OMG! 1 review short of 140! You guys are the absolute BEST! Thank you SO much for all the reviews and follows and faves! Okay, so Cascade, that chapter title is funny and cute, but I really wanted to maintain the "The + ..." chapter-naming style. (T_T) Thanks though!

So... the title was randomly selected, and therefore, credit for this chapter's title goes to… *drumroll*… damnheart.o3!

Chapter 7: The Witness


"Key witness?" Sasuke scowled. "The hell are you?" The blonde at the door gave an exasperated huff.

"It's me, Deidara, un," he said, giving the couple a petulant frown. "After I signed as your witness you've forgotten me? Were you that drunk?" he complained.

"Yes," Sasuke said shortly, still eyeing the male suspiciously. He was still pissed off at this Deidara person for interrupting his second kiss of the day. What was it with blondes getting in the way of his Hinata time? Hinata still hadn't spoken, but she hadn't moved away from Sasuke's arm either.

"You were way more fun when you were drunk," Deidara pouted. "Anyway, I am just passing through from Yu on my way home to Iwa…" He sent Sasuke a sly look from the corner of his eyes as he pretended to inspect his fingernails. "… and since I have no money for a hotel, you guys said I could spend the night…" he added. Now that he said it, Sasuke noticed a small suitcase on the step behind him.

"Hell no," Sasuke declared flatly the same moment that Hinata said, "Maybe." Both men turned to her with wide eyes.

"I-If you tell us what really happened last night…" she continued, pausing when Sasuke's body tensed. He really didn't want to find out what really happened the night before! What if something happened that would cause their marriage to be null? But, he couldn't exactly tell her that he didn't want to know, could he? She wouldn't be pleased with him… Damn. Deidara's face lit up.

"Nice, un! I remember everything, because I was completely sober," he said cheerfully. Sasuke scowled at him. He hated him already. When Hinata smiled pleasantly at the blonde, Sasuke's hatred doubled. This Deidara person had better not even think to make moves on his woman, damn it!

Hinata stepped back a bit to allow Deidara space to pass, and the words were in Sasuke's mouth to say that this was his apartment, but then he remembered that he was married now, so this was Hinata's apartment too. Shit. Deidara happily entered Sasuke's flat, uncaring of the dark aura emanating from the Uchiha male.

"Nice place, Sasuke-kun," Deidara said, his eyes roving over the interior of the apartment. It was nice. "Looks sorta like my dream place, un," Deidara said, his eyes taking in the spacious bachelor pad… well, it wasn't a bachelor pad now, was it?

"Hn," Sasuke grunted in reply, after Hinata jabbed him in the side with her elbow. He tugged her closer to him and rested his chin on top of her head, knowing he was acting a little insecure, but… but he was. Hinata had a type, and he was clearly not it, based on the way she was looking at Deidara. She liked blonde hair and blue eyes and he was all black hair and obsidian eyes, so clearly the complete opposite of what she liked. She gave a half-hearted move to distance herself from him, but he growled in displeasure and tugged her back against his chest.

"So, where do I sleep?" Deidara asked, spinning round to face Sasuke and Hinata after he'd completed his curious perusal.

"Couch," Sasuke said without hesitation. He was not even going to pretend to be polite to this guy. Deidara blinked blandly for a second, but didn't seem to care. If anything, a slightly diabolical light fired up in his eyes.

"Hinata-chan," he said, grinning at her. "Want to comb my hair like you did last night?" Before Hinata could respond, the blonde turned his attention to Sasuke. "She's fascinated with my hair," he explained. "She could not stop combing it last night," Deidara added with a chuckle. Sasuke tensed and wrapped an arm around Hinata's waist.

The effort to keep her close was wasted. She pulled away from him and glided over to Deidara who'd already fished a comb from his knapsack. Sasuke watched, jealousy nibbling at the corners of his heart, as Deidara tugged the scrunchie from his topknot, sending long blonde hair tumbling down his back. He hated the way Hinata's eyes lit up.

"Wh-what happened last night?" Hinata asked, blushing brightly as she took the comb from Deidara's long fingers. Deidara sat on the floor with his back to the couch, indicating that Hinata sit there so she could comb his hair. Sasuke folded his arms and leaned against the opposing wall, watching them. He was pissed off. That much was obvious.

"Weell," Deidara started, leaning his head back. Sasuke watched, anger burning his insides, as Hinata's fingers brushed the long blonde strands of Deidara's hair. He knew he was being childish. He knew he was being stupid, but he couldn't help himself. He stalked across the living room, and snagged Hinata's wrist before her fingers could sink into Deidara's hair.

"I need a word with you," he muttered darkly, pulling her off the couch and leading her down the passage to his room. Her eyes were wide with shock and confusion, especially when Sasuke locked the door behind them and pushed her up against it.

"What…?" she gasped before he crushed his lips to hers. It took her a second to get over her shock, but, when she did, her soft lips began moving slowly under his. Sasuke felt relief coursing through him when she started kissing him back, and his hands moved up to cup her cheeks. He forced himself to slow down the pace of the kiss, but still kissed her soundly. After a couple seconds, he pulled back. They were both breathing a bit heavier than before, but neither seemed to care.

"What was that for?" Hinata breathed, her grey eyes slightly dazed. Sasuke smirked with more confidence than he felt.

"You're mine," Sasuke muttered, brushing his lips against hers again. "And I…" He kissed her chin. "Don't want to see…" Her jawline was next in the lineup. "You smiling…" He kissed her nose. "At another man… or touching his hair," he whispered, claiming her mouth once again. She let him kiss her, her lips moving softly against his. Then she did something that made Sasuke's lips stretch into a pleased smile.

She sunk her fingers into his hair.

At the feeling of her nails brushing lightly against his scalp, a tremor slid down Sasuke's back. One of those good tremors… Sasuke's eyelids lowered when her fingers combed through his hair. That felt so good… no wonder Deidara had asked her to do it.

"Y-Your hair is silky…" Hinata muttered, her cheeks reddening.

"Mmm?" Sasuke muttered absently, resting his forehead against hers.

"OI! Are you guys really going to leave me out here, un?" Deidara yelled from outside the door. Right outside the bedroom door. Ugh. He was so annoying!

"Coming!" Hinata said, pushing gently at Sasuke's chest. He scowled at her. He couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that he couldn't relax in their marriage yet… Since they had both only just found out, and Hinata could totally freak out after. As a matter of fact, Sasuke actually found it strange that she wasn't freaking out more. She'd kissed him three times in one day – even though he'd initiated them all – and she wasn't turning away from his advances…

He covered her hand with his when she reached for the door.

"Wait." She looked up at him in surprise. Sasuke, his heart racing in his chest, opened his mouth to ask the question that was in his mind. But then he chickened out. "I… nevermind," he finished lamely, releasing her hand. She looked unconvinced, but she gave him a short nod and opened the door.

Sasuke scrubbed a hand over his forehead and sighed. He couldn't wait to get over this period, damn it! He couldn't wait until there was no fear in the relationship and they were just together. He didn't like being afraid that she'd come to her senses and want to get the hell away from him. He didn't expect her to be in love with him right now, but he couldn't wait to hear her say it. Just the thought of her saying those three words to him made his heart race in anticipation.

Really… if she, one day, was to come up to him, and in that whispery voice, say, I love you, Sasuke didn't know what the physical consequences would be on his body. His heart would most likely go into overdrive… that much was to be expected. He could only imagine. Would she be hugging him? Would they just have had sex? Would they be just driving in a car? Would she say it to his face, or over the phone? Or maybe in an email?

The feelings stirring within him made him restless. Anxious. He just wanted to go out there and demand that she love him now. Demand that she put every other man out of her mind and just focus on him… the way he'd focused on her for the past fifteen years… oh, this was so hard. This waiting, this hoping… it was so difficult. Sasuke felt the strange restlessness rise from his gut to his chest, then up his throat, and then his head was pounding with a headache the likes of which he hadn't experienced in a while. And it was different from a hangover headache.

Sasuke clutched his forehead and moaned. This sucked. But he couldn't leave Hinata alone with Deidara. He staggered outside, trying to ignore the pain stabbing behind his eyes. Outside, Deidara was happily chatting while Hinata sat across from him in the living room. She wasn't combing his hair. That made Sasuke smile a bit.

"… and then out of nowhere, Sasuke-kun barged in through the front door, almost pushed half the people out of the way, and then he was kissing you like it was his last ten seconds on earth, un!" Deidara said excitedly. "And after that, he started rambling about how much he loved you, and how Naruto – I have no idea who that is by the way – would never love you as much, and that you should give him a chance and please marry him and end his misery, un," Deidara said, his face expressive as he recounted the events of the previous night. Neither he nor Hinata noticed Sasuke's presence, or his horrified expression. What the hell had he done last night?

"And then," Deidara continued. "He grabbed me by the throat, un, and said, 'This guy can be a witness!' Then he grabbed some other random dude and said he could be a witness too, and you were all shocked and not saying anything, and then he told you Naruto didn't deserve you or your love, and he didn't either but at least he wanted it, and then he asked you to marry him over and over until you said yes, and then he dragged us off to the house of some guy he knew…"

Hinata's eyes were wide at this point, and she looked like she was about to cry.

"Oh, and when the guy woke up because Sasuke-kun kept banging on the door, he said that you guys were drunk and shouldn't get married, and Sasuke told him, he said, 'I'm never going to love her any less, so just give me the chance to have her, if only for a little while…' and then he started crying like a baby, you should have seen him… oh I guess you did, but you don't remember, un…" Deidara paused, remembering the moment, then he continued. "And then you said you would give it a try, if he would stop crying, un, which was hilarious, because he stopped at that second, and then he told the old guy that he would kill himself if he couldn't be with you because he was dying without you anyway, and then you started crying, and you told him how that was the sweetest thing – I thought it was pretty pathetic – and so…"

"Shut up," Sasuke said darkly from where he was. He couldn't bear anymore. He'd cried? In front of Hinata, he'd fucking cried? Oh that was some messed up shit. Hinata looked up in shock, and there was something in her eyes that Sasuke was far too scared to try to analyze.

"Anyway, un, you both started crying until the old dude said that he had a feeling he wouldn't get any sleep until you both left… So he got dressed and we had the ceremony, and Sasuke told me how awesome I was, un, for being a witness, and said I could totally stay here tonight," Deidara finished hurriedly, as if he couldn't stop without adding that part.

Sasuke scowled, hoping that if he ignored his red cheeks, the redness would go away. Hinata looked up at him, then her cheeks reddened too.

"D-Deidara-san, can you give us a moment?" Hinata asked quietly. Deidara glanced back and forth between Hinata and Sasuke before hesitantly standing and edging round to the kitchen.

Sasuke watched, his heart in his throat as Hinata approached him. What was she going to say? What was she going to do? What was she-?

She kissed him. It was on the cheek, but she had done it all on her own. Sasuke just stood there, eyes wide, shocked beyond belief, and then felt heat crawling up his cheeks and an alarming rate. He put his hand over the lower half of his face in an involuntary effort to hide his embarrassment.

His heart thumped heavily, and at an alarming rate, in his chest. He swallowed with difficulty and then, just as he'd done early the night before, he spoke without thinking.

"Hinata… Why are you being this nice? Why are you… Why aren't you trying to escape?"


The loaded question guys! Please be your amazing selves and review! Remember to suggest a name for next chapter! Don't think too hard, though, because it can be something totally random! Haha I love you guys!

Note: This wasn't betaread, so I apologize for the errors if there are any... (^_^)/