I don't own Naruto.

Bump on the Head

Tsunade rubbed her eyes tiredly as she listened to Shizune.

"I think that Sasuke is better off this way, honestly. I mean, this saves so much time and effort." The older woman stared at her blankly, struggling to contain the drool that was threatening to dribble out of her mouth.

"You've been going on for hours. What's your point?" Shizune blushed like she often did when she wanted something.

"Look. I know you've tried to look into 'fixing' Sasuke. And…well…" Tsunade motioned for her to continue and Shizune growled in frustation. "I don't think you should do it."

Of all the funny and weird things that her little apprentice had said, that fell into the category of absolute mega weird. Shizune had always been for helping the patient, and for the patient's rights.

"Why not?" The young woman glared at her. Tsunade reworded a more specific question "Alright, I'll consider it. But first I need to go through all the pros and cons, and take Hinata's rights into consideration as well." Shizune smiled happily.

"Consider it." Tsunade warned.

(Tuesday 11:34 AM, Ichiruka Ramen Stand)

"Why are we here again?" Sasuke asked.

"To see Sakura and Kakashi-san." Hinata explained. She knew better than to refer to them as his teammates. It would end with a long and drawn out debate until Sasuke expressed his frustration and wound up out cold on her lap for the millionth time.

They ducked under the flap and their guests were already waiting for them. It almost made her laugh that Kakashi had beat them there, but then again they were rather late. It wasn't really her fault considering Sasuke had cornered her in the shower and yet she still blamed herself as was her nature.

"Sorry for our lateness." Hinata said, cheeks turning tomato red. Sasuke just smiled and bowed his head politely as they took a seat. To say the least, the meeting didn't go as planned.

(Thursday 10:17 AM, Hinata Hyuuga's Residence)

It wasn't much of a meal. Sakura had offered to take Sasuke off Hinata's hands, which Hinata would have gladly accepted if he hadn't been sitting there with them. Sakura had been annoyingly persistent, which was rather rude considering they were talking about another, somewhat competent, human being. She'd gone from offering, to begging and then bribing. She didn't even lower her voice, either, so it wasn't like Sasuke couldn't hear her.

Before she could get to threatening, Sasuke slammed his fists of the table and started yelling at her. Sakura wasn't fazed in the least until he flipped the table, swooped Hinata into his arms, kissing her breath away before he passed out. It was incredibly awkward, not to mention all the money it was going to take to repair the damage!

After the mayhem had come to an end, Kakashi very politely took her aside and offered to take Sasuke off her hands. She wanted to accept his gracious offer, and yet her conscience held her in a headlock. It would be selfish of her to dump Sasuke on him, when it would be so much easier for her to take care of him herself. He would wind up in a drug induced coma or something trying to fight his way back to her if she just dumped him into Kakashi's lap, which wouldn't be fair to either man. When Hinata finally found her voice and declined, he also offered to find her a job and pay for the damage at the ramen stand.

So now she was going to work at a little shop in the down town area for five fifty an hour. It wasn't much, but it was the only job she could handle with a spot open for the hours she needed since she'd already been fired from every restaurant in Konoha. Not to say she was lazy or a bad worker, but with her bad timing, clumsy tendencies and Sasuke, her job options were incredibly limited. So she started her new job, working from 5 PM to 1:30 AM, when it closed. She had to do what she had to do.

(Thursday 10:15 PM, Work)

Hinata decided it was far less stressful than some of the other places she had worked. The other girl that worked there was nice enough, and willing to help her out until she got the hang of it. Her boss didn't seem to be as much of an ankle biter as her last one, but then again he was probably trying to compensate for all the time he spent staring at her ass. One of the main draw backs about working there was the 'variety' of the store's merchandise. It sold a little of everything, from exotic foods, clothes, health products and even adult materials. It was no wonder Kakashi had been able to find her a job. Really, it didn't bother her as much as you would think. But that was probably because she hadn't gone anywhere near that section of the store yet.

The hours weren't too bad, all she needed to do was change her sleep schedule around a bit. So in the long run, it had been a good idea working there. Why? Because if she worked daylight, Sasuke would be awakeand alone, which no doubt would end very badly. Working graveyard meant she might be asleep during the day but home nonetheless, and he'd most likely be asleep by the time she went back to work again.

Not to mention Hinata's job was pretty easy. Or it would be when she started. For now, she followed the other woman around and watched her. In a week she'd be done and on her own, helping customers around the store, checking and whatnot.

(Friday 1:56 AM, Hinata Hyuuga's Residence)

By the time she got home, Hinata was dragging her feet. She was so tired the bags under her eyes had bags. She'd been awake since 6:30 the previous morning fixing breakfast, and hadn't even had the time to take a nap. In short she felt awful.

She rubbed her eyes and unlocked her apartment door to find that Sasuke was still out cold from that day's escapade when she was leaving for work. It was almost surprising that he hadn't woke up and tore up her apartment before he passed out for a second time. She wondered if he'd ever understand the concept that his excitement was what caused him to go comatose for hours on end. Most likely not.

Maybe she should ask to get the amount of sedative lowered some instead of increased. It wasn't really fair to have him sedated all the time. Of course, he needed the sedative to at least drain his energy, or make him take a short nap. She had no objections against that. But at the moment Hinata was too tired to even care. Maybe she would pay a visit to Tsunade tomorrow…or today….or whatever it was.

(Friday 11:23 AM, Hinata Hyuuga's Residence)

That morning when Hinata woke up she wasn't all that surprised to have Sasuke in bed with her. She was getting used to it, and it bothered her less and less each morning. No matter how many times she got up and put him on the couch, he always found his way back to her. It was a mistake telling him about her plans to lower his sedative. He was shirtless, arms wrapped around her with his face cuddled between her shoulder and neck when she chose to bring it up. He perked instantly.

It happened too fast for her tired eyes to catch it all, and he had her hips successfully straddled in seconds. He was grinning from ear to ear, a pink blush on his cheeks and an impish gleam in his eyes. He pinned her wrists and latched onto her mouth in a sensual kiss, his tongue pushing into her mouth as he pressed his chest against hers. He was incredibly pale all over, more bone and skin than muscle. His skyrocketing heart rate tripped his monitor in a matter of seconds.

Hinata gave a low grunt as she rolled Sasuke off of her with a bit of effort and paused to look him over. He was skinny enough so that she could count his ribs and plainly see the sharp ridges of his hips, but there was a little definition left in his chest and abdominal muscles. His arms were slim and wiry, and even his face seemed worn and weathered. His cheek bones looked a little sharper, and the circles under his eyes seemed to have darkened. How he managed it, she'd never know, considering all the sleep he got. With a sigh, she stood up and went to the kitchen to busy herself with dinner.