DISCLAIMER: Watched Shippuden for the first time a couple of months ago. I miss these characters... Nope, not watching Boruto.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
When – and if ever – Sasuke thought of the future, it was always the same scenario. Him, in this house, by himself. Maybe with a pet or two. Most likely a cat. He liked cats. Whenever he would get bored, he could always just fly off to Bora-Bora or the Maldives. Getting laid was never a problem. So, finding a companion would be easy. He supposed that was okay. All his friends would have been married with children already.
Sasuke took a little detour and got himself a kid first before… well, before Hinata. And therein laid his dilemma. If someone asked him if he was planning of settling down with someone, he would deny it vehemently. Fuck no, would have been his answer.
So why then did it feel like he was sucker-punched when Hinata said that they were not getting married?
His musings were interrupted by a tentative knock. It was Hinata.
"She's sleeping now," she said, standing next to him on the sink.
"Thanks," Sasuke mumbled.
She wiped dry the dishes that he rinsed off. If she thought it weird that Sasuke did not use the dishwasher, she never said anything.
"Didn't think I own this many cutlery," he commented after a few moments of silence.
"You had a lot of guests," Hinata pointed out.
"Yeah, but we ordered pizza. Who even uses a knife and fork for pizza?" he griped. Hinata just giggled. "My mother, sure. But proper table manners are ingrained in her or something. Neji, though. That was a revelation."
Hinata burst out laughing.
Lunch was awkward. Everyone stayed. Much to Sasuke's surprise and dismay. His parents occupied one end of the table while the Hyuugas were on the other end. Fugaku spent the whole time glaring at Hiashi and Miyuki who were extra affectionate with each other. Sasuke suspected it was because of the toy the Hyuuga bought her.
"Sorry about my father," he mumbled as he finished with the dishes. He leaned against the sink and watched Hinata. "He's such a douchebag."
"It's okay. He was just jealous, I think."
"Jealous?" Sasuke asked incredulously.
Hinata smiled. "Of Miyuki-chan and my father."
"He's jealous." Sasuke still could not wrap his head around that.
"I think so," she answered, getting the kettle ready. "Tea?"
"Yeah, thanks." Sasuke watched as Hinata prepared tea and quietly absorbed the unprecedented news. Hinata noticed it. Heck, she probably could hear his thoughts.
"Is it that hard to believe?" she asked, chuckling.
"Well, yeah. This is my father we're talking about. He's been so against Miyuki from the very beginning."
"People change," Hinata shrugged.
They discussed it some more as they took their tea to the living room. Hinata recounted the instances she thought were signs that Fugaku was, without a doubt, jealous of Miyuki and Hiashi's closeness. Sasuke scoffed at each one, pointing out that his father was just being his usual assholery self. He was proven wrong, of course. A delivery arrived at midnight. Sasuke stared at the note in his hand, flabbergasted: Do not show this to Miyuki until I get there. From her REAL grandpa. He looked up, eye twitching, at the monstrosity before him. There was now an inflatable bounce castle on his driveway. And Gaara's already bouncing around inside it.
xXx
Miyuki was absolutely thrilled, of course. What five-year old wouldn't be? She didn't immediately go off running excitedly toward Fugaku, so that was a relief. It would have been alarming if she started warming up to the old man the moment he showed her that monstrosity. No, it took Fugaku a giant trampoline ("I am not having that in my driveway, too!" Sasuke complained) and an endless flow of toys before Miyuki so as much smiled in his direction. Sasuke was very proud.
Things became easy after that. Whenever he wanted a break, he could now ask his mother to babysit. He didn't before because of Fugaku's animosity, and he didn't want to expose Miyuki to that kind of toxic environment. Of course, Fugaku was still an asshole. Just not with Miyuki anymore.
"What." Fugaku barked without looking up from his computer monitor.
"Is Mother free tomorrow?" Sasuke asked, trying to stay patient. He could just go ask his mother directly, but Fugaku insisted that he was to be consulted first. Apparently, they sometimes go on impromptu date nights.
"Why?"
Sasuke thought the reason why his father insisted to be consulted first was because he wanted to know Sasuke's whereabouts. He sighed before answering, "I'm taking Hinata out."
Fugaku leaned back on his chair and regarded Sasuke shrewdly. "Are you serious about that girl?"
"It's none of your business."
"It is. You got yourself involved with that girl from that family. If it's serious, fine. Do whatever you want. If it's not, I must know if it's going to bite us in the ass later. Our clan is not going to suffer because of your lack of foresight."
"Let me know if I can drop Miyuki off tomorrow afternoon," Sasuke said curtly, leaving his father's office without bowing.
He wondered if his father and Hyuuga Hiashi had a chat recently. Fugaku has never been interested in his relationship status before. That bit about their clan's welfare was bullshit. What could the Hyuuga do against the Uchiha, after all. He told Hinata as much during their date. She did not seem concerned about Fugaku's meddling.
"Maybe he's just being a typical father," Hinata shrugged.
"I don't know what a typical father is," Sasuke said, glancing at the splendor that was Tokyo at night.
"Well," Hinata explained gently, "you are their only son left. They would want to see you get married and have a family of your own. They adore Miyuki-chan, of course, but… maybe they expect you to have a son that will carry your name and be your clan's legacy or something."
"Regardless of whether I have a son or not someday, Miyuki is my heir." Sasuke said with conviction.
His eyes strayed back to Hinata. He could not seem to keep his eyes off her. He did not think it was because she dressed up for their date. He also stared at her a lot when she was wearing those baggy sweaters and sweatpants and not having any makeup on her face. He reached for her hand.
"Speaking of someday," Sasuke muttered, staring at their entwined hands. "Shit, I don't know how to start…"
"W-what is it?" Hinata asked in concern.
"It's nothing serious," he assured. "Well, depends on your definition of serious." Sasuke became quiet. The silence between them stretched for a few moments as he gathered his thoughts. Hinata waited patiently for him to continue. "You are it for me."
"E-eh?"
"There's no one else for me. It's you. We get married or not, I'm in this 100%. We get a kid or not, I'm still here 100%."
Hinata blushed deeply and did nothing but stare at him in utter shock. Sasuke was glad they were in the private room of his favorite high-end restaurant. Otherwise, he would not have said what he just said. Fuck, this is so embarrassing. He resisted the urge to bang his head on the table.
"U-uhm…" Hinata mumbled, stroking Sasuke's hand. "I… I'm not rejecting you or anything. B-but, isn't this… a little too fast?"
"Of course!" Sasuke agreed. "I mean, yeah, you're right. Absolutely. I'm just, you know, laying it all out in the open. I'm not gonna make you do anything you don't want to do."
"So… are you – you're not, right? Proposing?" Hinata asked. It was Sasuke's turn to be dumbstruck. "Oh my, goodness. I'm s-sorry. I don't know h-how to do this."
"Me, either," Sasuke chuckled. "I'm not proposing right now, though."
Hinata sighed in relief. "That's… good to know. I mean, this is only our second date."
"Oh, no. You're keeping count," he said teasingly, kissing her hand. "I'm in trouble. I better up my game."
Hinata smiled softly. "Really, though. I thought you were going to propose. I almost had a panic attack."
"Hey, it's okay even if we don't ever get married. I'm not a fan of marriage, either. Lots of people don't get married these days. Just look at the divorce rates. In fact –,"
"Sasuke."
He stopped his rambling and looked at Hinata. "Yeah?"
"I want to marry you," she said, blushing fiercely. Sasuke swore he stopped breathing. "Someday. Just not anytime soon."
Sasuke swallowed past the lump in his throat before nodding. "I agree. When we're both ready then."
He lifted his glass of wine and took a sip. She wants to marry me. Me. Of all people. Sasuke chuckled. He was feeling a little giddy and he only had a sip of wine. Hinata looked like she was also a bit giddy, even though she did not drink wine.
"That's… that's okay, right?"
"Of course, it is. We haven't been dating for long, only gone out for a couple of dates. You still have a lot of things you want to do." And I still have a lot of growing up to do, Sasuke added to himself.
"Yes," Hinata nodded excitedly. "I want to travel around the world. See the aurora borealis, the Grand Canyon, go backpacking across Europe, see a Great White Shark."
"You want to see a Great White Shark?" Sasuke asked in amusement.
"Who wouldn't?"
"Right. Everyone wants to see a man-eating animal 'cause they're so cute,"
Hinata pouted. She was so cute that Sasuke had to exercise maximum restraint to stop himself from grabbing her and kissing her senseless. "You're teasing me."
"Sorry. You should do it, then."
"Eh?"
"Go. See the world. And when you come back, maybe we can talk about this again."
"Really? You'll let me do that?"
"You don't need my permission to do anything. Of course, I want to be there with you. But, you know, responsibilities – Miyuki, the company. Anyway, I've had my fun. It's your time to have yours."
Hinata smiled so bright that it put the night view of Tokyo to shame. She stood up and went around the table to Sasuke. "Thank you, Sasuke," she muttered softly, bending down and kissing him on the lips.
We should do this more often, he thought as he deepened their kiss. After what seemed like hours, they pulled apart and just stared smilingly at each other.
To say that Sasuke was ecstatic would be an understatement. He spent the whole drive to Hinata's cousin's house grinning like a fool while he teased her about the places she wanted to visit. They were discussing whether Mexico or South Africa was the best place to spot a Great White Shark when Hinata remembered something.
"Oh, that's right. Gaara's leaving soon. He's going to Africa, I think? Maybe I should go with him."
Unbidden, the image of Hinata and Gaara came to mind. They were laughing as their plane flew off into the sunset. And just like that, the smile on Sasuke's face evaporated faster than anything else. "Excuse me, what?"
April 18, 2020 – Well, this is fast. Fast for me, lol! I guess writing every day helps. Even if it's like, one sentence a day (on bad days it's one word per day). It really helps. Apologies for the mistakes, though.
Thanks again for the reviews and the support. Stay home. Stay safe. Wash your hands. Social distancing! This, too, shall pass.