Disclaimer: Unfortunately Naruto isn't mine, and there's nothing I can do about it. I want the rights of ownership and I want them now. Gosh darnit, I feel like an insignificant fan... And this darn website deleted Chapter 4! Stupid Admin problems...
Author's Note: I'm extremely happy with the positive feedback! I really am sorry this came out so late. It was so difficult to write, and I wanted it to be perfect. I really am very grateful for everyone who read and enjoyed my story though. Enjoy! Oh, and warnings of slight OoC-ness. Hehehe...
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Never Enough:
Part 1 of 2
Sasuke hesitantly walked towards the park, wondering from time to time whether or not he should still attend the birthday celebration. The day was fairly nice; a gentle sun lightly pressed over Konoha Village with clear blue skies flanking it on all sides. A few crisp leaves of the approaching fall rustled playfully around his feet as he neared the entrance to the park. He wore a plain black kimono that was messily tucked into his usual shorts and a very long bead necklace; truthfully, he really hadn't changed his clothing with the exception of the kimono-shirt.
He settled down the box he carried with him and scanned through the park in search of the event. Instinctively, his eyes followed the rhythmic melody of the koto-harp as it chased away the strings of a traditional piece. As expected, he found a congregation who seemed to be the most expensively dressed people he laid his eyes on.
Sasuke aimlessly searched for the golden seal tucked inside his pockets as he coolly headed towards the southern division of the park. The shade provided him the chance to read the hallmark a bit more carefully without having to deal with the sun's glare. He still couldn't believe that Hinata invited him of all people, all because of their night spent at the docks. 'This should be interesting.' Sasuke mischievously thought.
He approached two exceptionally tall men who were standing by the entrance to the southern quarter. It was safe to assume that they were guards for the celebration, but they looked pale and flimsy, everything guards weren't supposed to be. Presenting the family stamp, Sasuke strolled passed them and into the stern environment.
The party wasn't lively as Sasuke expected it to be; instead the air was so lacking in energy that the occasion could be easily mistaken for a funeral. A few seniors distastefully glanced at Sasuke, mumbling to each other what he could only have guessed was how poor he looked. Disregarding the prying eyes, Sasuke spotted Kiba and Shino sitting on a park bench in silence.
As he started off for his two fellow genin, a soft voice called after him.
"Sa-Sasuke!" Turning his attention to the voice, he found Hinata anxiously nearing him. Although he wouldn't admit it, Hinata looked stunning. She wore a cerulean kimono-coat that was left open, tied to her waist by an indigo sash and underneath was a two piece white dress laced with baby blue ribbons.
"Hinata, uhmm, Happy Birthday…" Sasuke huskily greeted. The girl finally reached him with a shy smile and a very light blush gracing her face. She looked very womanly in her attire, accentuating every curve of her body. He hadn't noticed that he was heatedly staring at her figure until she nervously coughed.
"Sa-Sasuke, you came… I'm very glad you did." The young man averted his eye's attention to Hinata's own expecting ones. Sasuke frantically fought off a blush that threatened to tint his cheeks from the embarrassment of his… admiration.
"Well, I was invited wasn't I?" Sasuke abruptly answered, hoping he could restore some level of harshness back into him. Hinata didn't seem phased at all by his cold exterior, despite the fact that it was her birthday. Instead, all she did was gave him a grateful smile and motioned for him to follow her.
"So…" he started, breaking the unusually pleasant silence between them, "what am I supposed to do around here?" The question was bold and inappropriate. Customarily, the guest would find some means of entertainment and wouldn't ask the birthday celebrant what to do, implying that the party was boring. However, in Sasuke's case, Hinata was more amused than appalled. It obviously seemed that he hadn't done this before.
"Well, I-it's not my place to say this, but this party isn't really mine…" Her voice sadly trailed off. "You see, my fa-father is the one celebrating, not me. That's why so many people here are his acquaintances rather than mine…"
'And no wonder this place is so dull. Even Naruto could've hosted a better party.' Sasuke smirked at that last thought, imagining Naruto wreaking mass havoc on the attendants by turning everything he touched into a living disaster. 'Ok, maybe not…'
"How-however," Hinata's voice broke him out of his chain of thoughts, "I'm allowed to do what I wish until later this afternoon, so i-if you'd like, we could take a walk in the park." The birthday girl faintly reddened at her proposal, recognizing how different of a person she became when she was with Sasuke. She was a great deal more, outgoing. At this point the Uchiha had taken back any preconceived notions about Hinata so the offer wasn't as bizarre as it would seem to other people.
"Whatever…" Sasuke deadpanned, "but what about those two morons? Won't your friends be bored here?" The village heartthrob nodded his head to where Hinata's teammates were dozing off. Without confirming who Sasuke was referring to, she humbly smiled and shifted her gaze to the floor.
"A-actually, Kiba and Shino are only my teammates; I-I don't have many things in common with them outside of training though..." Hinata's hands wandered over her white dress, fiddling with the silky cloth between her delicate fingers; Sasuke immediately read with his Sharingan that it was a fixation of hers to feel the smooth textures of satin. 'Girls…'
"So, I'm guessing this is another personal invitation from the birthday girl?" Hinata was awestruck as Sasuke breathed suggestive implications into his words. As she stood paralyzed in shock, Sasuke mentally scolded himself for... flirting, no matter how mild it was. Blushing wildly, he made an attempt to smoothen the situation out before she started to stammer again by regarding his comment as a mere joke and suggesting that they should start their walk in the park.
'Great, the few times I do decide to flirt with a girl she decides to freak...'
"By the way," he continued, "this is for you." Sasuke handed a box wrapped in black paper. She stared at the gift for a few moments before relieving it from her friend's hands.
"Tha-thank you Sasuke. You really didn't have to..."Hinata wondered what the gift could've been. Her experience with Sasuke had taught her that the man was unpredictable; and a gift from him would be even more mysterious, in her opinion.
"I'll hold onto it for now. I think you should open it later." He offered his hand out to reclaim the present, which Hinata reluctantly handed back. "So, are you ready to go?" His voice had simmered down to its usual monotony. Strangely, Hinata was disappointed that he didn't speak to her in that playful manner anymore. Despite her uneasiness with that tone of speaking, she felt special in that particular moment, she felt unique– something she's never felt before in her life. She was almost completely positive he didn't talk to anyone else like that, and it felt satisfying to know that he did with her. But now, she was starting to become like everyone else again.
"O-okay... we can leave the party and walk in the center of the park if you'd like." Agreeing to her suggestion with a simple nod, an idea suddenly hit Hinata regarding her dilemma. She didn't know why she was so determined to regain Sasuke's comfort level. Maybe it was because for the very first time she found someone close enough to call a friend, or maybe she found him challenging. Whichever the reason, Hinata mustered up the courage to slip her arm around his own free one and held it close to her body.
Sasuke marveled in disbelief at what she had just done. Hinata did the most daring thing he could think of at the moment, considering how shy and reserved her personality was. Her face flushed a violently dangerous crimson, and her pale eyes darted from point to point exposing the inner conflict raging inside of her. He didn't insinuate anything to provoke this from her, so it was on her own prerogative that she chose to take his arm. 'Hinata...' was the only thing fleeting across his mind.
"Shall we go?" To add to the uncanniness of the situation, Hinata spoke in a convincing, friendly tone. Sasuke worriedly eyed her for several seconds before returning an answer. His mind still couldn't grasp what was going on, and his emotions weren't exactly as organized as he had hoped them to be. He was intoxicated at the slight touch of her hands, and his heart suffocated for the swiftest of seconds when she coiled her arm around his own.
"Uh, well... uhmm, sure i-if you want to, now..." As if the world had turned upside down, Sasuke was now the one stuttering in confusion and nervousness. He scolded himself mentally for his display of weakness, especially in such a public place, but there was nothing he could do about it. The darkness of shadows caste over his brooding eyes had amazingly disappeared, and a lighter feeling adorned them. They were soothing and childlike, almost, and Hinata couldn't keep her own eyes off of them.
Nudging him forward with the softest force, the two exited the southern park with startled stares following after them. Hinata glided passed her seniors, passed her peers, passed her father, with a confident grace that carried her through the winds like a fallen leaf of the afternoon sunset. Without care, without her habitual need for approval, the Hyuga heiress walked more and more like a true heiress. She knew her father would confront her with this maverick decision she made, but the moment was too precious to spoil for repercussions that would be dealt with later, and she intended to embellish in this state of power she was in for every second it was worth.
Waving her free hand to dismiss the guards, they walked in silence, holding each other gently yet with firm determination. Sasuke didn't know why he complied to what was happening, and he honestly didn't understand where his need to hold her close to him had come from as well. But nevertheless the feeling was present, and he felt he could trust this sensation more than anything else he's felt in the past. It provided him a haven of security that would shelter him from his anger, his rage, his hate, and he knew that this was all he needed for that to happen.
Their sense of time had vanished into a mundane nuisance of reality and what felt like seconds filtered down the hourglass as minutes. It felt right to both of them, whatever this was they were doing, and it didn't feel tainted with any vulgarity; this was safe, and that's what they really wanted to begin with. Perhaps their longing for security and care had taken them to the edge of accepting it from anyone who was willing to give it, no matter how unlikely the person providing it was.
"I'm glad I came..." Sasuke stopped walking and had somehow managed to snap out of his trance, breaking Hinata out of hers in the process. "to your party, I mean." Disheveled black hair hung loosely over his features, flaring a different type of intrigue to him.
"I'm very happy you came as well... I didn't expect you to show up at all, truthfully..." she replied. What sadness she carried in her eyes dazzlingly left, lifting its seemingly irrevocable burden from the very windows to her soul. And that gentle smile never left her lips. He understood why she didn't expect him to come, and he didn't blame her for her uncertainty.
"Tell me Hinata, why did you invite me?" The question had been bothering him from the very beginning. Hinata and Sasuke shuffled by an arrangement of various trees, all situated in a flow of balance that contrasted beautifully against each other. What was most remarkable, however, was the tumbling fall of cherry blossom leaves as they hovered about them in a billow of magic. Sasuke glanced at his friend from time to time, observing the paleness of her skin against the withering leaves rustling savagely around her.
The two shinobi stopped walking in the middle of the promenade, gradually releasing each other from an anchor of support they were determined to keep only seconds ago. "Maybe because, I didn't have to prove myself to you. You were... a stranger. Y-you had no expectations of me, and, for once, I felt like I was... enough..."
"Believe it or not," Sasuke genuinely smirked, "I felt the same way with you..."
"Then I guess we-we're good for each other?"
"Yeah, I think we are..."
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Ending Note: I put a cliffhanger. Hate my guts, I will accept Well, the next chapter is the second and last part of the birthday celebration, and it is also where you read what Sasuke wrote to Hinata. As for now, I hope you guys review. I think I might've lost some readers because of my lateness.
