My One in a Million

Chapter Ten:

"It's white and smooth and creamy." She said, peering down with a slight knot of the brow. "There's really no other way to describe it…"

"Taste it."

She blinked, confused. "B-But it's yours."

"They don't care as long as it disappears."

She glanced down at the object of interest in her palm. "The nutritionist probably put it here on purpose; rice pudding is a good source of energy." Dipping her small finger in the narrow container anyway, she gave her input on the taste. "Hmm… It's not too sweet. It almost tastes like rose water."

He was slightly annoyed. "I don't even know what rose water is." Convinced that it was safe, Sasuke reached over and accepted the small cup, pushed it into the handicapped fingers of his left hand and grabbed a plastic spoon with the other. "If I don't like it, you'll have to eat it all." At her timid consent, he shoveled a spoonful into his mouth and evaluated the taste.

It wasn't good, but it wasn't too bad, either.

She smiled after his third spoonful. "It should help with the nausea, ne?"

Whatever, he wasn't exactly fond of puddings. She convinced him that it would calm the urge to throw up between meals, and that's the only reason he would touch anything with 'fluffy' as the slogan on the label.

He'd been struggling for a few days with the unbearable pain in his stomach and chest, it didn't help that he kept tossing back whatever food he would put in almost right away. The doctors gave him medicine for that but it only made it worse. He had been cringing in pain when the Hyuuga walked in, learned of his situation and instantly proposed he take the small package from the discarded breakfast tray, saying that milk and rice made good stomach padding.

Halfway through the pudding his stomach finally registered the cool, calming contents and he could actually notice the relief. He would never admit it, but the pudding actually started tasting good when the bitterness in the back of his throat thinned out. "Why are you here so early?"

The girl had been busy changing the flowers, the crinkling of plastic would stop every time she spoke as if she couldn't focus on both at the same time. "I'm off for a while. The students finished their exams yesterday so there's not much to do at the academy until they are back."

"Summer vacation?"

"Just a break in the semester, summer vacation isn't until later." She sounded like she was smiling.

"Why aren't you spending your vacation with your family, then?" At her silence, he added. "Hanabi still out of it?"

A quiet sigh. "Yes… I had hoped…"

She had hoped that since he had awakened, her sister would, too. Well, if they both had the same illness, then the only thing the girl needed was to replenish her chakra. He had probably gone under because he had gotten dangerously low, low enough to skim the core, maybe. Hmm… maybe if someone gave her sister a kick-start, she would wake up. "Did you try giving her a chakra boost?"

"What do you mean?"

"Someone could give her some of his own chakra, you know… like a blood transfer."

The crumbling of plastic wrapping stopped momentarily. "Yes, I believe the medic-nin tried to do that but it never worked. They tried Blood transfers, too, and mind reading, spirit summoning and even some forbidden jutsu to exchange bodies, but none of that helped, so…"

All this for a little teenager? Why was, the great Uchiha Sasuke, was left to die in a spare bed in some corner of a hospital, then?

Let Hanabi try this heartburn, she'll wake up for sure.

He finished the pudding with some effort and plopped it onto the portable table. He hadn't moved all day but his back ached, so he fell back into the pillows and let his eyes flutter shut. "You keep saying 'they' like you don't belong with them anymore."

Hinata sat down in her chair once the flowers were in place, and studied her fingernails. "R- Really? I haven't noticed…"

His eyes opened but he could still see nothing but darkness. "Did you get married?"

"Eh? O- of course not! I mean… Not when you… I- I c- can't…"

Ooh? "Not when I'm what?"

"Y- You know… You n- never made it clear so…"

The ring? "Look, my head hurts enough as it is. Are you going to explain or not?" Let her do the talking, maybe he will figure something out…

"I'm sorry! I just… Um… You know when y- you gave me the ring? That night you didn't exactly say why, did you? J- Just some confusing things and I was upset I didn't really g- get it right away… I couldn't see you afterwards… And then the Sound nin attacked and you were injured… I couldn't bring it up when you were so sick…"

And then he fell into a coma. "Did I ever talk to Sakura? She has the impression that we argued…"

"You did… J-Just before you saw Hanabi and passed out, she t- tried to get you to go back to bed…"

"And you know this because…?"

"Your leg was hurt, I w- was helping you walk…"

Oh… It almost felt like it was coming back; the scent of antiseptic invading his nose, Hinata holding him up from one side while Sakura tugged on his other. "What did I say to her?"

She fidgeted, uncomfortable. "W- Well… It was private… I'd rather not…"

"Stop being so polite, it'll give the impression that you care." Suddenly, the hospital room zoomed away and he was in darkness, listening to Sakura's voice argue with him to go back to his bed so the poison wouldn't spread any faster. He'd accused her of pretending to care, she talked back in that annoying strained voice and when he finally snapped and admitted what he thought of her, she ran away crying.

"-come back naturally, okay?"

"What?" It was suddenly hard for him to catch his breath; he didn't really care about Sakura that much, but it was worrying to learn that he had, indeed, lost some important memories… This is bad… What if he had lost more vital pieces of information with no way of realizing it until it was too late?

"Are you o-okay? I- I was saying you should let it come naturally, it's not good to force it."

"Yeah…" He reached over for the bottle of water on the nightstand that always seemed to refill itself, and took a long swig. "It's coming back slowly…"

Hinata watched him for as long as it took for his labored breathing to ease out. "Ne… When you first woke up you said you couldn't remember well… um, maybe it means something?"

Thing is, he didn't remember anything involving a proposal, and every time he tried to recall having a conversation with her he'd end up thinking back on the girl in the field and the conversations he had with her, more pleasant, comforting conversations that are impossible to have when awake. Telling her that he wasn't too sure about his memories could give her a chance to fabricate this big lie about how he was in love with her and how she was already having little Uchiha babies and that they should get married before her crazy dad finds out and murders them in their sleep… So he decided to keep it to himself and wait it out. He wasn't a big fan of deceiving others because it involved too much planning with very little profit, but if he tells her 'no' right now and later recalls a worthwhile reason why he wanted to marry her, he would regret making a hasty decision.

And he hated regret more than anything.

"Why else would a man give a woman a ring, hm?" He started, deciding to walk the thin line until a clear answer surfaced. "I may not remember clearly now, but there's really no other meaning, is there?"

"Are you sure? I- I mean… We weren't exactly close…"

Hence the confusion… "It works both ways, you know. Just because I gave you a ring doesn't mean you're automatically married to me."

"A- Actually…"

A strange pressuring sensation closed around his lungs. "Actually? Actually what?"

She nibbled on her lower lip, causing him much anxiety because he couldn't see the reason for the delay. "W- Well… While you were asleep, a businessman proposed to me. I- I wasn't in a situation to get married, you know, with the village being rebuilt and the attack of the Sound and Hanabi being sick… I just couldn't. But he wouldn't take no for an answer so… I- I ."

He blinked, blind. "You told him you were already engaged…"

The rustling of clothes and more shifting in the seat. "W- Well, I didn't want to be sent to another village when so much was going on here! I- I thought if I told him, he would s- stop being persistent but before I knew it, the Hyuuga council heard…"

"I'm assuming that means the whole village knows, too?" At her silence, he asked. "You used my name to cheat your way out of it?"

"I- I d- didn't m- m- mean to! I'm so sorry! I keep telling everyone it's not true b- but it doesn't get through to them!" She sounded like she was about to cry. "Eventually my father let me take some time away from home… I live alone for now so it's a relief from all the talking but… What if they talk behind my back anyway?"

"They do." His voice was guarded, not giving any of his real thoughts a chance to show. "They're probably talking about us right now, wondering what we've been doing in a closed room for two hours."

"Eh?" Her voice shrank. "N- No! It's not true! Sasuke san we need to tell everyone it's a mistake!"

"Is it?"

Hinata froze, eyes wide.

Did the answer he desperately sought begin to show itself already? "You need to keep off annoying suitors, don't you? I happen to be the perfect candidate for that; people will think twice before making a move on Uchiha Sasuke's girl, don't you think? As for me, I've already proposed to you, so I must have been serious even if I don't remember it, consider this an engagement period that's long due, if you want." For some reason, the tension in his shoulders eased after he said that. "It's convenient; we don't have to go through with it all the way if you decide to change your mind." And with a lowered voice finished, "I know you're already in love with someone else."

Perfect.

All the chips were falling into place smoothly; he was engaged to her but not really, she would benefit from it because she needed an excuse to tell her family, and he was giving her the illusion that he cared about her enough to indulge her while in actuality he was just using her affection to help him recover.

He almost gave away how proud he was of himself at how calmly he handled it.

"I'm sorry." She said, startling him out of his inner celebrations. "I- I don't like deceiving others, especially my father he- he can see right through me."

Was she telling him no? "Who cares what he thinks? You're an adult, you can make your own decisions." Of course, he made his own decisions, too, and if he decided that she was a burden he would break the engagement without batting an eyelash.

"They- they are my family! I can't lie to them!"

Don't break the perfect plan, woman! Ugh, that's why he avoided girls so much… "Who said anything about lying? I'm serious about my end of the deal, it's up to you." She will think about it, and consider herself lucky to even stand in his shadow, and then agree to it in the end. She has to.

The buzz of the lights overhead and the quiet hum of medical machines was the only sound in the room for a long stretch of time. He had nearly slipped into a nap when she finally sat up and proceeded to gather her things.

"Where are you going?" He mumbled, not worried as much as checking if this was a dream or reality.

"I- I need to think… Is it okay if I a-answer you later?"

Hn, girls… "Sure." It didn't matter, he already knew the answer. He was too good of a deal to let slip away, any sane person would take the chance.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Sasuke san."

He didn't answer, waiting for the sound of the sliding door. When he was finally alone in his room, he sucked in a deep breath and let it go slowly as a ways to distract himself from the pulsing pain in his head and the ache in his back. He needed to get up and walk, but was too fatigued to even seriously consider it, which increased the pain of his back and alarmed him to the necessity of a stroll.

The door to his room slid open not five minutes later, breaking his concentration on the endless loop of pain VS lethargy; a pair of heels click-clacked into the room and towards his bed. The scent of hospital and generic shampoo wafted into his nose. "Good morning Sasuke kun! You've been up for a few days now, would you like to take a walk with me?"

He bit back a groan. "No, Sakura, I don't want to take a walk with you."

She hesitated, "Come on, you must be sore from sleeping on your back for so long." As if he hadn't said anything at all, she rolled the covers away and pushed the table to the side. She took a moment to examine his injuries before folding her arm around his, trying to find a safe area to hold while she helped him out of bed. "Sasuke kun, I know you don't feel like it, but you have to work hard to get your strength back."

He grudgingly let her pull him up to a sitting position, thinking that his uncooperative weight would stop her; she did it with startling ease. "Whatever you say." He was already wishing the quiet, timid one that spoke from a distance was here instead of this girl that spoke at full-volume into his sensitive ears.

Sakura led him out of the room to the quiet hallway and paused when he nearly tripped on the door frame, he had been obviously exhausted by then, but she managed to convince him to take five more steps than he'd liked. "We didn't even reach the door to the next room!" She watched him collapse on the stiff bench just two feet away from his room's nameplate and tried to steel her resolve against his labored breathing. Sakura shifted her weight, restlessness and brimming with energy. "What, you're not talking to me now?"

He seriously wanted to hit someone. "Why would you say that?"

Sakura pursed her lips. "I don't know… In the last few days you talked to everyone else more than I. It's alright if you just don't want to but… I mean, you're not still upset, are you?"

He tried to use his heavy breaths as an excuse to not answer. She waited, though, and eventually he had to give her something to chew on. "From what I heard, I hit my head hard. So I'm sure you'd understand if I said I'd forgotten all about it." He barely liked her nowadays, but she was Naruto's friend, and hanging around the boy meant having to tolerate her presence. It would be uncomfortable if he admitted that he didn't like her and then had to see her every day. Plus, he didn't want to go through all the shenanigans Naruto would undoubtedly try to pull to get him on good terms with her again, so life would be much, much easier if he appeared to have forgiven her.

"Really? You're not just saying it to dodge talking about it?"

He wanted to dodge talking about anything with this girl. "You're the doctor; find a way to fix it."

She pulled him up to walk again, to his great displeasure and pain. "Yes, yes, of course. You still can't see well, I guess?"

"Don't worry about it, it happens all the time when using the Mangekyou Sharingan." The last thing he wanted was Sakura or Tsunade messing around with his sensitive eyes when all he needed was rest.

"Oh, I see. I hope it gets better soon, I mean, you wouldn't be Sasuke kun if you didn't glare at me with the Sharingan, right?" She laughed at her own joke but her words were laced with dread. "By the way, where is Hinata chan? I didn't see her today."

He was sure there couldn't have been any more than a few minutes between Hinata leaving and Sakura barging into his room, but he played along. "You just missed her."

"Oh? Too bad, I wanted to have a chat with her…"

She didn't elaborate, but the nervous chakra emitting from her at such a close proximity was urging him to continue the conversation. Chatting with Sakura was the last thing he wanted to do, but if she was going to pester him about Hinata he might as well make things clear. "She said she needed to think about some things, so she left early. I'm sure a bride-to-be has important things to take care of."

Sakura stopped walking, making him stop as well because she was the only thing standing between him and the floor under the current amount of ankle pain. "So it's true? You and Hinata chan are really…?"

"Yes."

Sakura's voice was carefully controlled when she spoke her blessings. "Congratulations, I'm sure she's a nice girl."

"She is." Hinata had her good points, he was sure, but pointing them out now wasn't necessary because his main goal was to get rid of Sakura and if he got rid of Sakura, her annoying mob of tactless doctors wouldn't find anyone to back them up on their visits, the prodding and pulling and asking would stop and he would be able to catch some actual sleep. "Just don't tell anyone, she hadn't decided yet." Which was code name for: spread the news, girl, spread it like there's no tomorrow.

"Of course…"

His plan worked marvelously, the walk to the end of the hall and back to his room had been eerily quiet. The silence of the hallway was heavy and stifling, but he refused to yield under it. Hurting Sakura's feelings before he went into the coma must have been a good decision, because he could tell she was treading softly and not allowing her curiosity to get the best of her. He had this inkling that, more than being worried over him during his long sleep, everyone must have been relieved that he was out cold and unavailable. That way they didn't have to worry about him showing up to their gatherings or snatching Naruto from them on a daily basis. He'd been awake for days now, surely the news spread like wildfire, yet nobody even bothered to visit him for five minutes but the one girl who thought he wanted to marry her…

Life was a little lonely without Naruto…

"Sasuke kun, you didn't even touch your breakfast, did you?" Oh great, now that they were in his room she could clearly see his untouched food.

"I wasn't hungry."

"That's not good!" Her voice rose up a notch. "You have to eat and get better even if you don't feel hungry!" He rolled his eyes at the sound of the portable table being drawn to his bed. "The rice got a little cold, but the miso is still drinkable. Here." The rustle of plastic wrapping.

She's not… Is she?

"Sasuke kun, open wide!"

He let the frown take over. "I can feed myself."

"Okay… Can you use chopsticks?"

His hand was still weak and unstable, so he always reached for the spoon. "Of course I can use chopsticks, who do you think I am? I'm just not hungry."

"That walk should have helped your appetite, are you sure you don't feel like eating anything at all? All the time?" Without warning, her fingertips pressed lightly against the bottom of his breastbone where his sensitive stomach resided. "Do you feel any pain? Does your chest hurt?"

Her touch triggered a lurch of disgust and lightheadedness, he hid it well. "I'll eat when I feel like it. Now go away." He swatted her hand off and tugged on the sheets.

The girl huffed and put the utensils down to free her hands for the chore of checking the machines and the amount of fluid in the drip bag. "Alright, I'll be on call all day, so just push the button if you need anything."

He pretended to sleep but his stomach was too upset and his back still in too much pain to actually calm down enough to slip into a nap; to make it worse, his feet felt like someone was rolling a spiked pinwheel over them because of that unnecessarily long walk.

Her heels clicked away towards the door and slid it shut just as loudly as she had slid it open, in the aftermath of the resonating slam, there was no doubt about the lingering feelings he had for her.

Annoyance.

Simple and clear annoyance.

She was not a person he wanted to have around every day. When she was younger she had some good things about her, true, and for a while she was something close to a good friend. This Sakura, though, was an over-analyzing doctor with an obsessive compulsion to fix everything with her own hands. It annoyed him to no end that she had no faith in him, just like her tutor who had undoubtedly threw him in the far corner of the hospital so she wouldn't have to be reminded of his unchanging, depressing comatose state every day.

At least the Hokage had bigger breasts to compensate…

It had only been a few days, but he already missed having Naruto around, the boy was nice padding between him and the unreliable individuals who chose to flock around them for whatever reason.

Unfortunately, when he asked, he was told that the boy hadn't returned from his training at all, and that a message was sent for him to head to the village of the Rain the minute he returns from the secluded island in which he trained because it seemed like that village was on the verge of triggering another war.

So if Naruto hadn't been in the room, hadn't been in the village at all, what was it exactly that he remembered?

Why did he remember things he shouldn't have possibly witnessed, but forgot the things he had gone through well-awake?

Giving Hinata a ring, maybe he meant it, maybe he didn't… What else would it mean? The more he thought about it, the clearer it was that there couldn't be two answers.

There was something in her he thought was worth keeping, so he chose to keep her.

Right?

He was too proud to admit it, but there was a mysterious gravity about her that made him want to push her buttons and test her patience. She was convenient, yes, an easy target, definitely; but she was better than the other, fewer, options he had right now.

Even if he doubted his sanity, or if Hinata was using a mind-control genjutsu to plant fabricated memories in his head, Sakura wouldn't make a fuss over it if it wasn't true. It also felt too real to be just a memory, the freedom he felt when he dealt that last verbal blow to the pink haired medic, and the sharp cold of the ring in his palm as he waited in the snow…

But what about the reason for all of this; Hanabi?

No matter how many times he replayed it in his mind, he could only remember the series of events in an exact order of: Snake, pain, hallway, Hanabi, floor, dreamland.

Why did he save the girl? What could have possibly gone through his head for him to sacrifice his life to a Hyuuga girl he didn't even tolerate?

The answer was in his hand, but the puzzle in front of him refused to fit it into any of the gaps…

Sasuke was sure he did it because Hinata was crying and it annoyed him, he wasn't normally a sympathetic person and a crying girl didn't really trigger feelings of chivalry or affection; only discomfort.

But to knowingly throw away his life for her?

Unlikely so…

Did he perhaps talk to the little girl before it all went down?

Did the technique allowed him to communicate with her on some spiritual level?

Did she convince him to save her so her sister would stop crying?

Maybe if he met the girl he would remember…

Yeah… He should just try talking to the girl, even if she didn't hear him, maybe his memory will kick back into motion like it did when he tried to remember his argument with Sakura.

So now it was only a matter of getting his strength back.

And his eyes.

If would be meaningless if he survived such a fatal blow only to discover that his eyes have already passed their expiration date…