Chapter 2: Old Flames

Dinner was not as horrible as Sasuke thought it would be. It appeared that Hiashi Hyuuga had a silencing effect on his youngest daughter, and Sasuke found that as long as she was in Hiashi's presence, Hanabi was much less of a mouthy brat. However, Hiashi couldn't very well shadow the Uchiha, and Sasuke found that the most trying times were before dinner, and just as he was leaving. Hanabi seemed to make it her life goal to annoy him. When he told Hinata this during one of their morning meetings, she surprised him by laughing.

"She's like that with Neji too, Sasuke," Hinata explained softly, smiling up at him. It was rare that Sasuke ever saw Hinata smile like that, and he wished briefly that it was because of him and not her sister.

"Why? Does she have a death wish?" he muttered.

"No," Hinata said, looking thoughtful, "I think she just likes to get under stoic peoples' skin. You should see her with Shino, she's horrible. Shino says she's worse than Kiba was."

Sasuke tried to imagine someone worse than Inuzuka, who had taken to glaring at him whenever they passed in the street. He couldn't quite imagine someone worse than Kiba. Even Hanabi, with all her insults, teasing, and pranking, was more tolerable. At least she didn't accuse him of molesting her sister. For some reason, Kiba was under the impression that Sasuke had 'forced' himself on 'poor, sweet Hinata-chan' and had his 'dastardly way with her'. Sasuke figured it had something to do with his sudden engagement to Hinata. No one seemed to believe him capable of actually caring for the heiress, and assumed he was doing it for some ulterior motive. He scowled at the thought, not sure if the suggestion was a more of an insult to him or Hinata.

He was interrupted in his thoughts by Hinata calling his name. He looked at her and his face softened. She smiled slightly, and they continued walking towards town. They had just finished their morning training and were going for lunch. He was looking forward to spending some time alone with Hinata. She had become much more relaxed and comfortable around him, but had yet to view him with anything remotely resembling how a woman should feel about the man she was to marry. He figured he might remedy that if they tried doing activities that normal couples did – like dating. Hence his invitation for lunch. He had planned it all out, and executed it with the ease of a well trained ninja. The previous Friday night he discreetly found out which day Hinata might be free, issued the invitation Saturday morning, and thought about if for the rest of the week. He would treat her, she would blush in that way that made it difficult for him to look at anything else, and maybe, just maybe, if he was careful and watched for the right moment, he might actually get to kiss her. Not that he was eager or anything. It was merely a matter of protocol after all – she was going to be his wife, and the last time they had kissed had been when they got engaged a little over a month ago. That wasn't normal for a couple, Sasuke felt sure of this, and figured something should be done.

However, all his plans went up in smoke when he heard an irritatingly familiar cheerful voice shout "Hinata-chan!"

Damn it.

He watched in annoyance and a bit of hurt (or a lot) as he fiancée was immediately reduced to a blushing school girl, her fingers coming to poke together as she stammered out a breathless greeting to Naruto.

"What are you guys doing?" his so-called friend asked, running up to them.

"Going to l-lunch," Hinata replied, a little more composed. Sasuke could still see the faintest tint of red on her cheeks.

"Great! I was just on my way to Ichiraku's-"

"No," Sasuke said quickly. Both Naruto and Hinata turned to stare at him. He scowled.

"But Sasuke-bastard, you don't know what I'm going to say," Naruto whined.

"Yes I do. You're going to invite us to lunch. No."

Hinata watched him, confused. She had never seen Sasuke look so upset. He was glowering at Naruto, his jaw tense, eyes dark.

"Sasuke," she said softly, trying to figure out what was wrong. She was shocked when his gaze turned to her. For the briefest moment, Hinata saw a great deal of hurt in his black eyes before he became shuttered.

"Fine. If you want to eat with Narutard, go ahead. It isn't any of my business," he said, his voice cold. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stalked away. Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"What's his problem?" the blonde asked.

"Sorry, Naruto, I have to go," Hinata said softly, glancing at him briefly before running to catch up with Sasuke.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" she asked when she pulled up beside him. Sasuke continued glaring and didn't answer.

"Sasuke," Hinata called him again, getting worried. He stopped and turned, sneering at her.

"Why don't you go eat lunch with the guy of your dreams already," he snapped. Hinata blinked at him, bewildered.

He's jealous, she realized with a start. She didn't know what to do – no one had been jealous because of her. She opted to just continue walking with him, but didn't say anything more. He would talk if he felt like it.

They walked silently for awhile, Sasuke scowling the whole time. They eventually stopped at the training grounds where they had spent the morning. He turned to her suddenly, and Hinata saw that her hopes of him calming down were false. He was still upset.

"Do you know what it's like?" he hissed, crowding her. Hinata blinked and backed up a little.

"W-what Sasuke?" she asked.

"You're my fiancée, Hinata. Mine. Not his. And he still makes you – he's the one –" he choked suddenly and turned away from her. Hinata watched his shoulders tense as he took a couple of deep breaths. He spoke again, his voice no longer angry, but soft.

"I gave up everything for you, and it wasn't enough. You want Naruto, not me. Do you know how much –" he stopped and ran his hands through his hair. Hinata approached him quietly, watching his back carefully.

"How much w-what, Sasuke?" Hinata finally asked. He didn't reply, and kept his back to her. Hinata bit her lip, not wanting to press further. She had used up most of her courage following him anyways. She looked down as she began to poke her fingers together.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," she said softly. He did turn then, but she kept her head down.

"Do you even know what you're sorry for?" he asked, annoyance tingeing his voice. Hinata sighed, not wanting to say, but knowing that she had to. He'd never accept her apology if she didn't.

"I'm sorry for the way I a-act around Naruto. I am trying to forget him, and it's s-starting to work…it's just when I see him unexpectedly…" she trailed off, glancing up at him briefly through her lashes. Sasuke sighed, but his face lost much of its coldness. Hinata felt relieved as she saw him fix his expression into the typical one of bored indifference.

"Whatever," he muttered, glancing at her briefly. Hinata smiled slightly, and moved to stand beside him. She dredged up the last remains of her courage, and reached for his hand. Sasuke couldn't mask his surprise when he felt her small fingers close around his.

"Can we have lunch now?" she asked, her cheeks red. Sasuke looked at her briefly before turning his head away.

"Hn," was all he said, and Hinata's smile grew when she caught sight of the barest hint of red on his cheeks.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------