Um, I'm back? :DDDD
short recap: hinata has had all kinds of trouble with adapting to the concept of her dad and sasuke's mom marrying. you'll have to skim the last chapter to catch the latest, though.
What a feeling
(I am music now)
Being's believin'
(I am rhythm now)
Pictures come alive, you can dance right through your life...
-Irene Cara, Flashdance
Title: My Stepbrother Sasuke
Summary: In the summer before Hinata's senior year, her father and Mikoto Uchiha are getting married. Hell for Hinata - the flower girl - and Sasuke - the ringbearer. Things prove, as usual, much more complicated. SasuHina.
Rating: T of course.
Author: HeavenlyHuntress
11:43 PM
Saturday - late.
I hummed the familiar tune of 'I'm With You' - "It's a damn cold night, I'm trying to figure out this life - won't you - take me by the hand, take me somewhere new...I don't know who you are, but I'm with you...I'm with you..."
Someone come take me home, I wished, peering between my fingers onto the darkening lawn. The window was open all the way, and a cluster of stars was rising to meet the moon above the horizon.
It was so incredibly, damn beautiful...
I shut the window and burrowed under my covers, squeezing my eyes tight.
11:13 AM
-bedroom
I cradled the blue phone in my hands. My only connection with the outside world, it seemed.
"It's really bad, TenTen...I don't know if you'd understand."
"It can't be! Come on...living in plush furry big house and having a wedding to boot?! Having parents who love eachother...? My parents - they're probably going to divorce soon with all their incessant fighting - "
Her voice was loud to the extent of shrieking, and I half-smiled. That was TenTen.
"You forget, TenTen," I said. "That's exactly what I went through before."
Silence on the other end. I knew how she'd react to that - fake, awkward laughter, then a direct change in subject. It worked surprisingly well on me;
"Oh, ha, oops, Hina. I forgot. Listen, did you know that your cousin's coming in town next week? Rock Lee was making such a big deal out of it...."
I found it difficult to grasp at this. "Neji? Why?"
"To attend some summer camp...probably elite, considering his - " Something muffled came from the other end, and I heard a dinner call, followed by loud sounds of bickering. Breathless, she retained the phone again; "That's just my mom."
"Do you...have to go?"
"No," she assured. "I can wait. Anyway - Neji - at a summer school? Honestly, I knew you Hyuugas were boring, but to such an extent?! School in the summer, imagine that - "
"It's betting than being where I am," I said.
I heard a soft, almost angry noise from the doorway.
The phone dropped limply into my palm, TenTen's voice unheeded, while I froze at the scene. The seconds stretched into a single long, timeless moment.
"S-Sasuke," I ventured, while his brows furrowed. The phone squawked, the words jumbled and incoherent. I found that my palms had become sweaty.
"Is it really that bad here?" His voice was quiet and toneless.
In my defense, there was only one thing to say. Subconsciously, I knew it was not the best answer by far - I could lie, or say that I hadn't meant it, but I was honest to the point of being ignorant.
"Y-yes, it is," I rushed on without grace.
His voice closed, and in a fluid motion, he was gone.
The noises all seemed to envelope me, TenTen's insistent demanding on knowing what had happened, the enormity of what I had done, Sasuke's mouth in a line of severe dislike - the cacophony was roaring, and suddenly I didn't know what to do anymore.
"Shit," I imprecated, and then slammed the phone into the receiver. It shuddered, then fell onto the floor, separated again. I swiped it up and slammed it again. "Shit!"
It was bad - it was horrific, from the moment I stepped into the airport to the dysfunctional family gatherings, to Hanabi's innocent acceptance of the situation, all the moments I'd made a fool of myself, but most of all - most of all - my father, his berating words, his emphasis on not messing up his day, his wedding, his soulmate -
I streaked down the stairs and into the family room. My father and Hanabi were watching television. They had finished breakfast.
Mikoto was in the kitchen washing dishes, my sudden footsteps startling her. She wiped a soapy hand across her brow, and then smiled awkwardly at me.
"Still some pancakes left?" Her voice was uncertain, almost as if waiting for my approval.
"I - I - where's Sasuke?" I finished abruptly.
She started slightly, then recovered. "He's...I heard him walk out the garage. He mentioned playing basketball at the park - "
"Thanks," I hastened, then ran and threw open the front door. "I'll be back later I'm not hungry don't wait for me - " I threw the words over my shoulder, and in that split second, I wondered if I were making another huge mistake.
But then the door was slamming and my feet struck across the asphalt and suddenly I was flying -
A red-haired girl was pulling up weeds at her house as I ran past her. The park was a quarter mile away, maybe it was better to ask, first -
"Hi," I rushed by, coming to halt. "Did you see - by any chance - a guy with black hair coming past here?"
She flicked her hair away in an impatient motion, and then smiled. Her glasses accentuated her beautiful, apricot-shaped eyes.
"Yeah. Sure. I saw him." Her voice was a slow, comfortable drawl.
"D-did he...go that way...?" I pointed to the park in the direction I hoped was right.
"I don't think so. He came by and then took the little trail behind the little grove of trees," she answered, pulling off her cap. Her hair collected at her shoulder, glinting. I had never seen such a violent shiny shade of red before.
"Th-thanks."
She set down her pair of shears. "Why?"
"I - I'm just...I need to..." I gestured frantically, but no words came to mind.
"Oh, I get it." Her eyes glinted in amusement. "That's the reason?"
"N-no," I chastened quickly. "Thank you - bye - " I turned and started down.
"I'd be quick if I were you!" she called after me merrily. "By the looks of him, a girl will be around his shoulders in no time at all!"
Her laughter receded in the distance and became lost.
I spotted him kneeling across a little path of leaves and a little brook. The spot surprised me. I had expected a more secluded area, somehow, but the sunlight found this place easily.
My foot snapped a dead branch on cue, and his head whipped around.
His eyes found me.
Me, awkward pose with arm half-steadied on a tree branch, shorts ragged and old and tattered, knees scraped with mud and whatever else besides...hair muddled and messy, surely the epitome of ugly.
My legs somehow went closer and bent down next to him, not quite touching.
"S-she said that you'd be at t-the park," I fumbled. My words had absolutely no revelance, and my stutter was clearly showing.
I looked down and away, cheeks red and humiliated.
"Really."
"Y-yeah."
"Hn."
I burst out an apology. "I'm sorry! I was - I was being stupid, I really don't feel that way at all - " I was lying again.
"Needless to say, you said it." His voice was flat.
Flat...flatworms - Cnidarians, the subject of last year's Biology class surfaced in my thoughts. Flatworms... I giggled, then covered my mouth shamefully.
"You're insufferable, aren't you?"
I only laughed harder, helplessly. "This - isn't helping - is it - ?" I gasped, laughing at the whole absurdity of the situation.
"It's hopeless."
This time, I heard a twinge of humor in his voice. I looked up, but his expression was void of feeling. He could have been looking at a blank wall for all I knew.
"I'm sorry," I said once again, and this time I felt it.
He inclined his head away and gazed out at the reeds that clumped together. They bent and twisted, merging over the thin stream.
He spoke after a while.
"If you're mad, get mad."
I jumped. "I'm not mad," I declined hastily. "I just - I don't know - "
"You don't have to talk to me if you don't feel like it. You don't have to force yourself to like the wedding if you don't like it. You don't have to - " he broke off, waveringly. "You don't have to hide it. I'm sorry for that while ago. It was my fault. If it was really that bad for you, I shouldn't have..."
"It's fine."
And I looked over at the stream accordingly, because there was nowhere else I could look. A little pool of rainwater had collected near a big rock, and small fish were dancing in a semicircle.
It really was beautiful, I felt myself thinking again. This place. The environment. The bedroom, the horizon, the stream, everything. I knew that l loved this place.
"It's just that - "
My ears tensed, listening.
"It's just that you have to try harder."
My eyes widened; I opened my voice to say something, but he jumped in instead; "No, I didn't mean it that way. I meant that...it's not so hard once you...get used to it."
"Get used to what?" I wondered.
"I don't know. The atmosphere. The whole absurd situation of our parents marrying. Once that gets over with, things will be fine."
I agreed out loud.
"But...Hinata..."
His voice had suddenly become rather pained, as if broaching a topic that was painfully personal to him.
"You'll have to be...the daughter that my mom has always wanted."
"Sasuke..."
He shifted. "She's had a hard time with this, just like you. So it's better if you..."
"W-what about Hanabi? She gets along with her quite well." My voice had no rancor. It was just stating fact.
"It's not the same." It seemed like he took a long, thoughtful pause before continuing; "You're a lot like my older brother."
I started, not believing this. Wait...what?
"Itachi," he said, and his voice became quiet. "You're a lot like him."
The shadows bathed our bodies in silence. I sat listening to the sliding of the waters, not knowing what to reply with.
"The same responsibility - that is...you're obviously trying to act fine in a situation where it's out of your control..." His tone was almost whimsical. "...trying to make the best of something...you know, she can see that you're trying really hard."
My breathing had shifted up two notches. I whispered, not quite getting the words out, "Really?"
"Everybody can," he said.
I stared at him wide-eyed.
"It's going to be okay," he said, and suddenly, I believed him.
The sun was already in its apex when we returned. The door opened; Mikoto stood in her apron, arms wide in welcome. "Hungry?"
"Very," I answered shyly, slipping off my shoes and entering the foyer. It was abruptly silent; even after everything, I didn't know how to act, or what to say to her -
I turned around, but found that Sasuke was already gone. He had slipped up the stairs as soon as we had entered.
"Don't worry about him," Mikoto said lightly. "He's got his own unique schedule."
Yesterday's conversation resurfaced in my mind, and I remembered his words; she fucking hates me.
I opened my mouth - I don't know to do what - ask a question? Touch upon another awkward topic? Pose an anomaly?
I closed it, feeling helpless.
"Um...are there any pancakes left?"
"Yes," she answered, and I followed her into the kitchen.
I looked back on last time, but he really was gone.
THANK YOU. I loved reading your comments and I kept searching for those pieces of heart that connect us writers together. Yeah, that gave me strength. Thank you so much for your lovely insightful reviews, they were a joy to read. (what do I sound like, a fawning kindergarten teacher?)
Idle Writer of Crack, your reviews get me hysterically happy. Thanks. Notmybigflatscreentv: Sorry. :(. Haruka2007: I understand. And no, you're not extreme in the slightest.
chocoGONEsushi: you are awesome.
-HeavenlyHuntress, a.k.a. LuLu ;)
FAQ:
Q: Has Hinata ever had a 'true friend' before?
A: -No. She's belonged with friends, as seen from the very beginning, but she knows that she hasn't found anyone she can truly convey her feelings with.
Q: Why does Sasuke think that Mikoto hates him?
A: I can't answer that. But there is this: on the outside, Mikoto certainly doesn't show it.
Q: Did Sasuke have a hand in Fugaku's or Itachi's (death or) something?
A: He seems to think so.
