family affair

seventeen:

fever

Sasuke had a fever for days.

The sickness had come down on him so quickly that he barely had any hope of avoiding it. Worse, he had come down with it at the Hyuga Estate, and Hinata would not let him leave for his apartment. For three days, his temperature slowly rose to 102 degrees, and he felt delirious, exhausted, and weak.

He had nightmares and heard voices. When he closed his eyes, he saw Hizashi Hyuga walking towards the Uchiha Compound, looking grim. When he was awake, he heard gunshots firing in the distance, rendering him immobile, his body a useless weight of sick. He feared for his survival when his fever was at its worst. He feared it, even more, when he dreamt about ANBU; the thought of returning to headquarters sent a fire through his entire body. His fever piqued 105 that day: delirium in completion.

Luckily it went down an hour later, or else he'd be transferred to a hospital for an overnight stay. Hinata stayed at his bedside. He was given a small guest room, courtesy of Hiashi, and meals came to him by way of servants. They served all types of broths and vitamins, all curated by Hinata's keen instruction.

Throughout the day she had numerous meetings and appointments which caused her to leave his side, and in those breaks of the day, he found himself wanting her companionship; it was truly boring to sit and waste in your own sweat and trauma.

In his feverish state, he began to see her as a sunlit figure, whose face filled the corners of his mind that were untouched by confusion. She had soft hands and an easy, encouraging smile when she set a towel on his forehead. She was forgiving and gentle and even allowed his anger space in a room that already seemed so dark and enclosed. When he shouted in a nightmare, out of character and startled, she shushed him, wiping the sweat from his forehead. When he was rude and arrogant, especially in the face of her kind care, she ignored him and gave him medicine. When his fever caused him to swat her away, she took his hands and folded them over his lap.

When he cried in his sleep she wiped his face and said nothing. One day she told him that it was good to sweat out the memories. She told him she didn't think he was sick with a virus, but with whatever he was battling inside of him, and she told him that he needed to do this so that he could come back. When his fever piqued, she sat beside him and brushed his hair out of his face, each finger like a prayer against his temples, each touch cool balm to his flesh. She sang a song she said her mother used to sing when she woke with her own nightmares.

It had been years since he had been cared for so completely, and without wanting something in return. That night Hinata fell asleep beside him, her hand cradling his forehead. When he awoke from the first dream that wasn't a nightmare, he realized that he was falling in love.

-:-

Hinata stretched beside him, her shirt riding up her belly and exposing the head of her dragon. Sasuke was sitting up already, drinking a glass of water in full gulps. He felt like he had not drunk anything in years. When he finished his glass, he grabbed Hinata's Hydroflask from the windowsill and drank that too.

The guest room was stylishly decorated, with midcentury modern furniture, muted cream walls, and giant framed black-and-white photographs that Sasuke had not noticed in his fever. Surprisingly, they were family photos, and they seemed too endearing for a cold picture of the Hyugas Sasuke had in mind. Imagines of Hinata and Neji playing as children greeted him as his reality slowly started crawling back to him. In one photo, a child-Hinata had her mouth in an 'o' as she pointed at a sunflower that towered over her head.

Sasuke looked down at her. Hinata's hair curled around her body when she slept, and her hands reached out as if she were trying to grab onto something. As if feeling his eyes on her, she woke up slowly, blinking blearily into the sunlight.

"Hey," she said, surprise coloring her voice when she realized Sasuke was sitting up, looking down at her with a clarity in his gaze that she hadn't seen in days. "You're––you're up!"

"I am up," Sasuke said, amusement seeping out of him as he watched the woman jump out of bed and to his bedside, her hands inoffensively coming to cradle his head, under his bangs, like they belonged there.

"How are you feeling?" She began to touch other places: the back of his neck, his cheeks, his chest.

Sasuke caught her arms in his grip, smiling a rueful smile. "I'm fine, Hyuga Princess. Seriously. I feel better."

Hinata colored, embarrassed, and tried to move from his grip, but Sasuke wouldn't let her. He pulled her back into the bed, her body falling over his torso, her arms falling over his shoulders to anchor herself.

"I know you nursed me back to health," he said. They were nose-to-nose, and he enjoyed the way she squirmed. Her eyes looked bright against the sunlight, and her concern for him was evident in the way she moved.

"It––it w-was nothing," She stuttered, unmoving. He could feel her chest moving up and down with exertion.

"Relax Hinata," Sasuke said. He held her waist. Hinata slowly relaxed her arms around his shoulders, wrapping them around his body with a question in her gaze. Sasuke returned her look with a confident lift of his lips, he tilted his head back to look at her better. "Relax. I feel great. You can relax, now."

"I'm j-just worried."

"I know you are," he said genuinely. Then he kissed her.

-:-

Hinata came up for air with a gasp. Though Sasuke's fever had indeed cleared, his temperature dropping to a normal 98 degrees, they had exchanged feverish kisses, the heat billowing out from between their touching chests and their reaching hands.

She took stock of their positions: her lying beside him, her arm drawn over his shoulders, cupping his head. Him above her, his eyes an onyx map of yearning. He let her fall back onto the bed, her head hitting a pillow.

"W-what are we doing?" She asked, heat racing to her face. Her heart was a drumline inside of her chest. Sasuke's heat stretched the length of her body. He was panting, too.

"I thought we were kissing," he said slowly as if he were speaking a foreign language.

Hinata frowned. "I-I mean..yeah..."

Sasuke looked at her expectedly, as if she were the one behaving erratically after having just been proclaimed fever-free. She said as much, too! "A-are you sure you're not still ill?"

Sasuke stared at her some more, warm amusement filtering his gaze before it was filtered away and replaced with an intensity that was usually reserved for throwing a punch, "Do you honestly think that one has to be ill to kiss you?"

Hinata's face felt hot, "I-I mean, no! I just...I wasn't expecting it."

Sasuke seemed to consider this, sitting up and fixing his gaze on her form. For all that had passed between them already, she managed not to feel self-conscious about a shared night in bed with him, and a kiss planted between thermometers and healthy green juices she had procured. She felt comfortable, even in her sleeping shorts and an oversized T-shirt, her hair tied back from her face, the heavy sleep circles around her eyes.

"Why not?" He said after a beat. He stretched, his arms towering above them, his exposed skin golden against the light. He leaned to one side with his hands clasped and looked over his opposite shoulder at her, stretching. "I'm seriously asking. Why not?"

Hinata said nothing because all she had was her insecurities wrapped around her stomach in knots. There were several reasons why not, and she would not sit there and list them all!

Sasuke rolled his eyes when she didn't answer and finished his stretches with an unbelieving look at her sitting form. "You mean to tell me you haven't noticed my attraction to you this whole time? You haven't noticed how I can't seem to fucking look away from you? How every time we're in a room together we end up next to each other? How I––"

He broke off and the silence was thick. Hinata swallowed, asking "How you what?"

"I like you, Hinata." He finally said, turning his dark gaze on her. Their eyes met and Hinata could see herself in his pupils, flushed with her lips parted. Shivers ran over her body. "I like you a lot. And it's dangerous to like you, but it seems I haven't been able to let it go."

There was a beat of silence.

"I...like you, too," Hinata admitted, her lashes fluttering. She felt like her heart was living in her throat and it was trying to climb out and spill everything she's ever felt. Her voice came out shaking––she didn't think she would admit such a thing ever, but when she looked at him she couldn't even begin to regret it.

Sasuke was smiling at her ruefully, the left side of his mouth upturned in a brief sort of happiness. He pulled her up close to her body and Hinata felt a thrill go through her at this new and urgent feeling. His hands were large and heavy at her waist, "What should we do about it then, Hyuga Hinata?"

"I suppose..." she felt her body mold into his warm side as if she were meant to be there, feeling as if she were in a dream. "We can keep doing what we're doing."

They rolled into bed together, the rest of the world briefly forgotten. No one came to check on them, no one knocked on the guest room for several hours, and they were grateful, falling into a fitful sleep while wrapped around each other. Hinata felt safe in Sasuke's grip as her eyes fought sleep, nestling her head under his chin.

She hadn't expected this to happen. She knew that she had had budding feelings for him, but she had buried them deep inside of herself, convincing herself that it would never work out between them for whatever reason. Convincing herself that she was not in his league. Convincing herself that she wasn't good enough.

She watched his eyes gently close, quick to fall asleep while his body still recovered. You are beautiful, Hinata thought, tracing the hard edge of his jaw with her gaze, and following it up to his ear, his forehead, and down his straight nose. She did not know how she had gotten so lucky. She realized, with a spark of fear in her chest, that he trusted her deeply.

And she trusted him.

-:-

Two hours later, Hinata slipped from his arms and got dressed in her bedroom. He didn't stir––still regaining his energy from the four nights of fever.

Hanabi caught her before Hinata slipped into her own room, both eyebrows raised in such a teenage way that Hinata turned red and gave herself away. She slammed the door shut before Hanabi could utter a word, but imagined the text Ino would receive very soon from Hinata's younger sister.

She changed from her sleep clothes into some belly-high sweats and a cropped T-shirt, and waddled down the stairs to her father's office, where he was expecting her. He sat at his desk looking tired and unenthusiastic, focused on a game of soccer playing on the screen of his iPhone. Hinata was grateful that it was a casual day for everyone.

He looked up when he saw her and her casual wear and said, "hm."

Hinata said, "Hello father."

He said, "I see you've been nursing that boy all week."

Hinata said, "I have."

He said, "What is he so feverish about?" His eyes were keen. Fevers had many meanings to the Hyugas. Often, it meant there was a great chasm within someone, and they had to choose which direction to go. Only once the matter was settled, would their fever clear.

It was a myth, but Hinata believed in it. That didn't mean she wanted her father to know that––she didn't want to give him a reason to be more suspicious of the Uchiha than he already was. She played coy: "I imagine s-some sort of virus. It's b-been cold, father."

Hiashi said nothing to this point, just shook his head quietly as he turned off the soccer game and closed his phone in distaste. "Your mother liked to care for the sick, too." He said it as if he were saying something else entirely––like he often was. "Just don't get too involved."

Hinata was grateful that her face didn't turn too red, "He's...he's b-better now, so he won't need my help, anyway."

"Good to hear. I don't need your attention focused on that Uchiha," Hiashi said, speaking like a father and a crime organizer at once. "It's not ideal. Especially with Suna in the mix. Tell me about that."

Hinata told him, keeping to herself the rudeness and the touchiness of Gaara. She spoke about the weapons she had organized for the Hyugas, and the man she had met from Korea. She explained that after the man had seen them together, he immediately allied himself, saying he was better with them and their combined power than against them.

Hiashi sighed like it annoyed him to hear things had gone well, muttering about Gaara being right, after all. They discussed the Boys Club meeting that would happen the next month, and Hiashi warned that Gaara might ask for another outing, just to solidify their position. Hiashi would have to say yes if that was the case.

Hinata nodded like a good daughter would, and thought of the bed upstairs she would return to once this was all said and done. It didn't matter that she had to fake date Gaara for the sake of an alliance. It didn't matter that her father seemed to disapprove of her closeness with Sasuke. It didn't matter. It didn't matter. It didn't matter.

Hinata bowed to her father and practically ran back up the stairs once she was out of sight and sound of the east wing.

-:-

The rest of the day unrolled around them like a summer film.

Hinata felt the bliss well up in her stomach every time their lips brushed, feeling at once peaceful and terrified––but she could not stop once they had started. The conversation from the days before the fever was unresolved, but Hinata did not think they needed to continue, not when Sasuke's mouth enveloped her with such rushed sweetness. They were plump and fulfilling kisses, deep like nothing she had ever known before, like reaching into a well and coming up with an enchanted gift.

After hours of this, they found dinner, sneaking out of the guest room like children who wanted to avoid being caught. Hinata was grateful that they had not run into Hanabi––or worse, Neji, on their way for food.

They carried it back to the guest room like bandits, their fingers tearing into the meal, and then each other, with absolute certainty. Sasuke liked to smirk and tease her, his eyes bright with mirth she had never seen before. At some point, they vacated the guest bedroom to her bedroom, where Hinata rolled a joint and lead him by the hand to her balcony.

She pointed to little things around the Estate that Sasuke had not noticed. By the entrance was a tiny blue house with a hole in the top, saying "That was my mother's first birdhouse, she liked to build them."

Sasuke squinted, the smoke billowing between them. They were ignoring the chill of outside "What about the one on the ground beside it? That yellow thing?" There was a smaller house, very crooked and badly painted on the ground.

Hinata blushed, "T-that one was mine. Not my best work."

"Certainly not, stick to tattooing."

Hinata elbowed him, saying "Hey! I was a kid. Surely you had childhood arts and crafts?"

"They looked better than that," Sasuke chuckled. "But I wasn't really into that. I liked running around and climbing things. And I had this strange obsession with knives."

"I d-don't really think that's strange," Hinata chided.

Sasuke rose a sleek eyebrow. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Whatever you want it to mean."

They continued like this for an hour, well after the joint was extinguished, and well after they retreated back into Hinata's room with the duvets drawn over their shoulders. They let themselves feel young, though they were already young, they let themselves feel unburdened by the world that dominated their actions. They saved the worry and stress for the next day. It didn't matter right now. Right now did not count.

Sasuke said this as he watched Hinata roll her sweatpants down her thighs, exposing her long legs and part of her stomach. He guided one leg over his body so that she was straddling him. He placed the large palm of his hand against the plain of her stomach, watching the dragon disappear from view. Then, he uncovered it, following the line of its tail as it dipped around her backside to wrap around the woman's neck.

Hinata exhaled, feeling his hand move with the breath. He moved his hands to each of her hips, watching as she adjusted herself on top of him. Shyly, she tugged her t-shirt over her head, and her purple bralette bounced down, her nipples poking through to give away her arousal.

Sasuke responded immediately, hardening under her sitting position so that Hinata's eyes widened as she felt it. She made a small sound of surprise as Sasuke's hand traveled up and felt along the underside of her bra, feeling the softness there as his fingers squeezed her warm flesh. He looked her in the face as he took his fingers from under the bra and moved on top of it, squeezing her breasts with bated breath. They both radiated heat.

She moved forward, pushing her crotch against his pants without really noticing she was doing it, and began rocking back and forth. She smiled ruefully when this elicited a response, and she said, surprising them both: "R-remember when you said f-fucking wouldn't mean anything?"

Sasuke groaned, not expecting this topic or the sudden ironic tone Hinata had taken as she rubbed herself all over him. "I didn't say it like that," he protested, trying not to make any more sounds. "And you know what I meant."

She shrugged, her face flamed red from the boldness of the statement, like she hadn't expected to say, but it slipped out anyway. Sasuke pushed up, rubbing his hard-on against her, and she practically fell over. Sasuke pulled her down, taking the opportunity to envelop her mouth into a hard kiss, his hands unclasping the back of her bralette and slipping it off from between him. He buckled his hips again when he felt her hard nipples press into his chest, their warmth and size sending vigor through him. Sasuke slid off his pants with her still on top of him, leaving only his boxers, which Hinata was quick to feel him through. Their eyes met like she was asking him if it was okay.

Sasuke nodded and groaned when she began to stroke him, though he was already hard, he felt himself grow larger, and Hinata stifled a gasp when he buckled in her palm through his underwear. They kissed again, and when Hinata rose a line of saliva connected them, she threw her head back and it dripped down her chest.

The Uchiha was happy to assist: sitting up and licking the skin between her cleavage and taking a nipple into his mouth and sucking. Hinata trembled as he wrapped a hand secure around her waist, her one hand still stroking him, though in distracted and hesitant movements. They paused for a second to readjust. Sasuke asked if she wanted to be on her back.

Surprising him, Hinata said no. She said she wanted to see him, to look down at his face and see everything. She was pink when she said it, but she rolled into a squat, and Sasuke pulled his boxers off, and Hinata put a hand on either of his shoulders, kissed his neck, and sunk onto him. Sasuke felt like she was holding him close inside of her body, feeling each passing heartbeat, each twitch of her muscle.

"Shit," she said, resting her head on his chest and taking a moment to process. This wasn't like how they did it the first time. The first time they were drunk, frenzied, and both having bad days. They fucked like strangers, slipping in and out of positions like they were following a guidebook. This was different: this was intentional.

Sasuke put his hands on her waist and slowly drew her body down further, watching her take more of him until their pelvises met. Hinata convulsed, moaning loudly, as he gripped her waist and pulled her back up. Fuck fuck fuck––

Their foreheads touched. His eyes asked if she was okay. She nodded, frantically, and without preamble, he dropped her back onto his dick, eliciting a long strangled sound that filled Sasuke with pleasure. He groaned into her neck, now trusting upward without preamble, his fingers coming under her thighs to hold her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she shook, moaning into his ears, her body pulling him deeper inside with each movement. It was like they were becoming attached to one another. She felt warm and inviting, her muscles clenching him tightly as her arms held him.

Sasuke stopped thrusting when she asked him to, and he put his hands around her waist. She slowed down and began moving in circles, pushing him onto the bed with a hand anchored to either side of his head, she did swirls around his body with him inside of her, rolling her hips and waists as if she were dancing. Her breasts danced prettily above him, and Sasuke grabbed one in his mouth. It was like every single part of their bodies had to be touching.

After Hinata began to get tired, they switched positions so that Sasuke was on top, and she was back on her back, looking up at him with stars in her eyes. Sasuke maneuvered her legs, anchoring them around his body as he began to push into her with deep strokes, watching as his length disappeared inside of her slick folds. She cried as he rocked into her gently. He was kissing her face, her neck, her mouth, using one arm to hold him up, his fingers tangling easily in her hair, and the other sliding down to flick her clit.

"Sasuke" she cried, buckling forward as he pushed into more to meet her. He could feel her tightening even more around him, and swore. He, too, was running to finish. "Just like that, please," she moaned in his ear, which didn't help––or did––depending on how you wanted to look at it.

He kissed her to shut her up, and she moaned into his mouth. She clenched even more, and Sasuke felt himself begin to tremble all over, waves of pleasure rolling over his skin like a tsunami had taken his body. He groaned, gnashing his teeth, as he continued pushing until the very last second. He said something to her about how beautiful she was and she raked her fingers against his back, probably causing a little blood.

Her body began to thrash, her moans rising, as she kissed his face between the courses. He could feel her whither underneath him, and felt a hot sensation caress his member as he took one final thrust, in which he pressed his entire body against hers, and felt her torso shudder-scream against his, and he pulled out. Cumming onto the hardwood floor without preamble. Usually, he was more prepared.

"Oh my god," Hinata said when he laid beside her, completely exhausted, dazed, and definitely and unfortunately in love. "Oh my God."

He smiled ruefully at her, opening his arms as she rolled into them, her body still warm, and her breathing still erratic. She was practically buzzing against him. He kissed her forehead and thanked her.

She kissed his lips. They smiled at each other and quickly fell asleep.

Dreams only lasted for a few hours, after all.

AN. Something hot, but also sweet, for you my lovelies. The closing arc begins now.