The Mission
Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews. It's really great to see such a positive response to a more assertive Hinata .
Chapter Notation: Bringing in Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo. I know it's not cannon for them to know Sasuke so early, but neither is the pairing lol. A reviewer suggested I put in a waterfall scene and I did.
Limeish: I'm not really sure this qualifies as a lime. But it is a long kissing scene. So I guess I'll put the warnings.
Warning: It gets dramatic in this chapter towards the end, don't worry they will kiss and make up later. I only do happy endings :P.
Chapter Four
Well that hadn't gone as she planned. Hinata wasn't really sure what she had been hoping to happen in that bathhouse. But it hadn't happened.
On the plus side, at least now she knew that Sasuke was attracted to her. Well that's assuming she believed Orochimaru about the Sharingan. She wasn't sure she did. He was hardly a trustworthy person.
"You bathed with him?!" She hears a girl yell at her, as she walks out of the bathhouse.
Sasuke had left a few minutes before. Which was probably a good thing. The red head was apparently in the mood to cause a scene and shatter some eardrums.
"It's a public bath." She says.
"Yes! But he never baths with anyone!" Karin informs Hinata and the bluenette fought back the urge to point out that she was already aware of this.
"I decided to take a bath and he was already there. Sasuke wanted to look at my injury from training I received the other day and it just made more sense to bathe together than to wait." She replies.
"That's…not like him. Must be because you're a Hyuga. I guess you are like his cousin or…something." The other woman muses and seems to be trying to figure out how Hinata and Sasuke were related.
"Mhm." Hinata says and nods her head.
They weren't cousins. Well maybe like fifth cousins ten times removed or tenth cousins that were five times removed. She wasn't sure exactly.
Hinata just knew it must have been a rather thin blood tie. Otherwise surely her father would have taken Sasuke in after the massacre. Besides, she didn't really consider Sasuke to be family. It definitely wouldn't have been appropriate to have enjoyed that massage as much as she had, if she did.
"Sorry, I snapped at you. I just really like him and he doesn't give anyone the time of day. Of course he'd be worried about his cousin's training injury." She says with a smile.
Hinata rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. If the girl wanted to go with the "cousin" label, let her. At least she wouldn't have to deal with her jealousy.
"Yes. I'm Hinata." She introduces herself.
"Karin." The other woman replies.
"It was nice to meet you Karin. But I think I should probably go get something to eat. Lord Orochimaru likes me to start my training early and it's never a good idea to train without having breakfast first!" She says with a smile and darts off.
Sasuke sighs. He watches as Suigetsu tries to taunt Jugo into a fight. Jugo was a gentle giant, most the time. Orochimaru had taken to assigning Sasuke to train with the orange haired man.
For some reason, Jugo viewed Sasuke as like Kimimaro's reincarnation or something. The white haired man had been the only one who could soothe the savage beast that was Jugo's other, more homicidal personality. Well until Sasuke. Kimimaro was dead now. Sasuke was his replacement in a morbid way.
"You're being even more quiet than usual today. That means you've finally decided to become a mime." Suigetsu says to Sasuke.
"You are annoying." He states flatly.
Jugo watches them. Suigetsu did like to poke at Sasuke once or twice a day. But the animal lover knew that the white haired shark toothed man wasn't suicidal. He would only push Sasuke so far before he backed off. Survival instincts would inevitably kick in at some point.
"No. You've been like this ever since that chick with the eyes showed up. You two get into a fight or something?" He asks.
"No and her name is Hinata." Sasuke says and fights hard to keep the irritation out of his voice.
"Uh huh. You are afraid that Orochimaru is going to ditch you for a prettier vessel. That must be it." The white haired man says.
"You really are such an idiot." Sasuke says and unsheathes his sword.
"Now you're talking!" Suigetsu says and he rushes at Sasuke with his own blade.
Orochimaru watches the training. Sasuke's physical progress was coming along better than he ever dreamed. He'd be his most powerful vessel yet, by far.
"It is a bit disappointing that so far nothing has come of his Sharingan activation." He muses to himself.
The possibilities were endless. The child could have the Sharingan, the Byakugan, both, or perhaps even a new bloodline. He had half a mind to attempt drugging them with aphrodisiacs to give nature a little push. But he knew better. Sasuke was too cautious to allow himself to be drugged. It seemed that he must have warned Hinata not to accept food or drinks offered to her by anyone else. The Hyuga girl also seemed too cautious for such a thing to happen. It was a pity. Things would have been much easier if that wasn't the case.
"Well there is always artificial insemination." He says.
That would also prove difficult. Sasuke while he appeared to have almost no interest in the opposite sex, save for Hinata…would be very reluctant to give a sperm sample. He knew very well what that could be used for. Orochimaru supposed he could try to assure Sasuke that it was only to test his reproductive health. But he wasn't entirely certain the youngest Uchiha would buy that explanation.
Meanwhile back in the Leaf, Tsunade sighs. She greets Kurenai when the other woman heads into her office. The Hokage was feeling anxious. Hinata was such a sweet girl. She had thrown her into the viper's pit and not given her any anti-venom, metaphorically. Had she done the right thing? Would Hinata even make it out of this situation alive?
"So what did you tell her?" Tsunade asks.
"I told her that Sasuke is the type of man who is smart enough to realize when someone is trying to seduce him. Subtlety is important. The trick is to let him THINK he's in control of the situation. Make him think he stumbled upon her and act embarrassed. Then go in for the kill." She answers cheerfully.
"That is brilliant." The Hokage admits.
"Thank you, Lady Hokage." She says.
Later that night, Hinata heads to a waterfall that was close to the Sound. She knew that Sasuke frequented it. Aoda seemed rather fond of going fishing there and for whatever reason, it seemed like most of the Sound Village hadn't discovered it yet.
"I can do this." She mutters, remembering what her Sensei told her.
"Remember Hinata, there a few different types of men." Kurenai told her.
"Yes, Sensei?" She asked.
"There is the type of man who doesn't need to be seduced. He'll seduce you or will take any woman's attention. That's not Sasuke." She warned her.
"Um alright." Hinata agreed.
"There is the type of man who prefers the woman to chase him. That's…also clearly not Sasuke." She continued.
"Then what type is he?" She asked.
"He's too smart to fall for the standard tactics. Basically, you have to seduce him, but make him think that he is the one seducing you." Her Sensei answered her.
"How…do I do that?" Hinata inquired.
"The most traditional approach would be to have him "accidentally" walk in on you naked. Act flustered. Fall over. He'll catch you. If there's an attraction, he'll likely act on it." She told her.
" I d-on't think I can do that!" Hinata squeaked.
"Hinata, it's a mission. Think of it as acting. Besides, all of this is of course a last resort. It's possible you won't even need to use any of this." She reassured her.
"Yes, Sensei." Hinata said and she blushed at the very thought of being naked in front of a man, let alone one she barely knew.
Would it really come to that, she wondered. If she even attempted to seduce him, would he actually fall for it? She didn't think so.
What little she remembered of Sasuke told her that he generally ran away from affection, not towards it. She hoped and prayed it wouldn't come to that. So naturally, it did.
She strips and gets in the water. There were certain types of water jutsus that clothes just hindered. Sasuke was knowledgeable enough to realize this. It seemed more plausible than she had decided to go skinny dipping by the waterfall at midnight, when there were perfectly good baths in the Sound.
"Go have your fun, Aoda." Sasuke says, leading the snake to the waterfall.
There were fish at the bottom of it. Aoda liked to fish. So Sasuke brought him here once a week or so to let him. Anymore than that and Sasuke was positive that Aoda would just eat all the fish before they had a chance to spawn. The snake seemed to genuinely enjoy it and well it was the closest thing to walking his pet dog that the Uchiha had ever done. He was getting used to this ritual. It was comforting in a way.
"Master Sasuke, there is someone else here." Aoda informs him.
That got Sasuke's attention. He looks around. Then he saw her. He saw ALL of her. He blinks.
He knew he shouldn't look. But he couldn't tear his eyes away from the memorizing sight. Her body was covered nothing but moonlight and water. Water was swirling around her in elegant patterns, likely some sort of water chakra control exercise, but the visual effect was nothing short of stunning.
"Bad Master Sasuke. You shouldn't stare at her without her permission." Aoda admonishes him.
Warning Lime-ish Scene
Her long midnight blue silky hair cascaded down to the tantalizing curve of her backside like waves in the very waterfall she was now standing in. Her eyes practically shimmered in the night. Her ample, firm breasts were crowned by perky pink nipples that to Sasuke resembled rosebuds. Her toned stomach spanned out into sensual curves and wide childbearing hips. Her legs were long and shapely.
"You're right." Sasuke admits, feeling guilty…but he still couldn't look away.
Honestly, the most he'd ever seen of a woman up close until this point had been Hinata in that towel. So maybe it was only natural that he looked where he damn well knew he shouldn't. Alright. She was beautiful EVERYWHERE.
"Of course I am. We should leave before she notices. You'll get smacked if she does." The giant serpent tells him.
Sasuke nods. He knew that he was pressing his luck. Standing next to a snake who was the size of a hospital was bound to draw her attention sooner than later. He didn't think that Hinata would hit him, but she'd be embarrassed.
He hears a squeaking sound. Ah fuck. She saw him. Sasuke blinks as she flails. Dammit! He dashes over to catch her and prevent her pretty little head from landing on one of the rocks.
"Hinata, I didn't mean to scare you or to spy on you." He says hastily.
"It's ok-ay. I know." She mumbles and she didn't need to fake her blush.
"He's too smart to fall for the standard tactics. Basically, you have to seduce him, but make him think that he is the one seducing you." She remembered her Sensei saying.
"Good. You alright?" He asks softly.
"I think so." She mumbles and makes a move to pretend that she was trying to get out of his arms, but in reality…she just wanted her lips closer to his.
"Good." He murmurs and looks down at her.
If there's an attraction, he'll likely act on it." Kurenai's words rang in her head and those ruby red eyes definitely said there was.
Sasuke didn't know what came over him. But the second her lips barely ghosted over his, well instinct took over. He kissed her.
Soft. Her lips were soft like rose petals. Warm. They were warm like the comforting heat provided by a fireplace. Cinnamon rolls? She tasted like cinnamon rolls.
"Nhh." She moans into the kiss and Sasuke decided to take full advantage of this, by deepening it.
Hinata shivers in his arms. If he didn't have such a firm hold on her, she was pretty sure that her legs would have buckled by now. Sasuke was really good at kissing.
"I guess I should give them their privacy. Must be human mating season." Aoda muses and disappears with a loud pop, though neither ninja noticed…they were far too distracted by each other.
Gentle at first. His lips brushed against hers in a sensual caress. But now that she had given him "permission" of sorts, he was growing bolder. His tongue seductively dancing along hers and exploring every corner of her mouth.
She brings one hand up to caress the side of his face. Sasuke didn't seem to mind this gesture. His eyes closed in contentment as he continued making love to her with his mouth. She squirms a bit when she feels desire begin to pool between her legs. How was it possible to have such a strong reaction from a kiss?
"Make him think that he is the one seducing you." Kurenai had said, well that was easy because he WAS seducing her.
Chocolate covered cherries. That's what his kiss tasted like. His lips were softer than she expected but chapped. She figured this was from his lightning and fire affinity, he was constantly surrounded in heat. But she liked the subtle roughness created.
Speaking of subtle, Sasuke's hands had started to wandered. He was definitely caressing her back now and his left hand was drifting dangerously close to her backside. Currently, it was on her hip. For some reason, the way it was slowly dragging across there was incredibly suggestive, maybe even more so than if he had gone straight for her rear.
"Do you want me to stop?" He asks after breaking the kiss.
She wasn't protesting. But that could be because he had surprised her. She felt rather…receptive in his arms. Still…he should probably ask before he got even more carried away.
"No." She answers honestly.
"Good because I really didn't want to." He admits and lays her down on one of the larger rocks gently.
He liked holding her, but he knew his arm would fall asleep soon. This was better. Sasuke recaptures her lips almost immediately and groaned in pleasure when she kissed him back. Hinata's kiss was gentle but seductive. It was relaxing and exciting like being caught in the first snowfall of the season or seeing the first flowers bloom in spring.
Sasuke held her hands firmly against the rock and continued to plunder her mouth. He reveled in the feeling of her body against his. So soft and warm, which oddly enough made him hard.
He was excited in a way he hadn't been before. He was like any other teenager, he'd experimented with self-gratification now and then. But they were a pale comparison for the real thing.
End of Limeish Scene
"Sasuke. Someone's coming." Hinata says as she lightly pushes him away.
He stops and stills. He wasn't a Sensory Type but he did have damn good hearing. There was a slight rustling of the grass and whoever it was, it was coming towards them. Damn.
"Here." He says taking off his shirt and throwing it over her.
Sasuke was a taller than Hinata. So his shirt came to her thighs with ease. While not ideal, he figured it was better than making her run around naked or dress. If she took the time to dress, they might get caught.
Idly, he snorts at this thought. Get caught? They hadn't done anything wrong. It wasn't like they were normal teenagers and sneaking out of the house at night to go makeout. They were fucking ninjas in a criminal village. Still, he didn't want Orochimaru to find out about whatever that had been. So he darts off with her.
"I'm telling you Lord Orochimaru, I saw Aoda here." Kabuto insists as they arrive only moments later at the waterfall.
"I do not see him. Perhaps you imagined it." Orochimaru says.
"I don't think so." He says and picks up some of Hinata's discarded clothes.
"That's rather clever of him. He must have used Aoda as a lookout to ensure privacy." The Sanin muses.
"What should we do about this?" The silver haired man asks.
"Nothing. We let them think we don't know. If all goes well it might led to a vessel superior to even Sasuke later down the line. Let's go." The older ninja says.
Meanwhile Sasuke leads them back to Hinata's room. He would have gone with his room, but he figured Hinata would probably want to put on something more…modest than just his shirt. He shuts the door behind them.
"Thanks. Um I'll give it back to you." She says, grabbing some clothes out of her closet, and darting inside the bathroom.
"Alright." He says and now that the moment had been interrupted Sasuke was mentally kicking himself.
He had been so fucking stupid. It was a bad idea to get close to someone. As much as he wanted to believe that he'd beat Itachi, there was always the possibility he wouldn't. Even if he did, he'd deserted the Leaf Village. There was only so much time that could pass before they'd go from thinking that he was some stupid, naïve boy that had been brainwashed to treating him as an enemy ninja.
It had already been years since he left. Maybe that point had already passed and he didn't know it. It wasn't as if he could just kill Itachi and walk right back into the village, like nothing had happened.
"Breathe. Breathe." She mutters to herself as she changes into her own clothes inside the bathroom.
What was she supposed to do now? He HAD acted on it. But now the moment was ruined. She doubted he'd fall for the same "trick" twice.
She wasn't sure what she was going to face when she walked out that door. Either he'd want to continue where they left off or he'd push her away. She summoned up all her courage and headed out to face him.
Dammit. She was coming out. He'd have to say SOMETHING. But what could he say? Sorry that I jumped you like some sort of animal because apparently I have no self control. I want to do it again. But first I have to kill my brother. So this can't work. That sounded horrible in his head. God only knows how much it would suck if he said it out loud.
"Hinata, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. It wasn't fair to you." He says.
"What do you mean it wasn't fair to me?" She asks in confusion.
"It's not right to get closer to you, if I don't know what's going to happen with Itachi." He continues.
"Sasuke, we are ninjas. Every day could be our last. That is with or without a serial killer for a brother. Getting close to someone is always a risk." She replies.
Sasuke blinks. That was…surprisingly assertive coming from Hinata. It looked like she was ready to "fight" him on this.
Hinata realized her mistake. She'd been a little too feisty there. What she said was true, but Sasuke mostly knew her as that shy girl from the Academy. If she pushed too hard, he'd get suspicious. Knowing this, she modified her behavior accordingly.
"It's j-ust I really like you." She mumbles and looks at her feet.
It was the picture of demureness. A complete 180. Sasuke knew Hinata well enough to realize that she wasn't like Jugo. She didn't have two personalities. A switch like that couldn't be naturally switched so easily for someone like her. Something was off.
"I like you too. But that doesn't mean I'm going to get played." Sasuke says and pushes her against the wall.
It didn't hurt. He wasn't trying to hurt her. But it was a firm pin. She wasn't getting out of his hold anytime soon.
"Wh-at do you mean?" She asks.
"People don't just go from being a lioness to a kitten in under a minute, Hinata. You slipped there." He states and his eyes scan hers for hints of deception.
"Slipped?" She inquires.
"You're acting is very good. But that wasn't realistic just now. No one turns on and on that fast, unless they are like Jugo." He continues.
"Sasuke, I c-." Hinata states to say something and is cut off when Sasuke pressing two fingers to her lips.
"It's not polite to interrupt someone when they are speaking. As a former Heiress, you should know that. I thought it was odd that you'd come here. You could get stronger at the Leaf. Strong enough to defeat Hiashi. Your father is powerful, but he's no Itachi. There was really no need to subject yourself to a place like this for that mission. So that wasn't your real mission. You came here for something else." Sasuke finishes and moves his hand away from her lips to let her speak.
"You're right." She admits and lowers her eyes sadly.
"I don't like being lied to. But it was my own damn fault. A ninja must see through deception." He says.
"I didn't lie to you! I do want to get stronger to defeat my father and become the leader of my clan. Alright I did lie once. I said that I was no longer the Heir of the Hyuga Clan. That was a lie. But my father has thought about giving the position to my sister. So even that wasn't…well a big lie." She states.
"I don't care about whether or not you are the heiress. You lied to me once. Tell me, kitten was it a lie when you were moaning so sweetly in my arms? Were you faking it? Maybe you were imagining I was Naruto." He says accusingly and she noticed his eyes were red with barely concealed fury.
"Sasuke, stop it! I wasn't imagining you were someone else! I wasn't faking that. That part was real." She protests.
"How would I know? You were barely more than a stranger to me when I left. It's been years. So what did they send you to find out information about the Sound? Maybe Tsunade figured that Orochimaru would tell his favorite pet all his secrets." He spat out the last part in disgust.
"We didn't know each other before you left. But we do now. And you aren't his pet!" She says.
"We do? All I really know about you is that you are a powerful Leaf Ninja. I know the taste of your kiss and how your body feels against mine as well. But other than that, I know nothing about you. I don't know which is the real you. The kitten or the lioness. I know the Leaf's training is good enough to make either mask believable." He muses and his words caused her face to heat up, remembering their embrace at the waterfall.
"Both are real. Just…at different times." She says and tries to ignore the sensual description, but she could feel herself blushing hotly.
"If you want to take down the Sound by playing the part of a spy, I don't mind. My only goal right now is to kill Itachi. As long as your mission doesn't conflict with that, we don't have a problem." He says and releases her.
"It doesn't." She promises.
He could still kill Itachi, if he returned to the Leaf. She was grateful that he apparently thought she was on a generic espionage mission. It was really a retrieval mission. But if he knew that she was trying to bring him back to the Leaf, he'd likely be even more angry. It was a miracle he'd taken it as "well" as he had. She didn't want to push her luck.
"Good. I'm going to go train. I need to punch something." He says and flits off.
BAM. SMACK. CRUNCH. SLAM. He attacks the training post with the full brunt of his fury. They were being utterly destroyed, one by one.
"I can't believe that I was so fucking stupid." He hisses, slamming his foot against one of the posts.
He'd never been so pissed in his entire life. What made it even more infuriating is he didn't know who to be mad at. Himself for being dumb enough to be led around by his dick or Hinata for deceiving him?
"I fell for it." He snarls and smashes another with his fist.
The logical part of his mind knew that it wasn't Hinata's fault. She was just doing what any good ninja would do. She had been carrying out her mission and she had been doing a fantastic job of it. He'd completely fallen for it.
The not so logical part of his brain was torn between wanting to wring her pretty little neck and finishing what she started. It had felt so GOOD! It'd been so long since Sasuke had done something, anything purely because it made him feel good.
Kissing Hinata had fallen under the category. It was addictive. And now he found out it was all an act! She had just been performing a mission.
"She was probably thinking about Naruto the entire time!" He snarls and strikes yet another post, it didn't stand a chance as it was reduced to nothing but splinters.
Right? It had been a mission. Hinata had said she hadn't faked enjoying it, that she hadn't imagined someone else. Was that the truth? He didn't know. It pissed him off that he actually cared about the answer though. He should be focusing on Itachi, not on her. She was a distraction.
The pathetic thing? He knew, he had fall for it again. Even if it was just deception, it was a beautiful deception. It felt good. He still wanted her.
He was so completely fucked up. If he thought he could trust anyone in the Sound, he'd seek counseling. He still wanted the girl who had lied to him. That was idiotic.
Back in her room, Hinata sighs. She'd screwed that up badly. How was she going to get Sasuke to trust her again, let alone to come back to the Leaf now?
"He knows." She whispered to herself.
She wanted to race outside. Hinata wanted to apologize. She wanted things to go back to how they had been at the waterfall. But she knew that such an action would be borderline suicidal. She'd find a way to make this right.
Hinata had expected this mission would be hard. She had been completely prepared to be surrounded by psychotic enemy ninjas. Hinata had been prepared to even use the training that Kurenai gave her. The blunette thought she had been ready for anything, but she had been wrong.
What she hadn't been prepared was to develop real feelings for him and to hurt him, like she knew she had just now. Sasuke might cover it up with anger. But there was no denying that she had hurt him, badly. She'd find a way to fix it though. She had to.
That was going to be easier said than done though. She could hear Sasuke tearing through training posts. Well nothing worth having, ever came easily. And having Sasuke back in the Leaf was definitely something worth having. So naturally it was going to be almost impossible to pull off. But she wasn't going to give up.