Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Naruto or anythinf affiliated with it, You'd know if I did, and all fandom would rise up and attack me. Enjoy kiddies, play nice, pet the pooch.

Hidden in Plain Sight

"Didn't Sakura-san tell you all I'd be just fine walking by myself? I am Konoha shinobi."

"Sakura was there? Good thing I left then. Naruto wouldn't have been happy if she had been number twenty five."

Hinata looked at him, a look he couldn't interpret. The moment passed and she shrugged slightly. "Well at least I didn't lie to her when I said I hadn't seen you. Though it's not a very concealing costume. But even off duty, the genius of our class is still a creature of shadows."

"And you? For the girl who spent years covering her very elbows… nice dress."

She blinked at the incomplete concept he'd just tossed her. "It was training inspired." She smiled slightly at a memory of a waterfall incident years ago.

"Training? With water?" Sasuke grinned ever so slightly. "Not my style."

Hinata tilted her head and returned the grin, only brighter. "Not with the Katon techniques I imagine. But water is excellent training for chakra release techniques. Training with waterfalls is how I finally received recognition." The grin had been turned into a wistful smile. She almost visibly shook herself. "Maintaining chakra and conserving it, it's fun."

Family…recognition… oh the joys of the kekkei genkai. Sasuke may not have been the most understanding person in the world, but he could empathize with that. And he could tell she wasn't happy about it. Why he cared, he wouldn't question, maybe it was just because they lived the same; alone, with something they had to live for, even if they didn't want it. He sought another topic of conversation.

"Want a cup?"

Hinata looked up. Sasuke was pointing to a tea house, quaintly decked out in lanterns. She smiled and nodded.

"So how have your missions been?"

Hinata looked up. He's trying to make conversation? "Oh they've been good, Ino, Ten Ten and I have been teamed up for a while. We were in the Sand last. And you, Sasuke-san?"

"Che, they've been too easy. This evening was pathetic." He noted the slight tensing of Hinata's shoulders, but didn't think much of it. She was capable, even if her doubt cost her ability in battle, she was capable.

"Yes… it was over very quickly. I'm glad. The festival didn't suffer bad mood for long. Ino and Ten Ten nearly caught Shikamaru-san and Neji-niisan saying they were glad of the attack. Wouldn't have been healthy for them. Ten Ten had tessen with her tonight." At Sasuke's querying look, she explained. "A weapon that Sand kunoichi favor. It's a fan, but with a metal frame. Folded it is as good as a club; open, it's as good as kunai. They're sharp and dangerous, so of course Ten Ten felt the need to purchase a few. I bought a pair, I wanted to see how I could use them with…" She trailed off, uncertain as to why he was staring at her. It wasn't as intense Neji used to glare at her, but he seemed interested, something she still wasn't sure she'd ever get used to. "Is something wrong?"

"What happened to the other earring?" It had been bothering him, as if the imbalance were a reflection of… something. He noted the slight wince, but continued to watch her.

Finally she gave in. "We were close to the first attack. So I wasn't paying attention. There were senbon, I didn't move out of the way fast enough, and one caught in the earring. It broke, but not before pulling a lot. I'll get it re-pierced eventually, after it heals."

"Not used to earrings?"

She blinked, he wasn't telling her off for not being careful? "No, especially not these dangly ones. Incredibly impractical, but they're pretty. After all, tonight is supposed to be for concealing your normal self, and maybe revealing what you truly want to be. Decided to indulge myself this one night. More tea, Sasuke-san?"

They'd parted ways after that pot of tea. She'd found the others and had bid them an early night. Ino and Ten Ten had asked after Sasuke, she'd felt it the better part of wisdom to say she hadn't seen him. She'd ignored the looks of disappointment. Hinata walked through the festival, lights and sounds surrounding her with cheerful ambience. She fell to contemplating one Uchiha Sasuke.

Fact: even after leaving Konoha, he was still the number one bachelor; few enough had known of Orochimaru, much less the hold he had over Sasuke. She had only been given details after Sasuke's return, when it was necessary, and when it wasn't as much of a sore subject with the important nin.

Fact: even if Orochimaru had been defeated, Sasuke still had a sword hanging over his head.

Fact: only those who were close to him, as close as one could get anyway, knew what that sword was.

Fact: he too had a bloodline, and he was the only one spared the Uchiha massacre. If that wasn't pressure to become a good ninja, then the Hyuuga influence on her was just a whisper of suggestion.

Fact: all the fangirls extolling his virtues would not change the fact that it was his defection that had led to the hospitalization of Neji, Lee, Naruto and Kiba, which had hurt her and Ten Ten, and also of Chouji and Shikamaru, which had hurt too, but Ino more so. She, Ino and Ten Ten had grown close in the sterile environment of the hospital. And much as those three had hurt, they knew that they couldn't hate Sasuke, it would take a while to forgive him, but he was Konoha shinobi, had been number one rookie Genin, he was someone who helped make Konoha. He wanted to be stronger, that much the three girls had figured out with the scraps of information that they had. Sasuke had fought Naruto, and had won. But Naruto was alive, and still hopeful. Which meant that Sasuke, even through his darkness, was not gone.

Fact: if presenting Orochimaru's head to the Godaime as an apology for leaving wasn't enough, then add to it that he'd agreed to take the Jounin exam, even if it was unlikely he'd become ANBU for a long time. He had essentially agreed to serve Konoha, grow stronger for them, without advancing toward any personal goals he might have. Neji, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Ten Ten, Naruto, Shino, Kiba, Chouji; all had become Jounin. Neji was so close to joining ANBU. A little more time, and Shino, Shikamaru and Ten Ten would too. Everyone had been getting stronger. And so have I. Father acknowledges it. Even if Hanabi became Chuunin only a year after I did, I am not weak. Father may not be happy that the heir is weaker than the other Hyuuga nin, but he can not say that I am not fit to be the heir. I think I've dallied long enough. Chuunin isn't enough anymore. I will become Jounin, and by the time Naruto becomes Hokage, I will be one of the best medic nin Konoha has to offer. She stopped. She hadn't realized her feet had taken her thoughts so seriously, leading her to the training grounds. But as I'm here, let's see if we can't fight even in a dress. Mistakes are only truly mistakes when you can not or do not learn from them.

Tea was relaxing. Tradition was restful, because one didn't have to think. One merely had to follow the motions set years ago. If there was a clan that took tradition seriously, the house of Hyuuga was it. Even in a casual environment, like the tea house, the Hyuuga heiress was poised and polite, to a fault. She wasn't… normal. Kunoichi were usually one of two things in his mind. Rabid fangirls, blindly chasing something they thought they wanted. Or they were disillusioned, finally understanding that he was not perfect, that he was human. An example of the former would be the twenty four of this evening, and Haruno Sakura. Sakura was the line between the two categories. She knew, she was there, she'd been pushed away, but she still came back. Sasuke couldn't understand that.
The past was the past, the present was the present. How she could fuse her crush with her pain with her desire to preserve her illusion was beyond him.

Yamanaka Ino was one of the disillusioned. Those he could understand, he could tolerate them. He'd shown everyone he was human, and had given in to temptation. And those had finally understood that they were chasing the phantom of someone that couldn't exist. Hinata was not really either. When they were younger, she'd treated him with deference, caution and respect, as she treated everyone. They'd grown up, and now she was more familiar with people, a little more confident, and very much more popular, but quietly so. Every now and then he'd see her walking through the streets, running errands or something, despite being heiress. She never progressed very quickly, always having to stop and greet people, ask after the health of some ninja she'd helped at the hospital.

She'd looked at his seal after he came back. To make sure Orochimaru's death hadn't set off some kind of self destruction sequence. The Hokage had given her as much information as she could, hoping the Byakugan could confirm what her friends hoped for. He was sure Hinata had come to his hospital room almost immediately after that conference. She was a born healer, withholding nothing from those who needed her services. There was little pity that he could detect in her, she could never express disgust for someone she knew; she was polite, distant as became a healer. She was genuinely seeking to heal him, not because she thought she loved him, but because he was Uchiha Sasuke, a missing nin that had returned, and might be in danger.

That was the difference between her and Sakura. Hinata knew when to separate feelings from the real world, and was instinctively drawn to those who needed help. He smirked a bit at that thought. She'd been drawn to Naruto; he'd needed to know someone acknowledged him for all those years. But even if she had been drawn to him, she hadn't known what to do, which ultimately meant nothing. Her instincts had been ahead of her. Even for a kekkei genkai like the Byakugan, Hinata had amazing sight, not limited to tenkutsu; it was about time she had learned to use it. She had come into the room, Tsunade a step behind her, politely informed him of what she knew, and had asked if he would like her to examine it now, or come again after he'd recovered somewhat. He hadn't turned his gaze away from the window. Just told her to look at it, and do what needed to be done whenever.

And she had. He had a strange sense of déjà vu when they put him in a room so like the one Kakashi had stuck him in to seal the seal the first time. Hinata had talked the whole time they were setting up. She wasn't looking for conversation, she was simply informing him of what they intended to do. Her voice was soothing, soft, even; like a stream that could never be touched by flood or drought, it just went on forever, clear and refreshing. Sakura probably would have made a dozen promises, all foolish, all based on hope. Hinata simply told him what she knew, and what she hoped this would reveal.

After all that, he'd been released from the hospital, free to return to the empty halls of the Uchiha compound. He was just another ninja now. Hoping to take his place in the Jounin exam, renewing the dreams he had when he was a Genin. He was just another Konoha shinobi, maybe with a reputation to live down, but Naruto had lived like that too. And he would be damned if that idiot could handle the trials of society better than he. Trials that were without a doubt worse than the one he, Uchiha Sasuke faced. Almost the entire village shunning him versus fewer fan girls. Having to claw his way up from the bottom of the class versus building off being the number one rookie. No question about it. Uchiha Sasuke would pass this unofficial, unacknowledged test of society. Of course, it was easier when everyone knew he spent most of his time training anyway. People were not a major part of Uchiha Sasuke's life, never really would be. Training was more productive than contemplating an empty house, empty streets, the dim silence of people long gone. Becoming stronger was more productive than remembering that he'd put both parts of his vow on hold.

He paused. He was broody tonight. Probably because he'd gone to the festival, all the cheerful people, people who'd never known pain like his. People who thought they understood, people who didn't know a thing at all about him. He never tried to understand them, if he did, he did because they were a little like him. He wanted to hit something. He wanted to feel the pain, the proof that he was alive, that he was here. He wanted a fight. He wanted someone to acknowledge him as an equal; not a pawn, not part of the greater good, not on a pedestal. Too bad Naruto was probably following Sakura around the festival, in her search for him. He headed to the training grounds. One could never have too much practice.