Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: I'm very sorry for this late update and thank you very much for supporting me and my story. You guys are the reason I'm still here.
3
Hinata immediately went on high alert the moment the door's knob started turning. She left the bed to stand on the side, ready to strike at any moment. She usually would never think he would harm her or anything but the last time she let her guard down around him, things hadn't gone pretty, at least for her.
A sigh escaped his lips at the sight of her standing so defensively at the side of the bed. The blanket and the open book indicated she was just in the bed until a few moments ago. He couldn't blame her though. She had a reason to be wary around him.
"What do you want... Wait! What are you doing?" She cried, startled as he started moving the blanket to the side and lying down, getting comfortable on her bed.
"A man sleeps with his wife." He explained, gently patting the space beside him, motioning for her to get in.
"I'm not your wife."
"You'll be, soon."
She was speechless, looking at him as if she was seeing a ghost. In her head, she wanted to ask if he was joking, but her throat couldn't utter a word. And somewhere in her head, she knew he wasn't. Sasuke never told jokes.
"Or you want me to carry you to the bed? That can be quite romantic." He mused, starting to get up and that move alone was enough to pull her out of her shock.
"No, don't come near me." She cried.
As if not hearing a word, he suddenly appeared in front of her. All she could do before being scooped into his arms was letting out a gasp. She tried to get up when he threw her on the bed, but he simply used his entire body to block all of her possible escape. She found herself trapped underneath him, unable to move an inch without touching him. Her face was red, and she was so embarrassed that she couldn't tell him to get off her although she desperately wanted to.
She saw his infamous smirk and was freaked out. "A-Are you g-going to r-rape me?" She stuttered out.
His smirk disappeared, replaced by a scowl. He stared at her, seemingly displeased but that didn't last long. He could never be mad at her for more than 3 minutes. He sighed and then rolled onto his back. He didn't look at her when he spoke. "Never."
He only turned his head to look at her when the mattress shifted under her weight. The sight of her on the bed, staring at him with her pearly eyes and her long hair cascading over her shoulders nearly took his breath away. He would probably never get over how beautiful she was. Even when they were in their 80s', he was sure he would still admire her beauty every day.
"No one is gonna believe your story." She said, referring to his so-called our love story. Maybe she knew how beautiful she was and was using it to make sure she had his full attention. "How could you rescue me from a rouge ninja when you can't even leave the village?"
"No worries." He assured her with a small smile. Not letting her have time to react, he quickly pulled her towards his body, a smirk on his lips upon hearing her muffled squeak. His chin rested on the top of her head and his fingers tangled into her hair. He could feel her face heated a little against his chest but gradually cooled down. She didn't protest, seemingly listening to his steady heartbeat.
"How?" She asked.
"I have my ways." And that was final. He wouldn't tell her anything more.
"They're all gonna know." She whispered into his chest.
"They'll know what we want them to know."
"We? I don't even..." She protested.
"Shhhh!" He hushed, putting a finger on her lips. "You know, I really want to kiss you right now." He said, changing the subject. Just as he expected, her face turned red almost immediately. His thumb gently caressed her lower lips as he stared at them. They never really kissed before. The last time his lips touched her, she lost consciousness almost immediately so he wouldn't consider it a real kiss. When they kissed, he wanted her to be conscious, to know that he was kissing her and he wanted tongue.
Those lips, plump, full, and soft and everything he desired. "Can I kiss you, Hinata?" He asked, eyes moving from her lips to her eyes.
"If I let you, can you allow me to go out? Still within the compound and accompanied by you." So she had thought it through before. She remembered he said that he could let her go out, still within the compound and accompanied by him.
If he wasn't sure if she was using her beauty for her advantage, he was now. And who could he blame but himself? He made it clear that he loved her more than anything.
"Deal." Before she could respond, he pressed his lips against her. He felt her soft lips against his. This was even better than his imagination.
His kiss was chaste at first but that didn't last long as his tongue suddenly slid into her mouth. He could tell she was surprised and couldn't help but smirk against her lips. His tongue found hers, entwining it. He gently bit her lower lips, earning a small squeak from her which he quickly swallowed.
His hand tangled into her hair, adjusting her head to have the best access to her mouth. She didn't know what to do so she just let him take the lead, receiving his bite and lick again and again. His arm wrapped around her small waist, pressing her body against his. She vaguely noticed that and found it so embarrassing but could do nothing to stop him. All she could focus on now was the feel of his lips moving so sensually against her.
He gently put his forehead on her once the kiss ended. Her eyes were still closed, her cheek flushed red and the way her chest rose up and down in rapid breath, it all just took his breath away. She was beautiful.
"Breath." He told her, his right hand gently caressing her red cheek.
Her eyes finally opened to look at him. Still embarrassed, she avoided looking at his eyes and chose to look down at his chest instead.
"Did you like it?" She timidly asked, never confident in her ability to please a man. She had never kissed anyone before and when she did, she really didn't know what to do.
"I did." He replied before leaning down for another kiss. Did she really not know how cute she was when she asked that question? His pant was getting tight and it was taking all of his willpower to not take her right now. He knew he needed to be patient, she was not ready yet but when it was getting so hard.
His thoughts were interrupted as her small hands cupped his face, stopping him from leaning down further to kiss her. At his confused look, she explained. "I said one kiss, Sasuke."
"Hn."
"If you want another, can you let me go out, still within the compound but without you for just 10 minutes?"
"Hn." He feigned contemplating, getting her hope up and then destroying it completely. He took the hand on his cheek and kissed her palm gently, a small smirk curving at the corner of his lips when she let out a small squeak. She tried to remove her hand but simply couldn't. Only then she noticed he had had her entire body against his, just a small movement was enough to create some unwanted friction. "I know what you're doing, Hinata." He said. "And it's not going to work."
She flinched but tried to hide it. Someone like him couldn't be easily fooled. Putting on a brave face, she whispered. "I'm going to win."
He loved her, that's her only advantage over him and she was going to use that.
"Me too." Was his only reply.
He loved it when she challenged him. After all, it would be boring if she didn't.
The Hokage had summoned him, probably for a mission. Sasuke discreetly sighed, wondering if this time he would have to find a lost cat or escort an old lady to the market. He had been doing these kinds of missions for nearly two years and this would probably be the first time he didn't mind doing it. C and D-ranked missions didn't require him to leave the village and they usually only took him half a day to finish, which was exactly what he needed right now. The rest of the day would be spent with Hinata and he couldn't be looking forward to it more.
Sasuke couldn't believe there would be a day where he would happily doing C and D-ranked missions, but life was full of surprises. Falling in love with Hinata was not one of them, but having to lock her in a room at the Uchiha Compound definitely was.
"Oh, Sasuke-kun! Hey!"
A faint scowl appeared on his face at the voice. Only one person he knew had that cheerful voice that until this day still annoyed him sometimes.
"Sakura." He greeted, didn't even turn back to acknowledge her for he knew she would eventually catch up with him. Soon enough her soft footsteps were synced with him.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, undeterred by his nonchalant attitude.
"Kakashi summoned me, probably for a mission."
"Oh, me too." She peered at him, green eyes full of hope. "Maybe it's a mission for both of us."
"Sakura." He sighed, didn't even try to hide the annoyance in his voice. "You know I only do C and D-ranked missions."
"But it's been two years, surely Kakashi-sensei would soon remove that punishment. And it could be today."
She could be right. He thought. His punishment included not leaving the village and only doing C and D-ranked missions for two years, and it's indeed had been two years. His brain started to work on different scenarios as worry began to creep in, though on the outside he looked completely calm. He couldn't leave the village for more than a day because Hinata couldn't be left alone.
"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" Sakura's slightly raised voice pulled him out of his thoughts. His eyes met her worried ones as he struggled to remember what she was saying but came up with nothing. He wasn't listening, always distracted when it came to Hinata.
"Sorry, what are you saying?" He asked.
She lapsed into silence for a moment before breaking it with a bitter chuckle. "You're thinking about Hinata, aren't you?" The girl didn't need to look to know she had his full attention now. She could feel his gaze on her, tense and heavy. Ignoring it, she continued. "Why are you still here, Sasuke-kun?"
"What do you mean?" He asked though had already had a vague idea of what she was talking about. Although he hadn't told anyone or admit to anyone that he liked Hinata, he thought some had already figured it out on their own, especially Sakura.
"The moment Hinata went missing, you should have been the first person to join her searching team. No, you would have gone to search for her on your own, there's no need to join a team. But now you're still here, acting as if nothing happened. So why, Sasuke-kun? Why are you still here?"
"I'm not allowed to leave the village."
"As if you cared about that! If you want to leave, no one can stop you."
He stopped on his track, allowing Sakura to stand in front of him and demand an answer. She was sharp but it's not like he didn't expect this. Working his facial muscles to create a pained expression, he avoided her eyes by looking to the side. His jaw clenched visibly, making sure that she could see and feel what he wanted her to.
"She's marrying to the Kazekage, there is nothing I could do about that."
"Sasuke-kun, you..."
"I know what you're trying to say. That I'm not one to give up easily, huh? And I'm not. I've asked her father for her hand and when he said no, I turned to her, begging her to reconsider this marriage but do you know what she said? She told me to give you a chance." He lifted his pocketed hand to his face, feigning to be in pain while hiding a smirk when he heard her gasp.
"Sasuke-kun, what happened to your hand?" She grabbed his bandaged hand, quickly assessing the injury. "Let me heal you."
"When I heard about her missing, I nearly went insane." He said, watching as she unwound his bandage and let her green chakra cover his hand. "But I need to move on, and I trust Naruto and her teammates to find her."
"Sasuke-kun, I..."
No, that's not enough. She's not convinced enough.
"But I guess you already know that I can't just do nothing while Hinata's missing." He feigned a depressing sigh. "I've sent my summons, the smaller ones, to look for any traits of hers. Kumo is my primary suspect. They've tried to kidnap Hinata when she was little."
"She would be touched if she knew..." Sakura whispered, looking at him with eyes full of emotions.
"I hope so." And she would be because this would be the love story of how the Hyuuga Heiress fell in love with him. A love story that he would tell everyone, even their children.
Yes, his acting was perfect.
As expected, his mission was a C-ranked one: escorting a rich old lady to the market as she didn't feel safe going to a crowded place alone. It's quite convenient though as he needed to go to the market to buy some food anyway.
Sakura seemed disappointed but didn't say anything. He suspected that Kakashi had comforted her once he left. He didn't know what the man told her but he swore he would kill the man if he promised to arrange a mission for them together.
So far everything had gone exactly as he planned. People were quick to assume that Hinata was kidnapped for Byakugan and a team consisted of Naruto, Kiba, and Shino was sent out to search for her. It's such an irony that she was right in the village. Shikamaru was currently doing a long mission in Kiri, which was a good thing because he was so smart that if he was here, he definitely would figure out something.
He even had Sakura's help, not literally though. Telling her a bit about his made-up search of Hinata in Kumo could certainly help a lot later. If someone were to question his story a.k.a his and Hinata've love story, she would definitely come and start spilling out everything about how he had secretly sent out several summons to look for Hinata, and that coming out from the apprentice of the Fifth, would make his story sound more believable.
"That's a lot of food." The old lady commented, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"I eat a lot." He replied, continuing to put more vegetables in the bag. He needed to feed 2 people after all.
"I'm surprised that you cook." She said. "Most young people prefer to eat out."
Not all. He thought. Hinata loved cooking and to impress her, he had put a lot of effort into learning how to cook. She had tasted his cooking a few times and said that it's decent and he still had a lot to improve.
"What about crabs?" She suggested, stopping in front of a stall selling seafood. "They're a great source of protein."
"She doesn't like crabs." He blurted out and when was met with a confused look from the woman, he cursed under his breath.
"So you're trying to impress a girl?" She asked, a mischievous smile on her lips.
"It's not your business."
"Oh, it's not." She agreed. "But I'm used to be a young pretty girl and I think I know at least one or two things about how to court a girl."
Now she had his attention. She tried to hide her grin but failed miserably. "So tell me about her."
She's got a point. He thought. After being considered a very attractive man by many women and spending two years being her friends and still couldn't make her fall in love with him, Sasuke started to think perhaps he needed advice. Maybe this old woman can help him. Old people don't get old by being stupid. But the sly grin on her lips was making him very uncomfortable. Narrowing his eyes at her and pondering her offer for a few more seconds, he finally gave in. "She loves cooking..." He sighed, wondering if he was going to regret it later.
Even if he did, it's still a small cost to pay for a chance to make her fall in love with him. And as he had said, he would do anything to make that happen.