fruit bowl on the table, then wiped her wet hands with an adjacent towel. "I... don't talk about it. Only Hokage-sama knows I'm here."

The Uchiha's expression was inscrutable, and he said nothing as she began cooking rice.

"Are you okay with... hamburger today?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Ah."

Hinata had somewhat grown accustomed to Sasuke's behavior. He was antisocial, opting to respond with "hn" and other low grunts that marginally sufficed for an actual response. It seemed that Sasuke did not have a preference for anything, besides sunny side up eggs and tomatoes. Hinata had adjusted a few of her recipes to include more tomatoes, simply because she enjoyed the appreciation received—no matter how subtle.

Sasuke was also, to Hinata's relief, clean. The small house only had one bathroom that they shared. Sasuke always used the bathroom before she did in the mornings, however she had never once caught him leaving a mess, or even a trace that he was there. If not for the fogged mirror and the inherent dampness, she would not have even guessed a man had been there. The only other trace of his presence was his toothbrush. She supposed now that she had bought him a few more things, those too would be in the bathroom, though she did not mind.

She was ashamed to have guessed Sasuke as the slobby type.

Sasuke only stopped reading his book when she served lunch. She set before him a hot plate of rice, a burger, and sliced tomatoes.

She watched as he took the first bite. His expression never showed much, though she could tell just by the way he was eating that he enjoyed her food.

And that was enough for her.

"Let me pay you back," he suddenly said.

Hinata looked at him in surprise. She set down her chopsticks. "I didn't pay for most of this! I mean, when I want different foods I trade what I grow here..."

"But you had to have bought this for me," Sasuke motioned towards the bag again.

"Oh..." She hesitated before nodding numbly. "That would be nice, Sasuke-kun. Thank you."

He shrugged, eyeing the bag once more before digging into his pocket. He withdrew an alarmingly large wad of bills, and set it on the table. Hinata ogled it for a moment, before shooting him a distressed look.

"That's...! That's too much S-Sasuke-kun I can't"—

"No, just take it for now. I haven't paid for anything up until now, and you've been doing mall the errands. I don't know how to clean or cook, so I'm not much help. It's fine."

She swallowed, still eyeing him unsurely. She didn't move to take the money, though she said, "I'll... I'll take it after dinner. Thank you again, Sasuke-kun."

They resumed their meal without conversation. He emptied his plate before her and brought it to the sink. He uttered a quick thank you before disappearing into his room with his tea and book in hand. He had left the cash on the table.

Hinata rubbed the side of her head, eyeing the stack of bills with dismay. Her chopsticks hung loosely from her fingers, she had hardly made her way through half her portion.

All this money, and with seemingly no qualms with just handing it to her.

That would cover her for months!

She was curious why, with all this disposable income, he would not rather have his own place elsewhere. Albeit Konoha was not the place for him, there were many places he could live. But then again, he was an s-ranked criminal at one point in his life. Maybe it was difficult to rent a place with that sort of history behind him. Her shoulders slackened, and she shook her head gently, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear before she continued to pick at her food.

Once she had tidied the kitchen, Hinata wandered towards the couch, plopping herself down contentedly onto the cushions. She sunk into comfort, absently reaching for the remote as she flicked on the television.

"—Expecting heavy rain throughout the week, winds about 14 kilometers per hour"—

"—Cheap, affordable, with no interest"—

"—This is the Hokage, live in Konoha, today we have completed the construction of the extension of the academy, and the Seventh Hokage is here with us today. What do you have to say to the new academy students arriving to their new school this fall?"

Hinata watched Naruto's bright, smiling face. She smiled wearily. The Hokage cloak suited him.

"To study hard, pay attention in class, and... yeah!"

She laughed softly despite herself.

"I didn't know the dobe had his own show."

Hinata didn't look, having grown used to Sasuke's unannounced presence. "Well... it's Konoha news."

"Why do you watch this?" Sasuke asked plainly from behind her.

The cameraman was panning around the new schoolyard of the academy, and showing a few of the renovated classrooms. "It's nice to stay connected to Konoha."

He grunted softly.

Hinata finally glanced over the back of the couch. He stood leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, expression blank as the television colors reflected against his dark eyes.

"The couch has lots of room, Sasuke-kun."

He shot her a slightly annoyed glance, but either way sat next to her on the couch, though on the far opposite end.

Out of nowhere, he suddenly spoke: "You've expanded your garden."

Hinata shifted uncomfortably. Though she kept her gaze forward, her advanced eyesight made him visible in her peripherals. "Yes, I have."

"You're growing more tomatoes," he accused flatly.

She could feel his gaze on the side of her head. "You like tomatoes, and it was no trouble, I like gardening."

"Your field has no animal damage—how?"

She flushed slightly. "I use a jutsu to keep the animals away. It's... sort of cheating. Even the townspeople that I barter with notice how healthy my plants grow. I've spent lots of time developing productive fertilizers, and jutsus that would protect my garden."

He found only Hinata would be so devout to gardening, going so far as to develop jutsus for such a hobby.

Somehow, it was oddly fascinating that she would use jutsu for such a practical purpose.

She ate for free. It suddenly became more reasonable that she could live off of savings for this long.

They resumed watching Konoha news in silence. Sasuke had not seen Konoha for seven years, and watching the news as the newscaster proudly showcased many of the village's advancements, Sasuke found that more things were unfamiliar than familiar. Possibly the only thing that remained unchanged were the giant faces engraved on the cliff, but even then, Naruto's face was a new addition.

Sasuke remained indifferent; expression revealing nothing as he placidly watched the flashing scenery and happy chatter of the newswoman with random figureheads. Hinata, in contrast, could barely conceal anything.

He caught glimpses of a few smiles, some sadness, and even soft chuckles from the girl next to him.

Definitely an old lady.

"I can change the channel, if you like," Hinata mentioned, holding up the remote and turning to him.

Sasuke shrugged.

"It's fine."

The next day, Sasuke sat as usual at the kitchen table. He had made extra coffee that morning—the night before, they had stayed up rather late watching movies and hadn't gotten to bed as early as usual.

No further words were exchanged that evening—somehow, they had grown comfortable in silence with one another. Having been accustomed to women that felt the need to constantly chat him up, Sasuke found this refreshing. Women were always more endearing when they were silent, he found, and with Hinata, this was almost always. There was something subtle about her that he could not quite place. When she spoke, he took into account every word, for everything she said seemed to be important. Though a man of few words himself, he found that he had finally met his match with this woman. Decidedly, she lacked the infamy and intimidation factor that he possessed. However, this woman clearly had many secrets.

Sasuke hadn't bothered bringing reading material that morning. He sipped languidly at his coffee, eyes occasionally training towards the hallway that opened into the kitchen.

Finally, Hinata materialized before him, donning cotton pajamas consisting of a long-sleeved button-up shirt and long pants to match. Her hair had been left down and tangled in some places. She wafted by him, uttering a soft "good morning" before pouring a cup of coffee, taking her place across the table.

Her eyes were slightly red, and she rubbed them groggily.

"...You didn't sleep well," he stated blithely.

She shot him a weary look, shaking her head gently and taking a generous sip from her mug. "The, um, thunderstorm kept me up most of the night."

He blinked. Apparently, this thunderstorm had not bothered him. Usually, the slightest sound would alert him to consciousness, but somehow the night before he had slept through a loud thunderstorm like a baby.

"Did you get sleep?" Hinata asked, not looking at him as she added an alarming amount of sugar to her coffee.

He nodded slightly, "I did."

A quick smile crossed her features. "That's good. I'm glad that you don't find the bed uncomfortable."

"Ah."

Sasuke was relieved that Hinata hadn't decided to skip breakfast on account of her waking up late. She quickly produced omelets for each of them, served on rice. Sasuke did not miss how she was rushing to finish her food. Usually, she would wait for him to finish food and wash both their dishes. Today, she left her dishes in the sink.

"I'll do them later," she quickly explained. She disappeared down the hall into her bathroom. A few minutes later, he heard the bathroom lock in the hallway.

Sasuke decided he would take care of dishes for her. The last time Sasuke remembered even helping with the dishes was when he was much younger, and he had helped his mother dry each dish and put them away.

When Hinata appeared again in the kitchen, she regarded the sink with surprise, and then looked at Sasuke.

"Oh, you didn't have to," she said simply, tying her hair up into a ponytail as she began towards the front door.

From where he sat at the table, Sasuke gave a shrug. "It wasn't a big deal."

"Thank you. Also, I'm checking on the garden," she informed him as she tugged on rain boots. "I'll be just outside."

He watched as she put on a sunhat. He glanced outside. It was still cloudy.

"Do you need help?" he offered awkwardly, not quite sure what women did with their gardens. He did not show his relief when she said no, but thanked him for offering.

She was out the door in seconds, and Sasuke watched as she trudged down the steps.

He approached the window, pulling aside the curtain slightly. Hinata's small house was located just beyond the edge of the forest, and there was plenty of open field for her to expand her garden. She had about three 10 square meter plots, one at a slightly higher elevation than the others. He had no idea how she had managed it. Each plot had rich, dark soil, with high grooves of dirt spaced evenly apart. Healthy plants seemed to grow on all three plots. He could see the tomatoes—she had been crouched down, examining each leaf and tending to each plant with care.

It seemed that irrigation in these parts was good—a river ran through the middle of the field, and into the forest, leading towards the village that Hinata frequented. It seemed to rain often enough, but not too often to drown the plants. However, being so proximate to Fire Country, Sasuke did not doubt that winter would eventually roll around. He vaguely wondered how Hinata managed through winter.

It was clear that she could.

Bored of watching her, Sasuke decided to retire to his room. As he was passing Hinata's room, he could not help but notice it had been left slightly ajar, most likely in her rush.

He stiffened, before slowly approaching the door. With a slight push, the door creaked open. Hinata's room, despite being the master bedroom, was no more remarkable than his own. It was only slightly bigger. She had a twin bed in the corner, next to the window, its sheets white. She had a small side table with a lamp, and a book that had been left open. A clock was also situated on this table. She owned a desk that matched his, though she had books stacked atop it and stored in the shelf built into the desk, mostly on gardening, and some on jutsu theory and history. A bureau stood on the opposite wall, plain and ordinary as everything else. Like the rest of the house, the room was spotless.

He found himself gravitating her desk. There were a few notebooks. He leafed through the one that had been left out—mostly on her garden, her progress, some statistics on the height of her plants, the yield...

He set the notebook down as he found it, crouching down to look through the shelf.

The Uchiha loosened another notebook, this time what seemed to be a photo album. Thumbing through the pages, he saw pictures of the Hyuga Clan standing together, the main house and the branch house as they called it. There were a few pictures of Hinata with her old teammates. What had their names been? Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, and Kurenai-sensei had written in cursive in the corner of the page.

He had found even a picture of himself in there. It actually had a picture of his previous team. Sakura was in the middle, smiling broadly, and Naruto and himself stood on either side, heads squashed underneath Kakashi's hands. Even behind his mask, one could always tell when the silver-haired man was smiling.

"You must think it's strange I had that."

Sasuke turned slowly, remarkably calm for someone having been caught snooping. "Sorry to have intruded."

Hinata shrugged. Her pants had grass stains on the knees, and she was in the process of removing her gardening gloves. Her face was flushed pink from sweat, and she offered him a small smile.

"Well... it's okay. I mean, I don't have many belongings to go through. I couldn't bring much."

She wordlessly crouched next to him. She smelled of sun. She took the photo album nimbly from his hands, absently running her finger across the picture.

"You used to be happy, Sasuke-kun."

He emitted an apathetic grunt in response.

She looked up to him, eyes sad yet guarded, "Do you think you'll ever be that happy or innocent again?"

Sasuke was visibly caught off guard by this question. He had been asked the question many times, though he had never expected Hinata Hyuga to ever ask him such a thing.

"No," he answered surely. "Impossible."

Her eyes trained back towards the picture, seemingly disappointed by his response. "You're right. Why is it... that things can't be as they were before?"

"We aren't kids anymore," Sasuke replied tonelessly. "That's just how it is."

Her head bobbed in a crestfallen nod, and she closed the album and held it to her chest.

His eyes examined her.

She was mourning.

She lived peacefully, needing little, enjoying a simple, quaint lifestyle. He surmised that, although she had been more than capable enough survive out here on her own, it was not a life. At least not the life she wanted.

It became more and more apparent to Sasuke that, whatever she was hiding from was eating at her, day by day, year by year, and her isolation from her past would not separate her from the problems that remained there.

Though Sasuke could not say he cared, he definitely found himself intrigued.

Hyuga, what the fuck happened to you?


To be continued


Note: Gushing love? Angry words? Squeal-y nonsense? Critical predictions of what's to come? I love it all. Thanks everyone! This one's for you.