SasuHina Revolution Week 2018: Words
Kintsugi
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10. Kef
Drowsy, drifting contentment, or anything that produces this state of pleasure.
Konoha is renowned for her shinobi, and the Huyga are known far and wide for their eyes that can penetrate the unpenetrable. Yet, despite growing up surrounded by both, Hinata has managed to live a life concealed even from those who knew and loved her best. From her emotions to her clothing to her thoughts - she has spent a life hiding in plain sight, rising early to train, and spending her days working tirelessly to meet the highest of standards that always seemed to loom just out of reach.
Even when she surpassed them - there was always higher to go; farther to stretch- until she feared she may snap.
But there is no hiding from Uchiha Sasuke
His eyes see what others do not - and cut through defenses she doesn't remember raising.
And there is a curious freedom that comes with knowing she cannot hide from him.
She begins to blossom.
Her heart is lighter, and she learns she has it in her to be happy.
And even more wonderful, Sasuke blooms as well. While their reserved demeanor doesn't change to the outside world, there is nothing to stand between them. There are still places they have left to break; she learns of Itachi and his sacrifice, and he learns of how her heart closed after Neji's death, and how she learned to fall out of love.
They bond over their support of Naruto - and he gains two firm, strong supporters and friends (and he hugs Hinata tight and they mourn and celebrate Neji together) - and she feels nothing toward him but affection and pride.
The diplomatic missions take a different tone - Sasuke is almost always assigned to travel with her, but it is another year before they mention their relationship to only the people closest to them (and several months beyond that when they downplay it severely for her father, with an amended onset date that spares him unnecessary grief). Still, Hiashi goes to Kakashi to demand Sasuke not be partnered with Hinata, but Kakashi simply hands him some of their mission reports.
Hiashi pales as he reads them, and that is the day he learns there is no length to which Sasuke will not go to protect Hinata, and no length to which she will not go to protect him in turn.
Kakashi waits until the fourth report (when the paper in Hiashi's fingers trembles minutely) to fold his hands and ask: "Who would you recommend as Sasuke's replacement? I trust you have someone better able in mind?"
And Hiashi simply shakes his head "No."
In the end he settles for speaking to Sasuke directly and reminding him that he has been given something precious to safeguard, and that it would serve him well to remember it. Hinata blushes fiercely every time she thinks of the mission that followed the next day, and the promises he whispered against her skin and lips and jaw and thigh and how true to his word he proved to be.
He has ample opportunity to prove himself, as Hinata's presence is requested more, and more often.
"At this rate, I'm not sure we even qualify as residents of Konoha," he mutters as he secures and yet another borrowed room in and yet another town.
"Maybe not," she says lightly, her Byakugan flaring then fading as she checks the last of their privacy seals. "But once a son or daughter of Konoha –"
"Don't even bother finishing that," he scoffs – but there is no anger. "I spent too many years listening to idiots screaming 'Believe it' to be forced to endure platitudes better embroidered onto useless pillows by nosy old women."
"And to think I once thought you to be a man of few words."
"With Naruto always running at the mouth, how could I be anything else?"
Hinata doesn't bother replying; this is familiar ground in their conversations and requires no comment. Instead she pulls out the scroll she safeguards for both of them and unseals the tea things. Wordlessly, Sasuke takes the pot to heat the water while Hinata measures the leaves with practiced precision.
Tenten has been kind enough to make her several scrolls for her multiple missions, but this one she made with special care.
Hinata carefully places Neji's bowl by the bedside while Sasuke fills Itachi's teapot. They finish settling into the room while the tea steeps, and it is a well-rehearsed rhythm - a touchstone of consistency in their unpredictable lives.
They have learned to ground themselves in one another and in the comfort of well-prepared tea before taking on the chaos even the best planned and most methodical of missions can bring.
"Thunderstorms tonight," Sasuke says, taking his seat. "We won't be severely affected, but the rest of our route lies in the path of the storm."
She hands him a cup. "Do you think we will be delayed?"
"Possibly," he gives a careless one-shouldered shrug that tells her he is not in the least concerned.
"Strange that Kakashi wanted us to take this route," she muses, pouring her tea and watching him through downcast lashes. "He normally accounts for such things."
"Mm."
A small smile tips the corners of her mouth. "How long of a delay were you hoping for?"
"A month," he meets her eyes, unrepentant at being caught. "But I'll settle for a week."
"A week?" she blinks. "But the mission-"
"The mission timeline allows for it," he interrupts. "Nara will be arriving ahead of us – he can hold down any negotiations until we get there."
"I suppose," she says, carefully setting down the teapot to study his face. "Should we alert Shikamaru?"
"I sent word."
"And?"
"And some delays are troublesome but can't be helped."
Hinata can't help the small smile, and Sasuke lifts his cup to her. "His words, not mine."
"I suppose they can't," she takes her cup, a sense of giddiness forming in the periphery of her thoughts. She and Sasuke have been on continuous missions for quite some time, and while they have not been overtly dangerous or taxing as of late, they have been wearing on them both. "So," she raises her eyebrows. "A week?"
"Yes," he meets her eyes. "We are assured that long."
"Mm," she hums, sipping her tea. "I don't know that I remember the last time we both had a week with no mission."
"Over a year ago," he replies effortlessly. "Do you want to know exact the date and time?"
"No," she chuckles. "I believe you."
"Kakashi didn't," he mutters. "I had to pull the mission reports to show him."
"It is a busy time for the village," she shrugs (and Sasuke notes with a sense of smug satisfaction that the gesture is a version of his own). "Securing peace takes time."
The first, low rumbles of thunder echo outside of their window, and Hinata reflexively looks out.
"The storm is coming," she says, her Byakugan flaring to life. "It is moving fast, but you are right – the worst of it will miss us."
"Go on," he gathers the tea things. "Get ready."
She smiles and hurries to prepare. The bed is too far from the window for a proper view, so she unseals one of their bedrolls and borrows the heavy comforter and pillows, making them a nest to watch the storm.
Sasuke waits until she is comfortable before handing her a fresh cup of tea and settling beside her. She wraps the blanket around them both and burrows contentedly into his side.
Of all the things that frightened her as a child, storms did not. She took comfort in the power and chaos of them, and sometimes felt the storm could rage when she could not. It is one of her quirks that Sasuke appreciates and embraces.
The lightning begins flashing and she curls farther into his side – not out of fear, but out of appreciation for his presence.
"I hated storms as a boy," he admits to the quiet and the thunder and her. "They were something I felt I had to stand against, or else I'd be a coward; I didn't know how to let them pass through me." He looks down at her. "I couldn't accept and embrace them the way you did."
"I never thought I was strong enough to combat them," she looks up at him. "So, I didn't."
"You know when to bend," his eyes are so, so dark. "That is a strength."
"Maybe," she allows. "But so is learning to stand alone. You wouldn't know your own strength if you hadn't pushed so far."
"Maybe," one corner of his mouth twitches upward. "I suspect Kakashi would have appreciated me pushing a little less."
He nods to her empty cup and she shakes her head. He wordlessly places both of their cups to the side and lets Hinata snuggle against him, her head tucked under his chin.
She breathes him in, and listens to the thrum of his heart under her cheek, and the rumble of thunder and the patter of rain, and she grows drowsy and content.
It isn't long before the storm is well and truly upon them, and the thunderclaps and lightning strikes follow in rapid succession. She doesn't know why she looks up at him, but she does – and finds he is looking back at her. His eyes search hers for something, and she is patient enough to let him look until he finds it.
"Stay with me," he says, his voice low and bare. He brushes the backs of his knuckles against her cheek before skimming his fingers into the hair at the nape of her neck, his thumb brushing her jaw.
"Promise me," and she hears the entreaty and the fear lingering under his tongue and the hope on the edge of his breath. "Promise you will stay. Stay and weather the storms."
And although she has made that promise in thousands of ways over their time together, she knows he needs to hear the words, so she does not hesitate.
"Always."
She could laugh at the incredulity and joy and relief and fear that slide across his eyes, almost too fast to see – but she doesn't. Because the marrow-soul-deep gratitude and love and admiration that remain are humbling and swell her heart.
She presses her lips to his and the thunder crashes and her heart is full and the lightning slices the sky. It is not long before he mutters something about "not wasting the first decent bed I've seen in months" and stands with her in his arms.
Uchiha Sasuke is a storm – not the ones of her youth, passively observed while whispering fears and insecurities into the winds to be blown away into oblivion. He is an intoxicating maelstrom of raw power and beauty and untamable electricity – and she drinks him in. His skin is warm and taut under fingers reading a familiar braille of sinew and scar and chakra, and she greedily seeks out his warmth. (And because she is always cold, he will make sure the comforter is returned to the bed, once their own shared storm has calmed to gentle rains and lazy zephyrs.) ((Even if she is never cold when in his embrace.))
She embraces his chaos and calm, and joins her cries with his, letting the wind scatter them to oblivion and shatter reality into something that hints at heaven.
When she drifts awake, it is to the tenuous first-light of morning glinting off the ring on her fourth finger while Sasuke holds her close, even in sleep. Her mind is ahead of her other senses, but it will not last: there is a quiet in the aftermath of a storm, and it seeps into her bones until they are heavy with contentment and the call of dreams.
As she drifts back into the sleep of one satisfied with the promise of waking to sunshine, Sasuke watches her through barely-opened eyes. There is always the fear she is a dream and she will sublimate in the morning light – but she remains warm and pliant and real under his touch.
He waits until he feels his own breath grow slow and steady to risk closing his eyes and losing her – because he trusts that he did not dream her vowing to stay.
Sasuke winds his hand in hers, (a small, secret smile on his lips when he feels the cool kiss of the ring he placed on her finger), decides to believe in second chances, trusts to sleep, and dares to dream.
And Hinata is there when he wakes –-
((- just as she is the next day
- and the day after that
- and the month after that
- and ten years after that
- and thirty more years after that
- and every morning until they wake in the world of dreams and sit in the stars and smile fondly (he smirks) at the folly of mortals.
And even then, her hand finds his, because Huyga Hinata promised him "Always," and she never goes back on her word.
And he winds his fingers in hers, because he also promised, and Uchiha Sasuke is unfazed by things as inconsequential as death and eternity.))
-and Sasuke's heart is full.
~*FIN*~
Thank you for joining me, friends! - GL