Chapter 50-You

After deciding on one of the Ackamichi's higher end barbeques, the small group was led to a secluded booth on the second floor with Ino and Shikamaru on one side and Hinata and Sasuke on the other.

They placed their drink orders and when the waiter left, Shikamaru asked Sasuke about his recent mission.

"It was nothing I couldn't easily handle but quite frankly, I think Kakashi over exaggerated in giving it an A-Rank."

"Mmm. How so?"

"I can't give details you understand but suffice it to say it was nothing more than a simple territorial squabble between citizens of a certain high-ranking social class. It required diplomacy and finesse but in all honesty, I think a simple Chunin could have handled the mission just fine."

"Well you know how Kakashi-sensei is, he always has his reasons." Ino mused as the waiter returned with their drinks.

"The old man is bored and has nothing better to do, nothing more."

"S-Sasuke-kun!" Hinata admonished, her cheeks flushing red with the Uchiha turned cool, calculating eyes on her. "He is the Hokage—you shouldn't speak so informally of him; b-besides that, he was your sensei, have a l-little respect for the man."

Ino and Shikamaru gaped at the usually quiet heiress, in surprise. Yeah. The Uchiha's pride was definitely rubbing off on her.

For himself, Sasuke barely held back a smirk as he looked straight into her eyes, his own hardened gaze softening marginally. "I beg your pardon, My Lady, I didn't intend to offend your sensitivities." A glimmer of a teasing smile flashed in his eyes, eliciting a soft blush dusting across the Hyuuga's cheeks.

However, his sickening-sweet tone, left Hinata feeling a little ruffled; was he making fun of her? If he was, she wasn't playing into it, especially in front of Ino and Shikamaru. Therefore she bit back a snippy remark and quietly slid out of the booth. "Excuse me, I need a moment to freshen up." With that, she turned on her heel and left the table, leaving the Uchiha a little off-balance while his comrades looked at him and shook their heads.

"Really, Sasuke? You haven't been with her for more than a few hours of the night and the first thing you do is make fun of her?" Ino accused.

"What are you saying, Yamanaka?"

"That was unnecessary, is what I'm saying!" Her voice quieted and she leaned forward a bit so as not to be overheard by anyone else. "I know you two are trying to keep this thing between you a secret, okay? I get it! But that does not mean you have to 'cover up' by mocking her in public! She may trust you and gods know only know, Hinata doesn't trust anyone but more than that, she adores you so you need to think about that before you throw around your careless, biting remarks; she may accept that that's part of who you are but she deserves better and you know that."

Ino leaned back in her seat and Sasuke pondered her words for a moment before his shoulders sagged. "I understand and you're right, Ino. I just—I don't know how to act when I'm around her in public; it's…very different than when it's just me and her, know prying eyes, no judgments."

"I understand, Sasuke but just don't think about it so hard; there's nothing that says you can't still be you around her. Yeah, you may not be able to go falling all over yourself when she smiles at you but you can still be nice and understanding; no one can judge you for simple human decency."

Sasuke's eyes strayed towards the hallway where Hinata had gone and he stood to his feet. "Excuse me for a moment."

# # # #

Hinata stood in the womens' private sitting room that adjoined the powder room, staring at herself in the mirror. There were two doors—one that separated the sitting room from the ladies room and one that led out into the hall. Hinata had only thought to lock the one leading to the bathroom, in case anyone else had her idea of escaping for a moment of privacy; she didn't want to be disturbed at the moment as she struggled to gather her emotions. She felt several things, mainly confusion and anger at Sasuke's pointed joke at her expense.

She knew he hadn't meant to insult her—at least, she hoped he hadn't….but then, she realized in spite of all the time they'd spent together in the last five months, she really couldn't say she knew his personality at all.

She let out a groan. The snow white face paint did little to conceal the mired of emotions flickering across her features and if anything the layer of coal lining her eyes only proved to enhance their sadness as she caught her crimson lower lip between her teeth.

"This is ridiculous." He said to her reflection. "You're hiding out in the ladies sitting room feeling sorry for your wounded pride when you should be bursting with joy that your love has returned!"

The pale-eyed woman failed to notice the sound of the door to the hallway, opening and she didn't see the person who stepped inside, locking the door behind them.

It wasn't until about the middle of her second verbal tirade, that she caught a pair of onyx eyes in the mirror staring back at her and she let out a gasp and whirled around.

"Do you always make the habit of talking to yourself in powder rooms?"

"S-Sasuke-san!" She fumbled, cheeks flaming red with embarrassment that she'd been caught—how much had he heard?

He raised a dark brow at her. "'San'? are we seriously back to that Princess?"

Her cheeks flushed at his use of her nickname and she could feel herself trembling as he took a step further into the room.

"You've been locked in here for a while; Ino's worried and quite frankly, so am I."

"I—I j-just n-needed…"

"What? What did you need?" He was in front of her now and not for the first time that night, his hands ached to reach out and touch her.

Remembering what had originally driven her here, the blush faded from Hinata's cheeks and she turned away from him. "I needed a moment to myself."

"You're angry with me." It wasn't a question, he knew.

"If you know that then why did you come here?"

"Because I wasn't about to let you hide from me—not when I've spent nearly a week without you."

The tone of his voice softened and Hinata briefly closed her eyes, letting the rich baritone sound of it, wash over her.

Moonlit orbs fluttered open again. "You're trying to distract me."

His eyes smoldered and the classic arrogant smirk curved the corners of his mouth upwards. "Is it working?"

"You aren't playing fair, Uchiha-san."

That was a 'yes.'

"As long as I get what I want, playing fair or not is of little consequence to me."

His eyes were drawn to her slender neck and he marveled at the flawless perfection of her marble skin. Yes, the traditional white face paint she'd worn for the performance, added to it but he'd seen her without a lick of makeup so he already knew her skin was flawless.

Her hair had never been tied up before and he found it fascinating as it gave him a clear view of the back of her neck which was said to be the most beautiful and erotic place on a woman's body.

His heart dropped and heat surged through his veins as her head slowly turned and pale eyes raised to meet his.

"And what is it that you want?" Her voice spoke of innocence but her eyes screamed passion as she stared him down.

A violent churning within him set his body aflame as he let out a rugged breath and spoke one word.

"You."

Her lips parted with a gasp.

In the next second, he was hauling the pale-eyed siren against his chest, dipping her back and fitting his lips to hers in a punishing kiss.

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AND WE'VE HIT THE BIG 5 0! OMG! I know, I know, that was a perfect moment for some Citrusy intensity, but I'm trying to keep these chapters relatively short so that there are more of them to give you guys! Don't worry, the following chapter will pick up from here, I promise! Just stay tuned and bear with me, okay? You guys have been so incredibly awesome so far and I love you all! Review as always and don't feel bad if you want to review more than just one chapter, I won't mind! I'm not gonna think you're stalking, haha! I'm just happy to see you all enjoying this fic as much as I'm enjoying writing it! Xoxoxo!