If I owned Naruto... someone... would spontaneously have blue hair... because it's all about the blue hair. As I don't own Naruto... you can put away the cameras.

That more than a little OOCness, if you don't think it was there before... it starts now. I personally think the whole fic is moderately not in character, but as I covered my bases in the authoress notes first chapter, it's all good.

So there may be some completely out of character romancing. I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself. I'm a closet romantic, and if I were going convince the love of my life that they were the love of my life, the "sex on a hot platter" look is totally how I'd do it. Of course... as we haven't reached that stage of relationship development, we're settling for "sin personified". I hear it's the new black.

Enjoy.

Hidden in Plain Sight

"Sasuke-kun?" There was still a slight pause, as if Hinata had to remember that she'd taken to calling him that.

"Hn?" Her tone sounded worried, so he looked up.

"I was looking at the victim reports… the earliest victims seem to be the ones that are the better than the rest."

"I imagine my brother has managed to perfect his technique by now." Sasuke's voice held a slight note of cynicism.

"I suppose, but not just that… There are strings of attacks, and they're all fairly similar, but then there are gaps, and then the next victims are worse off… Sasuke-kun… he's practicing. He's modifying it and practicing for the most efficiency… is… is it for… you?"

"Most likely. Now let's go, the Raikage wanted you at the hospital. As of five minutes ago. There was some kind of explosion."

They were in the empty halls of the hospital. Slowly the tears stopped rolling down her face. Sasuke did not understand. Surely she had killed people on missions…then he realized that it wasn't quite that that had upset her. "Hinata…why are you crying? I don't understand…" His breath was warm against the shell of her ear. "He wanted to die; he was brave to do so, to end his life…"

"No Sasuke-kun, no he wasn't." Hinata looked up at him at last. "He wasn't being brave at all. He wanted to die because he wanted to run away. His family is gone, he endured so much pain, and if he'd lived, he'd have had to endure so much more. If by some miracle he managed to regain the use of his arm, the one we didn't have to amputate," the tears started flowing again. Sasuke didn't know what to do, so he very carefully folded his arms around her, knowing that it was supposed to be a comforting gesture, one he'd seen often enough in the hospitals. She gulped and continued. "If he did manage…what could he do? He was a ninja. But after that attack, he lost his family, he lost his pride, he lost his way of life. He was running away, Sasuke. Helpless, alone, nowhere to go, no one to turn to… that is painful." There was a tiny bitter laugh from the vicinity of his shoulder.

"You're so strong; there was never any question of you dying from anything but battle wounds or old age. Honor, pride all that. But everyone is not like you. You are brave to risk the chance that maybe someone is stronger than you, or maybe there are too many of them. But there is a difference between gambling your life and throwing it away.

"Have you ever stared at a blade, wondering if maybe you'd be happier if you used it on yourself? Escaping from all the troubles of life. When you're helpless and alone… living is one of the hardest things you can do. But when you realize you have friends and people who will miss you, living doesn't seem that bad, and running away from it all becomes harder. That man didn't think he had anyone to miss him, so he chose to run away. I can understand that… but he looked hesitant… like maybe there was some small reason to live for… but he didn't want to live and find out and I… I'm sorry." She rubbed at her eyes. She looked up at him, and in that second of eternity, he simply reacted.

One hand cradled the base of her skull, reveling in her hair; the other found its way to her cheek, wiping away tears, tilting her head up. Either his ninja skills were faster than thought, or she was leaning into him, into a kiss neither were sure should happen. Except that it did, so it was too late anyway. Her lips were soft and full, and he never wanted to leave them. His mouth was like velvet, gentle and firm and she just wanted to lose herself into him. Into… Uchiha… Sasuke.

He pulled away a millimeter or so, to let them breathe a little. She looked into his eyes; dark, warm, strong and strength-lending… like a cup of coffee, and she was afraid. Afraid that like coffee, she could become addicted to something that couldn't love back, that it would leave her helpless in its absence. She slipped out of his loose arms; bright pink, stuttering excuses, and fled. He let her. He turned, and walked away in the other direction, past the calmly surprised Raikage.

"I think she said your sister only suffered minor burns from the explosion and is in the corner room. Good day, Raikage-sama."

His feet led him to the closest hill. He dropped himself down, onto his back, and stared at the clouds. He could still see her wide, white eyes as she pulled away from him. Eyes he wanted to keep forever, away from anyone else who could possibly bring that look into her eyes. They were bright, and not with tears then, but with pleasure. Her eyes were amazingly expressive, for being white. There was usually a soothing coolness in them, like a light breeze on a warm day. But just then, there'd been heat, heat that her usual shy demeanor and politeness could not deny. He wanted… he wanted to draw that heat out, from the soft glow that lit her eyes, and turn it into flames that clouded her eyes with passion. Her eyes could see so much… like the pain of others, their joys, their strength…

He began to think about what she had said before fleeing. Would living helpless really be that much worse than death? Hinata seemed to think so… and so did Itachi, didn't he? Incapacitating ninjas, forcing them to live because ninja refuse to die… practicing, improving this seal so that his brother would, in his delusions of strength… live a death. Live and hate life. What made life worth living anyway? Sasuke thought about that. He could think of a number of things... kicking Naruto's ass into next week, learning a new technique, the taste of tea, that look in Hinata's eyes, the feel of her lips… oh this was bad.

He wasn't in love with her… not yet. But he wanted to find out… take the gamble and see if love could come. It seemed that she needed time to sort herself out as well. He could give that to her… he could wait, not happily, but he would. She understood him, she fit him, she intrigued him. He would wait as long as he needed to, so long as she finally came to him.

Hinata had gone back to their apartment and was lying on the sofa, thinking. If she'd ever thought that this would happen… well she had, hadn't she… increasingly often lately… What, indeed, if Sasuke and she were to grow closer than they already had. Well first off, when they got back, the Raikage would wonder why he could hear Hinata's name being screamed in the distance, and why it sounded like it was being screamed by many many irate girls.

And then the rumormongers would nod and say they had seen it coming, because wouldn't the Hyuuga just love to take the Sharingan and add it to their bloodline. And then the Hyuuga would have to restrain themselves from killing said rumormongers, because why would the Hyuuga want to weaken the Byakugan with other blood, Hyuuga Hinata's Byakugan no less?

And to get back to Hinata; well after screaming, the Uchiha Sasuke Fanclub would most likely attempt to lynch her, and Ino and Ten Ten would attempt to beat their heads in, and Shikamaru would complain and Neji would avoid everyone… and Hanabi would become heir, because Hinata would no longer be a Hyuuga…She took off her hitai ate at this thought, and looked into it, the seal on her forehead distinguishable in the curved metal. Hanabi wouldn't have to be sealed as Branch Family… and Hinata could be free from ruling the Hyuuga, from being forced to decide which of two evils was the lesser. How could she choose when, if both were evils, how could she force these people, her family to live with her decision? She was too soft-hearted to do that. Hanabi however... Hanabi wasn't. If Hanabi became the heiress... Hinata could focus on helping her, the Hyuuga, and everyone else… and Hinata would be with Sasuke.

Putting aside the large number of people that didn't matter, falling in love with Uchiha Sasuke couldn't cause too much damage. Which was just as well, because Hinata had a feeling that she'd started falling a while ago. Just like coffee… that first taste was different, bitter, and too strong. And yet now, after sipping at it for so long, I can't imagine being without it. I might break if I fall too hard for him, but it would be so difficult to stop now… I could be happy with Sasuke, couldn't I? How is he different from anyone else… he's still human, still alive, still growing… and I want to grow with him. I wonder if any of his fan girls feel the same… does Sakura? I…need to talk to him… when he… comes back… She didn't know when she fell asleep, but she did, the thoughts of coffee and a certain ninja swirling around in her head, keeping her company.

Sasuke came back to the room, intent on talking with Hinata. He wanted to make her understand as soon as he could, as if that would shorten his wait. He found her lying on the couch, sleeping; the mark on her forehead a dark contrast to the pale glow of her skin. Her mouth looked like it would smile, given one tiny little push in the right direction. Whatever was she thinking about? Sasuke really wanted to talk, a highly unusual event in itself, and the target was sleeping…

Sasuke sighed and started to make dinner, debating whether to be quiet or not; be polite, because she looked so peaceful, or be impatient and get his answers faster.

She was blinking fuzzily as he set the food down on the table. Sasuke repressed the fleeting thought that watching her wake up was one of the most… adorable did he really just use that word? things he'd ever had the pleasure of witnessing. The smile that had been threatening her mouth won out as she murmured a sleepy greeting. Now that she was awake, Sasuke found himself unable to say anything but "Ittadakimasu". Neither spoke throughout the meal. Finally, when the crockery and chopsticks were neatly piled on the table, the silence broke.

"Sasuke… about what happened at the hospital, I wanted to ask you…"

Hinata looked so vulnerable, so unsure… Sasuke didn't care if this compounded the tension or alleviated it. He leant over, pushing her down almost horizontal with the couch. His voice was husky and soft, his eyes were dark, he was temptation itself, and he was drawing on it as much as he could.

"What did you want to ask me? Why, maybe? Because to be painfully honest, I didn't know why. Now however, I can tell you that I don't regret it, and would quite happily do it again." Hinata sank further into the couch as his words sank into her. "You seem to meet me so well… but the only way to see if you complete me was to move beyond what we had." His eyes took in as much of her as they could in their current position. He leant closer, whispering in her ear, smugly noting the pink washing across her cheeks. "You're as close to perfect as anyone can get. And I'm warning you, that I'm going to fight to keep you mine. Now," he sat back, as if nothing had happened, "what were you going to ask me?"

Hinata brought her hands to her face as she too slowly righted herself. Her heart was racing, because hadn't he just answered any questions she might have had at this point? And answered what she wanted the most right now? She smiled lightly, fitting herself to him this time, where he sat comfortably, propped up on the couch end, that sardonic smirk making it impossible to ignore the fact that he had everything completely under control. And this time she answered his questions, lips a hairsbreadth away from his skin as she murmured.

"The questions I was going to ask are irrelevant now. The one question I want to ask you right now is… can we finish what we started in the hallway now?" She leaned back to take in his response. There was a second of surprise before she got her answer. It was, to say the least, a favorable reaction.

Don't hurt me! If you disapprove umm... well go talk to alll the people who've been waiting for the romance. And if there aren't any... well go stub your toe. It's not the authoress's fault she feels the need to liven up her boring college existance by playing with fiction puppets... well maybe it is... but you know... suck an elf (tenth kingdom, don't own it either). anyway... I should stop now... before I hurt myself.