Hey all, I know its been a long time since I've written anything, but I've had other issues to deal with. Hope you guys can understand and enjoy!
Morning came and Hinata lay still in her bed, unwilling to move. She was feeling a bit lazy today since she went to the lake the day before. It was definitely a great idea to go find it and it gave her a great opportunity to meet that couldn't get him or the picture he drew out of her head. He was so...different. The things others didn't understand about her he was able to get it. Things like comfortable silence, light conversation, and putting mayo on eggs. Sasuke used to understand that stuff but she never expected anyone else to. She definitely thought about seeing Sai again and getting that same companionship she craved since the divorce. He did mention he worked at an art studio in town, maybe after doing some grocery shopping she would stop by.
Once up, she made herself a cup of tea before throwing on some clothes to head out. She quietly reviewed her list to make sure she had written down everything. When she was satisfied to she folded it nicely and tucked it into her little bag before focusing on the trip to the market. Of course she was getting her regular stares but then she really didn't care at this point. Hinata smiled as she walking into the bustling market, gathering some fruit and vegetables from her regular stand before just walking around to see what else she wanted to treat herself to.
"Morning Hinata"
The Hyuga looked up to see Anko standing at a stand close by. "Morning, I see you're out and about."
"Right back at you" the girl teased. "I know its rare but I have a special evening I'm planning."
"Oh yeah?" Hinata said a little shocked, since she was used to seeing Anko by herself mostly.
"Mhmm, I'm with someone." Anko confessed feeling happy that she could say that. She didn't have many friends so opportunities to gossip were fun.
Hinata smiled brightly, feeling very glad to hear. "I'm really happy for you, I'm guessing all that is for the special evening huh?" she asked gesturing to the bags in her friend's hands.
"Yeah well you know, I thought since he gives me great sex I can repay him with some food or something." the kunoichi joked.
Of course Hinata bursted out laughing at the bluntness of Anko's words, though she was definitely not surprised.
"Hey, if you're all done with your shopping I would love some company. I'm about to head off to the coffee shop." Anko said.
"Sure thats sounds good." Hinata responded, following Anko as the two headed off.
Sasuke sat quietly in the living room sipping his coffee quietly as he stared at the empty apartment. By this time Hinata would've been up making them both some breakfast. Then when she was done she would wake him up with kisses. He really missed that. As he sat reminiscing about the past he heard a quiet knock on the door. Who would be here this early? he thought to himself and suddenly built his hopes up that it was Hinata before instantly regretting opening the door when he saw the pink hair. "What do you want?" he growled, obviously pissed at the sight of her.
"I came to check up on you. I-Its been so long…" she responded noticing the disappointment. It hurt but she would ignore it.
Sasuke sighed as he looked at her, "Sakura, you can't just keep showing up here unannounced. Whatever you keep thinking is going to happen, is NEVER going to happen."
"Can I just come in for a second please?" she asked sweetly as she stared at him.
He sighed heavily feeling like this was going to be a bad idea but let her in quickly before the nosy neighbors caught them. If they found out, he would be in the town's rumor mill for sure and that would definitely hinder his chances with Hinata.
Sakura looked around the place, noticing that it still felt like Hinata lived there. That disgusted her, she wanted the Hyuga completely away from him but hopefully that will happen in due time. She turned to Sasuke, smiling at him while he stood guarded and sexy as usual. "How have you been?"
"I'm doing alright." he'd say sharply, showing that he did not want to talk.
"Thats good. The nightmares been less these days?" she asked oblivious his attitude.
"Yes Sakura, I haven't been in your office lately so that obviously answers your question."
"Sasuke" she sighed before moving closer to him. "Nothing will ever change how much I care for you. That moment we shared together...it had to mean something to you right?"
"No, it didn't mean a damn thing. It was just sex." he'd say harshly before walking away from her.
Sakura felt her heart clench at his words, she wasn't going to cry. Not here not now. She whipped around and stomped over to him. " She moved on!"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Your beloved Hinata! She's been dating around while you sit here in this..this god forsaken apartment sulking. I mean she even kissed Kiba and she was with another guy yesterday." Sakura said in hopes her tactics would work.
"You feel better about yourself now?" Sasuke asked, chuckling softly as he looked down at her. "You're so fucking pathetic."
"W-what?" she stuttered, feeling a ball start to form in her throat.
"Find a new hobby Sakura." he said before leaning closer to her face. "I'm willing to bet that you thought by telling me this you would have a chance. Well allow me to enlighten you…you will never mean anything to me."
Sakura felt as though she could die from how harsh he was being to her. She did have ulterior motives but she was doing this for his good and here he was disrespecting her. After all she's done for him. "Where was she when your dreams were tormenting you?! Where was she when you needed to vent? FUCK YOU SASUKE! I HATE YOU!"
"Good, now get the fuck out."
"The coffee was good, we should do this again." Hinata said as she gathered up her things.
"I agree. Have a good day, I need to get some coffee for my...well you know." Anko said, giggling softly.
Hinata smiled before heading out of the little shop. As luck would have it she looked up to see the guy from yesterday heading in. "Oh hey its you."
"Hey, good to see you again."
"Same here." she said returning the smile, which made a little awkward silence creep in. The two stood quietly for a moment just smiling at each other.
"So ah I'm having a show tonight to show off my artwork, I would love it if you came." he'd say running a hand through his hair as he tried to relax in front of her.
She thought about what she was doing when he asked, even though she knew she was free but didn't want to seem too eager. "Well I'll check out what I have planned and if I can make it then I will. What time is it?"
"It's at eight and I think you know the gallery. It's the only one in the village." he said with a soft chuckle before reaching into his messenger bag to pull out a piece of paper. "Here you go, that's the flier."
Hinata took the paper, looking it over for a minute before smiling up at him. "Thank you"
"Oh no problem, I just hope I get to see you tonight. Gonna have some coffee so I'll see you later!" he'd say waving to her before heading into the shop.
Sasuke stood outside of the training grounds, literally brooding as he watched Kiba. A cigarette at his mouth as he thought about Sakura's words earlier. He felt a little disgusted with the fact that Hinata would give this flea infested bastard a chance over him. Honestly what did this guy have over him? "Hey shithead" he called out to Kiba as he flicked his cigarette while walking over to him. Kiba turned around looking slightly confused when he saw a menacing looking Sasuke trekking across the grass toward him. His dog rose slightly, the hairs on his back rising as he growled at Sasuke. It was obvious that this was going to get bad really quickly.
"Tell your piece of shit mutt to stay the fuck out of this." Sasuke said as he glared at the animal before looking back to Kiba.
"I'm not telling him to do anything. What exactly is this about?" the Inuzuka would say as he walked over to his companion's side, petting his head to make the dog calm down a little.
"You thought it was ok to hit on Hinata? Even fucking kiss her?" he growled.
"I don't really think its your business to know what goes on in her life anymore."
Sasuke scoffed, lifting his sleeve as blue sparks started to form, "I'm gonna crush your face mutt"
"HEY!" a voice from the distance yelled, making Sasuke get even more angry as he looked toward it. Kakashi walked closer looking between the two, "What's happening here?"
Kiba rolled his eyes, feeling a little disappointed he would be missing out on some action but instead of responding to Kakashi, he would walk off with Akamaru following close behind. Kakashi didn't care much for Kiba but since he and Sasuke had more a history, he focused his attention on him. "You gonna walk off too?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Sakura told me that he and Hinata kissed...and I just lost it." The Uchiha explained, running a hand roughly through his hair.
"I really wouldn't trust Sakura with that information. I mean come on, we've both known Hinata for years..it was most likely something that wasn't meant to happen. But in any case, picking fights with people is not gonna help you idiot. If theres anyone you need to talk its definitely Hinata." Kakashi scolded.
Hinata found the gallery and stood outside for a moment just staring at the building. She wasn't the type of person to go on outings so this was a little new for her but since Sai asked her so nicely, it wouldn't be right if she didn't come. Plus he seemed like a cool guy. As soon as she entered, she couldn't help but notice that different displays of vibrant color around the room but the one that stood out to her the most was the one title 'Water Nymph'. Something about it looked familiar and after observing it some more she realized it was her. "Oh my god" she whispered to herself as her pale eyes continued to review the picture.
"Beautiful isn't it?" a voice asked behind her.
Hinata swiveled around to see him smiling a few feet behind her and she immediately turned red. "I didn't think you would put it on display!" she whispered.
Sai chuckled softly as he walked closer to stand beside her, staring at the picture as well. "It was too beautiful not to." he replied looking over at her. "You look amazing by the way."
Her eyes met with his for a moment, making her even more red before she brought her attention back to the picture. She noticed the lavender and indigo hues to the painting, thinking what a perfect combination of color. Obviously he had been paying attention to her. Lavender had been her favorite color since she was a child, she was even wearing a dress that was the same color. "Thank you" she whispered in response to him.
Sai continued to gaze at her, not even aware he was staring so much. There was something about seeing a woman all done up, looking extremely beautiful. Her hair was up in a loose bun that exposed her radiant neck, and the strapless dress definitely complimented her frame. "Sai!" someone said pulling him out of his trance. It seemed like someone was interested in one of his works. "I'll be right back Hinata."he'd say before running off.
Hinata smiled to him as she nodded and would break her attention from the painting to go and look at the others. Art was definitely not her thing but Sai's work captured her eye. It was almost like a person could feel how he felt when he was working on it, which made it so captivating.
The night went by smoothly. Sai payed attention to her even when he was busy selling art and it seemed like he managed to make a small profit off of his work. The two exited the gallery together with Sai refusing to let Hinata walk home by herself even though he knew she was very capable of protecting herself. Of course silence crept in as they enjoyed the walk but it wasn't awkward.
"Tonight is beautiful" he said softly. "I actually feel the urge to capture the scene right now."
"I wish I had that kind of talent" she'd say glancing up at the sky before looking back to the path in front of them.
"Everyone has talent Hinata...everyone." he whispered. "You have the talent of looking beautiful no matter what you're doing."
Hinata glanced over at him before bringing her attention back to where she was going. She was so happy it was night time because her face was probably the color of a tomato. "Thank you"
"You're so welcome" he replied. "To be honest with you..I've noticed you for a long time now. I'm not some stalker or anything." he'd say chuckling before adding, "But you're hard not to notice and meeting you by the lake that day was completely unexpected."
"What did you mean by me being hard not to notice?" she asked curiously.
"Well you wear your emotions. Some people are hard to read but not you...most the time anyway. I've noticed a change in you though. I saw you about a year ago and I know thats a long time but I'll never forget the way you looked that day. You were in the local market, smelling some flowers and after you took a whiff of them your face lit up and I could almost see purity in your soul. I thought of you everyday after that...it made me smile" he explained, feeling slightly embarrassed because he realized that he could have probably come off weird but it was just his nature to pay attention to detail.
"What was the change?" she asked.
"Well now you seem guarded and your face is more emotionless but you have these moments when you reveal something about yourself. Like when you got embarrassed after noticing the picture." he answered chuckling softly as he remembered.
Hinata didn't chuckle though. It was true what he said, she really trusted no one anymore and it was just hard to be happy. "That happens to you when the person you love cheats on you with a broad that smiled in your face everytime she saw you."
Sai looked over after hearing her words and would sigh softly. "We can't let our past experiences define us. It holds you back from being...you."
"Sorry." she muttered.
"For what?"
"For just blurting that out, I just felt a surge of anger run through me-"
"You never have to apologize for showing emotion around me. I'd rather you just say how you feel than keep it bottled up ok?" he'd say cutting her short.
"Ok" she said stopping when they reached her place. "Thanks for walking me."
"Thanks for coming to my art show. Also I was thinking,well hoping, that you could meet me for lunch tomorrow? maybe?" he asked curiously, hoping she would say yes.
Hinata chewed her lower lip for a second before smiling and nodding at his request.
"Perfect, I'll see you tomorrow then" he'd say, before leaning in to kiss her cheek. "Goodnight"
The Hyuga panicked when he moved in but instantly relaxed when it was just her cheek. She swore she was going to have another Kiba moment but it was awesome that he knew his place. Once he disappeared she ran up the steps to her place, freezing when she reached the top of the steps. "What the fuck?"
Thanks for reading!