It had been two weeks, three days and fourteen hours since she had last talked to Sasuke. Not that she was counting. She definitely was not counting. And it pained her that she was the reason why her child and the father of her child were not talking. She must have really hurt Sasuke if he wasn't even willing to call her to talk to Kaito.
The first few days she didn't attempt to reach out but after the third day she texted, called, and then tried to Facetime him each time met with disappointment. He was completely ignoring her.
And the situation with Naruto wasn't much better. He was almost as bad. She only got a few texts every day from him and he never called her anymore. He never mentioned whether or not Sasuke knew and she was too afraid to ask but she knew the truth. She knew Sasuke wasn't stupid, he didn't get Valedictorian of their school for no reason. She had messed up both situations and she was not proud of it.
She tried putting a brave face on for Kaito. She came up with every textbook response as far as why Sasuke wasn't calling. Kaito was upset and rightfully so and she felt like garbage for the reason their son cried at night. She never liked it when he cried, it always broke her heart.
It was a Thursday night and she was just putting Kaito to bed when she heard the door ring. She frantically ran over to it and yanked it open without thinking.
"Sasuke?" Hinata shouted just before eyeing the person on the doorstep.
"Wow thanks Sis. So much for sisterly love. Also, why are you thinking it was Sasuke?" Hanabi snuck past Hinata and took a seat on the barstool while she dropped her bag of belongings on the floor.
"It's a long story." Hinata mumbled and went to the fridge to get lemonade for her and her younger sister.
"Well good thing I have nothing but time! I just finished my classes for the week and I wanted to come stay the weekend with my favorite sibling!"
"Hanabi, I'm you're only sibling." Hinata reminded her with a snort.
"Yeah well Neji is basically our brother so it still counts." She took a drink and then pointed her glass at Hinata. "So, tell me what's the scoop. I know it's good if you're worrying about Baby Daddy. You never worry about him."
"I messed up." She put her face in her hands and took a deep breath. "I messed up terribly."
"Come on it couldn't be that bad. How could you have messed up that relationship? What did you do, have sex with Naruto?" Hanabi barked out a laugh and then stopped when she noticed how pale Hinata had gotten.
"Oh my god you had sex with Naruto!" She yelled and pointed at Hinata. Hinata was trying to keep her quiet while Kaito slept. But she fervently kept shaking her head.
"I didn't! But I have been talking to him and we have gone on one date so far." Her sister's eyebrows rose at that.
"So far? As in you might go on another one?" Hinata shrugged.
"Yeah I would like to. He's a great guy and we have fun together."
"Hinata I love you and I want you to be happy but isn't it a little weird? Naruto and Sasuke basically grew up together, they're not only best friends but brothers in everything but blood. What are the holidays going to be like? Does he feel weird that Sasuke has already been with you every which way?"
"I don't know. We don't talk about Sasuke when we're together." She admitted quietly.
"Yeesh, that's a red flag if I've ever seen one." Hanabi paused and scrutinized her sister for a second. "I'm glad though. I guess if it's Naruto that makes you happy then good. You deserve to be happy. I'll stand by whatever decision you decide to make but I just hope you are thinking about these decisions. But I'll stand by you if Sasuke ever decides to come for you. He can try but he will fail." Hinata giggled at that.
"I just feel bad. I think he found out when Naruto and I were facetiming. He hasn't spoken to me since and it's been a while."
"It'll be okay. He'll get over it. He was dating that Sakura girl for a while right? Even though they're not together anymore he moved on and I'm glad you're doing the same."
"Yeah I guess. It's been weird not talking to him for this long though. We're still best friends even though we aren't together. I just don't want this to be ruined."
"You don't want what to be ruined? The friendship or the potential to get back together?" Hinata spit out her drink and gaped at her sister.
"What are you talking about?" Hinata asked incredulously.
"Oh, come on like you don't know." Hanabi laughed.
"Know what?"
"That you're still in love with Sasuke?" Hanabi questioned.
"No, I'm not. That's ridiculous." She sipped her lemonade with the very little grace she had left.
"Yes, you are. I mean it's not surprising you didn't know. You're kinda dense." Hanabi shrugged and downed the rest of her drink. She then went to the alcohol cupboard and brought out a glass of wine.
"Come on let's get drunk and talk about this." Hanabi grinned at her older sister.
"I have to work tomorrow so I can't."
"Sure, you can! You're a college professor not a high school teacher! Just call in sick! It'll be like old times." Hinata debated for about five seconds before texting her daycare woman to let her know Kaito won't be coming in the following day and poured herself a glass of wine.
"Fine but only one glass. The last thing that's needed is for me to be intoxicated." Hanabi rolled her eyes but allowed her sister to have some control.
"Should I try talking to Sasuke? Maybe he will pick up if he thinks it's an emergency. Do they have a concert tonight?" Hanabi pried and Hinata shook her head.
"No but I don't want you to do that."
"And why not? At least you'll be able to finally talk to him." Hinata shook her head.
"Now is not the best time and I don't want to trick him into talking to me. That's not fair."
"Fine you're no fun." Hanabi finished her first glass of wine and poured herself some more.
"How's Konohamaru?"
"He's fine. He's almost finished with his degree."
"Have you confessed to him yet?" Hinata smirked over her glass.
"No! I was planning on telling him after graduation."
"Why do you keep putting it off?"
"Why do you keep riding me about this?" Hanabi snorted and Hinata rolled her eyes.
"You were grilling me about Sasuke earlier I feel like I'm allowed to do the same to you."
"That's fair I guess. It's just juicier with the two of you though. Mine is just a dumb crush and you guys were married for years."
"Hanabi, you don't just have a crush on Konohamaru, you've been in love with him since you were both kids. I wouldn't exactly sweep it under the rug. I think you need to tell him before it's too late."
"Fine. I'll tell him when I see him next. But if this goes sour quick you owe me a new dress." Hinata furrowed her brows at that.
"Why do I need to buy you a dress? I didn't make a bet with you."
"I know I'm just poor and want you to buy me one." Hinata laughed at that.
"How about I just buy you a dress tomorrow."
"Yay! Thank you!" Hanabi paused when she saw her sister's phone blowing up. "Um sis Naruto wants to video chat with you." Hinata flushed at that and hastily picked up her phone to answer it and after a few seconds he appeared.
"Hey Hinata!" He smiled but for some reason it didn't reach his eyes.
"H-Hi Naruto. How are you?" She stammered out. Her heart was beating out of her chest and she couldn't shake the feeling that this was not going to be a happy conversation.
"I'm doing okay. Look I wanted to talk to you in person but for some reason I'm not going to be able to leave any time soon and I would rather talk to you sooner rather than later." Hinata's cheeks flushed at that. That definitely meant that something bad was going to happen.
"Talk to me about what?" She watched him swallow and look off to the side in thought, pausing to take a few minutes. Her stomach dropped.
"Sasuke overheard us that day." Hinata paled at that. She figured as much but she wished she had just overreacted instead of it being true. He continued. "He isn't talking to me and is barely speaking to the rest of the band. We're not really having any problems but this put it into perspective for me. I love Sasuke, he's my brother. And even though I liked you first in high school, I have no right to claim you anymore. I wish we could still be friends but Sasuke means too much to me and I don't want anything to get in between us. You're an amazing girl Hinata and you will find happiness with someone, unfortunately though it just can't be me. I hope you understand." She held back the tears trying to build up in her eyes and smiled at him. Suddenly everything she thought she wanted was crashing down around her and burying her alive.
"Thank you for telling me. I wish you all the best Naruto and I know Sasuke will start talking to you again, you just have to give it time." She admitted softly and he smiled at her.
"I know. Take care Hinata." She pressed the button to end the call and stared blankly at her phone. Seconds, perhaps minutes passed before Hinata set the phone down on the counter. Hanabi grabbed her shoulder, pulling her out of her internal strife.
"Come here." Hanabi pulled her sister closer and Hinata buried her face in Hanabi's shoulder and let out the tears she was trying desperately to hold on to.
"If I didn't know Naruto personally I would be calling him every name under the sun right now." Hinata wetly laughed at that. "I mean what kind of an excuse is that? He doesn't want to get on Sasuke's bad side? He moved on I thought! Why should he care? It's not like you're still married or something." Hinata started to tune out her sister's thoughts and thought back at their first date and how wonderful he was. Now all he would be to her was a good friend. She cringed thinking about the next time she would have to see him. Even though it was only one date, she had daydreamed so often with him being the main focus that she lost sight of reality. She couldn't help but wonder if she was going to find someone to love. She just wanted someone who cherished her and made her feel special. She wanted someone who would ask her about her day and question her about little things and want to actually talk and learn about her. And the part that hit home the most was that Naruto did that. He made her feel special and was constantly checking in on her. She forgot what it was like.
When her and Sasuke had first gotten together her had been curious and attentive to her as well. Despite the fact that Sasuke is a much more reserved and quiet person he still cared about her and asked her menial things in his own way. But after years of being together that stopped on his end. With him being too busy with the band, the intimacy of the relationship was gone. But when Naruto took her out on their date it reminded her of what that was like.
She sniffled again and silently wondered if there was ever going to be someone for her out there. She just wanted to be happy again. To not wake up alone in her bed every morning and come home to someone after work was something she desperately wished for.
She pulled away from Hanabi and downed the rest of her glass of wine. She looked at Hanabi determined.
"Let's get smashed." Hanabi grinned in response.
"Finally." She said as she got up to put together stronger drinks. Usually Hinata wouldn't get drunk during a weeknight but if it was a rare occasion she felt she could give up some semblance of control. Whether this was going to be a bad idea or not would remain to be seen.
When Hinata opened her eyes, she groaned when her room was too bright. She rolled over and her breath caught when she felt another body in the bed along with her. She hesitantly got up and breathed a sigh of relief when it was just Hanabi.
Thankfully Hinata had her wits about her last night and cancelled class before she decided to drink her body weight in alcohol. She got up to go to the bathroom and saw her reflection in the bathroom.
Her raven colored hair was a mess and it was in tangles and her makeup was smeared underneath her eyes. She also didn't make it to her pajamas last night so she passed out in her work clothes from yesterday. She washed her face and brushed her teeth and hair and tried to resemble a put together adult but didn't exactly succeed.
She tiptoed into the kitchen to make sure that she wouldn't wake up Kaito and Hanabi. She took some medicine to get rid of her headache and then she started working on pancakes. It was the only thing she could stomach during a hangover.
The smell of pancakes wafted through the house and soon enough Hanabi came out, looking almost as terrible as Hinata and plopped down on a seat and watched Hinata work her magic.
"So how much do you remember last night?" Hanabi asked with amusement.
"We didn't do anything scandalous that I remember so why does it matter?" Hinata quipped back.
"Well I learned a lot about yours and Sasuke's sex life, which hot by the way." Hanabi sneered and Hinata turned beet red.
"No I didn't!" She stammered out.
"Yeah you did. You talked about how good it felt when Sasuke choked you along with a few other things." Hinata couldn't possibly turn any more red. She only told a few close friends that fact and she knew Hanabi was not one of them. She really didn't want her sister to know about her sex life. But it seemed that now it was out in the open.
"Oh my god. Please forget I said anything." She groaned into her hands and Hanabi laughed.
"It's okay. I could never judge you on that. Seems you and Sasuke had some amazing times. Oh and also? We may or may not have called him last night." Hanabi tried laughing it off but it came out wrong and Hinata felt sick the first time that morning.
"Please tell me it went to voicemail." Hinata whispered angrily.
"Well that's what I was hoping for too but it looks like the conversation went on for about ten minutes. And honestly, I don't remember talking to him or you talking to him. So, whatever was said to him is only for him to know apparently. Curse my lightweight tendencies."
"Oh god. What if I cried to him about what happened with Naruto?" Hinata asked horrified.
"Well if it was really bad he would probably tell you so I wouldn't worry about it. Did you have any texts from this morning from him?" Hinata shook her head at her younger sister. Maybe Hanabi was right. Maybe it wasn't a big deal and they only talked about nonsense last night. Or maybe, just maybe, Hinata had spoken about her true feelings; the one secret that no one knew but herself. The one that she had been denying for so long.
That maybe, just maybe, she was still in love with him.
A/N: I'm back from the dead everyone! I'm so sorry this update took so long. I just got a new job and I've been busy literally every single weekend for the past month and that's usually when I write the majority of my chapters. And also just know I will NOT abandon this story. These last few chapters have been extremely hard to write because I just want to get to the juicy stuff-sasuhina fluff! Next chapter will be the start of everything so I'm excited. (Also fair warning this chapter as not proofread because I just had to post it ASAP). As always thanks for the faves/follows/reviews. I will try my best to answer the reviews as they come in but if I miss one I'm sorry! Until next time! 3
