Wicked
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Notation: Some people have been curious about Sakura's reaction. So there is a bit of a confrontation between her and Hinata. I have tried not to completely bash Sakura's character, but it is difficult to see your first crush interested in someone else. So I tried to go for accuracy.
Chapter Ten
The next day, Sakura finds Hinata in the hospital. The pink haired woman takes a deep breath and braces herself for the conversation that she knew that she would have to have with her friend. It was for the Hyuga Heiress's own safety.
"Hinata, would you like to have lunch with me?" Sakura asks.
"Sure." The bluenette says as she walks off towards the cafeteria with the other woman.
Once they were in a quiet corner, the only female member of Team Seven decides to broach the topic. She was grateful that Sasuke had decided to pursue Hinata and not someone else. This would have been a lot more brutal if it was Ino or even Tenten.
"I saw the tape, Hinata. I know that Sasuke kissed you. I even confronted him about it. He held a kunai against my throat when I did." She says.
"You saw the tape?" Hinata asks and tries to hide her blush as she takes a bit into her meal.
"Yes, I did. So did Tsunade. But we aren't going to let anyone else see it. Hinata, I'm not sure why Sasuke suddenly decided that wants you, but he is dangerous. He pulled a kunai on me, just for talking." The other medic warns her.
Hinata was glad that she was eating. It gave her a few extra seconds to come up with a reply to that. She knew that Sakura was concerned about her, but the underlying implication bothered her. "Sasuke is dangerous. You are too trusting and will get hurt because you can't protect yourself."
"Thank you. I don't really want that tape to get out. It's private. I know what he did. He told me." She admits.
"HE WHAT?!" Sakura demands and suddenly the two women were getting a lot of funny looks from other patrons.
"Sasuke told me what he did. He said he didn't want to keep secrets from me. I'm sorry he treated you that way. He says that he won't do it again and while he's not entirely mentally stable, I've never known him to actually lie before. So if he says he's not going to attack you, I believe him." The bluenette informs her.
Sakura didn't even know how to process that. Only Sasuke would tell the woman that he was interested in that he pulled a weapon her friend. She couldn't believe that Hinata was treating this so casually. What was wrong with her?!
"Hinata, it's one thing to be his medic. It's quite another to be his girlfriend. You were in the hospital. You were surrounded by people who could help, if he got out of control. If you are alone with him, it'll be different." The jade eyed woman continues.
"Sakura, I realize that. I know he's dangerous, but I am a Jonin. I can chakra block him in the worst case scenario. Besides, he's different now. At least when we are alone." She protests.
Sakura blinks. Hinata had been alone with him? This wasn't going to end well. Her own feelings about Sasuke were complicated, but she knew one thing. Hinata was far too kind and gentle to be subjected to whatever mind games he was playing.
"I wasn't saying that you were weak. You're strong, Hinata. I know you are. Everyone does. It's just that Sasuke is different. Naruto and Sasuke are both in a different league than most people will ever be in. It's not a fair fight and you know that." Sakura argues.
"I know that you are worried about me, but you don't have to be. I would be more worried about yourself. I'm not the one who he pulled a kunai on. He loves me. He's not going to hurt me." Hinata says.
The pink haired woman stares at Hinata in shock. She couldn't believe the other ninja had just said that. "He loves me."
"Did he actually say that? Did he say that he loves you?" The pink haired woman asks in disbelief.
"No, but he wants me to help him restore his Clan. I didn't mean to say that. I don't know if he does or doesn't. I don't know if he's still capable of love, really. But I know that he cares about me on some level. He's different towards me than anyone else. He even talked to my father about us." She admits with a slight blush.
The medic blinks. She couldn't process that. Sasuke had actually gone to Hiashi Hyuga and asked him for permission to date his daughter? This entire situation was completely insane.
She had known Hinata for years. The Hyuga Heiress wasn't the type to make up such a fantastical tale for the sake of her own amusement. If the bluentte said that Sasuke had spoken to the Hyuga Patriarch, he had.
"How did that go?" She inquires cautiously.
"Better than expected. Sasuke claims father gave his blessing, in a way." The other woman replies as she takes a sip of her drink.
The medic was stunned. Hiashi had given Sasuke permission to date his daughter. This entire situation was just getting more and more bizarre by the minute.
"So you…like him then?" Sakura questions her.
"I like the way he kisses me and how he treats me when we are alone. I'm not blind. I know what he's capable of. I've read his psychological evaluation. It's just he's so different when we are together. I honestly don't know how stable he is around everyone else though…" She admits.
Sakura shakes her head. She didn't know how to handle this. It sounded like the feelings were mutual, but at least Hinata had enough common sense not to jump right in.
"Hinata, it's way too dangerous. You need to let him down gently. What he needs is a good counselor and a friend, not a lover." Sakura insists.
"Would you still be saying that, if he had asked you to help him restore his Clan?" Hinata demands.
She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt rather angry. Sakura seemed as baffled by the fact that Sasuke had chosen HER, as anything else. It as if her friend couldn't comprehend why someone would want her for a lover. Maybe Sakura was jealous? Perhaps even more disturbingly, Hinata realized that she might be feeling jealous as well.
"That's different. We've known each other well for years. We used to be on the same team. You two are little more than strangers. He denies it, but I think your Byakugan is what is really arousing his…interest." The other medic says.
"You're being a hypocrite. So it's okay for you to be his lover, when he's still dealing everything. But it's not alright for someone else to be? It's not JUST my Byakugan that he's interested in. Why is it so hard for you to believe that someone could like me for me and not just my bloodline?!" Hinata snaps at her.
Hinata knew that she shouldn't be yelling at her friend. Sakura was concerned about her. The pink haired woman had valid reasons to be concerned for her safety. She had the same worries herself, but clearly she was also being motivated by other emotions. Hinata was positive that tnvy and shock were also playing a role in Sakura's behavior.
It angered her. On some level, the bluenette knew that Sakura didn't mean it that way. She didn't mean that no one would find Hinata desirable, if it wasn't for her bloodline. Sakura was just surprised that Sasuke did, but it still stung.
"Hinata, I didn't mean it that way! You know that I didn't. There are plenty of men who would love to be with someone like you. I just don't think Sasuke is one of them. He's trying to use you for your bloodline. Don't let him do it." Sakura warns her.
"I'm going to go now. If I stay much longer, I am going to say something that I will regret. You're my friend and I don't want to hurt you, but I will if this continues." Hinta says as she storms out of the cafeteria, clutching her fists.
Meanwhile Sasuke was in the middle of almost giving Ino a heart attack. The blonde couldn't believe that he had just entered the flower shop. Neither could any of the other patrons. Every single one of them was staring wide eyed at the him.
Sasuke activates his Sharingan. The other shoppers quickly either turn their attention back to what they had been doing beforehand. Everyone was wondering what he was doing there, but no one was brave enough to ask. Well no one, except for Ino.
"Sasuke?" She asks in confusion.
"I didn't realize that it was illegal for me to buy things." He mutters and walks over to the blonde ninja.
He recognized her from his Academy days. Sasuke didn't know her well. He realized that she used to be like Sakura. Ino used chase after him everywhere. He hoped that she had outgrown that phase. It would be really annoying, if she thought that he was buying the flowers for her.
"It isn't. You just aren't the type of guy that most would picture buying flowers. So who are they for?" Ino asks cheerfully.
"That's really none of your concern. Do you have any white lilies?" He asks.
Ino shivers at Sasuke's tone. It was positively glacial. She was surprised that she didn't turn into a giant ice cube when he told her that it wasn't any of her business. He had never been the warmest guy, but this was extreme even for him.
Was it possible that he was shy? Was he embarrassed to be confessing his love for someone? She couldn't help but wonder who the girl was. Was it even a girl? That might explain the icy tone. She had never seen him look at any women (or men).
"Yes, we have white lilies. We have lots of different colors actually. Are you sure you want white?" She inquires.
"If I wanted another color, I would have told you so. You're being annoying. If you don't stop being annoying, the lilies are going to end up being red." Sasuke warns her.
Red. Blood red. Ino wasn't stupid. She knew exactly what Sasuke was implying. It was a somewhat subtle threat, but a rather clear one. The female ninja wonders if he would actually be crazy enough to attack her in a shop full of witnesses.
She shakes her head. Ino knew that was a dumb question. Sasuke could easily take out everyone in this building and wouldn't have to bat an eyelash to do so. They all knew it. That was why everyone was suddenly so terrified.
"White it is then." She says nervously and shows him to the flowers.
Sasuke didn't know what it was about this village. Everyone had to be so nosy. Couldn't he buy some damn flowers without undergoing an interrogation.
Next time, he was just going to grow them in his garden. Unfortunately, it was winter. So that wouldn't work at the moment. Still he made a mental note that growing flowers in a garden was likely to be a lot less annoying than buying them.
"I'll take them." He says simply and shoves some money into her hand.
"Sasuke, this is way too much. For this much money, you could buy a wagon full of flowers." She informs him.
Sasuke shrugs. He wasn't an idiot. It was likely that for the next couple days, people were going to be too scared to shop there. So he gave extra.
"Compensation for the loss of business. I imagine the other villagers will be too scared to come here for a few days. They'll get over it eventually. Until then, that should cover the losses." He says and heads off with the lilies in tow.
Sasuke heads home. His eyes narrow when he realizes the lights were on in his house. He most certainly had NOT left them on when he left.
Someone was inside his home. Someone without his permission. He vaguely wondered if Hinata would mind blood stained lilies.
"SHOW YOURSELF!" He snarls when he enters his home.
Sasuke saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye. He slams the other person into the wall. They were going to pay for trespassing on his Clan's lands. How dare they invade his District?!
"Whoa! Easy there, bastard. It's just me. You don't have to go all homicidal on me. Sheesh. What are going to do, if Hinata surprise visits you one of these days? You need to learn to relax. Not everything is a life or death threat." Naruto states.
Slowly, Sasuke begins to calm down. It was Naruto. The loser could come and go as he pleased. Other than Hinata, he wouldn't allow anyone else that privilege. Naruto was an exception.
"That's called breaking and entering. It is a crime, even if it's my home." Sasuke snaps at him.
"Oh you know you love me. What's with the flowers?" He asks.
"Their for Hinata, idiot. What did you think I was buying you lilies?" Sasuke asks and raises an eyebrow.
"Nah. You aren't nearly nice enough to do that. Besides, I like sunflowers better." Naruto says cheerfully and Sasuke smacks him upside the head for that little gem.
Sasuke then shakes his head and puts the flowers down. It was only two in the afternoon. Hinata wouldn't get off work for a few hours yet. That's assuming she came to his house immediately aft wards. She might not.
Fortunately, Ino's family were ninjas. They had a special jutsu in place over their flowers that kept them alive longer than normal. So he could wait a few days, if it came down to it.
"You are dreaming, if you think I'm going to buy you flowers. Anyway, what are you doing here?" Sasuke asks.
"I wanted to make sure everything was going okay. Sakura and Tsunade know, but I doubt anyone else does yet. Are you guys official? Are you keeping it a secret from everyone else?" Naruto asks.
"I'm not sure if we are official or not. Hiashi gave his rather reluctant blessing though. Yes, Sakura and Tsunade know. They are probably going to be really annoying about the whole thing. Hinata and I haven't discussed if we are keeping it a secret or not, yet." Sasuke says with a shrug.
Naruto nods. He could only hope that Hiashi and Sasuke hadn't come to blows. He didn't think it was likely If they had, Sasuke would be more upset. At least, Naruto thought he would be.
"Do you want it to be a secret:?" His blonde friend asks curiously.
"I would prefer it public. I wouldn't mind secret though. It'd obviously be much harder on Hinata than me. I don't give a damn what the village thinks about me. She does." Sasuke mutters.
Oh boy. Naruto knew that he was going to have to step in here. Sasuke needed an intervention. He was being an antisocial bastard again. His best friend really needed to learn that it was important to let your guard down sometimes and make other friends.
"Sasuke, I know that you an antisocial bastard, but Hinata isn't. What if your kids take after her?" The blue eyed ninja asks.
Sasuke raises an eyebrow. He had no idea what the loser was trying to get at this time. Was he trying to ask what Sasuke would do if their children had the Byakugan instead of Sharingan?
"What do you mean by that?" He demands.
"Well your kids might not be antisocial. Maybe they would actually like to have friends. That's kinda hard to do, when their parents are terrified of you." Naruto reasons.
The last Uchiha pauses. He hadn't really thought about that. As much as he was loathed to admit it, Naruto had a point there. Damn it.
"I guess you're right. I'll try to terrify the villagers a little less. It's hard though. They bring it on themselves." Sasuke replies.
"Well that's a start. I know it'd probably mean a lot to Hinata. So how are you two…you know?" The boisterous ninja asks.
The dark haired man shakes his head. Naruto was completely oblivious when it came to relationships. He doubted the blonde had thought much past the kissing and handholding stage. Unfortunately, other than kissing they hadn't done much yet. But it was a start.
"She's still getting used to the idea, but she sought me out. She came here, without me asking her to. Hinata also told her father about us. So I think on some level she's accepted it." Sasuke muses.
"I still can't believe you chose her of all people. Talk about opposites attracting. She's probably good for you. I mean you haven't gone postal once since you came back." Naruto says cheerfully.
Well that wasn't exactly accurate. Sasuke had chewed Tsunade out. He had threatened Sakura. But he wasn't going to correct Naruto's delusion. He just nods his head.
"I haven't killed anyone, since I came back. Exactly." Sasuke says.
"Bastard, I don't like the way you phrased that. What did you do? Other than threatening Sakura. Because I know about that. You really are such a jerk sometimes! She was only talking to you." The blonde protests.
"I got into it with Tsunade. It was verbal though. Sakura needs to get it through her head, that it's none of her business. My relationship with Hinata is none of her concern." Sasuke replies.
Naruto shakes his head. Sakura was Sasuke's teammate. Of course she was going to be concerned for him and Hinata. The medic was perfectly aware that Sasuke had a lot of issues. It was only natural that she'd be worried.
Sakura had also been in love with him for years. Of course it was going to be difficult to see Sasuke pursuing someone else. Of course, Sasuke was Sasuke. Empathy had never really been his strong suit. Walking a mile in someone else's shoes, wasn't something he did often.
"I'll try to talk to her. I really hope this works out for you and Hinata. Hopefully, the kids take after her though. We don't need a bunch of toddlers throwing fireballs during their Terrible Twos." Naruto muses.
"Naruto, Uchiha children do not start throwing fireballs when they are toddlers. I learned when I was about 6 or 7. That was considered early for my Clan. Itachi was an even earlier bloomer than me, but even he wasn't tossing around fire at the age of two." Sasuke says and rolls his eyes.
"Oh that's good. Wait is your house fireproof? You should make sure it's fireproof anyway. Just because they aren't born spitting fire, doesn't mean they won't later on." The blue eyed ninja reasons.
Sasuke raises an eyebrow. Maybe in five or six years, that might be a concern. But right now it wasn't. Naruto really thought his children were going to be fire breathing dragons or something, it seemed.
"You pictured my children being born spitting fire and radiating the Chidori, didn't you?" He asks.
"Well yeah. Kinda. I mean, you're you. I imagine your children will be overachieving bastards too! Well unless they take after Hinata. Then they would be too nice to set the District on fire." He observes.
Sasuke makes a small snort of amusement. Only Naruto. Honestly, even with Uchiha and Hyuga blood, it wasn't like they were going to come out of the womb, ready to go to battle.
"You are an idiot." He states.
"And you're a bastard, but I put up with you anyway. Well I guess I should get going. I imagine you are going to want some alone time with Hinata." He says brightly.
"You're right. I'd really appreciate it, if you would stop showing up every time we are in the middle of an important conversation!" Sasuke warns him.
Naruto laughs. Yes, he had interrupted their "conversation." Yeah, that was one way to put it.
"Yeah. That's totally what you guys were doing. Talking." Naruto says mockingly.
"You are such a loser." Sasuke mutters as he not so politely shoves Naruto out of his house and waits for Hinata's return.
A few hours later, Hinata knocks on the door. Sasuke opens it. He smiles when he sees it was Hinata. He was a little worried that Sakura or Tsunade might come visit him. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with their objections.
"Come in." He says.
Sasuke blinks when Hinata does exactly that. There was something about her body language that seemed agitated. Hinata was annoyed about something or at someone. He didn't think it was at him though.
"Something wrong?" Sasuke asks.
"It's nothing." She mumbles and Sasuke raises an eyebrow at that obvious lie.
Hinata definitely wasn't a good liar. She was probably the worst liar that he had ever met. He notes that fact and stores it away for later.
"Then why do you look like you want to scratch someone's eyes out?" He asks.
"Sakura, tried to protect me today. I know that she was mostly just worried about me, but it bothered me. She thinks that I'm helpless against you." The bluenette confesses.
"Then she's an idiot. If you get in one good shot, you can lockup my chakra points. That gives you an advantage over most other people who have faced me in the past." He murmurs and caresses her cheek.
He knew that a lot of people underestimated her. Sasuke couldn't entirely blame them. Hinata looked as threatening as a bunny rabbit, really.
The last Uchiha knew better though. He knew not to judge a book by its cover. Hinata wouldn't be a Jonin if she was defenseless.
"I know. I'm used to people thinking that about me. That I can't take care of myself, but it hurts to know that a friend thinks that way about you." She mumbles.
Sasuke kisses the top of her head and wraps his arms around his intended. He really was going to give Sakura a good tongue lashing. He promised that he wouldn't raise a weapon against her. The last Uchiha had never said that he wouldn't yell at her though, he thought with a smirk.
"She's being annoying. Do you want me to kill her for you?" Sasuke asks.
"SASUKE! I can't believe you just asked me that! She might have upset me, but she's still my friend. You can't just kill people because they upset you!" She exclaims in a horrified fashion.
"Relax. I was just joking." He assures her and then mutters "mostly," under his breath.
Hinata just gapes at Sasuke. She had no idea what she was going to do with him. It was almost like he was two different people living in the same body. One moment, he'd be trying to seduce her or having a normal conversation. The next moment, he'd be pulling a kunai on his former teammate.
"Not funny." She mumbles.
"Alright. Well let me make it up to you. It's winter, so they won't grow in the garden yet. I got you something." He says and hands her the lilies.
Hinata blinks. Yes, she had no idea what she was going to do with him. He had just asked if she wanted him to kill someone and now he was giving her beautiful flowers. Naruto really wasn't the most unpredictable ninja anymore in the Leaf, she muses to herself.