"I want you to protect Ino-chan and the rest of the kendo team from the attacker,"
"Okay,"
"R-Really?" Her feelings choked her up. "I-It means a lot to me,"
Sasuke raised his eyes to her. She had come to recognize it as his curious face. His face always had a harshness to it, but now she could see that there wasn't any suspicion or hostility there, just curiosity, maybe confusion.
"I see," he said.
"Oh," she said. She smiled shyly. "Naruto-kun is like that for you," A dreamy glaze cast over pearl eyes. "Your sunshine,"
"Naruto is not my sunshine," Sasuke bristled with disgust.
She giggled. "He is,"
"He is not,"
She couldn't stop giggling. What a liar! He orbited Naruto like he was the sun.
"I'll cancel your request,"
She gasped. "D-Don't!"
There was the slightest smile on his face, eyes curved and gleaming.
She sighed quietly. "You're lucky, Uchiha-san,"
"I told you not to call me that, Hinata,"
She continued as if she hadn't heard him. "People are drawn to you. You don't have to work hard at making friends,"
He lifted a brow. "It's because I'm not a loser,"
She frowned. "Y-You're just a natural genius at everything. Friends, school, kendo - life!"
He nodded.
"But I have to work hard at everything," She gave him her best dirty look. "It's not fair. You have such a terrible personality too," She rubbed her eyes angrily. "But people still like you,"
"You're bitching about me but you're still here. Explain that,"
"I-I don't know! You still owe me my bike. And money. A-And food,"
"You could buy all that yourself. Save yourself the trouble," he said in an even tone.
He lowered his head to look at her watering eyes. "You're not gonna cry, are you?"
"I-I might!" Up til that point, Hinata hadn't known she was an angry cry-er. A sad cry-er, a happy cry-er on occasions, but she'd never been so worked up before!
Seeing all the dirty looks the other diners were shooting him made her feel better, in a vindictive way.
"Smooth operator!" A shark-toothed grin and a friendly arm around Sasuke's shoulder announced the strange boy's arrival. Mischievous violet eyes fell on her. "Who's the cute crybaby?"
A girl with long red hair unceremoniously dropped onto Sasuke's lap and glared at Hinata. She adjusted her glasses and hissed, "Yes, who is she?"
Sasuke shoved the girl into the seat next to him and said, "My -" He stopped, then frowned at Hinata in thought. "My...acquaintance,"
"Wow. Va-gue!" The boy laughed, wiggling his eyebrows at Sasuke and Hinata.
The last person to arrive was a mountain of a man - or boy? He smiled politely down at them. "Hello," He bowed to Hinata. "I am Juugo. This is Suigetsu,"
"Yo,"
"And this is Karin,"
She slammed Sasuke's tea cup down from her face and positively glowed as she touched her lips. "Indirect kiss!"
"Excuse me, waiter. A cockroach touched my tea," Sasuke said in monotone.
Hinata bowed her head. "N-Nice to meet you. I'm Hyuuga Hinata,"
"Hmm? A Hyuuga, huh?" Suigetsu plopped down next to her and swung an arm around her shoulder. "What kinda business do you got with our little Uchiha? Ow!"
The boy rubbed his shin under the table and snarled, "That's not how you play footsie, asshole,"
"Remove your arm and I'll remove it for you," Sasuke warned.
Suigestsu smiled nervously. "Don'tcha mean 'or'?"
"I know what I said," Sasuke motioned to Juugo, who sighed and lifted both Karin and Suigestu out of their seats.
Sasuke sat next to Hinata, while Juugo put the other two across them.
"Quit fucking around," He snatched his new cup of tea from Karin's slyly questing hand.
"Why'd you make us come all the way here for anyway? We coulda met at the usual place," Suigetsu scratched his neck. At Hinata's guilty expression, he smiled. "Oh. Being accommodating to the lady, hm?"
Sasuke sighed and ignored his heckling. "Juugo. Report,"
Juugo gave a quick nod after thanking the waiter. His polite smile dropped into a grimace. "You were right,"
Sasuke steepled his fingers. "That bastard,"
Suigetsu swirled patterns in the frost of his water glass "Yeah, he never got over you,"
Hinata tried and failed to follow the conversation. She looked across at Karin.
"Um, I don't know what's going on,"
She raised a red brow. "You're not supposed to,"
Hinata shrank into herself at the other girl's fierce expression. "O-Oh,"
Karin seemed to consider her for a moment, then swept her arms in a gracious gesture. "Well, I suppose I could tell you," Ruby eyes gleamed. "For a price,"
Hinata wasn't so surprised at that as she was at her fulfilled quota for giving people the benefit of the doubt. Sasuke must have been infecting her with his rudeness.
"Karin, extortion isn't the best first impression," Juugo scolded.
"Orochimaru is supplying firearms to Suna's gang," Sasuke said blandly.
Suigetsu was bubbling with excitement. "It's like in the movies!"
"I hope you get shot," Karin spat.
Sasuke ignored their bickering and nodded to Juugo.
"They're supposed to meet up in one of the shops in Orochimaru's district,"
Karin returned her attention to Hinata, who had barely caught something about Orochimaru.
"I'll let you be as nosy as you want if you give me that shirt. I know it's Sasuke-kun's,"
There was a cold look in her eyes now. A sharp nail pressed down on the Uchiha fan stitched on the collar.
Hinata opened her mouth, her throat dry. She hated confrontations. She hated herself more for wearing his shirt. But it was so warm and smelled so nice and she figured it wouldn't be visible under her sweater, but she'd sorely underestimated Karin's shrewd eyes. Not that she knew that she'd be bumping into Sasuke's scariest fangirl today. Her luck just worked that way. She felt Sasuke's eyes on her, a brow raised. Even he hadn't noticed and they'd spent most of the afternoon together.
"It's his shirt," she said, tugging on her sleeve. "Y-You should ask him,"
"Sasuke-kun," Karin hissed through her teeth, a menacing look pinning Hinata in place. "Why didn't I get your shirt back when we were together?"
Suigetsu read her puzzled expression and chuckled. "Together, including the rest of us,"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You stole my clothes. What's the difference?"
"You never gave it to me," Karin pinched the Uchiha fan on the other girl's shirt. "And never ones with your symbol,"
"Sorry, not all of my underwear has my clan insignia on them," He drummed his fingers against the table, glancing briefly at Hinata.
"I had to sew them on myself!" she cried indignantly.
He sighed, looking extremely irritated now. "We aren't here to discuss my underwear,"
Hinata frowned. The bitter memory of Sasuke sexually harassing her about her choice in underwear AND writing it down made her mutter, "You know about my underwear,"
Karin must have had exceptionally good hearing (or maybe selectively good hearing for all Sasuke-related news) because her face suddenly matched her hair.
Dark eyes widened, as did everyone else's.
"Dude," Suigetsu grinned and thumped Sasuke on the back. "Nice,"
"No, not nice!" Karin slammed her palms on the table. "Let me tell you about my underwear, Sasuke-kun!"
The boy in question was already back to grilling Juugo. He was rubbing his chin in thought. "Sound is always a tricky place to get around,"
"I sewed the Uchiha fan on the crotch part-"
Suigetsu sipped his drink and said, "Oh, is it the one with the shark fin print g-string I bought you as a joke?"
"No!" she snapped. "It's the shark fin bikini ones,"
"I'm going to play paper," Sasuke said suddenly, throwing his palm out.
Hinata blinked dumbly at his hand while the rest of the party made unhappy noises.
Suigetsu groaned and Juugo sighed again. "Not mind games again!"
"Can't we decide without playing rock-paper-scissors?" Juugo added. "Something more peaceful?"
Sasuke shook his hand impatiently.
"What are we playing for?" Hinata asked, still hopelessly lost.
"We're splitting up into groups. Same hands in the same team," Karin adjusted her glasses. "Don't get in my way. I'm going to be on Sasuke-kun's team,"
"O-Okay," she agreed meekly.
She wasn't sure if being stuck with Sasuke would be worse than being in a party with the others.
"Fine, I'll play scissors then," Suigetsu said.
Karin crossed her arms. "I will remain mysterious!"
Hinata chewed the inside of her cheek. She knew Sasuke liked to play games and not the nice kind, like Pokemon or dating sims. He could be lying and setting the rest of them up to play scissors and play rock instead.
Or he could be telling the truth. She was going to stick to her guns and give him the benefit of the doubt.
She caught the smirk curling at the corner of his lips. Pearl eyes narrowed.
She decided to test him. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, Uchiha-san,"
Shark boy snickered at "Uchiha-san." Sasuke's smile reached his eyes.
"That's naive, Hinata,"
She smiled despite herself. "I choose to be naive, then,"
His mouth twitched up.
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
They all took a moment of silence to assess their hands.
Suigetsu played rock.
Karin played rock.
Juugo played scissors.
Hinata played paper.
Sasuke played paper.
Hinata cast a disbelieving look at him. He caught her eye and said, "I like your consistency,"
She blushed. She hadn't expected him to remember her words like that.
"Best out of three!" Suigetsu demanded. He pointed furiously at the equally angry bespectacled girl next to him. "There's no way I'm teaming up with this chick!"
"For once, I agree!"
"Shut up and go," Sasuke said, finishing his tea. His tone left no room for their squabbling. "You two go to Sound's supermarket. Juugo, you go to the beauty supply store. Those are the most likely locations. Hinata and I are going to the shop by the docks. That's where the rest of you are to regroup,"
After much grumbling and brawling, the party was kicked out of the restaurant. Suigetsu and Karin were pulling each other's hair now ("A divorce lawyer couldn't help you with those split ends!" "You have enough dandruff for a fifty centimeter snowfall!")
The quieter couple walked ahead.
"Are we going to take Amaterasu?" Hinata asked.
"No. I don't want my tires getting stolen," Sasuke mumbled. "Never been to the Sound district, princess?"
She bowed her head. "N-No reason to,"
He snorted. "That's fair,"
"At least your mom's hotter when she screams my name!"
"Take that back, you dickless shithead!"
"That's it," Sasuke took hold of her wrist and started dragging her away. "One more word out of them and I'll have a brain hemorrhage,"
Hinata was extremely conscious of his fingers around her wrist. She was always surprised by how warm his touch was. She felt her own heat in her cheeks when she contemplated his long fingers. She didn't realize how small the circumference of her wrist was until she saw his fingers wrapped around it.
She flinched at the menacing glare Karin was shooting her. Shooting her, stabbing her, mutilating her, more like.
Hinata was also always surprised by how easily he pulled her along. She didn't think such a thin build would possess as much strength as it really did. It almost felt natural for him to slide his hand down to hers and hold it. It covered hers entirely, squeezing a bit as they walked. She heard Karin making noises ranging from outraged squawks to agonized cries.
Hinata's hair fell over her burning face.
"The Sound district is a couple blocks away," Sasuke informed her. His voice sounded hoarse.
She nodded, fearing what her voice would sound like.
Sasuke stopped. She would have collided into his back if he hadn't yanked her around to his front. She gasped at the jarring move.
His eyes seemed deeper and darker as he looked at her face. They had long since left the others in the dust.
Meaning they were alone.
Alone at night on some empty street.
Alone at night on some empty street holding hands! Scandalous!
Hinata fidgeted. She was blushing so hard it was like all the blood in her body had gone to her face.
"Hinata," The way he said her name was breathy and intimate. Always by her first name, the stubborn hedgehog-head.
"Y-Yes?"
If possible, he stood closer to her. "Sound is a bad neighborhood. Drive-by shooting, keying cars, never picking up after their pets," he said gravely. He tightened his grip on her hand. "Stick close to me and don't make eye contact,"
She matched his serious expression. "Okay,"
The breeze was crisp as they walked down the street, but Hinata was quite warm sharing Sasuke's body heat.
"I spy with my little eye something cute and black," she said.
He barely made the effort to look. "Another stray cat?"
"...D-Dang it," He just had to be good at everything.
"You're too easy to read,"
Hinata sighed. "It's your turn,"
Sasuke glanced around. "I spy with my little eye something brown,"
She tried following his eyes and squinted into the dark. "Uh...a paper bag?"
He shook his head.
Smush.
He gave her a nasty grin. Hinata looked down in horror.
"Six to one," he said, still with that shit-eating (oh, how she wished she could
make that a reality!) grin. "I'm proud of you,"
She huffed and stomped off to scrape the bottom of her turd-covered shoe on the curb.
He laughed.
"You could have given a nicer warning," she muttered.
"You're lucky you got a warning at all,"
She gnawed the inside of her cheek. Unlike someone, Hinata kept rude things to herself.
He took her hand again when she came back to his side. She thought she saw his ears go red. She was certain that her palms were sweating. She felt light-headed. She could hear every thump of her quick heartbeat. It was jarring every time they held hands. She swallowed.
He cleared his throat. "This is to keep up with appearances. Don't get any ideas,"
"I-I know,"
Usually, they fell into comfortable silences (they were both quiet kids). This silence was about as awkward as a baby deer stumbling around on its wobbly baby legs.
Hinata could only hear her pulse drumming and acutely felt every movement of his hand. Their elbows bumped. His thumb swept across her knuckles.
"May I ask you something?" she squeaked out.
He nodded.
"H-How do you know them?"
"Juugo and Co.?" he said dryly. "They're my old teammates from Orochimaru's,"
"O-Oh,"
"Anything else?"
"Are they still in the yakuza?"
He shook his hair out of his eyes before answering. "They're moles,"
She gasped. "L-Like in the movies!" she repeated Suigetsu's words. She blushed at that realization.
He smiled with one side of his mouth. He considered her for a moment as the streetlight illuminated her face. Her eyes glittered, two silver moons shining up at him. His gaze lowered to her lips, bitten pink and slightly parted. Her hand was in his, small and delicately boned, her skin smooth and cool to the touch. He lost count of the times he'd stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, marveling at the difference between their hands. Hinata was softer everywhere, it seemed (though that would need, ahem, further investigation). He wondered if her palms still had calluses from kendo. He wasn't one to leave such thoughts unattended. It was only a matter of changing position.
Sasuke had been staring at her for a while now.
She thought he had something to say but he just stood there, black eyes intently studying her face. She hadn't noticed how close his face was to hers until she felt his breath on her lips.
Panic seized her then, as she made to back away. Using the hand that was holding hers, he jerked her back to him. Their hands were pressed against his chest. Hinata's other hand had broke her fall on his chest, over his thundering heart.
Dark eyes followed her flustered movements. He lifted their joined hands and pulled his hand away, where it had been covering hers. Instead, he wove their fingers together. She watched. His thumb passed over her palm.
"You don't have calluses," he remarked.
"Y-Yes," If she was feeling light-headed before, now her poor little heart was on the verge of giving out.
He nodded, then dropped their hands back down, still woven together, and lightly swung them as he tugged her along.
"M-May I ask...what that was?" she asked thickly.
He blinked slowly. "No. I was curious,"
"P-P-Please ask next time,"
"Why? Did I make your heart race?"
"Ye- I mean, n-no! I-I mean, you could have asked me – I would even tell you what hand lotion I use if you just asked instead of doing th-that,"
"'Sensitive Care Lilac and Peppermint hand lotion'," he murmured. There was a very familiar tube in his hand.
"Th-That's my – when did you-"
"Hinata, Hinata," he tsked. He popped her lotion tube's screw open with one hand and sniffed. "I am a man of action,"
Hinata patted her bag down. Usually she kept her cosmetics tucked away in a zippered pocket inside her bag, so how had he gotten to it without her realizing?
"Man of action?" she huffed. "'Ask and you shall receive',"
"Want some?" He offered the lotion after squeezing some out for himself.
"O-Oh, yes please. My hands were feeling dry – wait,"
"Don't think too hard about it," he said, letting go of her hand to rub on some lotion.
She accepted her fate (and the lotion). The boy made less sense the more she spent time with him.
Still, she found that she liked their fingers woven together better than him holding her hand in his. Her brain was still processing that she was holding hands with Uchiha Sasuke and liking it.
His phone vibrated.
"We're already here. Did you enjoy your long walk on the beach?"
"We haven't gotten to the docks yet,"
"Then hurry the hell up! This bitch is driving me nuts and not in a sexy way!"
They could hear screaming and thumping from the other side.
"Karin-san and Suigetsu-san get along well," Hinata commented.
"Like a house on fire," Sasuke muttered in return. "Don't fuck up,"
"No! Not my manberries!"
Click.
He glanced at her wide-eyed expression. "Bet you're glad you played paper."
lllll
Rustle.
Hinata looked down at the plastic bag she'd stepped on, then at Sasuke with a sheepish smile.
"Stealth, Hinata," he hissed. "Float like a butterfly, stings when you pee,"
"I-I don't think that's how it goes,"
This was the third time she'd done something un-ninja like; the first incident was her cooing at a stray cat; the second was her tripping on a soda can. He had been leading her to prevent such things but she still found a way to be as slick as sandpaper.
Sasuke was as sly as an alley cat, the way he slipped through the streets without a sound. A black cat, maybe.
Bzzt.
"Are you there yet?"
"Ask me that one more time,"
"Are you there y-"
"Karin, break his balls
"Gladly,"
Once again, he ended the call to the tune of Suigetsu's screams.
"We actually are here," Hinata noted.
The salty scent of the water and the click of their shoes against the pier marked their arrival to the docks. Their destination was a little wooden cabin with an open counter. It was quite charming, probably the nicest piece of infrastructure in this crummy neighborhood.
She tried to make out the menu under the flickering hanging lightbulb. Some moths obscured her view.
"I wonder if they make tropical smoothies,"
His only response was an odd look.
She blinked innocently in response.
Sasuke took a seat on one of the dusty stools. "What kind of service is this?"
"Ah, they do! Piña colada flavor is my favorite,"
"You heard the lady," His voice carried through the tiny cabin.
There was a creak from inside. Then a click from behind them. Cold metal pressed into the back of her head.
"Sorry," a voice said. "We only serve lead,"
Sasuke frowned. "I didn't see that on the menu,"
The voice took a moment to respond. "You ordered a piña colada right? Only other gangs order that,"
Hinata was still frozen. She wasn't brave enough to turn around, but it was highly likely that there was a gun pointed at her head. She felt it shift in her hair and swallowed dryly .
Sasuke stared at her, somewhere between peeved and in disbelief at her luck, then turned around.
And spat on the gunman's hand. She knew this because she felt some land on her hair.
That gave enough distraction for the gunman to drop the weapon in disgust to instinctively wipe away the spit.
In a flash, Sasuke kicked the back of his knee and slammed his face into the ground. He lifted him up by the hair. "Where's your backup? Unless you're stupid enough to go it by yourself,"
The boy gritted his teeth.
"The silent treatment? C'mon, sweetheart, don't be like that," Sasuke tightened his grip on the boy's hair.
Sasuke flipped open his notebook. "Shinozaki Nozomu. A grunt like you has some nerve threatening us. Especially with your...delicate family situation,"
"Shut up," the boy snarled.
"A useless NEET of an older brother, overbearing parents, poor. The only silver lining to your crapsack family was your golden-child sister," He shut the notebook with a nasty grin. "Well, until Orochimaru got his hands on her,"
The boy, Nozomu, flared red in rage. Hinata was disturbed by the thoroughness of his information gathering. A chill went down her back. If he knew that much about a stranger, how much detail was in her entry?
"Who knows where she is now?" Sasuke continued his narrative, pressing his foot down on Nozomu's back. "Except me, that is,"
Nozomu stopped.
"You tell me yours and I'll tell you mine," He pushed his foot down harder. "Where are the guns?"
"I don't know," he grunted. "They didn't tell me,"
"Let me ask you an easier question. Where are your strongest fighters?"
Click.
"Right behind you,"
His face was twisted in a sadistic expression. "Cute,"
"Move and we sh-"
Too late. The Uchiha flashed to her and lifted her over the counter. Hinata fell on her butt with an "oof!" She recovered quickly enough to watch Sasuke bob and weave, slipping out of the way of five armed boys. He was fast, practically a blur. She saw sharp silver in his hand leaving slashes of red in its wake. He was doing a shocking amount of damage despite how small the pocketknife was. He was aiming for their hands, making them too slippery with their own blood to hold their guns. The guns had silencers, but she still cringed at the sound of each bullet he gracefully dodged.
The way he moved was acrobatic; a practiced, fluid sport of violence. His movements were smooth and powerful, not a single move done wasted. Naruto's way of fighting had been rough and playful, like a puppy tearing into a favorite toy. Sasuke was a predator; he was too calculating, too familiar with his actions. In the night, his dark eyes looked even darker, with his pupils dilated to better take in the view of his fallen enemies.
She took her eyes off the gratuitous violence in front of her and scrambled for Sasuke's phone.
Please regroup at the dock.
Bzzt.
hina-chan taught u manners? Lol give us a second PLEASE ;)
Hinata wasn't sure if she wanted to frown or smile. Suigetsu was an...acquired taste.
Something whizzed past her ear. It clanked onto the ground with a metallic sound. A bullet. Her insides grew cold and heavy, her breaths short and her throat dry.
A cold hand caught her in a painful grip and grabbed her around the neck. The burning stench of metal hit her full-on. Something pressed into her temple.
Nozomu had her at gunpoint.
A/N: have fun with that cliffie bish!
jk jk hello hi it's been a while
but i came back with 1000 more words this chapter than the last! 4k what's uppp
note 1: karin is a cutiepie & the girl-on-girl animosity is resolved next chapter...i'm all about girls supporting girls and being lowkey to super gay with each other. say no to internalized misogyny! love your fellow ladies!
note 2: that line "float like a butterfly, stings when you pee" comes from crayon shin-chan's english dub (which is gr8 and v funny if a little dated)
note 3: suigetsu is the type of fuckboy who texts with winky smileys ("and then what? ;)") and asks for nudes 3 seconds after
note 4: i...i really like hand-holding okay...
thank you for reading babes!