Disclaimer : I do not own the characters or the story of Naruto.
A/N : My thanks again goes to all the wonderful reviewers who have taken the time to leave their encouraging words for me. Hence, here I am with a quicker than usual update. This chapter is going to be the last bit of fluff before things start to get intense. Please read and review if you enjoy. Thanks!
Chapter 3
Five months and two weeks till she says yes
Sasuke felt his eye twitch restlessly as he stared at the scene in front of him with a snarl of disgust on his lips. He watched the image of a short, stout man in an unnecessarily large chef hat projected onto the television screen, carelessly tossing some noodles in a strainer as if performing some complicated stunt, with a creepy grin on his face, making loud exclaims of how fun the whole activity was. The wild and utterly distracting hand gestures the man seemingly couldn't stop himself from making whenever his hand was free, was stopping him from activating his Sharingan and memorizing those disgraceful 'moves'. He would rather die a painful death than ever be seen copying those movements by anyone, even if the purpose of the whole undertaking had been to learn cooking. He quickly shut the television off when he saw the man sprinkling salt in a pot, letting the grains slide off his elbow from his fingers into the bubbling soup in a grand flourish. 'Tch, what a waste', he thought as he got up and made his way to Kakashi's kitchen.
A couple of hours later, he sat down at the dining table, crossing his arms, with a huff. Taking in the absolute mess that was the kitchen, he wondered once again why the hell he thought this would be a good idea. 'Right, for her', his mind supplied unhelpfully, as his thoughts drifted back to the sequence of events which had led to his current predicament, one he heavily regretted already. After the complete failure from a couple of weeks ago, he had realised that he was going to get nowhere if he continued to rely on his nonexistent conversational skills to win her affections. Hence, he had decided to change tact and make his interest and intentions clear through actions.
Surprisingly, it was Sai who had steered him in this direction when he had a short mission with the guy last week surveying an old, abandoned Akatsuki hideout. Apparently he had read in some book that in order to impress someone you are interested in, you could offer them gifts, preferably hand-made, something that they already liked. He had, of course, feigned disinterest in the pale guy's attempts at making idle conversation but this little tid-bit had given him an idea which had seemed brilliant at the time. But now, obviously, having made an attempt, he wondered why he would have taken advice from someone like Sai in the first place, who was arguably weirder than himself when it came to social interactions.
He had already invested all his free time the next few days, following her around yet again, to find out what things she liked that he could gift her. When he had figured out that she actually enjoyed miso ramen, having caught her going into Ichiraku's multiple times, he had been both glad at having figured out another key information about her and mildly unnerved as her obsession with the dish seemed to rival a certain blond's tastes. At first, he had thought she was doing so just to catch Naruto at one of his favorite places, adding to his misery, but he had been relieved to discover that her preferences for ramen went beyond her affections for him, after she had her lunch for five days straight at the same place, Naruto nowhere around to be seen.
All this, eventually, brought him to right now, making his first attempts at cooking in Kakashi's surprisingly pristine and well-stocked kitchen. He had never been one to cook before, he had always relied on others for it or simply went hungry. The few months that he had been back in the village, he had relied on rations given to him for his missions, simply buying his meals if he felt he had enough patience to deal with scared villagers or eating out with his team whenever he was dragged along by Naruto for 'team reunion nights', as he liked to call it. However, if the two hours were any indication, he didn't want to try to test his culinary skills ever again. His annoyance with the whole business had grown as big as the pile of discarded noodles, either too mushy or too undercooked, in the garbage bin.
He suddenly remembered the other dumb decision he had made when he heard the door bell ring twice in quick succession followed by irritatingly loud banging and screaming from the other side of the apartment door. He let out a sigh of annoyance, cursing himself for even considering inviting Naruto over as his taste tester cum test rat for his new 'hobby', let alone actually doing it. At the time, it had seemed like another great stroke of genius. Who better than the blond to experiment on? His friend had been more than happy to oblige with his request, loudly proclaiming that he always had time for more ramen. He stood up and made his way to the front door as the regrets kept piling on in his mind, preparing himself for what was sure to be an aggravating argument since he had nothing to offer the ever-hungry ramen-loving moron.
He yanked open the door, ready to spew out some sarcastic insults to make his disapproval of the loud banging and shouting clear, but found himself frozen, unable to speak as his eyes took in his guests before him. 'Why is she here?' he asked himself inwardly as he blankly stared at the blushing figure, slightly fidgeting, standing behind the garrish orange block that was the person he had actually invited. He continued to stare at her even when he heard Naruto start off with his complaints about taking too long to open the door. After a brief pause, the blond finally realising that his friend's attentions were diverted elsewhere, he started with his explanation for bringing along someone uninvited. "Ah, I brought Hina-chan along with me! She is the Ramen Queen of our village, after all! No one better to judge your ramen, dattebayo!" he said in his usual cheerful tone, completely unaware of the complications he had unwittingly created for his friend.
Sasuke, after hearing the explanation, snapped out of his initial shock at seeing her unexpectedly at his door, as he turned his eyes to Naruto and gave him his best death glare. He watched as the guy shrunk back, away from him, raising his hand to the back of his head, ruffling his hair, with a sheepish look on his face, chuckling to himself lightly. Hinata, obviously took that as her cue to try and calm the tense atmosphere, as her polite manners kicked in. Sasuke turned his eyes back to her as he saw her bow to him, blushing furiously, and heard her say when she straightened her frame and looked at him with a small, shy smile on her lips, "Good afternoon, Sasuke-kun. I would be honored to try what you have prepared, I am sure you did your best. Thank you for having me", she finished her greetings with another small bow. He stared at her blankly as he wondered how could he say no to her when she looked at him like that, asked of him so sweetly?
He felt his anger melt away at that gentle request, replying with a "Hn", as he turned back around and walked into the kitchen, presuming all parties would follow him in. He decided it would be best to be cautious and composed through this unexpected encounter, now that he had no way of getting out of this, as he felt his nerves starting to get frazzled as well as his heart picking up speed. He would keep his mouth shut this time around, he didn't want a repeat performance of the last time he tried talking to her, especially since they would have an audience this time, regardless of how clueless that guy might be. He glared again at Naruto for a few seconds as he watched the two enter the kitchen, taking in the glorious messy state it was in. While he stood leaning on the dining table with his arms crossed and closing his eyes he waited for the ruckus to start, all the while praying for patience to deal with it.
It didn't take long for Naruto to ask in his confusion, "What the hell happened here? Where is the ramen?" Sasuke opened his eyes to take in the frown marring the brows above the questioning blue eyes before shifting to the other pale set of concerned eyes, lips curved downwards, both set of eyes looking at him for answers. Feeling slightly self-conscious at the scrutiny of his failures in display, he turned his head sideways, taking his eyes off the two before closing them and answered the question, "In the trash." As soon as those words left him, he heard Naruto exclaim in his outrage, "Why would you do that?!" He replied once again, keeping his eyes closed as he felt the familiar prick of irritation starting to itch under his skin at the loud decibel, "The salt was too salty."
It was a few moments of blessed silence before it was interrupted rudely by the blond with his ringing burst of anger as he accused, "What does that even mean? I didn't even have lunch, you bastard! Just say you can't cook!" At that blatant insult of his abilities, regardless of how true or not it might be, Sasuke snapped his eyes at the guy accusing him and shot back with a scowl and glare, "Nobody asked for your opinion, dobe." He watched as the blond worked himself up, getting ready for another one of their arguments, glaring back at him before yelling out, "YOU asked for it. YOU invited me here for that", with a finger pointing at him accusingly, jabbing it in the air at the appropriate parts. Having nothing clever to shoot back at him with, Sasuke could only glare at him darkly, his scowl deepening, as he got up straight standing on his feet, arms still crossed defensively at his chest.
Both of their attentions were diverted to the side by the kitchen door when a small voice peeped out, "Please calm down, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke felt his face relax back to his usual blank look, his hands dropped to his sides, as he took the sight of her in. She had both hands raised, palms out in a pacifying gesture, a forced smile on her lips and eyes worried as well as slightly scared, clearly afraid of a fight breaking out between the two in the middle of the Hokage's kitchen, looking between the two friends to make sure the situation didn't go out of hand. His eyes turned back to his friend when he heard him say, "But Hina-chan.. I'm hungry", in a whine with a grimace on his face, clutching his now growling stomach, hunched forward. Sasuke couldn't help rolling his eyes at all the drama Naruto was capable of displaying, letting out a "Tch" in his displeasure, crossing his arms once again.
His eyes once again turned towards her as he heard her speak softly, "I could make lunch for you, Naruto-kun", with a bright blush on her cheeks, eyes turned down with a nervous smile on her face. He felt a stab of pain spread through his chest staring at her as her words and the meaning behind them sunk in. Just as quickly, the ache dissipated when she turned up her beautiful eyes to look at him suddenly and shyly added, "If it's alright with you, Sasuke-kun. We can have lunch together." He felt his heart start to beat rapidly as he drunk in the sight of her thirstily, memorizing the sight, the deep red blush on her cheeks contrasting with her pale skin, the slight shy smile, the pleading worried curve of his brows, and most importantly, the light in those soulful lilac eyes looking up at him. "Hn", he grunted giving his approval since that was all he was capable of in that moment as he diverted all his will power to try and keep his face straight, his emotions in check, forcing his eyes to look away from her.
"Really, Hina-chan? You're the best!" he heard Naruto say in obvious joy at the prospect of his hunger being satiated and then a meek, "You're welcome, Naruto-kun" came as the reply. He kept his eyes averted from the pair till he heard the soft shuffling sounds coming from the kitchen counter before turning them back on her, watching as she moved with ease, first clearing out the mess he had made before starting on lunch. He couldn't help himself from taking discrete glances at her, imprinting her movements, her gestures in his mind, completely blocking out the blabbering blond who was trying his best to start a conversation with him while he sat at the table, waiting in anticipation for his lunch to arrive. He tried his best to not make himself admiring her too obvious, keeping his head turned sideways, turning his eyes away from her every few seconds, sitting at the angle from Naruto at the table to hide his emotions. But when he caught her blowing gently on a spoon, stream surrounding her from the boiling pot giving a sheen to her slightly flushed skin, as she shifted a few strands of her hair from the side of the face, tucking them behind her ear with her fingers, sipping slowly from the spoon to taste the broth, he couldn't stop staring. The exquisitely gorgeous sight of her forced him to follow her around for a few more moments with his eyes as she walked back and forth through the kitchen. He swallowed his emotions down his suddenly dry throat before he forced himself to turn his gaze towards the other person in the room.
As soon as his eyes landed on the blond staring back at him with narrowed yet confused blue eyes, he felt his heart skip a beat and his hands starting to get sweaty at having been caught in the act. The breath he didn't realise he was holding in, rushed out of him silently in a sigh of relief as a soft "Lunch is ready" rang out in the room, managing to distract his friend from figuring out what exactly he had just witnessed. Sasuke deliberately kept his eyes away from her form, determined not to get caught again, as he felt her set out bowls of ramen and chopsticks for the three of them on the table. The delicious smell of miso soup and sesame oil reached his nose first as he looked down at his bowl taking in the simple dish.
He turned his attention at Naruto when he heard him let out a "Itadakimasu" before breaking his chopsticks and driving right into his bowl, slurping up the noodles hungrily in his usual nonchalant manner, letting out a sigh after gulping it down. "This is delicious, Hina-chan! Your cooking is always amazing!" he heard his friend exclaim cheerfully as the guy quickly shifted his attention back on his bowl, gulping down the contents as if he'd been starved for days. He reluctantly looked back at her to catch the blush coloring her cheeks creeping up her face as she sat down at the table, eyes averted sideways but a happy smile on her face at the high praise.
Suddenly her eyes turned up to look directly at him, catching him staring at her, as he felt taken aback. A couple of seconds later, he realised she was waiting for his opinion on the lunch she had made, as he took in the soft, curious look in her pale eyes. He stared back at her for a beat, memorizing her face once again, before looking back down at his bowl. Picking up his chopsticks slowly, he broke them apart and dipped them into the broth, swirling the noodles around the bowl. His heart raced in his excitement, feeling her eyes watching him, he brought the noodles up to his lips and skillfully slurped them into his mouth closing his eyes, chewing for a few seconds before gulping down. He was genuinely pleased with it, the noodles cooked perfectly, unlike his own attempts earlier, the miso broth light yet flavorful, the spring onions working well with it as garnish.
He wanted to tell her all of this, that he really enjoyed his first bite, that he was glad she decided to come along that day and the most important bit, that he loved her deeply, loved everything about her. However when opened his eyes, taking in those pearl eyes waiting patiently for him and then the curious blue eyes narrowed at him with noodles still hanging limply from his mouth, he felt his nerves getting the better of him and his heart squeeze painfully in his chest. He gazed away from the two, straightening his face into a blank expression, as he quietly muttered, "I've had better." As soon as those words slipped out, he knew he had fucked up, yet again. Reigning in his sudden urge to slap himself, he watched from the corner of his eye, Naruto's jaw hung loose as the noodles fell back down into his bowl while Hinata's face drooped down, hiding her eyes behind her bangs, dropping her head down to stare at her meal. He watched as she kept her face down, quietly breaking her chopsticks and starting her meal with a lowly muttered prayer. His chest tightened as each breath was getting progressively harder to take in, nervous panic creeping up on him.
He knew he should apologize or at least offer some words of comfort to her. He didn't even mean to say what he said, it just came out of him in a nervous tick. Naruto wasn't too happy with his choice of words either, muttering "Bastard" under his breath, if his glare was any indication. However he had his pride and a reputation to maintain. He knew if he opened his mouth now while he was panicked, he would only live to regret it and this time he wouldn't be as lucky as he had been last time. Hence, he clamped down on all emotions whirling around in his mind and decided to simply put all his focus onto finishing his lunch which was quickly turning out to be the only good thing about this afternoon.
The room was enveloped into an uneasy silence, with the occasional sounds of eating, after that last exchange. Sasuke kept his attention on his bowl, however once in a while, he felt the prickling of eyes looking at him and he couldn't help but look up after it happened for the fourth time in ten minutes. His heart skipped several beats in succession when he found out it was her who was staring at him, but her eyes widened as he caught her, before looking back down quickly, her bangs too short to hide the hot blush rising up to her face. He decided he had enjoyed the warmth he felt in his chest a moment ago at having her attention on him, so let her indulge in whatever game she had decided to play with him. He hid his eyes behind his own bangs, pretending as if nothing interesting had happened for him to be bothered by it, as he kept his focus on her, continuing his meal as before. He waited in eager anticipation, heart drumming in his chest, for what she would do next, to have her look at him willingly, wondering what new bewitching look she would grace him with.
He stared at her from behind his bangs, after what felt like forever to him, as she finally looked up at him, watching him eat unhurriedly. After a couple of seconds, he found himself spellbound as time slowed down around them, watching her eyes soften while gazing at him as a gentle smile slowly curved her lips upwards till it turned into a full grin, her face seemingly lightening up the whole room. He felt himself clenching his chopsticks harder in his fingers to hide the fact that his hands had started on a slight shake as a delightful shiver travelled down his spine spreading warmth in its wake through his entire being. The beauty, the warmth, the heartfelt joy of that smile, of her face, her hypnotizing eyes, all of it was just too much. Unable to keep his eyes on her any longer, he closed them, trying to breathe in a normal pace, enjoying the wave of satisfaction washing over him.
When he finally felt like himself again, he opened his eyes and was disappointed to find her no longer looking at him, back to focusing on her bowl. The moment she had unintentionally shared with him was already gone, nevertheless, this was just another nail in the coffin, hammering into his mind that he had to have her. After everything that had happened in the past, there was no one alive who could make him feel so much with such ease like she could. Maybe he was being selfish, he thought as he looked at Naruto for a brief moment before turning back to her. But he needed her in his life, if he was to have any hope of ever being whole again, to be able to actually live and not just exist.
After the tense lunch was over with, his two guests quickly said their goodbyes, only one of them thanking him for the meal, and left the apartment. As much of a failure his, this time actually coincidental, second attempt had been, he couldn't find himself to be upset at the encounter, certainly not with the images of her smiling happily up at him swirling in his mind. Instead of being discouraged at being unsuccessful yet again to make a good impression, he felt excited, invigorated for the next time he would see her. He had no idea why, and he wasn't going to start questioning his rarely encountered good fortunes, but she seemed not to be disturbed by his antisocial tendencies, proving once again in his mind that she was indeed perfect and she belonged with him. Not that he believed himself to be deserving, but have her he will. He decided he was feeling confident about his chances and the next time he sees her, he would confess his feelings for her, as a small smile turned his lips upwards while his muscles buzzed with adrenaline pumping through his veins. With that, he got dressed in his mission gear, securing his prized sword to his back, and left for the Hokage's tower to force the man to let him tag along with whatever top-secret mission he had set aside for the week.
A/N : I have received the same request from many reviewers now: will I write Hinata's POV. The answer is simply, yes. When the story is developed enough that it would be a challenge to write her(yes, it is going to get complicated). For now please enjoy angsty Sasuke while he is still just being funny, haha. Once again, thank you for the reviews, they give me immense joy. That's all. See you next time!