To say that the Hyuga was confused to see him on their doorstep was an understatement, but they fulfilled his request to retrieve Neji anyway. His face was initially worried, but Sasuke's calm demeanor made it clear nothing was wrong.
"She wants to have you for dinner," Sasuke told him shortly. "Bring a date." He added with a smirk that made Neji scowl.
"We will be honored."
Hinata came back with battle wounds from time to time. He would play nurse for what he could, cleaning and rewrapping. He didn't mind the scars. They came with the occupation. She came back alive he was happy. What concerned him was the look in her eyes when she had had a particularly hard mission or an argument with a member of her team or someone who had caught her on her way back. The frown in her eyes that she hid from him to protect him.
He would lay extra kisses around her wounds to make the pain better even though it was not the pain he wanted to take away.
Hinata did rather well on her feet while she cooked. He kept nearby and had her sit as often as possible. The last thing they needed was to have her overprotective cousin to the house to find her ragged.
She eagerly waited for Sasuke to let them in when they knocked and opened her arms for a hug from the Tenten. "You're looking well. Are you feeling better?"
She nodded. "I was able to be on my feet for a good portion of the meal preparation, definitely an improvement."
Neji glanced at him, and he nodded, confirming her recovery. Neji accepted it.
"Hanabi-sama has asked us to bring this." Neji held out an envelope to him. "Don't open it now, but you knew it could only be held off for so long."
"Yeah, I know." Sasuke glanced over to his wife, who was blissfully ignorant of the exchange, and waved them over to sit and eat.
Hinata was glad to have the first pleasant gathering with friends she had had since her accident. Tenten made jokes at Sasuke's expense, telling her how hard it had been to teach him how to place the setting and how she still thought he could have done better if they had tried again. Hinata was reluctant to part with her current rings. They held memories, maybe not for her but at least for him, which was good enough for her.
She didn't let the sight of a Hyuga seal on the letter. She had noticed Sasuke hide, dampening her mood. She knew that there was darkness looming, but she could be happy now.
Sasuke was reluctant to further the story in some areas of her relationships with people she was patching up with, but he wasn't going to hide it from her. She and Sakura had more than one confrontation, and they never ended well.
His wife was adamant she wanted to know so he would continue telling all.
"Now I wasn't there for this, you told me after but from how I understand it."
Hinata was at the store by herself, picking him up medication, actually. His ninja health had left him when he stopped taking care of himself, and though he was back on his feet, he was now susceptible to the common cold, it would seem. She had stepped out for only an hour, but when she got back, she had a tightness to her face that was clear and stressed, but she didn't want to bother him when he was so sick.
"Just tell me what happened." He coughed, taking the medication she offered.
"Sakura-chan was dropping off prescriptions at the pharmacy." She admitted.
"What did she say?" He growled.
"She assumed I was buying… post contraceptives." To say he was angry was an understatement, but he dissolved into a fit of coughs that made his wife hold him down. "I explained you had a cold, but it was… uncomfortable, and I didn't want to comment."
"She insinuated that you wouldn't want my child even after we are already married, and you're saying she only made it uncomfortable? You are far too forgiving." He laid his head on her lap and curled around her.
"She's upset. I think it's understandable that she would be rude." She whispered, wringing out the cold cloth nearby and dabbing his forehead.
"She doesn't need to be a snippy bitch." He closed his eyes as she laid a hand in his hair and rubbed his shoulder.
"It's honestly not the worst. The pharmacist was confused that I wasn't there for my normal contraceptives. She asked if I was allowed to have a child." She frowned, leaning down, laying her face into his hair, already resigned to the fact that if she was going to get her sick, it would have happened already.
"Why? Were you on contraception?" He wondered. They had never talked about it, and if they were 'normal,' she had been taking them for a while, not just while they were married.
"I've been on them since I started puberty, partly insurance in case..." She trailed off at the untrust of her father. "But they also help regulate my previously harsh cycles, which is nice."
"You went off it?" He wondered, though he had a fever and the conversation was probably better when he was clear-headed.
"I have another month of it on hand. I just didn't order or pick up more, which is usually the only reason I go to the pharmacist." He was sure it was something she would like to talk about when he was feeling better, so he dropped it. He was content with the idea she would be completely fine with having his children.
"Get some sleep. I'm hoping you get better before I leave for my next mission. I don't know who I would find to come to check on you." He intentionally moaned at the idea. He knew the answer would be someone who would just annoy him. Their options were limited.
"Don't let the blond horn into the house when my head feels like this." He grumbled, and she let out a reluctant giggle.
"I'll make sure it is someone else." She giggled, letting him pull her down and roll her so he could lay on her.
Hinata giggled as she was lifted in the air with her legs crossed and her hands on his forearms for balance. "This isn't proper training at all." Sasuke sat her back on her rear and then lifted her again over his head and sat her back down, repeatedly.
"Call it resourceful." He smirked, laying back, holding her up. She stiffened to balance up in the air.
"We have weights." Hinata giggled as he lowered her and pushed her back up. Little did she know they had done this many times before, but it usually ended with less clothing.
"Weights don't move or giggle. I prefer you." He chuckled, doing it once more before lowering her to sit on over his stomach. "And it helps with your balance." He added.
"I'm sure that is your motivation." She stretched upward and back, he left his headrest back to not see the skin that peaked out of her shirt, or her chest shifted naturally. He was glad she was sitting on his stomach.
Hinata rolled over in confusion, not remembering falling asleep on the couch, and looked up for her husband, who was never far. Sasuke was this time, sat in the kitchen with a single light on with tea and tangled hair.
Hinata made an unintentional noise of discomfort while she got up, which caused him to turn. "Sorry, I was about to come back over. Are you cold?" He asked, leaving his tea to reposition the blanket over her shoulders.
"No..." She examined him closely. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." He mumbled. "It's just… a lot." He increased his grip on her shoulders, and she moved forward to hug him. "I forget the weight of some of these memories when I tell you them..."
"It's hard because you're telling me things I should remember." She whispered with sorrow. Why was it so hard to just remember even the slightest thing. Nothing he said ever gave her the slightest feeling of familiarity. She wanted to at least feel like the story had been about her, but sometimes the only thing that made it real was watching Sasuke's face curl in pain.
"Don't regret for me." He told her. "I would rather keep the memories and have you than lose them and never see you again ignorant of what I had." He rubbed her back and lowered his face into her hair. "Having you here is enough for me."