A/N: When Hina stumbled upon Sasu training & she suggested they train, was the morning that Naru left on his mission. Someone asked me to clarify that and I figured it was useful to know if anyone else was wondering. When they actually trained and Hana put her two sense in (lol she's my fav) that was day 2! Last chapter was day 3 and this is...well day 7.

Fun Fact: I love SH fics when they have a back and forth teasing relationship. It reminds me of me and my husband. Although I'm personally more like Temari in terms of attitude/spirit. With a dash of Ino.

Oh, btw, the ending is trash because I've been working on it for the past two weeks and my husband/kids/other family members have all been distracting me so I lost my mojo half way through writing this. Lol, I will try harder next time (I always say this...). After this chap, I want drammaaaaa!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own NARUTO.

Daybreak

Chapter Eleven

Fall

Sneaking into the Hyūga main house was disturbingly easy. Onyx eyes narrowed in distaste as he slithered past the window after disabling the lock. Noticing his latest obsession still wrapped like a sushi roll on her bed, Sasuke closed the window, making sure to tap softly on the wood under the glass.

He frowned. She was a jounin. Even heavy sleepers like Naruto would've reacted, even if it was to roll over.

There was no pause in her deep breathing, from what he could see across the room so his feet shuffled him closer to her form as he debated how to scold her without coming off as too condescending. If not for years of honing his reflex to a degree that could rival lightning speeds, tiny hands would've slammed directly onto his neck. He hadn't caught the way her chakra swirled to her finger tips under the covers a heartbeat ago but that was hardly his concern at the moment.

In her haze of sleepiness, Hinata had felt the shift in the air, senses telling her that she was not alone in her room. The cool air and lack of warmth told her that the sun had not yet risen so, in the span of two seconds, she'd concluded this was a poorly thought out assassination. She hadn't taken the moment to activate her Byakugan, or to stop and recognize just who had managed to worm their way into her private chambers.

Strong fingers latched around her slim wrist, and he didn't have the time to marvel at how his hand completely covered her thin bone, as tired pearly eyes finally opened all the way.

Blinking away the rest of the sleep from her brain, Hinata recognized the taller man in front of her. She was just a tad bit confused as to why he was in her bedroom in the wee hours of the morning. "Sasuke-kun...?"

He was a bit hesitant in letting her limb loose, for the fact that his mind was too busy imprinting the velvet feel of her skin. Plus, there was still the probability that she could lash out and paralyze him from the shoulders down. At that moment, he had never been more thankful for the traumatizing nightmares that woke him hours ago.

Had the blood and gore from his childhood not plagued him even behind his closed eyes, he may have missed...this.

Hinata was still waking up and putting the pieces together while he took the moment to examine her. Her impossibly long hair was messily tied up in a high bun on the top of her head, stubborn pieces falling against her cheeks while her bangs were ruffled and slightly parted. The attire is what he particularly liked...

"I didn't know you were a fan of...ducks?"

The teasing was thick in his voice, his smirk the widest she had laid her eyes on to date. So much so, that she finally slipped her wrist from his grip, stepping away from his body with a glare. It would have been sharper, if not for the pink blush on her cheeks and bridge of her nose. Understanding his words, Hinata reached over and snatched the lilac comforter from her bed. Sasuke had to physically cover his disappointment when the white tank top and matching shorts with blue cartoon ducks on them were hidden from his view.

Diamond eyes looked towards her clock before she whipped around to face the intruder again. "You snuck into my room at four in the morning?" She whispered while stepping closer to him, wisely keeping her voice down in a house full of noisy relatives.

"I see you're up now," he whispered back, and ignored how her face heated even more. Out of indignation or embarrassment, he wasn't too sure.

Hinata huffed, all thoughts of sleep leaving her at once, "Only because you attacked me in my s-sleep!"

His head tilted, black hair falling in his amused smothering eyes. "To be fair, you attacked me."

"Sasuke," her soft voice hissed and he had to stomp out the shiver that rolled down his spine as she advanced on him again. Veins filled with chakra on the side of her face. "Why are you in my room?"

Telling her that he'd like to take another look at her in the short tank top seemed like a bad idea, especially seeing how likely she would Jūken him in the stomach. After a moment, he settled on the truth. "I want to spar."

She seemed to freeze about a foot from him, face blanking while she took in his words. Spar. He had broken into her home, woke her up at an ungodly hour to...spar? Fueled by anger that her sleep was disturbed by something so trivial, Hinata felt her chakra swirl to her fingertips once more. Onyx eyes light up instantly. He soon realized he shouldn't have been that excited to awaken a sleeping lion.

If it was a fight Sasuke wanted, it was a fight he was going to get.

By the time it was seven in the morning, Sasuke had discarded the heavy cloak and thrown off his shirt after Hinata had promptly lit it on fire. He had been pleasantly surprised when she revealed that fire was her element, until the heat had licked his skin a little too close for comfort. It only solidified his obsession for her, not that it had been any kind of uncertain before.

He supposed that he should've expected this reaction from her, but she was typically so quiet and polite. Grunting from an electrically charged palm brushing past his rib cage, Sasuke neatly flipped away from the enraged princess, putting much needed distance between the two.

Hours ago, Hinata had quite literally shoved him back out of the window he came in, mumbling about having to dress appropriately. He didn't get much time to appreciate her hands on his back before she unlatched the lock and pushed him into the night. The embarrassment only added to his own amusement.

She had been doing a very good job wiping the smirk off his face, though.

Locks of black were hanging down behind and in front of her at this point, having come loose from when Sasuke had tossed her onto the ground an hour ago. She had, to his disappointment, put on that lavender jacket and dark capris, shielding her body from view once again. Majority of this session, he had spent making a pro and con list of setting it on fire by an "accidental" fire ball jutsu.

"If I didn't know any better," he started, brushing the imaginary dirt from his pants, "I'd say you were really trying to harm me."

She slid into the tell-tale Hyūga stance, "It's a good thing you don't know any better then."

He would've commented on her witty comment had he not had to jump to avoid a sandal to the abdomen.

Over the last four days, they had spent every evening together. The day after Hinata cooked for them both, she had been tossed in the fray of helping the medics at the compound. She had explained to him that the Hyūga had lost a lot of the younger medics in the war and she tried to help out wherever she could. Her chakra control was incrediable, more percise than Sakura's but he was sure that was a credit to her lineage. Just as how Uchihas had an uncanny ability to master all jutsus fire-related, Hyūgas excelled at anything chakra control. Mastering the Jūken was no easy task, after all.

Like she had promised, Hinata showed up at his doorstep the next evening, bags on her arms once again. He shouldn't have been surprised to see that she brought ingredients to bake cinnamon rolls. She smiled and brushed past him to set up shop in his kitchen. Seeing her relaxed in his home once again, Sasuke was content on just hanging around the counter like the night before, but the sparkly eyed woman had other plans for him.

Covered in flour and dough, they had successfully baked a batch of gooey cinnamon rolls. It took some convincing on her part for him to taste a bit of it, and he nearly gagged when the sweet sugary substance assaulted his taste buds, but the bright smile she directed to him was well worth it. Hell, he'd eat a whole one if that meant making her happy. It was his fault he'd let his guard down around a highly decorated kunoichi, but he wasn't expecting the petite thing to flick some sticky dough at his cheek. The shock on his face didn't last long, and nether did her tinkering laughter as he dumped the bag of flour over her head.

Thus, had started their short food fight. They ran out of ingredients to weaponize as most of it ended up on the floor. Hinata had a grin on while sweeping up the mess, giggling occasionally since Sasuke couldn't wipe off the lingering dough from his nose. They'd gotten comfortable with each other to joke around after that night. Sasuke found himself opening up around her and indulging in his playful side that he didn't remembered having since he was a boy. Hinata was easy to talk to, easy to be in silence with, easy to be around...which made it all the more difficult for him not to express his real feelings.

Since then, they had took up the routine of training in the evening and having dinner at Sasuke's place right after. Typically, Hinata detoured them to the marketplace to pick up some things here and there, but she had pretty much kept his house stocked with food and snacks. It was a stark contrast from the minute rice he would have laying around and a few rotten tomatoes on the counter.

A kick to his back let him know that daydreaming was not going to get him far right at this moment. They had mutually agreed the usage of their dojutsu this round, though typically they steered clear of it since Sasuke tended to get a little too competitive at times. Yesterday, he had initiated a kunai throwing contest that ended with a giant shuriken slicing through the dense wood like a knife cutting butter. Hinata used that night to subtly tease him about it all throughout dinner.

Hinata stifled a yawn behind him, prompting him to lower his guard. "Eight is the time you usually have to go to the medic building, right?"

A thin wrist rubbed her eyes of sleep, the other eye warily watching him retrieve his discarded clothes. She blushed and averted her eyes as he stretched to fit them back on his body. "Yes, but there isn't much more that needs to be done for the week besides healing of the Korime members. It won't take more than a few hours."

They went about picking up their lost weapons and returning the others to their rightful owners. Sasuke held out a dirtied shuriken to the woman but his other hand caught hers when she reached out for it and tugged her gently, "So, you'll be done by noon?"

Curious pearly eyes lifted to meet his as the Hyuga ignored how quickly her heartbeat sped up in her chest. It had been doing that a lot lately, and she didn't appreciate that Sasuke seemed to be the only thing to cause it to go haywire. "U-Uh, yes, I think so."

His eyes examined her face for a second longer before he released her, placing the weapon in her open palm. "Hn. Good. I'll see you at the gate at noon, then."

Before she could ask what he was talking about, Sasuke smirked and waved over his shoulder, disappearing from her view as silently as he snuck into her bedroom hours before.

"Well, I'll be damned," Kakashi whispered to himself before addressing the older man across from him. "As you can see, Hyūga-san, I don't think our meddling is needed any more."

Hiashi stared at the space where the ANBU with the hawk mask held her hand out, the vanishing image of his oldest daughter and the Uchiha child nearly pressed up against each other. Kakashi dismissed the kunoichi with a clearing of his throat and she left the two men alone in the room once more.

He was never one to be too involved with the love lives of his students (thankfully, all three of them were rather unlucky in the love department- that had only changed as of late) but this was a special case. Sasuke had come to him a few days ago, requesting the key to the old Uchiha documents. To say his curiosity was peaked was an understatement. No one, not even Sasuke, had been rummaging through those dusty scrolls since the compound had been cleaned and demolished.

After the massacre, Hiruzen had ordered the Uchiha compound to be cleaned and whatever possessions were tossed into a storage facility. He had the thought to ask Sasuke which items he wanted to keep, but didn't want to cause any more trauma to the boy's delicate mind. The years flew past, and the storage had been collecting dust and cobwebs until Tsunade got her hands on it. She had stumbled upon it when familiarizing herself with the building. After the initial sadness washed away, she had a few of the workers set out to get rid of the clothing and other nicknacks that could be recycled. It was a depressing yet satisfying feeling for her to see the mountain of toys get cleaned and sent off to the orphanage. Once that was done, she locked away the clan records and documents, jewelry and other heirlooms.

One dark eye watched as Sasuke shuffled through the papers, as if on auto-pilot and he couldn't blame the poor boy. Surrounded by relics of a past that had been ripped away from him would've brought any man to his knees. It was a time where Kakashi marveled at the stone face his genius student put on so well. Sasuke was much stronger, mentally, than people gave him credit for.

He'd almost been too distracted to see what scroll the younger man picked up. Almost. Noisy as he was, Kakashi felt no shame in peeking over the other's shoulder and managed to catch the words 'proper courting' and 'heir of noble clans' quick enough to pick up where that scroll was going.

Even if he doubted Sasuke's feelings for Hyūga Hinata, the small video that Hawk had just played for them from her protrol that morning was enough to squash all doubts.

Hiashi stood fluidly, breaking the silver haired Hokage from his musing with a soft sigh, "That is a relief. My hands are tied on matters such as these, especially with the council breathing down my neck about Hinata's deadline coming up. I can only hope that she is happy with this."

Kakashi grinned under his mask, "Hinata-chan is well protected with Sasuke. He may not look it but he's very protective."

Suddenly defensive of his daughter's battle prowess, the Hyūga Head frowned, "A decorated war veteran in her own right, Hinata needs no protection. It's her happiness that I hold to the utmost importance."

"Sasuke-kun, I have the Byakugan."

"I'm aware. That's why I have this blindfold," He spoke as if he was telling a child.

Her cheeks turned pink. "I can see through fabric."

A dark brow raised, "Ms. Hyūga, how absolutely scandalous of you. I'd say I'm surprised but honestly, I had a feeling you Hyūga's were closet perverts."

He chuckled when she moved closer to swipe his arm, "N-No, not like that!"

"That's a conversation for later."

"D-Definitely not."

"Promise you won't activate it." He ignored her statement while he held the blindfold up to her eyes. "Humor me?"

Hinata huffed, feeling her resolve crumble when she noticed the subtle pout on his lips. He'd never admit to using it against her, but after the first time he got away with persuading her to make something tomato based just with the look, he knew he would have to use it sooner or later. "Fine."

"It's not that bad," he joked, swiftly tying the purple cloth over her unamused eyes. "It's your favorite color."

She resisted the urge to roll her pupils behind the cloth and let Sasuke finish the knot. Once he was done, he stepped back and admired what he could see of her face, eyes staying a little too long on her lips. Now was not the time for those thoughts, so with a shake of his head, Sasuke wrapped his hand over hers, ignoring the warmth that spread in his body when he did so. For a second, he wondered if he should warn her about what he was about to do, but thought it would be better to just keep that to himself.

He had the decency to give her a heads up, though. "Hold on tight."

Pink lips parted, most likely to ask what exactly he was talking about, but the words morphed into a gasp when a warm hand was at her back and another gauze wrapped palm was hooking under her knees, effectively carrying her as if she weighed nothing. With nothing to grasp, Hinata swung her arms around his neck to steady herself against his chest. If she had an extra second to admire the muscles that were pressed to her, she would've but everything was on Sasuke's time today.

A second later and the wind was roughly tossing her hair behind them as Sasuke flew through the air. There was no way for her to tell which direction he was taking them so she didn't bother with the details. Instead, her focus was on not fainting with being so close to Uchiha Sasuke. He didn't seem phased at all, which only made her even more aware of her pitiful reaction to their contact.

She knew why her heart was beating just a bit faster, and why whenever she took a breath in, she couldn't help but catch the scent of his soap and why her mind was acutely aware of how the muscles in his arm rippled and how the way he breathed in and out ruffled her hair that was caught between them...

She knew exactly why.

But hiding her reaction to it all was a challenge in itself. Her deep blush did nothing to help her situation.

Nearing the ten minute mark, Sasuke suddenly descended and landed on the ground with the softest of touches. Had she been none the wiser, she would've assumed he floated down from the treetops. Letting Hinata down gently, he let his hand rest on her lower back for a few seconds longer than what was necessary before he moved to the front of her. If she noticed, he was glad she didn't comment.

"Do you know where we are?" The Uchiha asked with a small smirk, one hand reaching back to catch the end of the knot behind her head.

Her lips pouted and he restrained himself from smothering them with his own as she spoke, "S-Sasuke-kun, I'm not a fan of surprises..."

With an amused snort, the knot came loose slowly. "You're going to have to get used to that." Taking a step to the side, dark eyes watched as the two pearly orbs across from him blinked to take in her surroundings. "I happen to be fond of surprises."

"Woah," Hinata heard her voice say, although she was too busy taking in the scenery to acknowledge that she had indeed voiced her thoughts.

They were standing on top of a slim cascading waterfall, the clear water trickling down the rock of the mountain, under the stone that they were perched on. The small pound below was a sparkling aqua, fish of different colors dashing back and forth with purpose as the water continued on into a river. Surrounding the pond was miles and miles of lush grass, random patches of vibrant flowers scattered in small bunches. There were several orange and yellow specks flying around aimlessly, and it took her a minute to understand they were butterflies. A little ways from the bank of the small lake was a large blanket, a plastic bag sitting innocently on top of it next to another folded blanket.

"Wow, this view is amazing..." She said mostly to herself, but knew that he heard it anyway. His ears missed nothing. "I don't think I've been here before."

His head tilted to the side, eyes glued to her awestruck face. "I used to come here when I was a child. Since the Uchiha Clan was on the outskirts of the village, not many people ventured out this way. I doubt anyone knows of this." He felt a sense of satisfaction when she gazed up to him with a smile. "Come."

With another tug on her wrist, she was in his arms once again. About to tell him that it wasn't necessary to carry her, it only took another two seconds for Sasuke to lower her once again to the grass next to the blanket. Although adamant about not wearing the blindfold at first, her stomach was a bit unsettled from how fast he could move and was thankful she wore it on the way here. Traveling that quickly was something she was not used to in the slightest.

Hinata followed the last Uchiha's lead and sat on the blanket after removing her sandals while he rested his back against the tree behind them. There was silence as she took in the calm waters off to the side of them, ignorant of the dark eyes that were stuck on her form.

Clearing his throat quietly, Sasuke leaned up and grabbed the bag, taking out the containers of food that was inside. "Hm. Eat. You look tired."

Rubbing her pink cheeks, she averted her eyes to the food, noticing that it was a few of the things she had taught Sasuke some days ago. "Ah, do I really? Kimiko-san taught me a new healing technique. I didn't expect it to take so much chakra from me..." She trailed off when he handed her a pair of chopsticks.

Hearing her pause, Sasuke took the initiative to start eating. Her manners dictated her to wait for the male to eat before herself, a trait he learned early on that stuck with her from her etiquette training when she was being groomed to be the heiress. It was very old fashioned, but that was how the Hyūga were. If his clan was still around, there wasn't a doubt that they'd be any different.

They ate in comfortable silence until Hinata cleared her throat, placing a water bottle on the side of her. He glanced to her to show her that he was paying attention. "Lee-san has come back from his ANBU rotation in Ame so TenTen is having a party at her house tonight. She invited me to come..."

Just the thought of any prolonged social interaction with many people in a confined area made Sasuke want to vomit but he repressed showing his emotions on his face for now. Over the few days, Hinata had opened up to him in a lot of ways, and had mentioned that her late cousin's team had become close friends of hers since his death. In his rivals' stead, Lee had proclaimed himself Hinata's protector and TenTen was the mediator of sorts. After the war, he had limited encounters with the remaining members of Team Guy but every time Lee had crossed his path, he constantly challenged him to five hundred laps around the village.

He hummed around the rice still in his mouth as a sign for her to continue when she paused. Hinata looked off behind his shoulder before a light pink colored her cheeks, "I wanted to know if...you'd accompany me?"

The first answer that came to his mind was a hard no. Being around that many people took a lot of his patience. Not many people knew this, seeing as his best friend was Uzumaki Naruto, but Sasuke wasn't a "party person". He actively avoided the human population whenever it was his birthday. Holidays were out of the question. The last time he was in Konoha for Christmas, Naruto had been drunk enough to try and kiss him under the mistletoe shouting something about traditions.

But, he had come to a realization just then. There was no way he could tell Hyūga Hinata no. He was sure this would be a problem in the future but at this moment, it wasn't.

Sasuke knew he would regret agreeing, even if the smile she shot at him made his mind go blank for longer than he would've admitted.

"You're brooding," Hinata teased while she handed him a red cup of dark liquid.

The Uchiha gave her an expressionless stare before taking the cup. She made herself comfortable on the chair next to him. Although they were close in proximity, enough so that their knees were touching, neither noticed the lack of distance. Everyone else around them, however, picked up on it fairly quickly.

An hour ago, when the two dark haired introverts had waltzed in to TenTen's apartment, it seemed as if the world stopped spinning. All eyes were suddenly on them until Shino, the lifesaver that he was, smoothly engaged Hinata in conversation. Slowly, people went about their own business, but their gazes would wonder back to the two throughout the night. Both knew that showing up together was more of a deliberate move than a random coincidence. The people in this room were ninja, active or retired, and some of them even from clans of their own. Little power moves like this never went unnoticed.

As Hinata mingled with her friends, Sasuke stuck by her side. Not out of his own decision, more so because Hinata would politely bring him into the conversation from time to time. He acknowledged what she was doing but he had no interest in how the upcoming chunin exams were going or who's dating who of the thirty people who were gathered in the living room. When Ino had made a quick inference on why they were there together, he knew it was his que to find a dark corner. Without Naruto or Sakura there, no one would drag him to play some juvenile drinking game or try to force him to dance along to the up beat music playing.

Onyx eyes shifted from Hinata's face to the two hosts of the party. "Lee drinks now?"

She glanced to where he was looking, to see Konoha's Green Beast exuberantly telling some mission story with one of his legs slapped down on the wood table. TenTen came from the side of him with a folded fan, swatting his leg off her expensive oak coffee table. Hinata felt her lips curl, "Yes, he handles his sake much better now, but he doesn't go past two drinks."

"Two is his limit?"

Her face suddenly fell solem while she looked back at her own cup. "He has one for himself...and another for Neji-niisan. Nothing more than that."

Without meaning to, he had turned their light-hearted conversation into something heavy. Thankfully, Kiba chose that time to slide into the seat opposite of them, a red cup lowering from his lips. They didn't miss how his nose was crunched up as he sniffed the air around them. Hinata appeared to understand just what he was doing, though Sasuke had no clue.

The Inuzuka shifted his eyes from one dark haired nin to the other before breaking the tense atmosphere around them. "I knew you smelt a little different," he directed to his female teammate, ignoring how she bowed her head to hide her blush. "I just didn't put it together until now. So, what is this? You didn't tell me you were dating him."

"Kiba," Shino hissed as he seemingly materialized from behind him. "It's improper to ask such a question in this setting."

Brown eyes gazing around the room, Kiba mumbled behind the rim of his cup, "No one is even paying attention to us."

No one bothered to point out that Ino was staring at them with wide eyes from the kitchen while pretending to be interested in whatever Karui was saying to her. They didn't have to mention the other many pairs of eyes that "accidentally" stayed on their forms for a minute too long.

Kiba was already a little tipsy as it was so there wasn't much that could change his mind, even if he was wrong. So he had no shame in once again proding Hinata for an answer, not bothering to lower his naturally loud voice.

Sasuke felt his lips frown even deeper though he let his fiancee handle her own teammates. The dog boy was nearly as obnoxious as Naruto was, and just as noisy as Sakura. It didn't help that he could actually put two and two together, unlike the blonde Jinchūriki, even in his wasted state of mind. Thankfully, Shino seemed as disinterested in this conversation as Sasuke felt. Thinking back, he couldn't remember if the two of them had interacted outside of nods and grunts for greetings but he was positive that they would get along just fine.

"K-Kiba-kun, really, I-We can't discuss it much..." Hinata kept her voice quieter than usual while trying her best to steer her teammate onto a different topic. "How is the litter doing?"

"Does this have anything to do with your clan? Is he why you and Naruto broke up?" He tossed his cup behind him, Shino nimbly ducked to avoid it smacking his head, before grabbing onto Hinata's smaller hand. "You can tell us, ya know. We're your team. We've always been there for you. I just don't want you to feel like you have to keep this a secret. Me and Shino'll will knock anyone's head for ya!"

Midnight eyes zeroed in on the physical contact. If they noticed the decrease in volume from the other patrons of the party, none of the four commented on it. Kiba's voice levels always rose a notch or two when he was drinking and by the looks of it, she could guess that he had been drinking for quite some time already. Majority of the people in the apartment were now gazing at the odd bunch of teens huddled in the corner, whispers of their own swirling with rumors. Hinata heard her name mixed in with Naruto's and groaned. She could only imagine what was being said and hoped it didn't get back to her father.

Leaning in slightly to whisper, she patted his hand with her other. The action did not go unnoticed. "There's no scerets when it comes to you two, but please don't worry about it too much. We will make an announcement...when the time comes."

And with that, Hinata pulled her hand from his grip. She smiled thinly to her team before standing. Saying nothing, Sasuke stood next to her but didn't wait for her to make his way to the exit.

Pearl eyes followed the red and white fan as he left from the front door before turning back, "I'll see you guys later. Shino-kun, please make sure Kiba-kun doesn't drink anymore and gets home safely."

He didn't bother answering because as soon as he blinked that long curtain of dark hair was already crossing the threshold.

"You saw that too right?" Kiba asked, reaching over to grab the two forgotten cups. "They do look good together. Can't lie about that."

Shino said nothing, although he didn't have to. There was a silent agreement in the way he slid into the chair next to his intoxicated teammate.