Chapter Six
xxxxx
They were being watched.
Had he been able to use his Sharingan he probably would have found the guy by now. Unfortunately he was not on mission so his limit was sealed. It wasn't the same feeling as when he was being watched by ANBU, there was a heavy blood thirst to this spectator. Briefly he wondered if this person had anything to do with the setup to kill him six months ago. The Uchiha had little doubt that it could be a group, or even an organization, of people wanting him dead. It was no secret that many of the villagers were unhappy with his return, even if it was forced on him. An annoying situation, for if he had a choice he wouldn't even be in the village were it not for the seals on his forehead and arms and legs. If he tried to leave the village without the seals on his limbs being removed he would get to the border and his body would lock up, unable to move. At least, that was what he had been told and he wasn't stupid enough to try and test it out to look like a dumbass when they dragged him back into town.
Also, the Hyuuga was with him and it was likely that she would be caught in the crossfire, if not made a target due to the amount of time they were forced to spend together. Who knew how long he had been watched? Six months was more than enough time to scout out and plan an attack. He wasn't entirely sure on what he wanted to do. He could always leave early but it would mean she would have to leave with him. He could try to sneak off to confront the guy but if Hyuuga was a target then she could be hit once he left her side. He could tell her and have her scout around to see what was going on but then she would be tense and uncomfortable.
Why do I care about that?
Mentally he sighed. He was acting stranger around the princess and Naruto, as if he were 'loosening' up or something. Earlier today he had distracted Hyuuga from seeing the small make-out session the two thought couldn't be seen from where they had been standing. Sasuke didn't even know if the girl still had her stupid crush on the idiot.
I guess that means he never did ask her out.
Not that he cared or anything. Because he hadn't. He didn't. He didn't like her, he tolerated her presence and she didn't annoy the hell out of him like ninety nine percent of the females in the village did. Physically, he was attracted to her and it didn't help that she had all the right curves in the right places. He wondered what the fan-girls would think if he told them that he didn't like overly thin girls.
Tonight she was wearing a dark blue kimono with a crane and floral pattern, the edges dyed a light purple. Her long hair was pinned up, revealing a rather slender neck. She, thankfully, wore no makeup and she had a small smile on her face as she walked beside him. Once again Naruto and Sakura were ahead of them, holding hands since the cat was out of the bag. The Uchiha had debated splitting up and dragging the Hyuuga off somewhere else, but he wasn't sure why.
Six months later and he was still heavily confused about this girl and what she was doing to him emotionally. He really hoped that they would hurry up and give him his evaluation so he could put some distance between the two of them.
"Would you like to try some takoyaki miss?" a rather loud voice asked, bringing Sasuke out of his train of thought.
A man was holding a bit of takoyaki on a toothpick and was presenting it to Hyuuga who looked a little nervous. When she held up her arms to politely refuse Sasuke grabbed her arm and began to pull her away. She gave the man a small apology but didn't frown or seem upset with him for pulling her away so rudely. In fact, ever since earlier that morning she had been fairly quiet but the tense air between them had lifted a bit. She had even smiled at him a little more.
He didn't let go of her arm but he did loosen his grip. She didn't try to pull away from him but she wouldn't look at him either. The Uchiha felt highly uncomfortable with this scenario and he hated being so confused.
Sasuke learned that Hyuuga wasn't huge on playing games or winning prizes. She seemed content to either watch others play the games or walk around and simply enjoy the beauty of the summer festival. It was…refreshing knowing that she wasn't going to try and drag him all around the damn place to win ridiculous prizes with his money. She was too respectful to try and use or manipulate someone. He found that to be a strength and a weakness.
"Did you want to look at the fireworks, Uchiha-san?" she asked him while Naruto played the bottle game, trying to win Sakura some sort of ridiculous looking penguin. "It's towards the end so I'll understand if you'd rather go home."
He shrugged "It doesn't matter." He said honestly "Just as long as it's away from those two idiots. Knowing them, they'll start making-out and I don't want to see that."
She giggled, actually giggled, and nodded her head a bit "I can understand."
Dark grey eyes gazed down at her as she watched Naruto play. He couldn't use any ninja skills so he was griping about how the game was 'rigged'. "Are you still in love with him?" Sasuke found himself blurting out and wondered where the hell that had come from.
Pale eyes shifted up and looked at him in slight surprise. She didn't answer right away, instead she studied his face, as if expecting to find something revealing. When she found nothing she briefly closed her eyes and sighed.
"I will always love him," she admitted "I don't think you ever stop feeling for your first love…but I no longer want to be with him, if that's what you mean. I'm happy that he's with Sakura-chan; he's loved her for a long time."
"Hn." Was all he said and focused his attention elsewhere. He was growing more and more confused by the minute, he hadn't started thinking about this again until he had pulled her against him earlier because of the two idiots. She had molded perfectly against him and her light smell of flowers was for some reason intoxicating. Ever since he had been trying to find excuses to touch her and it was disorienting. Why? Why her?
The crowd was growing thicker and that menacing feeling from before increased tenfold. He knew then that whoever it was would be attacking soon. He still couldn't pinpoint the location, which was irritating. If he were able to activate his Sharingan he wouldn't be having this problem. That meant he had to use his brain.
Although the area was crowded doing a direct attack would be suicide, the Uchiha would see it coming with or without his bloodline limit. In addition, it was well known how powerful he and Uzumaki Naruto were. No, they wouldn't be stupid enough to try and shank him in a crowd full of people. Using explosives would be difficult in a shinobi community, someone would see you. Too time consuming and one didn't need a crowd to strike. Striking from below wouldn't work, once again they'd get too close to him and he'd obliterate them. Unless the assassin was stupid, he would not try to engage in hand to hand combat with him. That left only one real option: sniping. A crowd of people was ideal for such a situation, causing chaos and a proper distraction.
So, above then…
Had he had his Sharingan he would have seen the attack coming. Hinata, however, had no such problems with her own bloodline limit and, once again, he had underestimated her skills. He saw her body stiffen and then her Byakugan activated.
Then she did something really fucking stupid. She jumped in the way.
All of it happened within a second. Hinata jumped in front of him, kunai out and ready and his gut started screaming at him to get her out of the way because she was going to die. He saw her stiffen when she realized that she had jumped in a second too late.
However, the Uchiha's speed was faster than a second. One arm snaked around her waist and pulled her hard against his body and his other arm blocked the five senbon that had been heading for her head and, consequently, his heart.
The crowd, as predicted, burst into screams and chaos erupted. He couldn't hear that, however. All of his senses were being destroyed by the unimaginable amount of pain lancing through his skull as his Sharingan finally faded. It had only been for a second yet…
"You…" he muttered to Hyuuga as her eyes widened with shock and tears "are a fucking idiot."
The world thankfully faded to black.
xxxxx
She refused to leave the room and no one tried to stop her, they understood. Uchiha Sasuke lay in the hospital bed, eyes closed as the machines kept track of his vitals. One forearm was bandaged and the poison that had been coated on the senbon had thankfully been expelled by Sakura who had been only a few feet away from them.
Hinata couldn't get the scene out of her mind. She had sensed the attack almost too late and her body had just moved, knowing that they were aiming for Sasuke. Why she jumped in the way she had no idea, all she knew was that after she had jumped in front of him he had grabbed her, pulling her close. An arm was suddenly in her field of vision, a grunt, and then she could see the poison moving through his arm with the Byakugan. They had been aiming for his heart; her head had been in the way.
When she had deactivated her Byakugan and looked up at him she had almost cried out at his crimson eyes looking at the direction where the senbon had been thrown. It had all happened in exactly one second. Then he stumbled forward, called her an idiot and passed out. She had been trying to save him and ended up being the one saved instead. Guilt and pain moved through her, wasn't it always like that around him? Before had been the mission where they had been betrayed and she had been pinned down. She would have died had he not taken all of the blows. He didn't even snap at her then, he just healed her to the best of his ability and then took her to the nearest town for better treatment. After that it kept happening, he kept getting in the way during missions, he went out of his way to protect her.
Of course, that was his job right? That was his mission. Yet what about earlier in the day with Naruto and Sakura? He only had to protect her from danger, not from a potential broken heart. Of course, he had done it in the crudest and most embarrassing manner possible, but he had done it nonetheless. In addition, he had made sure that the two of them saw Sasuke with his arms around her, as if giving them a silent 'Fuck you'.
Had she misunderstood this man all this time? Was he really as bad as she had initially believed?
"I'm so sorry, Uchiha-san…" she said miserably, her head down as she sat in the chair beside his bed. She didn't touch him, he didn't like being touched, but she didn't want to leave either. This entire situation was all her fault.
"You apologize too much."
Alarmed she looked up and saw his dark gaze on her, his brows furrowed in a small frown. Even more surprise went through her when he lifted his hand and brushed his fingers along her cheek.
"I don't want your tears." He said flatly, his eyes narrowing "I didn't know which direction the attack was coming from, you did. Now we're both alive." He dropped his hand and turned his head to look up at the ceiling, a hand moved through his thick hair "How long?"
"Oh! Um, it's only been a few hours."
"Did you watch the fireworks?"
Hinata stared at him, her mouth slightly open "W-what? Uchiha-san I…I've been here this entire time, how could I go watch fireworks when you –"
"Idiot." Sitting up he raised his hand and…flicked her forehead. She cried out and put her hands over the red mark. "Don't miss them next time." He smirked at her.
No, it wasn't a smirk; it was…it was a genuine smile. He was smiling at her. Maybe the poison had addled his mind or she was hallucinating because this man did not genuinely smile. Ever. Still rubbing her sore forehead she just continued to stare at him, too stunned to do anything else. Was this the real Uchiha Sasuke?
"You didn't get to watch them either." Why she said that she had no idea, even though it was true.
"Hn." He agreed "We'll have to wait until next time." He lay back down, putting his uninjured arm over his eyes.
Fighting – and failing – a blush she began to stand "Oh, I should…" he looked tired and now that he was going to be all right "I should go. You need your rest."
A hand snaked out, grabbing her wrist and effectively stopping her. His arm was still over his eyes and his face showed no hint of emotion.
"Stay with me, Hinata." It was said low, so low she almost hadn't heard it. Her face burned, not just at the request but the fact that he had, for the first time, called her by her first name. What was she supposed to think about this? About him?
"S-Sasuke-san I…" she almost pulled away again until she noticed the small twitching of his lips when she had called him by his first name. His death grip on her wrist remained and that small smile was enough. Regardless of all the weirdness that seemed to be constant between them, she couldn't turn away from him after that. Smiling warmly at him even though he couldn't see it she sat back down in the chair and said nothing when he pulled her hand into his.
More than likely tomorrow he would pretend that this never happened, just like before six months ago. Tomorrow he would go back to being awkward and somewhat strange. Tomorrow he would be back to normal, but tonight it seemed that he wanted to let go of the walls he held up, just for a little while. Why he did so around her she didn't really know and unless he told her she probably would never know. With a small sigh she moved forward and laid her head near him, interlacing their fingers. They said nothing to each other the rest of the night.
xxxxx
Many months later Sasuke was greeted once again by a blonde idiot straddling him with a huge grin on his face. Blue eyes sparkled with amusement.
"Good morning, Sasuke-chan!" Naruto sang annoyingly and leaned forward "Rise and shine! It's a beautiful day filled with beautiful, youthful things!"
Someone's been hanging out with Rock Lee a little too much for comfort.
His eyes widened when Naruto's hands framed his face and he made the most ridiculous-looking kissy face he'd ever seen in his life. "Or maybe you need a good morning ki-"
Sasuke gave the blonde a right hook and, with some considerable skill and flexibility, slammed his foot into the other man's chest, sending him flying.
"I'm starting to wonder about you…" the brunette muttered darkly and got out of bed, ignoring Naruto's protests. "Don't you have a girlfriend you could be…" he shuddered "kissing up on?"
"Man, did you have to hit me so hard?" sitting up on the floor Naruto nursed his swelling jaw "You hit harder than Sakura-chan sometimes…"
"Why the hell are you even here?" the Uchiha inquired "Tsunade said she wasn't going to give me any missions for the next few days." He began to stretch out his limbs "And if you say something stupid I'm going to kill you."
When his friend's expression turned serious Sasuke stopped, giving the blonde a look. Naruto was an annoyingly carefree person; if he looked serious, it was serious.
"I um," the future Hokage began, looking nervous "I uh, need some help."
A dark eyebrow raised "What kind of help?"
There was a long, tense silence as Sasuke stared at Naruto and the blonde looked at the floor. Did someone die or something? What was up with him?
"W-well…it's been almost a year since Sakura-chan and I started dating and…I wanna-ask-her-to-marry-me-and-I-want-you-to-help-me-find-a-ring."
What? More silence as Sasuke tried to decipher just what the hell had been said to him. It actually took him a minute. Once he translated he shot Naruto a glare.
"Get the fuck out of my apartment." He deadpanned, pointing to the door.
Shooting up from his spot Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm as the brunette tried to head back to bed. "C'mon you bastard I can't ask anyone else! You gotta help me Sasuke, I'm begging ya!"
"No." he hissed, his voice sounding venomous "You wake me up at…" he looked at his clock "Seven in the morning for this? Don't you have other friends you can go bother? Maybe a girl since you're getting a ring for a girl?"
He really could give two shits about Naruto's engagement issue. First of all, he had not a romantic bone in his body. Secondly, there was something disturbing about going out with your guy friend to shop for an engagement ring. Third, he was the last person on the planet Naruto should have asked for something like this. No. Seriously.
"The only girl I could ask is Hinata-chan!" the blonde whined "And it just…you know seemed wrong. She used to like me a lot."
She still does. He scowled at how that seemed to irritate him. Obviously, he'd been here a year and a half too many. "Yeah and what about me? Sakura used to be in love with me or did you forget that?"
The blonde shrugged "Yeah but you never liked her that way and she won't be there." He blinked as if realizing something for a moment and then looked back up at Sasuke with a sly grin "Y'know, while I'm looking for a ring for Sakura-chan you could look at one for Hina –"
The Uchiha hit Naruto on the back of the head. Hard. "Don't start that again." The brunette snarled "I haven't spoken to her since the eval."
Six months ago he had received his first evaluation and had been granted partial benefits. Half of the seal on his bloodline limit had been removed completely, something he had been grateful for. It was hard living with an ability you couldn't use without severe pain. He was allowed – more like forced - to go on missions that weren't strictly D ranked with groups, usually with Sakura and Naruto. The assassin that had tried to kill him at the festival had never been found, but he hadn't been attacked since then either. Of course his 'mission' to protect the Hyuuga heir had ended as well and none too soon.
Whenever he was around that girl he felt so different and out of sorts. He found himself wanting to say and do things around her, strange things. When he wasn't having nightmares he dreamed about her often, some of them innocent, most not so much. He was definitely physically attracted to her but it was…different. Whenever he was around her he ended up wanting to touch her, a simple brush here, or even pulling her to him. Sasuke had found himself wanting to be affectionate towards her and that had seriously freaked him the hell out. So once he had finished his 'mission' concerning her he had immediately started avoiding the Hyuuga and had been doing a rather outstanding job of it for the past six months.
"Stay with me, Hinata."
Why had he said that back then? He hadn't even been thinking, he had just reacted. Sasuke never looked at her but when she stayed and sat with him he had felt something come over him. Something he had never felt before. Her hand had felt small and warm, her scent light and appealing. Ever since that night he had been unable to shake the strange feeling. Why was it whenever he was around her he couldn't think straight and nothing he did made any sense, even to him? What happened to all that initial hatred he had held for her?
"Yeah but you stare at her like all the time." Naruto cut into the Uchiha's thoughts and he gave the blonde a look. He didn't stare at Hinata all the time, he hardly even saw the girl and Sasuke liked it that way.
"Shut the hell up, idiot, how can I stare at someone I don't ever see?"
Naruto obviously didn't believe him but he wasn't going to argue about it either "Whatever. Just help me out here, you're the only person I can trust with this. I've been…" he looked away from his best friend "I'd never thought I'd have a shot at this y'know?"
The two teens didn't say anything for a long while. Finally, Sasuke sighed, moving a frustrated hand through his hair "I'm going to regret this…fine, I'll go." With a quick snap of the wrist he grabbed Naruto by his shirt and pulled him up to eye level "But you. Owe. Me."
His friend looked as if he had handed him the world. Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Love made people stupid, even more so than usual for Naruto. "Sure thing, whatever you want." Once again those blue eyes of his turned sly "I'll even tag along when it's your turn to get a ring for Hina –"
"Naruto." The Uchiha growled in warning and the blonde wisely backed down.
"Okay okay! Sorry! Man, you always get so touchy when I mention her."
Sasuke decided to go and take his shower before he changed his mind and told Naruto to fuck off. He didn't want what the blonde wanted; a wife and family. The last thing he wanted was to marry someone and have his kid get used by Konoha. Not only that, Hinata was heir to the Hyuuga clan and wouldn't it be nice to have some Sharingan/Byakugan hybrids? Yeah, hell no. Hinata was simply not an option, even if he ever did get some wild hair up his ass and decide to get married and rebuild his clan.
xxxxx
She saw them in the middle of the street, arguing. A small crowd had formed around them until one of the men snapped at the onlookers and they all took off nervously. Why Naruto and Sasuke were arguing out in the middle of the street was anyone's guess.
"Dude, you're totally over exaggerating," Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms. He had a little black bag in his hand.
Sasuke looked as if he seriously wanted to hurt the other male "They thought we were fucking dating!" the brunette exclaimed, obviously very unhappy "I never should have agreed to your stupid crusade!"
"They were fine once we explained it to them." The blonde offered "And I found the perfect one!" grinning he held up the bag "She's gonna love this! Think of it as mission accomplished, we did everything we came out here for."
"There are no words to convey how much you owe me for this one." Sasuke snarled "I should just beat you to the ground on principle. What guy brings another guy to go shopping for a ri –"
"Naruto-kun? Uchiha-san?" she took a few more steps forward, concerned "Is everything alright?"
The fallen avenger didn't even look at her, instead he turned his gaze to the side and scowled. Naruto's face lit up and he almost knocked her over as he pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Hinata-chan!" the exuberant male swung her around a bit in his arms, causing her to blush furiously. "You gotta wish me luck, ok?"
Blinking owlishly at him she tried to ignore how close his face was to hers "Um, w-wish you l-luck on w-what?"
"The idiot is going to ask his girlfriend to marry him." The brunette interrupted, still looking away from them. He looked somewhat relaxed but she could sense he was irritated about something.
That was probably the first real sentence he had said to her in the past six months. Hinata didn't see him often and when she did he outright ignored her. It had hurt a little at first, because she had thought that perhaps they were somewhat associates if not friends, and unfortunately it still did. She avoided looking at him and focused her attentions on Naruto. She gave him a bright smile.
"I'm so…I'm really happy for you Naruto-kun." She said honestly "You've loved her for such a long time. I'll be cheering for you."
He hugged her even tighter, rubbing his cheek against hers "Thanks Hinata, you're the best you know that?"
"Don't you have a girlfriend you should be doing that with?" Sasuke was now looking at them and he definitely looked upset. His voice had sounded hard and cold.
"Shut up, you bastard." Naruto snapped and did not let go of his friend "I can hug my friends anytime I want." He turned his gaze to Hinata and smiled again "Isn't that right, Hinata-chan?"
Oh boy. Hinata laughed nervously, disliking being put between two people in an argument. "U-um well…"
Without warning the Uchiha walked up and physically separated the two of them, his hand gripping her wrist and pulling her behind him. Her eyes widened in obvious surprise.
"Go ask your girlfriend to marry you." He said low and angry "I better hear something by tonight considering the hell you put me through this morning. You better get her to say yes or I'm going to kick your ass for wasting my time." When he turned his dark gaze to her she fought the urge to jump. His face was unreadable "You. Walk with me."
She was completely stunned but somehow managed to find her voice when he started pulling her along "B-but I…" she tried to protest.
"It can wait." He cut her off, his pace brisk and his grip on her wrist almost bruising. Hinata turned back to Naruto who waved at her with a huge grin that almost looked sly. Almost stumbling, she turned her attention back to the man who was dragging her along to who-knew-where when he had spent the past six months pretending she didn't exist.
When they began to head in the direction of the training grounds she began to feel nervous. The last thing she needed was to be alone with a very upset and highly unpredictable Uchiha. "U-Uchiha-san…where are we going?" she asked tentatively.
He didn't answer and the nervous feeling within her began to rise. She was too afraid to try and pull away; Sasuke was much faster and stronger than her and he wasn't always rational when angry.
They passed the training grounds to go deeper in the forest and Hinata almost did try to snatch her wrist from him and take off running. They were far away from anyone in listening range and she couldn't help but feel apprehensive. Everything he did or said always ended up confusing her and her emotions had been up and down over the past year and a half because of it.
"Why do you blush so much around that idiot?"
The question caught her off guard and she looked at his back "Huh?" she asked lamely before collecting herself "I don't…I don't mean to."
"It's annoying." She heard him grumble.
There was a small pause "Uchiha-san, this might sound rude but um, why do you care? You haven't wanted to have anything to do with me for six months now and –"
A gasp filled the air as she found her back pressed firmly against a tree. The heiress' eyes widened in surprise and even a little fear as she was effectively pinned by her ex-bodyguard, his black eyes staring hard into her white ones. She tried to catch her breath from the abrupt movement but she couldn't look away.
"Are you afraid of me?" He asked it calmly, there was no hint of malice or amusement.
It took her a few moments of moving her mouth before sound emerged "I-I…a little maybe…because I don't understand why Uchiha-san is doing this. A-are you going to hurt me?"
Once again he didn't answer, only looked down at her with those intense dark eyes of his. When he began to close the little bit of distance between them she felt her face heat and she wanted to back away but couldn't. Why wouldn't he say anything? What was going on?
His hand delved into her hair and before she realized what was going on he had pressed his lips against hers, pulling her against him. All thought flew out the window at the feel of his warm lips and body on her. Just as her eyes were fluttering closed he parted from her. When she opened her mouth partly to let out a small gasp he covered her lips with his once more, tongue delving in. This wasn't her first kiss but it was definitely her first time kissing a man like this. Before she realized what she was doing her arms were coming around his shoulders and fingers delved into thick hair. When she began to mimic his movements he let out a low sound from his throat.
Then he parted from her again and they stood there, breathless. Leaning forward he pressed their foreheads together.
"This is why…I've been avoiding you." He murmured and then kissed her again.