A/N: Sorry for the late update. I've been busy with work and my own music projects so I haven't had time to update this story. Anyway, this story will come to a close soon, so sit tight and await the ending. :) Thanks for the love everyone!
CHAPTER 14
"Hinata."
"Y-Yes?"
"What makes you happy?"
A pause.
"A lot of things make me happy, Sasuke-kun."
Am I one of them?
Those simple words hung at the tip of his tongue, but they dissolved the moment she turned to look at him.
Uchiha Sasuke was a prideful person, but more than that, he knew deep down that his talents allowed him to get away with being a little snobbish. In his defence, he worked hard like his peers to get to the level that he was at. That made him the perfect idol in the eyes of many. He was confident enough to admit out loud that he had the ideal qualities of a celebrity, and even bold enough to write lyrics about how he could get any girl he wanted if he tried – and yet, for what was probably the first time in his life, Sasuke felt insecure about himself.
Hinata was all things good: she cooked for him exactly twice a week in her dormitory, she liked all his fancams using her private YouTube account, and most of all, she hugged him everytime she saw him, in a way that made him feel like he was the most important person in the world to her.
All of this led Sasuke to contemplate deeply about what he could offer her in return. He was exemplary at dancing for starters. He was also highly praised for his unique vocal colour. He was considered good-looking by not just the standards of his own country, but by international standards as well, if the results of random popularity polls and face contests were any indication. Back when he was still studying in a public school, he also managed to emerge as one of the top few students each year despite his hectic schedule as a trainee. His IQ was supposed to be approximately 140 too, if the random test that Itachi made him take when he was sixteen was reliable.
And yet, none of this seemed to matter in his relationship with Hinata. He could not cook, crotchet, or play an instrument well; he was grouchy for approximately 16 hours a day; but the most egregious of all was that he often did not have it in him to say or do romantic things for his very loving girlfriend. All of these things haunted Sasuke at night when he was alone, and much to his great displeasure, they often manifested in the form of Naruto's taunting voice.
At this point, Sasuke had probably spent close to an hour lying awake in bed, doing nothing but staring listlessly at the ceiling. He was not sure what sparked the sudden, intense need to get answers, given that this was something he had already picked up on a mere few days after he asked Hinata to be his girlfriend. (Well, he did not exactly use the right words, because the right words were too corny for him – but he got his point across anyway.)
In the end, Sasuke reached for his phone on the nightstand and unlocked it. He clicked on his chat with Itachi and paused for a long moment before typing. His fingers danced across the keyboard quickly, typing and backspacing several times till he finally found the right words. He made sure to tap on 'send' before he could change his mind and delete the entire text.
To his surprise, Itachi came online immediately and read his message. Instead of receiving a reply, his screen lit up with Itachi's contact photo. He swiped onto the green button to accept the call, and immediately after Itachi's voice disturbed the peace in his quiet room.
"Sasuke, why would you suddenly ask me about something like that?"
Sasuke rubbed his eyes in exasperation and replied, "I don't know."
"Otouto, you can't lie to me. I was wondering when you were going to tell me that you were dating Hinata-chan."
"I…" A sharp denial was at the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it down in the last moment. There was no use denying this, because he figured that Itachi would not assert something like this without knowing for a fact that it was true.
When it became clear that Sasuke was not going to reply, Itachi continued, "Okaasan loves her so much that she always talks about her over dinner. Hinata-chan must have told her that you two are dating, because okaasan was eager to announce this piece of news over dinner one evening. That was how I found out you were seeing, I quote, 'the prettiest and kindest girl'."
"That's kind of the problem," Sasuke huffed out while doing his best to ignore the embarrassing part about his mother airing his dirty laundry behind his back. Well, maybe not dirty laundry since this was Hinata they were talking about. If anything she was clean laundry.
"She's too good for me."
"I agree."
Sasuke promptly hung up at this. However, his phone immediately began to vibrate again. With a cluck of his tongue, he swiped to answer the call.
"I recall okaasan telling you that it is rude to hang up on people."
"You were rude to me first."
"Ah, don't be too sensitive otouto. I'm sure you are aware that you have many good qualities yourself."
Sasuke took a moment to think about what to say. There were so many things that he wanted to convey to Itachi, but he did not know where to start. Finally, he replied succinctly, "I don't know how to be good to her."
Itachi let out a contemplative hum. "Have you ever spoken to Hinata-chan about this?"
Sasuke frowned. "No."
"You should probably do it."
"That feels a bit unnecessary."
"Well, you texted me at 2:06am asking how a hypothetical boyfriend should go about planning romantic things for his hypothetical girlfriend who likes romantic gestures, if said hypothetical boyfriend did not have a romantic bone in his body. If there's anything unnecessary, it is your act of seeking advice from me when you can simply ask your own partner."
"Okay, fine, point taken." Sasuke had to admit begrudgingly to himself that he lacked good communication skills. His brother was only a step away from pointing this out, but perhaps he refrained because he was feeling merciful tonight.
Itachi hummed in response, and for a moment after neither of the brothers deigned to speak. However, the silence was eventually broken when Itachi decided to add, "Try not to lose sleep over this. If there's anything I learned about Hinata-chan from okaasan's ramblings, it is that she likes you the way you are."
Sasuke did not reply as he was unsure of what to say to this. He knew that Hinata liked him – for some strange, possibly unconventional reason, if he might add – but it felt odd hearing someone else say it aloud. Yet, there still remained room to question how he could do things better.
He opened his mouth to thank Itachi for his advice, only to realise that Itachi had already hung up. He could not help but roll his eyes at this. Perhaps pettiness ran in their blood after all.
Sasuke heard the door of the studio creak open before he saw his pretty demon, but he willed himself to complete his routine before giving her his attention. To Hinata's credit, she seemed to be able to read his emotions quite well, so she prudently chose to make her way to the corner of the studio without calling out to him. Yet, Sasuke could not help but let his eyes travel to her moving form once or twice.
When he was done with the chorus, he spun around to greet her. Hinata gave him a megawatt smile from where she was seated, and oh, that really warmed his heart. "Is that part of your new dance project?" she asked softly.
Sasuke nodded. "I was thinking of using two songs in my next video, to change things up a little."
"Ah… That sounds very nice, Sasuke-kun. I look forward to seeing the finished product!"
His lips curled up into a small smile as he made his way towards her. Without prompting, Hinata jumped up from her seat the moment he was close by and leaned into him for a hug. He reciprocated quickly, albeit with some hesitation as he was aware that his skin was still slightly sticky from his perspiration. He was surprised that Hinata did not seem to mind.
"What is the second song you intend to use?" she asked after pulling away. She looked up at him with bright, curious eyes.
Sasuke reached for his water bottle and began to drink as he considered her question. When he was done, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and replied, "I have not decided, but it will be something slower."
Hinata cooed excitedly at this. "T-That sounds like a nice change. It will contrast nicely with the song you were just dancing to as well."
Sasuke nodded and picked up a towel next to his bag to wipe the sweat from his neck. He reached for the hem of his shirt out of instinct, ready to pull it off in one smooth motion, but he paused when he realised he had female company. Hinata stepped away from him and averted her eyes the moment she saw what he was about to do.
There was an awkward pause before Sasuke cleared his throat and said, "Do you mind if I take off my shirt?"
Hinata's face turned scarlet and she gave him a large, embarrassed smile. "P-Please go ahead! I-It is good to…to let your skin breathe…"
Sasuke could not help but shake his head in amusement. "Right. Should I take off everything then?" As expected, she yelped and took two steps back. However, before she could formulate a coherent response, Sasuke outstretched his hand to pat her head comfortingly.
"You're fun to tease," he said.
"Y-You're mean…" Hinata replied with a pout, but there was no malice in her voice.
He patted her head two more times before he brought his hand down to pull off his shirt. Hinata decided to focus on getting comfortable on the cushioned bench instead. Yet, as Sasuke took a few more gulps of water from his bottle, he could not help but notice that Hinata would cast a few glances at him when she thought he was not looking. He had to suppress a laugh at this. It's always the quiet ones.
He wrapped his towel around his neck and sat down diagonally across from her to leave some space between them. "How was your day?" he asked.
"O-Oh." Hinata appeared to snap out of her thoughts when she heard his voice. She blinked at him dazedly for a moment before she shook her head and replied, "G-Good! I was invited to a radio station to do a live studio recording and an interview. It was fun!"
Hinata's smile must have been contagious, because Sasuke felt the corners of his lips turning upwards as he watched her speak about her day. "Which radio station is this?"
"The Akatsuki."
"Oh." Sasuke definitely knew that one. Team 7 was invited to that radio station frequently, and if his memory was serving him well, there were many different DJs in The Akatsuki. The most comically unhinged one that he had met was Deidara, and ironically the most composed one was his red-haired counterpart, Sasori. "Who interviewed you?"
"Konan-san, Yahiko-san and Nagato-san. They were all very nice."
Sasuke let out a thoughtful hum as he trudged towards the mirror to retrieve his mobile phone, which was lying next to his portable speaker. He squatted there while scrolling through his Google search results quietly.
After a moment of silence passed between them, Hinata decided to ask, "W-What are you doing, Sasuke-kun?"
"Hn." He clicked on his YouTube app and switched to his private account to subscribe to The Akatsuki's channel. "I'll set a reminder to watch your video when they release it."
The blush that was slowly fading from Hinata's face immediately resurfaced on her pale cheeks. She inadvertently squirmed in shyness at his honesty. Sasuke turned to look at her with a raised brow.
"Y-You are so nice, Sasuke-kun," she whispered. Her voice was soft and airy, but it nonetheless echoed within the four walls of the studio.
"I think few people would agree with you," he replied with a snort. Hinata did not deign to respond to his, so he crossed the room to stand in front of her with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his black sweatpants. "So you like me because you think I'm nice?" he teased lightly. "For all you know, I may have scammed you."
Hinata shook her head vehemently when she heard this. "N-No. You are very thoughtful sometimes. It makes you v-very sweet."
Hm, interesting. "Did you tell this to my mother?" he could not help but ask.
Hinata gasped and tried to turn away to hide from him but Sasuke was not about to back down. He gently pulled away the hand that was covering her red face and leaned in to kiss her. The kiss ended as quickly as it started, and Sasuke watched the confusion on Hinata's face with great amusement. He sank down onto the bench next to her nonchalantly while awaiting her admission.
Finally, she nodded to confirm his statement. Sensing her new vulnerability, he took her hand in his and intertwined their fingers. The warmth of their interlocked hands on his lap never failed to anchor him.
"I-I'm sorry if I overstepped…" she whispered.
"It's fine. I'm glad you are getting along with my mom."
Hinata looked off into the distance and nodded. A small, wistful smile made its way onto her face, which he could see from her reflection in the mirror. "I lost my okaasan when I was young."
Sasuke's brows knitted together at this revelation and he shifted closer to her for this conversation. Hinata's eyes were downcast as she recalled the scant interactions that she had with her mother when she was still a child.
"I miss my okaasan dearly," she confessed, before turning to look at Sasuke. Watery opal eyes met his own onyx ones. "I t-think otousan resented me for a while because I reminded him of her."
Ah, parental hostility was something that Sasuke could relate to. His own father was not particularly kind to him when he grew up, and he even threw a tantrum when he found out that Sasuke had signed a training contract with Konoha. It took him a few years to come to terms with his decision to pursue a career in music, but even till this day, there were underlying fissures in their relationship which he was not sure time could mend.
"How are things with him now?"
Hinata wiped her tears away with her fingers and let out an uncharacteristic sigh. "I d-don't think he hates me anymore, but I'm still a bit afraid to talk to him… Sometimes he texts me when I have released a new song to ask if I have been eating properly, b-but nothing more."
The puzzle pieces were starting to fall into place now. Sasuke nodded in understanding and brought her hand to his lips. Hinata's eyes flitted towards him at this action and she began to blush again. "I spend time with my family on some of my off-days. You should come along next time."
With that, Hinata's entire face brightened up by a few notches. "R-Really? You will let me?"
Sasuke nodded. "Yeah. Anytime you want."
Hinata let out a euphoric cheer before crawling over his lap to give him a full frontal hug. It seemed that an ecstatic Hinata was not at all concerned about his state of undress – and Sasuke decided that this was important information to be filed away for future reference. He wrapped his arms around her lithe frame and allowed her to nuzzle her nose against his neck like an affectionate puppy.
Unfortunately, a short few seconds later, the door cracked open to reveal a completely bewildered Naruto. Sasuke immediately scrambled to get to his feet, resulting in Hinata toppling off his lap and onto the ground in a clumsy heap.
"What the hell did I just see?!" the blonde yelled after he collected his wits.
"You saw nothing!" Sasuke retorted sharply.
Naruto pointed a crooked finger at Sasuke and said, "You are shirtless, teme, for heaven's sake! With a woman in your lap! And that woman is...Hinata-chan..?" His voice trailed off at the end as he stared at Hinata in pure confusion.
"G-Good evening, Naruto-kun," Hinata greeted shyly from the floor. She got to her feet and dusted off the dirt from her pants while Naruto eyed her judgmentally.
Seeing that the blonde idiot was not going to take the initiative, Sasuke stormed towards the door and slammed it shut so that nobody outside could be privy to this conversation.
"What are you doing here?" he snapped and folded his arms defensively.
Naruto turned to gawk at him. His wide eyes and opened mouth made him look almost cartoonish. At long last, he composed himself and mirrored his friend's pose. "Well, Sakura-chan got sick of my singing so she chased me out. Or more specifically, she told me to come and get you because you have been spending a lot of time training and she wanted you to let your body rest. But it seems like you haven't actually been training…"
"I have!"
"H-He has."
Naruto whipped his head around to stare at Hinata. She began to twirl her index fingers shyly from the sudden attention that she was receiving. "I came to watch Sasuke-kun dance. H-He will be uploading a new video on his channel soon…"
"Are y'all dating or something?" Naruto asked bluntly, casually ignoring everything that she said.
For a moment neither of them said anything, but that was enough of a confirmation for Naruto. He took a few steps back and leaned his weight against the door of the studio, completely appalled at the situation.
"Oh Kami, teme actually got a girlfriend…" Sasuke's eye twitched at the stupid nickname, but he did not say a word to this. "And of all people, it's Hinata-chan…"
"P-Please don't tell anyone," Hinata implored.
Naruto nodded dazedly and turned around to open the door. Before he stepped out, he turned to look at Sasuke and whispered, "So the rumours were actually true?"
Sasuke clucked his tongue and shoved the blonde out of the studio wordlessly before closing the door in his face. He could have this conversation with Naruto any other time – just not now, in Hinata's presence. Only Kami knew what kinds of stupid things Naruto would accidentally spew during such a conversation.
He turned around to look at Hinata, who stared back at him with unconcealed stupefaction. In the end he shook his head in resignation and moved to grab his phone. "Hey, come here," he said and sat down on the bench.
Hinata skipped over and sat next to him obligingly. Confusion was once again written all over her features when he held out his phone for her to look at his Spotify playlist. With gentle fingers, she extracted the phone from his hand and turned to meet his eyes.
"You can choose the second song for me," he said.
The colour on Hinata's face which was previously drained from Naruto's sudden appearance finally returned. She beamed at this suggestion and began to scroll through the songs in his playlist. It seemed that redirecting Hinata's attention to something more professional was a good call. Sasuke mentally gave himself a pat on the back.
"Y-You will really let me?" she whispered, still in disbelief at receiving the honour of choosing a song for him.
Sasuke shrugged and leaned back against the seat. "If you want to."
"That sounds fun…" Hinata began to scroll through the songs in this playlist, which seemed to contain exclusively slower songs. She recognised some of them – since they were her own songs – but the rest seemed alien to her. She suspected that they were indie songs.
As if he had read her mind, Sasuke said, "You can play any song you want." Hinata nodded and clicked onto the first song that had a captivating title. In the next moment, the room was filled with a quiet, haunting melody. Eight bars later, a slow trap beat emerged. Hinata made an interested noise and continued to listen intently. As she did so, Sasuke kept his eyes on her. His brain thought this about a million times a day, but again – his pretty demon was so cute.
"Do you like songs like this?" Her sudden question pulled him out of his daze.
Sasuke made a thoughtful sound. "I would have said no if you asked me a few months ago, but recently I've been starting to appreciate the indie scene a bit more. Some artists can be very creative with their sounds and lyrics."
"Ah..." Hinata smiled at him sweetly as she internalised his words. "Did you know that the type of songs you gravitate towards reflects your personality?"
"Yes, or so I have heard." Sasuke reached out to push a lock of hair behind her ear idly. "What songs do you like?"
"Hip-hop," she replied without hesitation.
Sasuke unintentionally burst out laughing when he heard this, but he forcefully clamped his mouth shut when he realised that he could have come across as rude. Thankfully, Hinata did not seem to take any offense at his reaction. "W-Why are you laughing at me?" she asked with a pout.
His grin slowly melted into a fond smile. "It's quite unexpected, especially considering the genre of songs you usually sing."
Hinata mirrored his smile and nodded. "I know..."
"So what is that supposed to say about you?"
"W-What do you think?"
Sasuke heard the challenge loud and clear, so he narrowed his eyes and scrutinised her judgmentally. Hinata began to blush at the weight of his gaze. Finally, he replied, "You are free-spirited, or at least you want to be."
Hinata put a hand over her mouth to conceal a surprised gasp. "I think you are right."
"Hn, yeah. I usually am."
Hinata let out a giggle at his playful arrogance. "C-Can I guess yours then?"
"Sure."
Hinata hummed contemplatively for a long moment before she said, "I-If you like indie songs, it might mean that you have a rich internal world."
Sasuke raised a brow at her statement. "Why do you think so?"
"Hm... I think it has to do with its overall quietness. It makes you want to reflect on things. M-Maybe you are secretly emotional too, Sasuke-kun?"
"Okay now you're just projecting." Sasuke folded his arms defiantly, but he refused to look at her when he said this. His ears began to burn when he heard Hinata's giggle next to him. Once again, the room was shrouded in silence, but Sasuke found that there was some peace in it. The only sounds that filled the room were the clicking noises made by Hinata's nails when she tapped on his phone screen to scroll through his playlist. It was almost cathartic.
After a long moment, Hinata made an amused sound, which prompted Sasuke to redirect his attention to her. She clicked on a song, and in no time an unfamiliar tune began to fill the silence. Sasuke did not recall this song to be in his playlist.
"You're looking at the recommended songs now?" he asked.
"I was just curious..." She clicked 'play' again and the same melody was replayed. The instrumental was rather dreamy, as was the singer's voice. It sounded like he was singing from a faraway place. Sasuke could make out a few words that were being sung, but the lyrics were generally incomprehensible because of the singer's cursive way of pronouncing words. Sasuke noted with some interest that this was the paradigm example of an indie accent.
"What song is this?" he asked. "Help me add it to the playlist."
Hinata obeyed with a nod. "It's called Chance. It seems to be a song about longing and regret."
"Hm. Interesting. Who is the artist?"
Hinata turned around and gave him a cheeky smile. "I-It's Haku..."
All colour was drained from Sasuke's face when he heard this. "Remove it from my playlist now," he ordered sternly as he got to his feet, grabbed his shirt, and moved to exit the room. He had to escape to the toilet with immediacy, and probably dunk his head under the water to cleanse his mind of his cursed encounter with this person. Hinata's amused laughter was the last thing he heard before the door slid shut.
When Hinata finally composed herself, she redirected her attention to his phone and clicked on a button to bring her to his home screen. It was unusual that Sasuke had willingly left his phone with her, so she could not help but snoop around just a tiny little bit. The moment she saw his home screen, she began to giggle excitedly like a little child. It turned out that Sasuke had their very first mirror selfie saved as his home screen. She admired the photo for a long moment before clicking back onto the Spotify app to resume her perusal.
A moment later, a clothed Sasuke re-entered the room. He appeared much calmer than he was when he left. "So what song have you chosen-" he began, but his voice trailed off quickly when Hinata walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his torso. He looked down at the head of indigo hair below him in confusion. A question was dancing around in his mind, but he withheld it and circled his arms around her waist in a loose embrace. Hinata did not seem very keen on talking in this moment, and Sasuke was not one to break silences. If anything, the silence felt like home.
