It was a two day ride on the ferry until they finally reached the large set of islands, one of which was their destination. The weather was very unpredictable and one minute they endured lots of rain, then in the very same breath the humidity was unbearable.
Karin was on deck with Suigetsu, bickering loudly about how it was pointless to try and fish on a moving boat. "It's not moving that fast, just shut up Karin!"
"Fine! Go ahead and look like a huge bimbo, see if I care." Karin folded her arm and rolled her eyes. "Would you just shut up already and hold this extra pole?" Karin groaned and grabbed the pole from his hand, "Move over and let me show you how to fish..!"
Jugo was seated on the opposite side of the boat. Well, actually, he was laying on the deck taking a nap in the sun..while it lasted. When the downpour began he migrated beneath the ferry's large veranda like structure to continue his nap.
Below deck, Hinata was curled up on one of the larger hard bunks. The floor was littered with napkins that had boiled over the small trash can next to her bunk. "It's still cold, Sasuke." She groaned and Sasuke tossed another blanket on her. "I don't see how, it's 90 degrees at least." Hinata sniffled and sneezed in a tattered napkin, "I feel horrible, I'm sorry.."
"You're going to the doctor as soon as we dock." Sasuke placed another pile of clean napkins on the small table next to her bunk. He dawned a pair of fish gloves and started cleaning up the mess of tattered rags in the floor. "Thank you, Sasuke.." He tied the bag together and placed it in the bin to be disposed of when they docked. Nearly immediately, Sasuke scrubbed his hands like some sort of germaphobe before making his way back to her bunk.
He pushed her bangs up and felt of her forehead. His hand was ice cold in comparison to her elevated fever. In response, he tucked her in tighter and placed wet rags around her neck, though he couldn't guarantee that they would be cold rags. What he really needed was some ice because he could almost swear to it that her fever was over 100. "I'm sorry.." She squeaked out with a hoarse voice. He took a wet cloth and started to wipe the sweat from her face and forehead. "Just hang in there, we'll dock tomorrow night.."
"I hate boats.." Hinata groaned in defeat. "Well then, try to sleep as much as you can." Sasuke opened the vents around their room to allow some fresh air in before stripping down to his pants and climbing onto the bunk behind her.
That night another storm passed through on it's way back to water country, the land they had previously departed from. Hinata wasn't feeling so bad as her fever had broken from the many blankets Sasuke had buried her in. The rags around her neck were completely dried and stuck to her skin like peel and stick paper, from all the sweat she released. The moon was the only light she had gleaming down through the small, unusable, window on the side of the boat. She could see the waves as they crashed up against the side of the boat and the water left it's wet mark on the bottom of the thick glass window pane.
The room was a nice temperature, not too hot and not too cold. Yet everyone seemed to be semi naked. Hinata looked across the room and could see Karin's pale naked leg poking out from behind the lengthy room dividing curtain. She shoved some of the blankets off of her and removed the dried rags. Despite the rags being dried, her clothes were soaking wet with sweat. "Eww.." She whispered and looked around the room for her bags of clothes. She found them right next to her bunk within arms reach. Sasuke must have put them there for her. She sighed and bit her lip, he really was sweet in his own way. Not to mention he took care of her and cleaned up after her.. he even came after her when she was abducted.
Her soft gaze fell on his sleeping form behind her. He looked like an angel under the flood of moonlight. His dark, thick eyelashes fell on top of his cheek bones as if they had been, one by one, delicately placed by the stillest of professional hands. His dark hair was slicked back out of his face and stuck straight up like he had placed a fork in an electrical socket.
She smiled and carefully slid off the bed to dig into her bag. Some fresh clothes would be nice, but too bad there was no such thing as a shower on their ferry. Hinata quietly walked over to the large farm sink on the far side of the room and pulled a rag out of the hanging cupboard just above it. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure Sasuke was for sure asleep before peeling her wet shirt and bra off.
She wet her rag thoroughly and began the process of wiping the sweat and grime from her upper body. Apparently their ferryman had never heard of soap either. She cringed and pulled some from her bag, happy to have bought a few bars at their last supply run. Quietly, Hinata did everything she could to cleanse herself of sweat and odor except climb in the farm sink and bath herself.
The storm rocked the boat a good bit, but not enough to really freak her out. She had been on boats before and it would take a heck of a storm to frighten her on one at this point. Hinata pulled her pants off, as well as her intimates, and washed down her legs thoroughly. She rinsed in cold water, because apparently warm water wasn't an option, and dried with a small hand towel.
She slipped one of her larger shirts over her head, not even worrying about a bra at this point, and dawned a pair of fresh undies. Her hair was probably the most difficult part but she managed to wash it pretty well in the large sink, though the cold water wasn't so much appreciated.
She slicked her damp hair back and stuffed her dirty clothes into the deepest parts of her bag, while dropping the dirty rags and towels into the linen basket. Hinata felt like a whole new woman as she pulled the blanket from the bunk and crawled back on. She laid so that she could watch Sasuke sleep, as creepy as that sounded. The gentle up and down of his chest as well as the at peace look on his face had her questioning if she was looking at the same man or not.
What was she doing? Why was she feeling so..fuzzy.. for this man that she desperately wanted to have ill feelings for, like she used to. This guy that 'took her in' and then ribbed her up about being his future wife and mother of his imaginary Uchiha kids. This man whom lied to her within the first five minutes of actually meeting her, for no good reason other than to protect his own interest..
From the beginning she had felt like he was all bark and no bite, so she wanted to push his buttons as much as possible. She wanted to see how mad he would get, or how far he would go..
Turns out he didn't go very far.
Turns out, she was right.
He was nearly unapproachable on the outside, but on the inside Sasuke was a bit of a softy about certain things. He could've cast her out when she was injured, he could've easily handed her back over to Naruto or her father for whatever reward they were offering up, or he could've easily killed her when he found out she was lying about whom she was in the very beginning, although it wasn't that hard to see. But..he didn't.
She smiled and decided, maybe having warm feelings every time she glanced his way wasn't so bad. Besides, it wasn't like he was trying to be a horrible person. He didn't want her to leave so he promised to tell the truth and be more open..
Hinata paused. He didn't want her to leave..
She smiled to herself as she felt her eyelids growing heavy. Her small hand rested on his chest as she drifted off to sleep.