Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Groaning in pain she gingerly eased herself into a chair, sighing in relief that she had was finally off her poor battered feet for the first time that day. Definitely besides having to deal with unruly, hard to please customers being on her feet all day was the hardest part of being a waitress. Hinata untied the laces of her shoes wiggling her toes as she felt circulation return to her extremities before propping them up on a nearby chair. If her feet could talk they would probably be cussing her right now, not that she could blame them.
It had been an extremely long and tiring day, not to mention the temperature had risen well in to the thirties today and the AC hadn't made much of a difference. And everyone know that on a sweltering hot day like this one the customers were hardly easy to deal with being irritable and snappish leaving her holding on to her composure with bare threads. Even she had her limits.
Hinata couldn't wait to go home and scrub off the grime clinging to her skin that made her feel grungy and filthy and less than human.
It had been a couple weeks since her meltdown in front of Gaara things had had pretty much returned to normal, she hadn't spilled the rest of her guts even if she was dying to and he had resumed eating her treats without complaint. And no they hadn't had a single conversation since.
It shouldn't have bothered her, not so much at least but the sad truth was she was lonely. Not that the people at work weren't great, she just didn't feel comfortable getting too close to them knowing that with Sasuke's face plastered all over by the media and the possibility of her past coming to light she honestly didn't want to drag them into her mess or have them unwittingly out her.
Yet with Gaara she just couldn't rationalize her attachment to him, he was this enigma that she wanted to figure out. Hinata knew he wasn't a very open person and he kept his thoughts to himself, but it intrigued her even more to find out what made him tick, to get into his world even if it now seemed like she was trying to escape hers.
It shouldn't have been this hard being isolated loneliness had been her companion for so many years, it was all she had known while she had been with the Hyuuga. It was easy to envy everyone else for what they had, but at that time in her life she had been accepting of the fact that she would probably spend her life being all alone. Then he came along and gave her a taste of love, of friendship, affection all the things she had taught she would never experience, and thought weren't worth missing if she had never had it in the first place.
Now here she was back to being by herself even if she was surrounded by wonderful people, they couldn't fill the void leaving Sasuke had caused and she didn't feel so comfortable and accepting of her old friend, because she had changed, to now know what it was like to have more, to feel outrageously happy and complete because of another person.
She would not fall into a pit of despair she was better than that at least she hoped she was. Not to mention she didn't haul her ass halfway across the country to leave behind the man she loved with every ounce of her being to wallow in her own goddamn self-pity.
She needed to pick up the pieces and glue them back the hell together and hold them in place so she could figure out on how to stand on her own two feet without lamenting about the past.
When Friday evening arrived she could hardly wait for the weekend to start, she wanted to laze around in bed till late morning and sit down in front her television set eating breakfast in her pajamas with plans to set about cleaning her apartment with the music turned up as she shimmied her way through her home with a dust rag in one hand and the disinfectant in the other. Her place was looking pretty much like a dump after all those late night shifts and her emotional drama that had led to her neglecting her small abode.
Hinata wasn't proud to admit there were dirty clothes strewn about the place, her drawers were devoid of clean clothes, the dishes were piled up in stacks in the sink and her ruffled, unmade bed covered in more clothes and used tissues. The word pig stein came to mind and she was definitely didn't want anyone to know how dirty she could be, lest one day her neighbours should come knocking.
With only a few more hours to go before closing time she carried back the tray of dirty dishes to the kitchen area as the last dinners left. She heard the chime of the door opening and returned a few moments later to attend to her new customer only to feel her eyes widening in surprise and her lips turning upwards in pleasure as saw spotted the redhead seated at his usual table.
Trying to bite down on her confusion since he rarely came by on a Friday she bought her his cup of coffee and the last slice of apple pie frowning that she didn't have a new dessert for him to tryout. Unpredictable man, she hmphed mentally.
Setting down his order she greeted him with a smile, "I'm surprised to see you here. Nothing new tonight I'm afraid, but you definitely can't go wrong with apple pie." When he didn't reply she quelled of feelings frustration and made to retreat when he startled her by motioning that she sit. Blinking dumbfounded for a minute her brain registered his request and she dropped ungracefully into the seat across from him cursing herself for acting so stunned and awkward, you would think by now she would be able to function more competently around him after all this time. Hinata hoped to Kami-sama he didn't she how desperate she was, she acted pathetic enough around him as it was.
And then there was silence.
And it was getting old pretty fast.
She would never think she force her prescene on someone she was much too self-conscious for that, but the waiting game didn't eaxclty appeal to her either. If he had asked her to sit at very least he could follow through with an attempt at conversation so she didn't feel so lost and out of depth. When a few more moments past with nothing being said she took it upon herself to intiate the conversation, she didn't like small talk and she wasn't very good at it, but she couldn't exactly go about chatting with him since she hardly knew anything about the man beyond his dessert preferences, how he liked his coffee and the fact that he really seemed to like hoodies and baggy jeans because that was all she ever saw him wear.
Swallowing hard and hoping she didn't croak she fumbled, "So uh. How was your day?
And for all her efforts all she got in return was, "Hn."
What the hell did that even mean? She had quite a lot of experience with Sasuke and his noncommittal answers that didn't really tell you anything and it had taken some major life changing events to occur before she had cracked his shell a bit so they could communicate. And here she was again trying to befriend a man who wouldn't give her anything to work with conversation wise. Argh she sure knew how to pick them.
Not wanting to spazz or start banging her head against the table like lunatic she offered, "Um, do you want me to come back when figure out what you want to say?"
And as expected she got no answer. Why kami-sama? Why?
She didn't want to get up and leave, that would be rude and what if missed her chance to actually talk with him, but from the looks of things, she wasn't getting anywhere so doing the next best thing
Picking up his untouched fork she stole a piece of his pie and stuck in her mouth. Hoping it provoked a response and if not she was hungry and he wasn't eating it and it would be a crime to let a perfectly good piece of pie go to waste.
"Mhmm" god Choji made the best apple pie on the face of the planet she thought going back for another piece only for her fork to strike into nothing but air, the redhead having pulled away the plate at the last second.
"Hey!" she protested though screaming with glee inside that he had responded.
"You just ate my pie." He deadpanned gazing at her with a hint of incredulity.
"It was only a bite and you weren't eating it", she countered.
"That doesn't change the fact you ate my pie", looking affronted, his eyes narrowing.
"Alright I'm sorry, I will get you a new piece of pie."
"I don't want another piece."
Gritting her teeth, she asked, "So what do you want?"
He said nothing for a pause before replying, "Your help."
Hinata was pretty sure if she had been eating she would have choked. Was she hearing things? This conversation was altogether kind of surreal.
"You want my help?" she reiterated.
Grimacing as though it pained him to have said that he nodded.
"Uh, sure", then trying to get her bearings she affirmed, "Yes, of course I'll help you. What you do need from me?"
Gaara's POV
He couldn't come out and tell her why he needed her help, it was already embarrassing enough to be in this situation he wasn't going to have her get the wrong impression as well. He didn't even have the words to truly explain the screwed up predicament he had found himself.
Damn his sister to hell.
"I am required to attend…..a gathering tomorrow night" his mouth curling in distaste wanting to stop right there and hope that was a good enough excuse, but he had gotten this far, his mortification couldn't get that much worse, he predicted.
"My sister is out of the country and I must go in her place", he steadfastly ignored her surprised comment, "You have a sister?"
"Since she must rely on me, she fears my current wardrobe isn't up the task and will likely affront my intended company" Gaara clenched his fists, his knuckles white and prominent against his alabaster skin.
"You are the only other female in my acquaintance."
He tried his best to phrase his words so he didn't appear as pathetic and foolish as he sounded in his head asking her to help him choose his clothes since apparently he couldn't be called upon to dress himself appropriately not that he could put up much of an argument otherwise. Kami-sama he could strangle Temari he though for the thousandth time.
"Then spitting out the words as slowly and deliberately as possible so that there would be no misunderstanding and he would not the forced to make a mockery of himself by repeating the words he ended, "Thus I require your assistance regarding my attire for the evening."
Raising his eyes to meet hers he saw her blinking owlishly at him, her mouth having gone slack. Dammit had he stunned her? He prayed she wouldn't swoon or do something equally unsettling he knew nothing of how to deal with feminine theatrics, not that he cared much less. But it certainly would be a major pain, prolonging his suffering.
She appeared to snapped out of her stupor soon enough, which put him at ease for the moment, before she opened her mouth and his inner composure got shot to hell. Did she have sound so…..so incredulous.
"You want me to take you shopping for clothes", her voice squeaking unbearably high, he could imagine a chipmunk going green with envy upon hearing her.
"Yes. It would be indebted to you for your efforts."
"Um, right. Could you just excuse me for a minute", she said faintly before wobbly rising to her feet and heading into the kitchen.
Gaara by now seriously doubted his decision to approach her now more than ever, she seemed sensible enough and while her disposition was annoyingly cheerful she wasn't a stranger to sadness and had her own fair share of difficulties. At the end of the day she was still a woman and from his interactions with his sister they still tended to bemuse him terribly.
He was about to get up and leave after there was no sign of her returning anytime soone and he honestly just wanted to put this matter out of his mind completely, Temari had spent the last week badgering him about his responsibilities and that he owed her and he was a selfish, horrible sibling if he didn't agree just this once because she deserved to have a life as well.
And of course he would never admit her guilt-tripping had worked, because it hadn't. The random, in the middle of the in afternoon calls were what did him in, he was suffering from chronic insomnia, had been for years and what with his coffee addiction, that surely did not help his case. And then the bloody wrench goes and interrupts the precious few hours of sleep he manages to catch nagging him about that god awful party, she insisted he had to attend.
And here he was asking this women to help him pick out his clothes. If he were spiteful enough, he would say to hell with what they though and show up in his usual clothes, but he wasn't a masochistic and he know his sister had no qualms about making his life hell. She was as vindictive and unremorseful as he could be when she felt like it. A family trait he supposed.
He was drawn away from his thoughts as he saw he finally approaching looking much more composed and levelheaded.
"I'm sorry for making you wait. I needed a moment….to collect myself", she started as she seated herself once more.
Nodding he took a sip of his now lukewarm coffee, that was just barely tolerable, scowling inwardly that he had let good coffee go to waste with his musings.
"So you said this gathering was tomorrow right? Well I have got the morning off, though I have to be back at work for at 6 for the night shift. Take it it's an upscale sort of event."
"Yes. The City Council's Gala at the mayor's mansion", he informed her watching as her eyes widen in understanding. Yes the crème de la crème of Suna's upper class would be attending the well anticipated event as well as politicians and businessmen from surrounding territories.
"Well then, "she said putting on a bright smile. "We will have to dress you to impress. I have some experience with this kind of thing" shaking her head ruefully though he could not miss the tightness in her smile and shadows in her eyes.
"How about we meet at the diner for around 11 tomorrow? You can get coffee before we set off", she pointed out as though she pretty figured out he was in no way looking forward to tomorrow.
"Very well", he agreed considering he would need quite a bit of fortitude to get through the day, he could care less about he looked for those pretentious buffoons, but already had one foot in the door so he wasn't going to back out.
Reading his thoughts once more she suggested a refill and brought him a slice of peach cobbler since there just wasn't anymore apple pie, though he refused to give her back the slice she had eaten from.
Hinata's POV
Life is just weird she thought, but she wasn't willing to look too closely at fortitudinous gift like this opportunity presentd and once she had left him she immediately dragged Ino into a corner and quizzed her about the best men's clothing stores in Suna.
Of course her friend….hmm friend it sounded nice, nagged her about what or rather who she needed the information for, speculating that Hinata had a new romantic interest or something equally absurd, though she was pretty sure if she told the blonde the truth she would probably pass out in shock and utter disbelief not that she could blame her.
Hinata had been pretty shaken up after Gaara's request and she thanked her lucky stars she hadn't blushed like red red tomato or worse yet fainted as she had a tendency to do when she was younger and placed in unexpected or embarrassing situations. She had handled it pretty well all things considered and the breathing exercises in the kitchen helped her from out rightly hyperventilating as her mind was going in completely haywire.
It probably wouldn't seem like that much of a big deal to most, but she had observed the redhead quite a bit since she first became fascinated by him and she could figure out he wasn't much a people person and it must of taken a lot from him to come out and ask for her help and that he had bothered to explain himself she felt flattered.
Hopefully tomorrow would give them a chance to talk and he would be more comfortable speaking with her, she knew quite well the more exposure one had to a stimulus the less likely they were to be awkward or feel uncomfortable. And he certainly needed practice talking to others, there were pauses between all his sentences, she could literally see the gears turning in his head as he determined what he wanted to say next, overanalyzing his words.
It was over thought and drawn out and it certainly didn't feel natural though she appreciated the effort, it was always easier to express yourself in your head, you couldn't misconstrue your own thoughts and you knew exactly what you wanted to say and how you wanted to say it except somewhere between your brain and your mouth it got all garbled and things got lost in translation and at the end the other person didn't get what you had tried so hard to say.
Yes definitely the spoken word was not an effective means of communication.
Well at least she had gotten what she finally wished for a distraction from all her problems and loneliness, she had a mystery to unravel and she knew it wouldn't be easy, but anything worth doing rarely is.
Sasuke's POV
He was agitated and anxious for the entire almost 13 hour flight home. Sasuke hated feeling useless, there hardly anything he could do half way around the world and it felt as though with every second's passing she was slipping further and further away from him.
Nara Shikamaru was his right hand man and doubled as his hacker-cum-private investigator he used the man's brilliance and computer savvy for his own benefits strategizing against competing companies, digging up skeletons buried in their closets, anything to get an edge over them and he paid the man damn well for his services and he knew the Nara's loyalty to him was unquestionable despite his clan's interferences.
Sasuke had ordered him to dredge up Hinata's phones bills, trying to trace her calls, gain access to her bank accounts, run a thorough check on her credit cards and most of all determine if she had had any contact with her godforsaken family. He would exterminate those motherfuckers if he found their prints anywhere near his wife.
Even had the man call up his staff to get a feedback about anything unusual occurring during the past few weeks while he was gone and first and foremost for the man to go over to his house and look for Hinata that instant though he had a sick feeling in his gut that he wasn't going to like what he found.
At first he had insisted the man call him every hour on the hour with regular updates, but after Nara's protests about it cutting into his research time and that he didn't need the man constantly looking over his shoulder he extracted the promise to call him at least every two to three hours with updates and as soon as he found any potential leads.
At this time he didn't trust anyone else with the situation and he certainly didn't want to alert the clans about what was going on, he knew once they found out they would be out for blood and insisting he get a divorce and remarried before the ink had even dried, bastards.
His menacing aura scared away the flight attendants, who avoided eye contact and generally stayed away from him after he had snarled at them the first two times sending them packing even the passengers where strangely subdued and the tension in the air was palpable as thought they were just waiting for him to explode.
And he certainly felt like it, he was clinging to his reserved with every bit of strength, he couldn't afford to lose focus even if the worst case scenarios playing in his mind was driving him to the brink of his control.
When the first call came, he had dug his fingernails into his palms trying to concentrate on the pain so he wouldn't lost it completely and with each subsequent call his nails dug down even deeper. Nara informed him that she had withdrew all her money from her savings and had closed her accounts and cancelled her credit cards, as well the staff had revealed that they had been dismissed shortly after Sasuke had left on his trip and the single worst piece of news was that Hinata had dropped off the radar almost three weeks ago.
His shock and complete anguish upon hearing that drove his to pierce his flesh with his nails as he struggled not to scream in outrage at the lies and deception, the complete unfairness of it all, his palms bleeding freely as he felt as though the breath of life had escaped from his lungs and each subsequent moment was slow agonizing decay into rot.
A/N: Yep I updated! I know it must be an incredible shock, but your reviews were so inspiring and the creative juices were pretty much overflowing and the steady trickle of reviews and encouragement over the last couple of weeks were what pushed me to write this chapter you guys are amazing so thank you for your support.
So first off you're probably like what the heck does a shopping trip have to do with anything and no it's not a random piece of fluff, it's all part of my grand plan I promise and yep you got a look at what goes on inside Gaara's mind. Its probably not what you expected and it's not what I intended, but he obviously had ideas of his own and to be honest my Gaara is not the same one as in the anime/manga and it is expected there will be difference, though I will try to retain a lot of similarities so he isn't completely unrecognizable, and yes he is a recluse and is difficult and cynical and chock-full of other delightful things you will probably want to hide your kids from XD
And Sasuke poor, poor Sasuke yeah it's like an inverse relationship Hinata is depressed Sasuke is out with supermodels, Hinata is caught up with a redhead, Sasuke is in his own personal hell. Well it all balances out, sorta. Just to make it clear Hinata's life is currently the present day, everything in Sasuke's POV is referring to the past when he just returns home and finds out she has left.
Ok this is a really long author note sorry but so much happened in this chapter that I just had to explain, if you are still reading this don't get fed up yet almost done. The shopping trip next chapter, more Sasuke angst, maybe some new shocking details XD lol
Anyway hoped you enjoyed this chapter can't wait to hear what you think and I love all your ideas and comments they make me super deliriously happy!
Sincerely,
CharmGirl24,
