CHAPTER 41

"Sasuke-kun, have you watched Spy x Family?"

"No. What's that?"

"Hanabi-chan told me to watch it sometime ago. The main character reminded me of you…"

"Why?"

"He is smart, and a little funny... Here, this is him. And this is his wife and child."

"You look like his wife."

A long pause.

"R-R-Really?"

"Hn. But maybe not too much, seeing as you're prettier."

"A-Ah…you are too kind, Sasuke-kun. Maybe you just like my long hair."

"Hm. Amongst other things, yes."

Hinata did not really know what the plan was for the evening, but she found herself liking their spontaneous decision to commence an intense make-out session in the living room. For the most part, she was intent on not desecrating the couch by the end of whatever activity they had started, but a tiny part of her was hoping that today would be the day they took things further.

Sasuke proved to be a very dedicated lover so far, save for the fact that he still refused to let her pleasure him. She had tried asking him about it on more than one occasion, but he always evaded her suggestion by saying that he was tired. Hinata was not about to ask Neji or Kiba – or God forbid, Naruto – about this strange behaviour, so she turned to the Internet, but the results she yielded did not provide her with good answers.

Hinata was left with nothing but questions in the end. Wouldn't men jump at any opportunity to have sex with their partner? For some unfathomable reason, Sasuke defied all expectations, proving that he had the most steely sense of self-restraint when he was sober. It had even reached a point where Hinata was frustrated – although she would never admit to anyone or to herself that she was experiencing a bout of sexual frustration.

This time she was sitting on top of him, basking in the quiet intimacy of their actions. Sasuke's hands roamed her body while he kissed her languidly, and while they never stayed at one place for too long, his fingers seemed to linger on her hips and thighs. She instinctively shifted closer and pressed onto him with her large breasts, hoping that he liked her body at least.

As she tried to move impossibly closer to him, she felt something hard press up against her crotch. She could not hold back the thrum of excitement within her, so she slowly began to move against him. The feeling of him rubbing up against her was nice – very nice.

She must have started grinding against him more insistently at some point, because Sasuke suddenly broke away from their kiss to groan. "Don't tempt me like this, Hinata," he said.

In an unusual show of boldness, Hinata slipped her hand down to touch the bulge in his pants. His eyes widened in shock at this. She slid her hand down the length over the fabric of his sweatpants and back up, before repeating the action a few more times. Her eyes were transfixed on the sight below her, until Sasuke's hand suddenly had her wrist in a tight grip to halt her movements.

"What's gotten into you today?" he questioned suspiciously.

The reality of what she had just done crashed down on Hinata thunderously. "I…" she gulped, "I just want you to feel g-good. Am I doing it wrong?"

There was a brief moment of hesitation before Sasuke slowly released his grip on her, letting his hand resume its favourite position on her hip. "No, you're not," he said quietly.

A pregnant pause ensued, where neither Hinata nor Sasuke knew what to do. On one hand it seemed a tad too awkward to go back to making out and pretending this peculiar incident did not occur, so the easiest solution was to leave his lap; but on the other hand Hinata did really want to take things further. It had been a few months for heaven's sake, and even though they had had intercourse for a grand total of one time, she had never properly seen this mysterious organ of his, whereas he had seen all of her on multiple occasions.

Curiosity won out in the end, and Hinata peeled herself off his lap. Sasuke let out a small sigh of relief, thinking that the sexual high was finally going to dissipate, only for his shock to kick in at full force again when Hinata lowered herself to her knees between his legs.

"What are you doing?" he asked hastily and sat up straighter on the couch.

"I…I w-want…" Hinata did not know how to convey her perverted thoughts in a manner that sounded respectful, so without finishing her sentence, she settled for looking to his side while blushing as red as tomato.

There was a heavy pause before Sasuke said tentatively, "You want to give oral?"

Hinata nodded slowly. She wondered if this made her seem like a whore like what her father had once called her, but she tried not to dwell on that unpleasant memory, for surely she was allowed to want something like this with her significant other.

Her thoughts were cut off by his curt reply. "Okay."

It took Hinata a good moment to digest his words, but when she finally did, she beamed at him with too much happiness to be considered normal. Sasuke decided then that this was one more thing which could be added to the list of quirks Hinata had, although he could not deny the blossoming feeling of ecstasy within him from the knowledge that she possibly desired him just as much as he did for her.

His lips curled up into a small devious smirk, and his hand reached out to stroke her chin. "Come and get it if you want it."

Hinata's eyes widened at his suggestive tone, and she knelt there frozen for a good long moment trying to regain her bearings. This was an event that she had never contemplated preparing for, but it seemed that on hindsight she should have planned out what to do. Hyuuga Hinata had no idea how to pleasure a man and she did not do prior research on this issue, which was almost reprehensible really. She cursed herself for jumping the gun, wondering if Sasuke would be upset if she underperformed. Yet, Sasuke did not seem put off by her inexperience, if the starstruck eyes that he gave her and the way he continued to touch her face was any indication.

After what felt like an eternity, Hinata swallowed the last of her fears and inched closer to the couch. Her shaking hands glided up his thighs to grasp onto the waistband of his sweatpants. She was just about to pull them down when a loud noise interrupted her thoughts.

Buzz!

She let out a tiny shriek and fell back onto her bottom. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the offensive door and sighed in defeat. He got to his feet smoothly and helped Hinata up. "I have to take care of this in the bathroom," he said flatly while pointing to his crotch.

Hinata nodded, putting her hands on her red cheeks to calm herself. Now that the spell had been broken, she was once again too shy to look down at his erection or at his eyes. Sasuke gave her head a few pats before turning to leave, but Hinata stopped him.

"S-Should I get the door?" she asked meekly.

Sasuke made a grunt of affirmation and moved to leave for his bedroom. As she walked towards the entrance of the apartment, Hinata let out a nervous sigh and began to comb her fingers through her hair.

I hope I look presentable, she thought while straightening her attire in front of the door.

It should be fine now.

She twisted the lock and pulled the door open, expecting a deliveryman or perhaps a single visitor. She was met with three pairs of judgmental eyes instead.

"H-Hello. Are you Sasuke-kun's friends?"

The white-haired man was the first to collect his wits. "You're Hinata," he remarked. Hinata nodded uncertainly. To her surprise, the man began to laugh to himself. "Oh Kami, you're pretty cute. No wonder Sasuke suddenly told us to inform him in advance if we wanted to come, and even issued us a threat. Now we know he has been hiding you from us."

Hinata felt herself blush again at his words.

"Sorry, were we interrupting something?" the orange-haired man asked politely from the side.

"N-N-No!" Hinata squeaked, albeit in a manner that was abnormally defensive. This earned her several raised brows, and the white-haired man began to snigger at her.

"Where is Sasuke then?"

"He…He's busy! With work. I-I can ask him to come down."

The white-haired man began to laugh again, and at this moment the red-haired woman on the right grunted and took a few steps towards her. She whispered into her ear, "From your mouth and your flush, you look like you were busy with him. Maybe you should go and freshen up before Suigetsu starts teasing you."

Oh…dear…

Hinata gave the woman a shaky smile and pulled the door open wider to let the three people in. At least Suigetsu was a name that she recognised, so she inferred that these people must be Sasuke's friends. She wondered why he never spoke about them.

"Would you like anything to drink?" she asked.

The orange-haired man turned around and replied courteously, "We are fine. Thank you for your hospitality."

The trio appeared to be familiar with the place, seeing how they walked around the living room with ease. The orange-haired man began to scour the corners of the space, possibly in search for the cat, while the two others plopped themselves down comfortably on the couch – at the exact same spot where she was about to do something unspeakable less than five minutes ago. Blood rushed to her face again, and she averted her gaze immediately when the pair turned their attention to her.

She pulled out a chair from the dining table and sat down facing them. "Ano…" she began, "what are your names?"

The white-haired man pointed to himself with his thumb and introduced himself as Suigetsu, while the bespectacled woman introduced herself as Karin. The third person, as she learned from the pair, was named Jugo, and he was apparently very good with animals. Perhaps he would return to them with Chidori in a moment.

"So, Hinata-chan," Suigetsu began, and from the teasing glint in his eye, Hinata knew that the conversation was going to go exactly where she did not want it to. "How busy is Sasuke exactly? He should have heard us by now."

"I did." Sasuke emerged from the stairs at this moment, much to Hinata's immense relief. "I was just ignoring you to finish up the chapter I was at," he lied smoothly. There was not a hair out of place on him.

Suigetsu raised a brow but did not push the matter further. "Well, glad you're here then. We were wondering when you were going to invite us to see you again given that you are scheduled to fly off tomorrow morning."

"You didn't invite us in the end," Karin replied with a pout. She sounded genuinely upset by this.

"Yeah, you asshole. I had to put up with Karin's incessant wailing at work and even at home because she wouldn't stop texting me about how you're abandoning all of us."

Hinata gave Sasuke a curious look. The man in question shrugged indifferently and pulled out a chair to sit down next to Hinata. "I'm not abandoning anyone. I just…had priorities. It slipped my mind for a bit."

Suigetsu was about to say something when Hinata stood up and apologised formally. "I-I'm sorry if I had caused this in some way. I was not aware…" Sasuke pulled her to sit back down, but her eyes remained downcast.

Eventually, Suigetsu and Karin both let out a collective sigh. "We can't even get angry now, can we? Since your girlfriend is this nice."

Suigetsu proceeded to add, "Well, but I can totally see why you'd rather spend time with Hinata-chan. If the alternative was Karin-"

"Shut up you jerk!" Karin interrupted and slapped him on the arm. "You're the most annoying out of the three of us." Suigetsu rubbed his arm, feigning hurt, but he did not say anything more.

Sasuke observed the red-haired woman for a moment before stating simply, "Karin is fine to talk to one-to-one." Karin whipped her head around to stare at him in bewilderment. They had known each other for years, but she could probably count the number of times he said something nice to her on one hand. Her cheeks slowly heated up, and she had to bite her lip to contain any potentially inappropriate things that she might spout in front of his girlfriend.

Sasuke then surprised everyone by standing up and beckoning to Karin. "Speaking of which, can I speak to you privately for a moment?" After a brief stunned silence, Karin got to her feet and crossed the living room to where he was. Hinata watched the exchange quietly but did not say anything. She turned her head to look at Sasuke but instead of seeing onyx eyes, she felt his hair brush over her cheeks as he planted a chaste kiss on her lips. He proceeded to lead Karin to the staircase, leaving Hinata in a daze.

Suigetsu rolled his eyes at the scene. "Sasuke is so whipped now. What the heck have you done to him, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata hid her laughter behind a hand. "I d-don't think I did anything… Sasuke-kun has always been nice to me."

"Always? Nah, you clearly haven't known him for long. He is usually quite a bastard, but recently he seems to have become more mellow. It must be your influence."

"Oh… I have actually known Sasuke-kun from young."

Now this grabbed Suigetsu's attention so he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "Really? Then why didn't you date him back then? I recall that most girls went crazy over him."

Hinata smiled at him wistfully. "I liked someone else."

Suigetsu paused to take in her words before he burst into laughter. "Good lord… Does Sasuke know about this? His ego is not going to handle this well."

There was something about his laughter that was contagious, so Hinata found her smile widening naturally. "He does. It was his best friend after all…"

Suigetsu started full-on cackling this time. Jugo chose this moment to appear and sit himself on the couch next to his friend with his arms carrying a tamed Chidori. "Jugo, did you hear that?" Suigetsu jabbed at his arm and pointed to Hinata. "She liked the bastard's best friend instead of him! How tragic is that?"

An amused smile was painted on the quiet man's face as he turned to acknowledge her. "Maybe Hinata-san cares more about personality than looks."

"Personality? But what does he have in that department-" Suigetsu clamped his mouth shut at the last moment and frantically backpedalled when Hinata's eyes narrowed at him sharply. There was an unexpected ferociousness in that gaze coming from a petite woman with such a sweet disposition. "Okay fine, I'm sorry. I guess I must admit he is generally nice to women… Hm, maybe you should tell us the story behind how you two got together. Knowing Sasuke, he is never going to tell us."

Hinata's displeasure slowly melted away and she replaced her disapproving frown with a polite smile. "I'm not too sure, to be honest. We didn't speak much in school, but I had to attend a meeting in my company and Sasuke-kun showed up. I t-think one thing led to another…and some outsiders thought we were dating at some point. So I think we just…went ahead with it after a while…"

Suigetsu grinned at her, showing off his unusually sharp canine teeth. "One thing led to another, huh? So he charmed you in the bedroom?"

Hinata's face turned scarlet in an instant and she spluttered out a denial. "N-No! We didn't…um, at least not at first. Sasuke-kun was v-very respectful towards me. I appreciated that."

Suigetsu gave her another doubtful look but this time he knew better than to voice out his honest opinion. After some contemplation, he replied, "We've known Sasuke for some years now, but this might be the first time we're hearing of a girl that uses the word 'respectful' to describe him. It's interesting to learn new things about the guy once in a while. He's still a bit mysterious to us sometimes."

To both their surprise, Jugo began to shake his head. "I'm inclined to believe Hinata-san."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah. I have spoken to Sasuke privately on some occasions over the years. He's a good person inside, but for some reason he spends a lot of time trying to hide it. It takes some intuition to figure him out, I reckon."

Hinata met Jugo's gaze from across the room and gave him a kind smile. She decided then and there that he was her favourite friend of the trio. On the other hand, Suigetsu leaned back into the couch and let out a thoughtful hum.

"Karin."

"What is it?"

Sasuke had led Karin to his study on the second floor, a place that Karin had never been to despite the many years she had known him. He fidgeted uncomfortably in front of her for a while, and she could not help but realise how vulnerable he looked at this moment. It was almost as if she was meeting someone new.

Finally, he met her gaze firmly and said, "I just wanted to apologise."

Karin's brows shot up at this. "For what?"

"For the way I have treated you over the past few years. It was not kind of me." Sasuke shot her a rueful, lopsided smile as he said this.

"Did…Hinata-chan put you up to this?" Karin asked suspiciously.

To her surprise, he shook his head. "No. She doesn't know about us. And I would prefer if it stayed that way."

Karin folded her arms defensively. "Huh, so you want to keep me as a dirty secret of yours."

Sasuke lowered his head, almost looking ashamed from the snide accusation. "You're not exactly wrong, although I wouldn't call you a dirty secret. It's no secret that I used to have rather lamentable coping mechanisms. I want to move on from this, so I thought I could start with apologising for taking advantage of you when you...offered. I should have known better."

Karin could only stare at Sasuke, completely stupefied by what he said. He shoved his hands into his pockets in a small attempt to calm his nerves while waiting for Karin's response. A moment later, Karin blinked out of her shock and shook her head dejectedly. "You know, I feel like I'm the one in the wrong here. I don't think you ever took advantage of me – I was the one who jumped at the chance when I saw that you were down in the dumps. I was the selfish one, so you don't owe me anything."

"Regardless of whose fault it may have been, I hope you will accept my apology. Sex aside, I came to realise over time that you have been a supportive friend to me, and I want you to know that I…am thankful."

It was in that moment Karin began to cry. She hiccupped a few times, prompting Sasuke to grab a tissue box from the desk for her. With a wry laugh, she pulled out a piece of tissue and began to wipe her tears away frantically.

"Sorry about this… It's just… This is the nicest you have ever been to me."

Sasuke felt a stab in his heart when those words sank in. Had he really been such a jerk to her all this time that something like this would warrant the waterworks? If that was the case then he had a lot more to reflect on than he originally thought.

He stood at the side awkwardly for a moment, shifting his eyes to and fro between the emotional woman in front of him and any other inanimate object in the room that he could use to distract himself with.

At long last, Karin managed to compose herself and her face brightened up when she turned to regard him. "Ne, Sasuke-kun, you're actually a good guy after all." The miniscule close-lipped smile that he gave her in return was all that she hoped to receive, so the sight of it filled her heart with warmth.

"It must be Hinata-chan who brought out this side of you. She is so sweet and so pretty – I can't imagine a single person out there who wouldn't have had a crush on her at some point."

Sasuke nodded in agreement. However, he was just about to exit the room when he paused in his footsteps and turned to look at Karin suspiciously. His eyes narrowed into slits as he said, "You don't swing that way, do you?"

Karin gave him a sheepish laugh. "Um… Maybe, or maybe not?"

In an instant, Sasuke's kind disposition evaporated into the air and his face was replaced with a cold, hard stare. "Don't try anything funny," he warned before sauntering off.

Karin broke out into a snicker at the threatening voice he used. "You possessive bastard."

After the trio had left late in the evening – or more specifically, after Sasuke had chased them out by midnight – Hinata found herself lying on Sasuke's bed idly, waiting for him to come out of the shower. Sasuke's friends were an entertaining bunch and they served as a great distraction from what was to come, which was why it was only now that she finally realised Sasuke was going to leave Konoha in less than 10 hours' time. The thought of separating from him caused her heart to ache inexplicably, and she felt as if she could burst from the tempestuous emotions within her.

In the end, she resorted to curling up in a fetal position while using her phone to distract herself from the feeling of loneliness that she was foreseeably going to become well-acquainted with. She did not stir when she heard the sound of the bathroom door creak open, or even when she felt the bed dip as her favourite person crawled over her to give her a hug.

"Your wet hair is dripping all over me," she complained playfully. She put her phone away to look at him with a pout on her face.

"Oh, you don't like it? Fine then I'll stay away."

Apparently Sasuke knew that two could play this game, which caused Hinata to whine internally at his light teasing. She latched onto his arm when he tried to pull away from her, perhaps with a force that was slightly too strong, as he lost his balance and tumbled over her. The pair broke out into a fit of laughter at the small accident.

It did not take long for them to commence another round of kissing, although this time Sasuke's desire felt less like an all-consuming inferno, and more like a gentle spring breeze. He was still here with her, and yet Hinata could already feel herself yearning for the feel of his hands skimming over her body, the exact way they were doing in the present.

When they broke apart to catch their breaths, Hinata giggled and patted him on the cheek. "How are you feeling about tomorrow, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke rolled back to the side and rested his head on the pillow with a dramatic 'thump'. "I don't know," he replied after a pause. "Maybe I'll figure it out when tomorrow comes."

Hinata nodded empathetically. She would not have known how to answer her own question as well. She began to slide off the bed, and Sasuke watched her stride towards her large handbag to pull out an A4-sized envelope. She then walked towards his side of the bed and held it out for him.

"What's this?" He took the item from her and was about to open it in her presence when she put her hand over his to stop him.

"It's from Itachi-san."

Sasuke's brows shot up at this, and from the look he gave her, she knew that he was silently demanding an explanation. Hinata began to fiddle with her fingers as she continued, "Itachi-san gave this to me when he asked to speak to me privately that time. He told me to pass it to you when you are in a better state of mind… I d-didn't read it though. It's yours to read."

A look of sadness passed over Sasuke's face, and Hinata felt herself sink into low spirits at his melancholic state. Sasuke was usually quiet, but when he was this quiet, Hinata could not help but panic a little inside.

"Sasuke-kun?"

The man shook himself out of his reverie and walked towards the desk to place the envelope neatly on top of it.

"You…don't want to read it now?" Hinata asked in a whisper.

Sasuke gave her a tight-lipped smile. "Not tonight. We should go to bed."

Hinata was not about to protest. She nodded and scooted to her side of the bed while Sasuke went to switch off the lights. He returned shortly after to join her, and to Hinata's delight, he automatically reached out and circled his arm around her. Hinata leaned forward to nuzzle against his neck and closed her eyes contentedly, breathing in the pleasant scent of bergamot from his shower gel.

However, Sasuke's eyes remained half-lidded, staring past his sleeping girlfriend's head and into the darkness. Taking care not to disturb Hinata's sleep, his hand began to glide up her back. His fingers tangled themselves in her long, silky hair, and he revelled in the quiet intimacy that he was allowed.

After almost an hour of restlessness, he began to peel Hinata off him. She mumbled incoherently when she no longer felt his warmth against her, but otherwise she did not stir from her sleep.

With the stealth of a panther, Sasuke slinked out of the bedroom and headed towards the third room on the second floor. He pushed down the handle of the door and stepped in for the first time in almost a year. To his surprise, there were no visible specks of dust around, which led him to the conclusion that his lovely girlfriend must have cleaned up this room on a regular basis when he was not around.

He walked towards the bed lying in the middle of the spacious room and slowly sat down on it, paying no mind to the fact that there were no new sheets to cover the mattress. It was a foreign sensation, seeing as he could not even recall the last time he had seated himself down on this bed. With careful hands, he smoothed over the surface of the mattress and allowed his ruminations to catch up to him.

However, he refused to cry. The tears that his body had produced over Itachi near his death and after it could have filled an entire glass. There was no more left for him to give, and yet – something within him was still protesting, still adamant over the ruthless way in which fate had snatched his brother from him, like it had done for his parents.

Sasuke remained stationary for a long period of time that could have ranged from half an hour to an hour and a half. He knew at the back of his mind that the rational thing for him to do was to go to sleep as he had a flight to catch the next morning, but his heart was violently objecting to the notion of doing something calculated in the moment. He did not want to be rational now – he just wanted to be alone with his thoughts.

It took no small amount of willpower for Sasuke to finally move from the bed. He walked out of the room without turning around to give any part of it a second glance, and closed the door behind him.

Sasuke knew that he had spent a large part of his life looking at the world with cold-blooded rationality, always calculating the next best move, as the blood of an Uchiha meant that he could only be built for great things, and there was no room for error in the judgments he made.

However, tonight was going to be different. Sasuke walked to his study and switched on the lamp at the desk. The room remained dark save for the spot of brightness at the table, but that was sufficient for him. He pulled out a small item from the last drawer of his desk and picked up a pen and a piece of paper. Without a second thought, he began to write.