Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine.
06. Primrose, I
There's something about late night walks that agrees with Sasuke's nerves. It could be the deserted quality of the streets…
Or it could be that his nerves are just frayed from spending the entire day with Naruto and Sakura. Both of whom aren't exactly known for their relaxing personalities.
Whatever the reason is, Sasuke likes taking walks. Period. He just prefers to do it at night since there are too many distractions in the day, mostly females who wouldn't just leave him in peace.
So it comes as a surprise that he encounters one particular female while he is crossing the bridge back to the Uchiha compound. If he had been Sakura, or (heaven forbid) Naruto, he would have screamed in fright. Because really, what is she doing there, wading ankle deep in the river, in the middle of the night?
Looking like a ghost no less.
But he is neither of the two so instead he calmly approaches the wooden ledge and studies her. It's too dark to see what she's doing and the Sharingan only lets him see her chakra. So he examines that for a few more seconds, particularly the concentration of chakra in her temples. The tomoe in his eyes spin slowly as he figures out that she has her blood limit activated. She seems to be looking for something just under the bridge.
"What are you doing?" He finally asks, his voice echoing in the stillness.
She gasps in surprise and looks up. "U-Uchiha-san!"
It's the first time she addresses him directly, he realizes as he blinks at the pair of Byakugan eyes directed at him. And she used his last name too. No one really ever calls him that around the village, the reason probably being that people are still afraid of the stigma the it carries with it.
Though now that someone dared to use it, Sasuke isn't quite sure what to feel.
He supposes that her using his last name is only fair, since he never really addresses her as anything other than
"Hyuuga," he uses her last name now as he jumps over the bridge, landing gracefully on his feet above the water (after mastering tree climbing, it was only a simple matter of adjusting his chakra).
She stares up at him with her eerie white eyes, and then states (somewhat unnecessarily in his opinion) "Oh, you're walking on water."
"Hn…" he looks down at his feet, now only realizing that Kakashi is good for something (other than being late all the time and reading porn in public) if he had taught Team 7 something that the other genin teams haven't learned yet.
Now, Sasuke feels more than a little chuffed with this epiphany (it doesn't hurt that Hinata is looking at him with something akin to awe).
He shrugs, tries to act like walking on water is an everyday thing for him, and directs the conversation back to his earlier question.
She smiles at him and points to what looks like a bush near the foot of the bridge (he couldn't really tell since its dark). "I'm looking for sakurasou."
"The Byakugan lets you see in the dark?"
"Y-Yes, it does." She nods.
It's a useful doujutsu, Sasuke has to admit, possibly more useful than the Sharingan if used in this context. "And you're looking for a flower at night why?"
Hinata walks towards the bush, her sandals making slushing sounds in the water. She bends, appearing to take something, then holds up an object that looks like a flower. "T-This kind of sa-sakurasou only blooms at n-night so I had to come out here when it's d-dark."
He narrows his eyes at the object and holds up a hand. She hands the flower to him without a word. He couldn't make out the color in the dark but it looks like an ordinary flower to him. All this trouble for this common looking thing? Does she want to put it in a vase or something? It seems like a totally ridiculous reason.
"What do you need this for?" Sasuke asks curiously.
She bends down towards the bush and plucks more of the flower. "I n-need it to m-make a poultice for b-bruises."
It's a common looking flower with practical uses then, he amends. Sasuke hands the flower back. "For your teammates?" he assumes.
She nods her head, "K-Kiba-kun got into a f-fight yesterday and h-his sister didn't want him to g-go to the hospital. She s-says it's to t-teach him a lesson."
"She's a wise sister then." He states wryly, vaguely recalling that 'Kiba-kun' is one of her teammates, the one who smells like a dog and acts as obnoxious as Naruto.
Hinata bites her lip, looking as if torn between agreeing with him and loyalty to her teammate. "B-But his black eye looked so painful…" she pauses, half-smiles, "and I'm also w-wanting to get sakurasou for my collection so it's no tr-trouble."
Sasuke shrugs, uninterested. It's her life anyway, he thinks. Slowly, he walks towards the bank. Sounds of water sloshing behind him let him know that Hinata followed him out of the river.
They walk together silently, Sasuke a few paces ahead of her. Having nothing to say to each other, the silence remained between them until they pause at the end of the street (the Uchiha and Hyuuga compounds are at the opposite sides of the village) until Sasuke asks,
"Collection?"
It takes her a few moments to figure out what he's talking about, then she answers, "I-I collect pr-pressed flowers."
That's…awfully girly. "Hn," Sasuke grunts, "that's your hobby then?"
"Y-Yes."
"I take walks." He deadpans. "At night." He doesn't know what possesses him to impart that bit of information.
She giggles at his statement for some unfathomable reason.
Sasuke frowns in annoyance at her. "Whatever. I'm going."
"W-Wait!" she stops him and hands a single flower, Sasuke is so surprised by the gesture that he doesn't think to refuse it, "F-For you."
He looks at her as if she's crazy but she just smiles again and hurries away in the opposite direction before he could think to return the stupid plant.
At a loss, Sasuke watches her figure disappear, the sakurasou clasped loosely in one hand.
.
.
.
A/N:
So they meet again in this chapter, I hope everyone enjoyed it! Again, a shout out to those of reviewed last chapter, a loud of thanks to Mitternacht, MissLuppi, mangaanime, FallenRaindrops, Michioka, and crookshies! Of course, thanks also goes to those who reviewed the earlier chapters and is still reading and supporting this story :)
I've received a couple of questions about Chapter 0 and I think this chapter answers one of them. Also, I answer questions through PM, so if you readers ever direct a question to me via your review, expect that I'll PM you to answer them. I don't like posting answers here in the story as I'm afraid that would spoil some of the suspense :)
Anyway, I hope y'all liked this update!