My One in a Million
Chapter Five:
Sasuke rolled over in bed and brought the pillow over his head. "Go away." He grumbled, his voice muffled and inaudible to the person knocking continuously on the door. The noise continued until eventually he had to stumble out of bed and open the door. "You have a key, don't you?" He rubbed his eyes and glared at the grinning blond on the other side.
"I know, I just didn't want to walk in on you in your underwear or something." Naruto crossed his fingers behind his head.
"You've seen me naked before." They'd gone to countless hot springs in the past. "What do you want?" He glared at the clock on the wall, ten to eight.
"What are you doing going to bed so early, anyway? The night's still young, it's barely eight PM!" Naruto grimaced at the thought of wasting time sleeping. "Team Kurenai just came back from a mission, they're having a gathering at the restaurant, wanna come?"
Sasuke left the door open and crossed the narrow, barren living room to his bed room. "I thought they were old enough to not need a team leader anymore."
"They don't, Kurenai isn't a ninja anymore, either. I just call'em that cause it's easier." Naruto followed uninvited. "Y'know, team Kurenai, team Gai; it's easier than having to remember everyone's names."
"You're just lazy." He grabbed a towel and rested his hands on his hips. "What do you call us, then?"
"Sasuke and Sakura chan. Our team's gone through so much shuffle that 'team kakashi' just doesn't cut it…" Naruto opened the fridge and peeked inside. "Just rice and tomatoes? Really?"
"Why am I even invited?" Sasuke pushed messy hair off his eyes.
"D'oh! Everyone's invited! C'mon, it'll be fun, we haven't had a meal together in a while." Naruto shut the fridge and poked around the gloomy apartment.
"We had lunch yesterday at Ichiraku's…" Sasuke grumbled, remembering the tasteless strings he had to consume.
"Err, uhh, I meant with Sakura chan and the others! Come oooon~ we're still young, let's celebrate the little things while we can!"
"Whatever, are you gonna stand there and watch me shower, too?"
The blonde shivered. "Ugh, no way! I'll just uhhh," He looked around for someplace to sit, but the apartment was bare of anything save a futon, a cupboard and a fridge. "Well, I'll just see you there! Okay? Please show up! There's no other restaurant, you can't miss it!"
"The same place used for the construction worker's dining hall, right?"
Naruto's eyes glittered. "That's the one! See ya!" he turned to leave, swiveled around at the door and smiled. "I'm glad you're coming, Sasuke, it's not been the same without you."
"Stop, you're making me blush." Sasuke chucked a heavy kunai pouch at the door but it slammed into the wood as it shut. A humorous laugh echoed in the hallway and dissolved into silence as the boy descended the stairs.
Once showered and dressed, Sasuke stood in front of the small mirror in the bathroom and wiped the fog with his palm. His eyes were slightly puffy, but no sharingan in sight. He sighed and exited the bathroom, relieved that his eyes had finally recovered from that last time he unleashed Susanuo.
How long has it been? Two weeks?
He'd been unable to deactivate sharingan all that time and it gave him a splitting headache; which he endured by using ice packs and sleep. He'd wished for some peace and quiet but with the construction noises going on, the headache had only gotten worse. Tsunade sent messengers to call him to attend the work she'd assigned him, and even showed up personally when he ignored the summons, but he pretended to be too busy to go, or pretended to be deep asleep that they eventually left him alone.
He knew that he wasn't really affective in the workforce and that they were treating him like any other criminal on parole, but they were obviously cutting him some slack because he didn't crush the whole village when he had the chance to. It irked him that not one of them actually bothered with a single thank you, though, but that displeasure had ebbed away as the ice pack numbed his thoughts.
Lately, he'd felt generally numb to everything; food tasted the same, sunshine on his skin felt just like rain or wind and conversation went through one ear and out the other. He didn't know why he was still alive anymore, with Madara's death the clan dwindled once more to a single number; him, and he didn't know what to do about it anymore. There were no more enemies- there was Kabuto, but he was Konoha's enemy more than his, although the next time he set eyes on the creep he would show him how big a mistake it was to make a puppet out of Uchiha Itachi's dead body. He had no business coming back to Konoha but he'd promised Naruto he would.
His family's property was one with the flat lands, their gravestones and houses turned into a single layer of dust. Even the underground catacombs have been collapsed onto themselves, destroying the one last piece of Uchiha legacy left.
He really was, in fact, the only remaining proof that the Uchiha clan had ever existed and one day, when he died, nobody would believe the tale of the Sharingan.
And it was one of the coldest realizations he'd ever had, because one couldn't change the erasing of their bloodline by working hard or waiting for a miracle.
It was simply over
Sighing, Sasuke grabbed his wallet and umbrella then shut the door behind him. The further he went down the stairs the harder it was to see, the lighting was old and broken and nobody bothered to fix it because it was nobody's property. The lighting remained dim up the street as well, until he reached the new buildings that were, unlike the oil lamps behind him, lit with bright electricity from the spanking new generator at the edge of town. At least now there would be the occasional vending machine hiding under an alleyway umbrella to save him from the long trip down to the only convenient store in the middle of town.
Rain was falling in torrents when he finally made it to the restaurant, the umbrella stand was full and when he pushed the door open he knew why; almost every boy and girl from his generation was here and then some. Half the dining hall was occupied while the other side remained deserted save a single table where sleep-deprived Jounin conversed quietly. There was team Gai, team Kurenai and team Asuma; even some teams he didn't know, sharing bottles and conversing excitedly, those still underage stole sips from their friend's glasses or held pitchers of juice. The noise went down a notch when he pushed through the doors, Sakura and Naruto were having a heated argument about something but they stopped and looked up at the cause of the sudden silence. Naruto waved for him to come over to their booth and then hissed at Sakura when she nudged him in the ribs with her elbow, conversation resumed when he paddled to his friend's table. Naruto and Sakura were occupying one side of the booth while in the other sat a black-haired boy he didn't know, hugging a large sake bottle and snoring softly with his head against the wall.
"Never mind Sai, he's a weak drinker, just sit down!" Naruto said with eyes that were slightly watery and face just a tad red; he had been drinking.
Sasuke eased into the booth and grabbed a pair of chopsticks to inspect the food, not really excited about any of the happenings around him.
"Weak? You've had him drink the whole bottle in ten seconds!" Sakura shrieked. "Even for you, that was low."
"What do you mean 'even for me'?" Naruto grimaced and pierced a wedge of potato from the pot boiling on the table between them and chomped on it. "Ouch! Hot hot hot!"
"Ugh, you never learn!" Sakura shoved the tip of a glass to his mouth. "Drink! It's cold water!"
So this is what it's like to be the third wheel.
Sasuke sighed and gathered some items from the pot into a plate for himself. He ate in silence and examined the dining hall with less interest in them than he had in his food, the taste was bland and the air smelled like alcohol, it was too noisy and he started to wonder why he even bothered to show up. Inuzuka and Aburame were sitting with Hyuuga Neji –he remembered him well, a capable fighter- and were picking fights with the tables around them. Ino, his ex-fan, and her team were sitting with people he didn't know, playing a drinking game and occasionally pitching into the other table's arguments or breaking up verbal fights. Some younger kids were pouring over some scrolls, he didn't know if it was ninjutsu or porn, but they were too preoccupied with it to notice their pot bubbling over and snuffing the flame.
If he ignored the fact that it his presence was ignored by almost everybody, it was almost relaxing to see so many people just enjoying themselves when the world was spinning out of control outside, living everyday of their youth to the fullest.
Hinata came around the kitchen counter with two bottles of sake in her arms, she planted one on Ino's table and approached him with the other. "Sasuke san, you made it!" She was obviously surprised that he had decided to show up.
He put the empty plate down. "Naruto begged me." Thankfully the boy was too busy talking to Sakura to argue otherwise. "What are we celebrating?"
She popped the bottle open and poured him a glass. "Life, maybe?" Her smile was unsure. "Kiba kun just suggested it randomly."
Sasuke pushed the sleeping boy with his hip and stretched his arm over the headrest to make room on the bench for her. "Sit down."
Hinata glanced back, her teammates were one minute away from outright brawling drunk, the other tables were either too full or deserted so she eventually sat at the edge of the seat, she'd aimed to sit as far away as possible but still ended up pressed against his side. She filled the glass in front of Naruto and the one in front of Sakura before flipping a clean glass from the tray and filling it up for him.
Sasuke accepted the glass and studied her openly.
Her cheeks pinked slightly but she didn't look up. "I never got the chance to thank you, Sasuke san."
"For what." He took a healthy swig of the drink.
Her eyes were wide. "F- For saving my sister." She whispered as if she didn't want others to hear her bring up the events of that day. "I- I hoped I would see you at the records library, but you never showed up. And then we were assigned the mission…"
For some reason, the knot he hadn't realized was squeezing his chest loosened slightly. He guessed it was the cold drink rolling down his throat. "What kind of mission was it?"
Her hair hid her expression when she leaned forward to refill Naruto's glass. "Just delivering a scroll."
So big a celebration for just a scroll delivery, he thought. The guy next to him shifted and rested his head on his shoulder, mumbling something about private parts and ink brushes. "Just who is this guy?" Sasuke pushed him away and felt no remorse when the boy's head hit the wall hard.
"He's Sai, he's part of our team." Sakura said quietly and took a sip of her drink.
"Since when?"
When she didn't answer, Naruto did. "Since you left to train with Orochimaru." The table went silent for an awkward moment. "What? It happened, you're here now! It's all cool, right?" Sakura's elbow dug into his ribs and her foot landed on his. "Ow!"
"So he's my replacement?" He shot the comatose boy a look through narrowed eyes, not angry. "The hair color is accurate but that's all the resemblance there is."
"Talking about resemblance, Konohamaru made this awesome jutsu with you and him doin-" Sakura's fist filled his mouth before he could speak further.
"Never mind! He's nothing like you!" Sakura sputtered and whispered angrily into Naruto's ears. It was obvious the pink-haired kunoichi was less comfortable around him than she let on. For someone who had proclaimed never ending love to him once upon a time, she pretended to be alright and casual but he could tell, she wanted to be anywhere else but here, in front of him with his sandals accidentally touching her toes. He never tried to talk it out with her, either; it was easier this way, one less person pretending to care about him and just getting in his way.
He didn't hate her, but he didn't love her either. Sakura was now, much like everything else, tasteless, colorless and nameless.
Sasuke tipped his glass to get the last drops before glancing down at the empty bottom, Hinata was deep in though with her fingers knotted tightly in her lap. He looked up at Sakura still grumbling at Naruto and then at the obviously uncomfortable girl next to him.
"Pass the bottle."
That startled her out of whatever trance she was in and she instantly resumed her duty of tipping the bottle to fill his glass. "Sorry."
"Don't apologize, you're not the hostess." He kicked Naruto's shins under the table on the pretence of crossing his legs, the blond thought it was just another affectionate pat from Sakura.
"Ah… Hai…" Hinata nodded and didn't hide the desperate looks she sent her teammates, hoping for them to clear up space for her on their table and save her from the awkward seat she was in.
Without prompt, the Inuzuka stumbled off his chair, paddled towards them and stood there glaring at him with a flushed face and a half-sneer. "Hey, Uchiha."
Hinata stood up to get between them, eyes wide. "Kiba kun…"
"Don't worry, I won't hit him." He said and shook his head like a wet dog. "Ugh, what did I want to say?"
"You're smashed." Sasuke said and put his glass down as not to spill it on his clothes if the boy attempted a fight.
"Ahah, tell me about it." He laughed, rubbed his eyes and then shouted suddenly. "Oh! I remember! Look, man, I'm sorry about before, alright?" He nodded, pleased.
"Tell me you didn't loose sleep over it." Sasuke shook his head and reached down to bring the glass back up to his mouth, the boy was too out of it to even attempt a serious punch.
"What's that mean?" he sniffled.
"Kiba kun, please sit down. He listened to your apology. Why don't you tell Neji-nii the rest of the story?" Hinata expertly convinced the boy to sit down and forget that line of thought, it worked like magic.
She sat back down next to him, pushed her hair back and watched the boiling contents of the pot with a worried expression. The noise in the hall picked up again after a while and Hinata refilled Naruto's glass quietly, her brows still knotted.
"Why'd you tell him that?"
Her lashes fluttered for an instance but she fought the urge to look up at him when they were sitting so close together. "H- He'd keep talking if I didn't."
"No, I mean why didn't you just tell him that I accepted his apology?"
"Did you?"
"That's not the point." He took a sip. "It's just what people normally say, isn't it?"
Her shoulders shrugged gently. "You didn't say that you accepted his apology… But you didn't say otherwise so I guess it's going to be okay…"
The conversation kind of drifted off from there, he watched the crowd grow tired and she sat there, thinking. "You're not drinking." Sasuke said finally, giving in to curiosity.
Her smile was forced. "U- Un… I don't like drinking much…"
"More for me, then." He finished his glass and pinched a clump of mushrooms with his chopsticks at the bottom of the bowl. "You look like you need it, though."
Her shoulders jumped in a stiff shrug.
"You don't like eating, too?"
Her smile was brief. "I- I'm not hungry right now…"
"Then why are you here?" it came out harsher than intended, so he added, "Because you work here?"
"I- I was here temporarily, actually, at least until Ino came back from her mission… My original post was in the Hokage tower because of…" Her hand made a stiff gesture. "Byagukan, it would be helpful if there was an attack…"
"Are they expecting an attack?"
She glanced up, lips pressed together and brows slightly knotted. "I'm not sure… But just in case something happened…" The unreadable color of her eyes held a surprisingly large amount of emotion. "Ne… Kiba kun was honest in his apology… He kept talking about it during the whole mission…" Her hair fanned his face when she looked away towards the boy in question. "He did kind of… Lose sleep over it."
"Why bother, we were never friends." He had to take his arm off the headrest to reach for the bottle. He filled his glass with the remaining amount of sake and shoved the empty bottle into the hands of the mumbling boy on his other side. He stretched his legs over the clear space on the table and sipped his drink comfortably.
Hinata watched him for a moment. "Well… We've been sent to a small village, the war wasn't merciful… We've seen terrible things and… He said he wanted to die peacefully, with no grudges against him."
He just smirked into his glass.
That seemed to confuse her. "Why is it funny?"
"It's not. It's childish." He shifted so that he was leaning forward; she edged back slightly to look him in the eye. "Why does it matter if people love you or hate you when you're dead? It wouldn't bring you back and it wouldn't make them any less miserable."
"W- Well, purposefully making others hate you is selfish, isn't it? If it's a mistake, apologizing is better, I think, then it wouldn't matter if you die later." She peeked up at him through long lashes and thick bangs.
Heat stirred in his stomach. "What if apologizing wasn't enough? What if they never forgive you?"
She blinked. "Maybe they will, later? Ev- Eventually? People can't be angry forever, ne?"
"What if they can?"
Her eyes searched his face. "We're not talking about Kiba kun anymore, are we?"
"Hypothetically." He started. "If there are people, say; everyone in the world, and they hate you, why is it so bad to die if you don't even know them?"
She gave that a moment of thought before answering. "I don't think dying is the problem… I think it's just going to be sad to go through life without having anyone that loves you."
"Love is overrated." He scoffed.
Her mouth twitched up slightly, as if she knew something he didn't, but she didn't voice her thoughts on the matter.
"Get a room, you two." A drunk Naruto giggled, making Hinata turn away to hide a deep blush. "That reminds me! Sakura chan, a hotel opened some blocks away~" That earned him a headlock and his face shifted from pink to sickly blue even as he continued to laugh and recite the hotel's menu. Sakura sputtered profanities that drowned in her glass as she sipped to forget the horrible images the giggling boy was proposing under her elbow.
Sasuke sat up and brushed creases out of his clothes, stating that he had to go home and attend to some important business. Hinata sat up to allow him to exit the booth and thanked him again for saving her sister's life with a quick bow.
"Don't mention it." He said quietly from a foot away, allowing her a moment to squirm and look everywhere but at him; her cheeks and nose a bright shade of pink. "Consider it my payback for the pasta."
Her face was beautiful when she looked up; eyes wide with surprise and glossy with unshed tears of embarrassment.
Notes: It's customary for the woman to pour alcohol for the man in Japan, but lately it's not so important, it seems.