AN: There was a hostage situation right next door to where I worked yesterday. I was so traumatized that I didn't know what to do. But thankfully, I survived as well as my beloved coworkers. And nobody was injured. Hallelujah.
I also updated Ch. 32 in Waker's Pearl. Better lemons, but you don't have to read. Just wanted to let some of you who liked wp know.
Warning: Mature (M rated) for violence and implied attempted sexual assault
This was a story that happened three years ago about a young tailor and his wife.
Three years ago, as far as the Waterfall villagers were concerned, the Uchihas were just newly weds who were trying their best to build their nest in their remote, humble village.
The husband was tall, and the wife was pretty. The Uchiha male was exceptionally looking, with a unique atmosphere about him. His wife was generous with her smiles and had a soft, pleasant tongue. And they had nothing on them-no money, property, or even any hint of where they came from. The villagers thought that these good looking, penniless couple will soon leave for the city life like most young folks.
But because the couple made their living with integrity, never went to the money lenders, paid their taxes, and mostly kept to themselves, they earned their reputation as honest, good, young people.
Uchiha tilled gravel-ridden soil at day and mended his clients' clothes in his basement at night.
With the money he earned in thirteen months, he finally opened his tailor and alterations shop in a bigger Waterfall city, downtown. His wife taught gardening and painting to the children and the elderly. She devoted her spare time to helping her husband's small business, ironing the clothes and buying thread and fabric. Outside of work, they liked dining out and watching the fireflies at night. Even though they were quiet, calm people, there was something about them-a spark-that captured other people's' attention when they walked through the crowd.
But alas, their happiness seemed short-lived. Because it didn't take long for one of the Waterfall daimyo's sons to spot the tailor's wife.
The daimyo's youngest son was hunting in the forest, and he saw the Uchiha woman with the other women of the village, dipping their feet in the cold pond, chatting and laughing.
Because it was fairly common for nobles to go out hunting in the forest, Hinata didn't care at all. She glanced at the man who was staring at her like a lost soul, and like the other ladies, lightly bowed her head and left in order to not bother his hunting. But the daimyo's youngest son fell deeply in love for her. He detained one of the women and asked about the maiden with long blue black hair and white eyes, and he was disappointed to hear that she was married.
When he went back to the palace, his brothers mocked him for looking so blue and glum after his hunt. But when the youngest son told his brothers about the fairy in the forest, surrounded by ugly, homely village women, and how she was married, they took immediate interest.
So they sent the messengers almost everyday, along with a decent sized infantry to force the married couple apart if needed.
But the tailor's wife always managed to get her and her husband out of the daimyo's army's sight. The villagers were amazed. It was as if the Uchiha woman was able to see miles away.
When the daimyo's eldest son threw a fit over his messenger's incompetence, the messenger wailed, "My lord, but the tailor is no ordinary man. I've never seen him in person, but they say that he is 7 ft tall, breathes out fire, and can kill beasts just by looking at them alone. Some even say that he is more than a hundred years old but looks like a young man."
The eldest son threw a jade spitoon on the messenger's head, "Stop blaming your incompetence on such country rumors! I have made a bet with my gold that I will have the woman in the court by the end of this week. Now we only have three days!"
"My lord, how about separating the husband from his wife?"
"How?"
The messenger whispered something into the eldest son's ear.
This time, a messenger from the daimyo sent a hawk with a letter to the mountain village.
The chief of the town received the hawk and sent the letter to the Uchihas.
Sasuke opened the letter and perused the content. Hinata was hovering in the corner of the crafts shop, wondering why the daimyo was so obsessed with getting in touch with them.
He was sitting on his wooden stool. His dark brows furrowed as he looked at the letter.
"What is it, Sasuke?" she approached him and laid her soft hand on his shoulder.
After a pause, he answered. "The daimyo wants me to design a new anbu uniform for the Waterfall."
Her face immediately brightened, "Oh, isn't that a great opportunity?" Relief washed over her face. She was getting anxious by the troops the daimyo was sending. If it was a simple commission, there was nothing to worry about. But when she saw how he still remained serious, she furrowed her brows, "Sasuke…"
She dug her nails onto the palms of her hands.
Her husband frowned at her bad habit and snatched her hand and spread her fingers apart.
"They want me to design it in the anbu's office...which is at the border of the Fire Country."
She stared at him in disbelief. She raised her voice, "Why can't they let you work here?"
But soon she realized. Anything about the anbu was strictly confidential. There might be concern about leaking the anbu's secrets.
She pressed on her thumping heart. She thought that if she and Sasuke lived as regular folks, they won't need to live in danger. How wrong she was.
She asked him, "Th-then...how long would you be away, anata?"
He closed his eyes, "I don't know."
She bowed her head. Her hands clasped to her chest. "Ca-can...I follow you?" She asked with a trembling voice.
Sasuke turned to her and raised his eyebrow at her. But she couldn't bring herself to look at him fully in the face. There was a softness in his gaze. He was not a sentimental person but the moment Hinata asked if she could follow him, he had this warm, fuzzy feeling in his gut. It wasn't often Hinata would express her feelings in such a vulnerable way. He knew how his wife, though soft and delicate looking, hated being vulnerable.
They spent the night together. Hinata was especially teary eyed, and her husband did his best to comfort her.
The next morning before the sunrise, when it was still dawn, he had to leave. Hinata saw him off the village gate. Because they didn't know for how long he would be away, they took longer to say good bye than usual.
"I'll come as soon as I can." He said quietly.
Hinata couldn't say anything more. She knew her husband meant every word, and he'll prove with his actions that he will do everything in his ability to come back as soon as he can.
"The anbu is a dangerous world." She spoke with sorrow.
He didn't say anything in return. Suddenly, Hinata became full of resentment.
She didn't know why she was being so emotional and unreasonable. But her husband's refusal to make blind promises was grating on her. "Anata! Can't you even promise me that you'll be safe no matter what?"
"You know I can't-"
She glared at him. He quickly shut his mouth. To be honest, he didn't know why she was being angry. But he knew better than to upset Hinata.
Then finally he grabbed her arm and pulled her to his chest. Her nose hit his rock hard pecs, and she started tearing up, thinking, against her will, how warm and cozy his chest was. It was his cheap trick that he does whenever Hinata was upset or mad at him.
Hinata sighed and buried her face into his chest. The daimyo's messenger chastened them that they were taking too much time, so Sasuke had to leave.
It was nine days since he had left her alone in their house.
The daimyo's men didn't permit her to visit him at all and sent her away when she came close to the region. They finally promised to send her husband her letters and little packages, but she still didn't get any reply.
'He must be busy,' she told herself. 'But he still could have sent just one letter. Just one.'
"Why did I marry such a man…" She sighed as she scattered her homemade fertilizer over her little home garden.
She grumbled as she pulled out the weeds with unexpected ferocity, "stubborn...can't figure out a woman's heart to save his life...Only pretending to care when I yell at him…"
She didn't want to be a clingy wife, but something about the daimyo's orders irked her. She got a bad feeling.
She has been hearing rumors that the Waterfall aristocracy were extracting talented people from villages and forcing them to work as slaves. She was hoping that her husband won't provoke the aristocrats' ire and cause massive damage.
She went in the house and tossed her soiled gardener gloves on the table with little care. She slumped on the chair in front of the dining table. She seemed to see her tall, dark haired husband silently eating his food, but then he was gone. She felt tears rise to her eyes.
"Nine days and not a word…" she rubbed her left eye, "for how long do I have to wait, anata? I miss you..."
Suddenly she heard a knock at the door.
She rose quickly. In a second, she was at the door and she opened the door wide without bothering to ask who it was, "Sasuke?"
But the light in her eyes vanished as soon as she noticed that it was just the Waterfall daimyo's messenger.
She made an unsmiling bow. She blamed the Waterfall nobility for her current unhappiness.
When the messenger informed her of the news regarding her husband though, she followed the messenger to the daimyo's palace without any hesitation.
It was late at night when Sasuke entered a shoddily constructed tent that served as a pub for the anbus.
The night was cold, and he was wearing a long dark cloak. He drew up the tent fold and entered the rowdy pub. A firewood was lit in the middle of the tent. The smoke rose, escaping through the air hole on the top.
A high pitched shriek greeted him, "Oh, it's handsome~"
"Handsome? He's back?"
Prostitutes who were clinging to the anbu guards all abandoned their lovers and rushed to him.
They eyed him flirtatously, and some even had the audacity to cling to his arm or pretend to collapse on him by accident and rub their breasts against him. The tailor never even spared them a glance, but they just saw him as a challenge.
The anbu guards who suddenly became alone with their drinks glared at him with hostility.
Sasuke managed to keep a straight face despite the ongoing sexual harassment and walked up to the seat he knew where the Waterfall anbu captain was going to be.
As the anbu captain's mistress just left him to snuggle up to the tailor, he was in a bad mood.
"You're done?" the captain grumbled.
Sasuke nodded, "yes." Then he pulled out the expertly folded garment and placed it on the captain's hands.
The captain wrung the garment that was supposed to be the uniform of top mission ninjas for the Waterfall country as if it was some nasty rag. He sniffed and made a grimace.
Sasuke's brows knitted in distaste, seeing how the captain had absolutely no regard for his mission.
Pppenng-
Then the captain blew his nose on the uniform.
All the men guffawed, except Sasuke whose eyes widened by a fraction.
The captain grinned. Then he tossed the garment into the pile of fire.
Sasuke watched in silence-the garment that the orange fire slowly nibbled on, turning it black.
"Do it again." The captain waved his hand as if chasing off a pesky fly.
Sasuke stood for a second. Then he watched the captain.
The captain glanced at him. Then he barked, "Didn't you hear me, commoner? Make it again!"
Sasuke squeezed his gloved fists tight. Then finally he bowed his head. And left the tent.
When the men saw the tent flap closing, they all erupted in racuous laughter. They slapped each other's backs.
One of the prostitutes sighed, "Poor pretty boy...He has been working and getting rejected for so many times."
Another prostitute made a sly smile, "But that means we get to see him again and again."
An anbu guard barked, "Stupid women. Going after F* looks."
"You can't say that!" she screamed.
"He's crazy stupid," another guard spat into the fire, "He knows that the captain hates him and doing it out of spite."
"Isn't it weird though? He didn't eat or sleep for a week, but has been working on the uniform. And he got rejected. But he doesn't even seem to mind."
"It's because he is a f*in coward."
"I could knock him over in one punch."
"He doesn't have the balls to fight any of us. "
"Doesn't hurt to be careful though. It's the quiet ones who usually go off and do crazy things."
Hearing the last guard's comment, the captain sipped on his drink as in deep thought. His men were right. The tailor was calm. Too calm. But there was something about his eyes…
Suddenly a blood red eye and a light purple eye with rings seemed to seize his mind.
A cold chill ran down his spine, and the anbu captain suddenly felt constipated.
He gulped on his drink. It must be his nerves…
Hinata covered her mouth and tried to calm her palpitating heart.
"Your husband is being tried for treason. He is currently being interrogated by the anbu forces in the palace."
When she asked what her husband could have possibly done, the messenger told her that it was not her place to ask for details. He only said that her husband was 'insubordinate' and caused 'chaos' for the anbus' order.
When they reached the palace gates, she badly wanted to activate her byakugan to see her husband.
But the way the female guards were eying her without even a moment of respite, even when she had to relieve herself in private, made her hesitant to disclose her identity as a byakugan user.
Her husband was being unfairly framed for treason. Having a byakugan user as his wife won't do him any good.
When she entered the court to see the daimyo himself, she was confused by the line of smiling court ladies who gathered to her and ushered her to the bathhouse.
"You can't see the daimyos' sons at this state!" a lady with plump cheeks and grey hair barked, "You shall wash, be perfumed with oil, and see the daimyo's sons."
"Am I not seeing the daimyo himself?" she asked as they led her naked body to the wooden tub full of hot water and jasmine petals.
As a middle aged maid poured water over her dark hair, she said, "The daimyo is old so he hasn't been working at all. So his four sons have been rulers."
"Oh…" Hinata wasn't into politics too much. Maybe she should now. She then asked a maid who was scrubbing her pale arm with a gonjak sponge, "when can I see my husband?"
The maid avoided Hinata's eyes and left after doing her job of exfoliating Hinata's fair skin.
The head maid then looked down at her haughtily, "You may later ask the young lords, but now you must focus on looking presentable. The young lords are vain and concerned with looks, so if you look like a common peasant wife, they won't deign to listen to you. They think peasants smell."
At the head maid's words, Hinata quickly shut her mouth. And she obediently kept her silence as a maid dried and combed her long hair. The others applied goat milk emulsion made with dried mandarin zest on her skin with silken gloves.
Hinata frowned through the procedure. She wondered if all commoners had to bath and beautify themselves before entering the court in the palace.
'Maybe the daimyo's sons are a bunch of idle dandies,' she thought as the maids dressed her in a light pink gown. A maid placed a blue jade hair pin the shape of a pine shrub on the side of her ear, 'Or they could be gay.'
Hinata knew she was being stereotypical, but she just couldn't fathom why she had to go through such procedure when all she wanted was to plead for her husband's innocence.
The messenger and the maids finally came to take her to be in the audience of the daimyo's sons.
Hinata entered the opulent inner court hall. She didn't have time to marvel at the opulence of the court because right away she prostrated herself before the daimyo. She bowed her head before the daimyo and knelt before him. She placed her forehead gently above her hands placed on the marble floor.
The large door closed behind her. Then she saw a pair of suade boots in front of her.
She heard a young, slightly whiny sounding man's voice above her, "raise your face."
The anbu captain didn't expect the tailor to visit his main tent in the middle of the day.
"What brings you here?" he answered gruffly.
He noticed how the tailor's dark eyes were rimmed with purplish shadows, and he looked sharper and tense.
Sasuke's dark eyes looked at the captain piercingly, "I made the clothes according to your criteria, but I am still being rejected."
"So?" The anbu captain flipped through his reports.
He narrowed his eyes at the captain coldly, "I ask to be dismissed."
The captain snorted, "You're not going anywhere."
"I'm a tailor and I did my best to accommodate your demands." He retorted stiffly. "There's no point in detaining me here if you're going to keep rejecting my work."
The captain said flippantly, "Then maybe you should try harder."
Sasuke's fists squeezed again. Then he turned around. He shot him a look of despise over his shoulder, "I shall take my leave. As I didn't satisfy you, I won't receive any payment."
Clang-
But two anbus with long swords suddenly blocked his way out of the tent. Sasuke's eyes widened and he whirled around to demand a good answer as to why they were keeping him there.
The captain drawled, "Where do you think you are going? Do you think a mere commoner could walk out of the anbu camp like it's some grocery store?"
Sasuke spoke through gritted teeth, "I'm going home."
The captain blinked at first and then laughed. The anbu guards who came out from the shadows all sniggered. Some of them parroted Sasuke's words, "I'm going home. Wah~wah~"
The captain then snapped his fingers, "Oh yeah, that reminds me!" He then looked at Sasuke with a vicious smile, "you have a cute peasant wife waiting for you, don't you?"
He went on without looking at Sasuke's face. "Gosh, if the daimyo's sons didn't have the hots for her, I would've loved to pay her a visit." He laughed gluttonously, drowning the sound of Sasuke's footsteps.
"Maybe if they get tired of having fun with her, I get to have a chance hahahaha-"
But the captain's laughter started to dissipate when he felt his body overwhelmed by a cold, dark shadow.
When he finally came to his senses, he looked up and saw a tall, dark figure with no features except a swirling blood red eye and a light purple eye with ringlets.
The ominous figure stared him down and a voice that sounded inhuman resonated in the air, "What did you just say?"
"Pl-please...sp-spare me…" The captain begged as his eyes were bleeding and he was swamped in a pool of blood of his comrades. He has been going through what felt like hours of hell, and he was not even sure if the man before him was a human or a devil.
Sasuke stepped forward, and the man balked and shriveled to the corner.
Having got all the information he wanted, Sasuke cooly whipped the blood out of his sword he got from his victims. It was a pity, he thought. He dearly wanted to be the bigger and better man, but the low-lives weren't making it easy at all. He thought he left behind his previous life of 'excitement,' but he felt the adrenaline rush of battle fill the every fibre of his being.
He would enjoy torturing the captain more for the hours of sleepless nights and work stress, but right now he had a place to go and his wife to see.
So he raised the sword above his head and in a slash ended his final victim's life.
As he raced through the hallways of the daimyo's residence, he kept hearing loud muffled shouts of men in a certain direction. He didn't even stop by his house to get kusanagi. He just rushed to the daimyo's palace with a pulled out sword like a mad man. His eyes were crazed. He was biding his time to castrate the daimyos as soon as he gets there.
He threw open the wide doors, and he almost forgot how to breath at the sight.
At the far corner of the court yard, his wife was waving a kunai clutched in her trembling hands. She was wearing a pink dress, but the upper bodice part and the skirt was torn. It was obvious the poor state of her dress was due to rough hands not an accident. She had scars all over her fair arms, decollage area, and even on her neck. She was trembling, and her eyes were fixed on the four men in front of her, holding weapons of all sort.
"Hinata!"
She flinched. There was only one person who could call her by that name, without a suffix.
"Sa...Sasuke?"
She turned her eyes to the direction of his voice. Her hands dropped the kunai and it fell with a clanging sound on the marble floor, "Sasuke!"
In a second, they were in each other's arms. He felt her trembling in his arms as she buried her face into his chest, "Sasuke, Sasuke…" She kept whispering his name could tell by her state that she was barely holding out on her own.
He squeezed her tightly in his arms and buried his lips onto her pale neck, inhaling her scent. Inhaling her scent kept his rapidly beating heart calm.
But the daimyo's eldest son interrupted their emotional reunion.
He pointed at Hinata, "That witch just numbed me!" He screamed and then pointed to his junk. "I should have known from her eyes!"
"She numbed me too!" The second screamed as he covered his junk with both hands. The remaining two were silent as they cupped their treasuresin shame.
Sasuke looked at them unimpressed as ever. It seemed his wife beat him to castrating the men himself.
Sasuke placed both of his hands on Hinata's shoulders. He looked into her eyes, "It will just take a minute." He assured her gently as he placed his hand on her cheek. She grinned like a little girl, but her hair was disheveled and her cuts needed to be treated badly. He smiled painfully back. It pained him to see her with her clothes torn and lovely skin marred with scars. But she looked happy, as if all that mattered to her was seeing him alive and well. He began to regret bitterly. If only he came back earlier, he would've kept this from happening.
He grabbed both of her hands and placed them above her eyes. "Stay like this," he ordered.
As she covered both of her eyes with her hands, she nodded. He smiled at her child-like gesture.
Then he turned to the daimyo's sons. "You did this." His eyes turned cold and hot at the same time, like holding black fire.
He approached them, the soles of his heavy boots resonated in the empty court hall.
The tall, big four men all cowered at the strange, ominous energy radiating from the man who was a bit shorter than them.
Before any of them could even shout of help, Sasuke placed his hand over the closest son's face and blew him up.
For each of the daimyo's sons, he settled on the same execution end-point-implosion, but used different methods. At some point, Hinata heard the sound of chidori and then blood-curdling screams and begging for mercy.
Then everything fell silent.
Hinata flinched when she felt a warm touch on her hands that were covering her eyes.
"Hinata."
He peeled her hands from her eyes, and her eyes were filled with the loving face of her husband.
He suddenly lifted her bridal style, "are you okay?"
Hinata was startled by how he suddenly lifted her up.
He marched forward, "You're not okay, are you? We're going home."
And they hurriedly left the scene of horror.
"Ow!"
Hinata yelped when Sasuke applied some medicine paste on the scratch on her cheek.
They were back at home. Sasuke placed a spatial jutsu on their house, so nobody could find their whereabouts.
Hinata was sitting on the chair, and Sasuke was kneeling before her on the floor, applying ointment on her scars.
He muttered as he closed the lid over the jar, "Nothing better than good old tiger balm."
When he kept applying the pungent, stinging ointment on the scars on her fair hands, she whined, "Why do you have to use tiger balm? My other medicine works just as fine."
He shot an angry look at her, "That is what you get for not telling me that you've seen the daimyo's men coming after us. Why didn't you tell me? Do you not trust me enough?"
This time, Hinata kept her mouth shut.
Sasuke raised his voice as he clawed through his thick, black hair in exasperation, "Hinata, that was stupid. You're smart, that's a fact, but it was stupid to see them and not tell me."
"I didn't want to worry you...a-and I thought they just meant to give you an important mission."
She felt her voice choking, "Ple-please don't get mad." Her bottom lip started quivering.
He stared at her for a moment, speechless. Then he hugged her tight. "Don't cry, Hinata. I'm sorry for yelling at you."
He held her tightly, "I'm sorry. So don't cry."
That night, Hinata promised Sasuke that she will let him know everything-even the most seemingly insignificant things. And Sasuke promised that he won't be away from home for more than a week ever again.
Three years later, so much has changed. Sasuke refused to meet the majority of his clients in person, only interacting with them through birds. He only accepted business trips that lasted a week at most and at an inordinate amount of commission money. Hinata gave birth to their son, Fugaku, and had to turn to part time teaching.
One night, after tucking her baby boy at bed, Hinata was being especially affectionate and romantic towards Sasuke.
On their bed, she was wrapping her smooth, fleshy arms around his neck and covered his lips and sharp jawline and strong neck with kisses. Sounds of lips pecking on skin filled the bedroom. Sasuke gritted his teeth as if he was trying to suppress something within him. His wife wasn't making it any easier with her passionate, soft kisses. Her kisses weren't calculating moves to get him to relinquish his power but pure expression of love she had for her husband.But because she was acting out of pure, spontaneous desire, it turned him on even more.
She murmured between her soft, slow kisses, "anata...darling." Her eyes were half opened and her pouty lips looked even more amorous by the lamp light. He swallowed.
He looked down at his wife. She was definitely in a mood tonight. It was refreshing to see his usually shy wife be the one to passionately initiate the kisses. Usually she would let him lead the way, but tonight she wanted to share how much she loved him.
Post pregnancy was doing wonders to her beauty. Her skin was softer, and she had a rosy hue in her complexion, and she was slightly plumper than she used to be, her curves dipping and swelling in a way that gave him pleasure. She didn't look like a girl. She was a woman. Her cheeks were plump and dewy, and he would often sink his teeth lightly on her cheeks, just to hear her slight squeal and giggles.
"Sa-Sasuke-" she giggled when he playfully nipped on her cheek, "st-stop-"
Out of nowhere, he looked at her straight in the eyes.
He lowered his voice, "Nobody bothered you today, I hope."
Her eyes widened, "hm?" She didn't understand what he meant by being 'bothered.' Three years of peace had dulled her senses of danger.
Sasuke kept staring at her as she became puzzled over what he might've been saying.
Suddenly, a dark storm cast over his features. His dark eyes sharpened into a glare and his full, sculpted lips turned sullen. Then his lips curved into a bitter smile.
"Sasuke?"Her sweet voice tried to pull him from his reveries.
The grimace on his face still remained.
She wondered why her husband was suddenly dead silent.
She raised herself on her elbows,
"Is something wrong?"
Her breasts fell as she propped herself up, accentuating the curve of her waist.
Suddenly he grabbed her round shoulders and pushed her down on the big pillow.
"Ah!" Hinata grunted as she felt her naked back hit the soft mattress.
He hovered over her as she stared at him wide-eyed. Her dark blue hair splayed over the pillow and her shoulders and breasts. She was not in pain, as it was usual for Sasuke to be rough and dominant in his love making. She was just surprised by the sudden shift in his mood.
"Anymore daimyo's sons?" he sneered.
Then Hinata went "ah!" So that was the thing that was bothering him—she thought.
She shook her head, "no, husband. Nobody bothered me." She reached out her fair hand and stroked his face, attempt to placate his wrath.
Her soothing touches softened the edge of his fury.
He spoke pensively, "Living as an ordinary man. It was something I didn't even dare to dream of."
Her eyes widened. Then her brows furrowed as she saw how the weight of his past made him guilty about his current happiness. She didn't want him to be guilty. He might have been a bad man in the past, no doubt, but he paid for his past deeds. He was doing his best to be a good father, a good husband. She couldn't ask for more.
"But sometimes I want to go and make a name for myself." He stated.
She frowned. She didn't know Sasuke to be a vain man. But then, perhaps he missed the rush he gets when he has people bowing to him on their knees. Personally, she didn't understand the reason so many nins pine for glory and exceptional social standing. She was happy as Sasuke's wife and an ordinary villager who works part time as a local teacher. And now she has the new meaning of her life-her son, Fugaku. But then, she knew that it is human nature to desire what is beyond one's reach. She wouldn't begrudge him for wanting to go after fame and wealth when he has the capacity to achieve both.
She asked as she looked up to his unwavering eyes, "How often is that, Sasuke?" If he wanted to start a new life as a feudal lord, she would do her best to persuade him against it. She can't even dream of losing her husband again and the quiet, sweet man behind the cold exterior.
His answer surprised her, "Whenever a noble covets you."
She blushed. Then she separated her hand that was stroking his cheek as if she was touching fire. Her husband caught her hand and pressed her palm gingerly against his cheek again.
He used to wonder why some men would approach his wife even when it is abundantly clear that she was off limits. Most women her age were married in this quaint, old fashioned mountain village. She had a simple platinum band on her finger that symbolized their sacred union. She would be holding Fugaku, the one being who would always hold their bond together. But seeing her like this, her peachy breasts, the dip of her belly button, wide hips, and on top of that, a face with eyes of a doe, he began to see that it was the baseness of human desire behind it all.
He wondered. If Hinata was another man's wife, would he covet her just like the other men? He couldn't imagine Hinata being another man's wife. He wouldn't allow it without a good fight.
He uttered quietly, as to himself. "The desire to take another man's wife. The desire to sleep with a beautiful woman." His long lashes lowered, casting a dark shadow as he reflected on the depravity of human nature.
"Sasuke," she held her husband's face between her hands, "You're not like those men. They're evil, and it was not our fault they took advantage of us." She looked at him dead in the eyes. "What matters is that we are both safe and we have each other." Then she smiled brightly, "And we have our Fugaku!"
Sasuke looked at her quietly. For a moment, he was simply looking at her.
"Sasuke?" she asked. "What are your thoughts?"
He finally answered with a smile,
"Seeing you like this...reminds me of the times I had a crush on you."
Seeing her like this reminded him when he was just a boy, having a huge crush on a woman who was mature beyond her years. He wanted her like crazy.
"I...oh..." She blushed.
Then she mustered the courage to speak.
"Sa-Sasuke, I want to make you happy."
She pulled up the blanket to her breasts, "You're the one who always tried to make me happy, so I want to do that for you."
She looked at him,
"Is there anything...you'd like me to do?"
He stared at her. Then he buried his nose between her breasts and took in a deep breath as he closed his eyes.
He then murmured, "You already make me happy."