CHAPTER 40

"Hinata."

The little woman snapped out of her thoughts to look up at her boyfriend when he called her.

"You're spacing out again."

"A-Am I? I'm sorry Sasuke-kun."

The pair was walking in a park after having dinner at a sushi bar in the city. Sasuke found it strange that Hinata had recently begun insisting on going out to the city to eat instead of cooking at his apartment. He originally assumed that it was due to certain cravings that she had, but there was no ostensible pattern to the food that she suggested eating. One day they found themselves in an okonomiyaki restaurant, another day they were in a ramen restaurant, and today they were in a sushi bar.

She even began to suggest going out on some weekends to all sorts of seemingly random locations. The places ranged from beaches to museums.

And then sometimes they would go out for a walk at night, and Hinata would do this thing where she would look up in the sky and walk with her hands behind her back without saying a word to him.

Sasuke decided that this had gone on for long enough, so he stopped her in the middle of the path this time and intertwined their fingers. When she did not protest, he slowly pulled her in towards him and tilted her chin up with his fingers.

"Tell me what's been bothering you," he said.

Hinata let out a forced smile and shook her head. "N-Nothing's wrong, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke's hand dropped to his side as he opted to stare her down, strongly conveying his doubt through his eyes. Finally, Hinata relented and leaned in to give him a tight hug. Her voice was shaky when it came out. "I…I was just t-thinking that you would be leaving s-soon…"

Sasuke sighed and wrapped his arms around her back. They had had this conversation a month ago, but back then Hinata seemed more excited for him than depressed. "You don't want me to go?"

There was a pause, where Hinata seemed to be thinking hard about what to say, before she finally opened her mouth and spoke her mind, "Ano…I…I told myself that I would be okay with it."

"But?"

"B-But I don't think I can get over…you…"

Sasuke pulled away to look at her properly. She refused to meet his gaze, but he could see from her sparkling pearlescent eyes that tears were threatening to spill over. For the first time in a long while, her lips were turned downwards to form a pout.

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll…want to find someone else when you are overseas, r-right?"

And now it all made sense to Sasuke. The way Hinata started putting in extra effort into dressing up before asking him how she looked; and her recent odd obsession with trying new things and going out. How could he not have realised?

Sasuke was so stunned by this revelation that he knew his words would fail him so he leaned down to kiss her deeply. They had never done anything in public apart from holding hands as neither of them was big on publicly displaying their affection, but the problem that had just been raised was one that called for exceptional measures. Hinata's hands went up to his hair, and Sasuke shivered when her fingers slid down to stroke his nape. Meanwhile, he had one hand wrapped around her waist and another cupping her face.

When they broke apart, he looked down at Hinata's dazed expression and smiled. His thumb went to the corner of her lips to clean up a slight lipstick smudge.

"Why do you think I will want that?" he said.

Hinata averted his sharp gaze nervously. "Y-You're still young… I thought you would want to d-date others when you travelled."

Sasuke sighed and brought her closer to him again by her shoulders. "Hinata, don't be ridiculous. That's not happening."

"Everyone says that…"

He began to stroke her head. "Are you worried I'll cheat on you if we stay together?"

"N-No…"

"Then are you worried that I'll fall for someone else?"

The pause told Sasuke what he needed to know. "Ah. So that's your concern," he remarked pointedly. Hinata buried her face in his chest, feeling ashamed to be called out for harbouring such a thought.

"You s-stopped…touching me after that last time… I thought maybe…"

Maybe I wasn't good enough.

Maybe soon you'll get tired of me.

Her face started to turn beet red and her hands that were previously touching his chest were now balled up into fists. Without completing her sentence, she let out a sigh and stepped away from him, letting the tension in her body seep away as she did so.

"I-I'm sorry. I don't know what has gotten into me…"

To her surprise, Sasuke began to pull her away by the hand. He walked at a fast pace, so she had to brisk-walk to keep up with his long legs. "Sasuke-kun-"

"We should do this in private," he replied curtly.

Hinata nodded and allowed herself to be led back to his car.

When they reached the car, Hinata was about to seat herself down in the passenger seat but Sasuke opened the rear door for her and gestured for her to go in from there. "Backseat," he told her – or more specifically, he commanded her to. Hinata quickly closed the door to the passenger seat and hopped in from the back. She was not about to disobey him when he sounded the way he did.

She sat down and fisted her hands in her lap, waiting for Sasuke to get ready. However, he only opened the door to the driver's seat to switch on the engine before closing it and coming in from the back.

Before she had time to ask him what he was doing, he pushed her down onto the seat and began to devour her mouth hungrily. She clutched at his shoulders and tried to return his passion even though she was positive that he was trying to swallow her whole. Finally they broke apart, and Hinata took in a big gulp of air.

"S-Sasuke-kun- a-ah! What are you doing?" Hinata squeaked when she felt the tip of his tongue tracing her jaw and down the curve of her neck. She tightened her hold on him as he began to suck on the juncture between her neck and shoulders. As he did so, she mentally praised herself for wearing a sundress, seeing how it gave him easy access to the sensitive spot on her neck.

Sasuke licked at the spot one last time and moved up to look her in the eye. In contrast to his previous actions, he began to caress her jaw with painful tenderness. Hinata's heart gave a squeeze under his adoring gaze.

"You don't know how I feel about you, do you?" he said. Hinata could only stare back at him, dumbfounded. His lips turned up into a smile and he slowly began to shift back. "Silly woman."

Hinata thought that he was moving to get out, but she realised quickly that she was wrong when he parted her legs. "H-H-Here?!" she exclaimed in disbelief. Instead of replying to this, Sasuke slid his hand up her bare thigh and traced his fingers along the seam of her panties.

"Do you have any complaints?" he asked, and Hinata detected a teasing edge to his voice. She blushed furiously and looked away. For a moment, neither of them moved, but when Hinata shifted her head back to look at him again, she saw that he was still watching her, waiting for her explicit consent.

She slowly shook her head. "N-No…but p-please hurry, or someone might see us…"

Sasuke let out an amused chuckle and slipped off her underwear. He could not make out what colour it was under the dim lighting, but he decided that he could simply find out later when they were back in his room. He then surprised Hinata by pushing her legs up further.

Hinata looked down and nearly screamed in embarrassment when she saw him lower himself down to her crotch. She could even feel his breaths fanning over her most intimate region. What made it worse was when his serious eyes flitted back up to look at her face, and he said, "I've never done this before, but I hope you'll like it."

For the next few minutes, Hinata found herself writhing about in Sasuke's grip, trying to escape the pleasurable sensation of his tongue on her clit while also trying to keep her legs open so that she would not crush his head. The car was filled with nothing but her breathy moans, and no matter how much she tried to silence herself, she found herself unable to maintain a quietness for long. She could only put a hand over her mouth and pray that nobody outside could hear her.

From a distance away, Hinata could hear an excited gurgle of laughter coming from a group of children and her heart gave a lurch. The sounds only became louder, and she realised that the children were coming closer to their car. She reached out to grab onto Sasuke's head, and the moment she did, he immediately stopped and looked up at her in alarm.

"Did I hurt you?" was the first thing that rushed out of his mouth.

"N-No…I heard children around," Hinata whispered.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and pushed her back down, wiping his lips dry. He climbed over Hinata, brought his fingers to her clit and began to stroke her. She let out a surprised gasp and instinctively grabbed onto his shoulders.

"They can't see you this way," he told her impassively.

To Hinata's horror, the children's voices only grew louder. "S-Sasuke-kun! T-This is l-lewd!" she replied in alarm. Yet, her legs wrapped around him in what he implied to be a silent plea for him to continue.

"If you don't want them to see, then you better cum quickly." At this moment, he slid two fingers into her vagina and began to prod for her sweet spot. Hinata tightened her grip on his shoulders and stared at him in disbelief. Yet, all he did was give her a sweet smile. It was such a contrast to the vile things that he was doing to her under her dress.

In a short moment, she was once again reduced to another series of moans and sighs. She could feel herself getting closer, so she whipped her head around to make sure that nobody was in the vicinity. To her immense relief, the children and their parents headed towards a car that was parked a good few metres away from them. She truly did not know what she would have done if their parents owned the car that was parked right next to theirs.

"T-They're gone…" she whispered to herself and sighed in relief.

However, her voice was loud enough for Sasuke to hear so he inserted a third finger and began to jab at her sensitive spot, eliciting a pleasured cry from Hinata. "That's good, isn't it? You can be louder," he said.

Hinata felt her face burn at his words, but she was too drunk on the pleasure to come up with a retort. Within a minute, she felt her insides clench as she let out a succession of yowls to get Sasuke to stop. However, he merely slowed down and continued to slide his fingers in and out of her. She could hear an occasional squelch from how wet she was below, and it only served to embarrass her further.

Sasuke watched her every expression keenly. From the way she clenched onto his fingers and started shivering in his hold, he knew that she had climaxed. He continued to stroke her insides languidly, watching as Hinata slowly relaxed into him and lay there quietly. She looked at him through glazed eyes and brought a quivering finger to her lip. For a long moment she remained completely pliant, allowing him to do as he wished. He could not help but feel his cheeks heat up at the erotic sight.

Finally, he extracted his fingers from her entrance and gave the white substance a tentative lick. Hinata must have snapped out of her daze when she saw this, as she suddenly let out a shriek and clamped her legs shut. "D-Don't do that!" she cried in embarrassment. "I-I-It's unhygienic!"

Sasuke ignored her and licked his fingers a second time. For a while neither of them said anything, but he eventually broke the silence with three words: "It's not bad." Hinata whined and began to curl up in shame.

He gave her a final smirk before exiting the backseat. Hinata's eyes widened in shock at his unexpected move. "W-Wait!" she called out.

Sasuke stopped to assess her. Hinata lowered her head at his intense stare. "I…I t-thought you w-would…" He was not sure if it was intentional, but Hinata began to rub her thighs together. "I c-could…" she continued, but quickly trailed off. She glanced down at the tent in his pants before looking up at him questioningly.

Sasuke surprised her by closing the door of the backseat and sliding into the driver's seat instead. As he fastened his seatbelt, he said indifferently, "If you don't look down and I don't look down either, then there is no problem."

"But I…w-want to…" He shot her a look from the rearview mirror, and Hinata instantly cowered away and pulled down her dress to cover her thighs.

Sasuke reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a packet of wet wipes. Hinata accepted it from him with gratitude and began to wipe herself clean.

"It's fine, Hinata," he said as he began to drive off slowly. "We'll talk when we get back. Just rest for now."

Hinata felt warmth bloom in her chest at his words, and she nodded.

Hinata emerged from the bathroom feeling refreshed after a long shower. She sat down next to Sasuke on the bed and peeked at his laptop screen. It did not come as a surprise to her that he was studying.

"T-That's contract law," she murmured.

"Yeah. Smart girl."

Hinata blushed at the casual praise and nuzzled her face into his neck. "I j-just happened to have studied it in business school…"

"So have I. But apparently there are a lot more cases to read in the law curriculum – although I suppose that is to be expected." Hinata muttered something that sounded like an agreement before draping her arm across his midriff in a loose hug.

"S-Sasuke-kun," she whispered again.

"Hm?"

"Do you w-want to…" He paid her no attention until she grabbed his hand and slipped it under the covers to touch her bare thigh. Her skin was tantalisingly soft and warm from the shower.

Sasuke looked at her and gave her a weak smile. "I'm a bit tired tonight, Hinata. Unless you want me to finger you again."

She blushed and promptly averted his gaze. "I-It's not that… I just feel bad because you didn't…um, just now…"

Sasuke typed out one last sentence into his word document and closed his laptop. He turned around and gave her hand a small squeeze under the covers. "I took care of it in the shower. It's fine."

Hinata shook her head, feeling the red on her cheeks intensify. "Y-You don't have to do that… You should l-let me know next time. I will…um, I will let you…" Once again she did not have the courage to finish her sentence.

However, Sasuke heard her loud and clear. He brought his hand to her waist and pulled her in so that her cheek rested on his collarbone and her head was tucked nicely under his chin. "Hinata, there's no need to keep score of such things," he chided, but there was a hint of finality in his voice.

He paused for a moment before continuing, "Are you still worried about me leaving?"

From the way she stiffened in his hold, Sasuke knew that he was right. He sighed and pulled her in closer. "I'm not going to break up with you, if that's your concern. And I'm not going to see anyone else when I'm there. Is there a way for me to reassure you of this?"

Hinata contemplated his question for a moment. She replied, "I don't know… I-It feels a bit unfair for you…"

Sasuke raised a brow in confusion. "How is it unfair for me when you'll be in the same situation?"

"Hm…" Hinata did not think about it that way.

Sasuke got off the bed and went to switch off the lights. Hinata took this as her cue to fluff up their pillows and get under the covers comfortably. He returned to his side of the bed and brought her in for another embrace. Hinata snuggled up to him contentedly.

"Hinata, I switched off the lights because I don't think I can say this to your face." He felt her nod slowly, encouraging him to continue. He took a deep breath and started, "Before we really spoke to each other, I was convinced that I wasn't going to amount to anything. Maybe I had decent grades, and I had found a friend in Naruto, but I also knew deep down that I was a terrible person. I tried to be better, but each time I felt like everything was pointless because my parents always preferred Itachi. On hindsight, that really broke me."

"So I did some things I'm not really proud of, and I felt bad afterwards. Still, I never really got around to apologising to people because it felt like a difficult thing to do. And I thought that was fine. I thought I could just move on and pretend nothing happened because time would fix everything…but then you came into my life, and somewhere along the way you made me want to become a better person."

He paused, and Hinata snaked her arm around him quietly. "I know I haven't been the best partner to you, but you make me want to try. You've been giving yourself to me ceaselessly, and till now I feel like I can't keep up. But I'm trying, Hinata, and I want to try harder. So…don't make it sound like I'm going to dump you when I'm away, as if you're disposable to me. You're my only family now, and I don't know what I'd do if you stopped being in my life."

Hinata pushed him till he was lying on his back and climbed over him. Her eyes were glistening with tears, and the sliver of light that peeked through the curtains illuminated the side of her face. Sasuke had to gulp for air, as she looked like an angel that had descended from heaven. He would not even have minded if she ended his life right then and there. He was utterly, and irrevocably hers to have.

"D-Do you really mean that?" she whispered quietly, breaking him out of his thoughts. A hopeful smile was plastered on her face.

Sasuke tucked her long hair behind her ear and smiled back reverently. "Mm."

"Will you let me visit you?"

"Of course."

Hinata relaxed in his hold this time and lay down onto his chest. She considered responding to his lengthy confession, but it felt like she did not have the right words to express just how much she appreciated him, so she ended up fiddling with the fabric of his shirt absently. Perhaps she could tell him some other day, since it appeared that they were going to see each other in the long haul.

"Where is Chidori-chan going to go?" she eventually said.

Sasuke let out a hum at this. "She likes her mom more than her dad, so you can keep her for me if you want. Otherwise I'll either place her in a pet hotel or fly her off with me."

Hinata burst into giggles at the thought of her and Sasuke parenting a cat. "T-That's quite funny… I will be happy to take care of Chidori-chan. She is very cute."

"I'm glad you think so. You can move in to this apartment if you want, because it can get troublesome to travel to and fro everyday to feed her."

"Mm…I will think about that."

"Sure. What's mine is yours anyway."

Hinata blushed at his overwhelming generosity. "Thank you…" Another silence descended upon them, until Hinata suddenly recalled something and perked up. "I just realised that I have something of yours with me."

Sasuke cracked opened an eye to meet her gaze. "You mean the one-third of my clothes that are still in your wardrobe?"

She giggled and slapped him lightly on the chest. "N-No… It's something else. This one is really yours. I will bring it to you soon."

Sasuke nodded and circled his hands around her waist. "Okay." He was too tired to think about what Hinata was referring to, but he knew he would find out soon anyway.

A long moment passed where neither of them said anything. Hinata looked up at her boyfriend's peaceful countenance and whispered, "Sasuke-kun?" However, he did not stir. She ducked her head and positioned herself comfortably under this chin. As she closed her eyes, she let her mind wander to all the possibilities that the future held for them.