Disclaimer: I only own this story. But nothing else.

In The Eyes

By RC Mason

[The Past]

~ Promise ~

The pale silver light from the full moon trickled through the softly billowing curtains, illuminating the painting of a red and white fan on the opposite wall. It was the only ornament in the otherwise plain room and the current fixation of the only occupier in it.

Black bangs obscuring most of his face and a well-worn kunai twirling idly in his calloused fingers, the boy lay in his bed, an arm tucked behind his head as he surveyed the ancient crest of his fallen clan. The red portion of the fan seemed to glow in the darkness, a welcome rarity in a house pervaded by white and grey hues. Red was his blood, his vengeance, his eyes … It reminded him that he was the last Uchiha, though living in the house of the Hyuuga.

There was a shuffle outside his bedroom, and Sasuke instinctively tightened his grip on his kunai. It was a reflex, a reflection of the fact that, despite the years, he still did not truly feel at home in his abode, not in the same way as his first home where the smell of cinnamon and sage that marked his mother's delicious cooking drifted through the airy rooms, enveloping like a comforting hug.

The knob on his bedroom door turned and Sasuke straightened up in his bed. It occurred to him then that he should hide the kunai, lest the sight of him playing with a weapon alone at night add fire to the already rampant distrust around him ('Didn't you hear that, in the middle of the night, his brother …'), but it was too late and the door opened. A small figure clad in pure white nightgown stepped into his room.

'I can't sleep,' said Hinata, closing the door behind her.

Sasuke did nothing as Hinata climbed into the bed, settling herself in a comfy position next to him. She neatly tucked the grey covers under her chin and fluffed up the pillow. Though they could still fit quite comfortably in the single bed, Sasuke's back was pushed against the hard wall, something that he did not notice when they were younger.

A stunning flash of lightening against the black sky. Thunderstorm. Raindrops like kunai hammering his window. The memory of the blood that seeped in puddles around his feet, rain splattering crimson everywhere. Face pressed hard against the pillow, trying not to scream or cry.

Suddenly, a warm body beside his own, a gentle hand on his shoulder. Moments pass by, his breathing becomes calmer, more controlled, and finally …

'I wasn't scared, you know.' He does not look at her.

Not a beat missed. 'I know. I hate being cold too.'

Sasuke placed his head against the pillow, the strands of her hair tickling his nose. He breathed in her unique smell of lavender and decided that there was at least one thing in the Hyuuga household that could make him feel at home.

Suddenly, Hinata turned around, her large white eyes catching his dark stare.

Their gentle breathing pervaded the room until she spoke.

'I would have come to see you earlier, when I heard that you were back. But Father - he wanted to keep me back for more training, since tomorrow our-'

'I understand,' said Sasuke. 'It's nothing. I'm fine now.'

Hinata propped herself on her elbow to survey him closer. Her short dark blue hair was ruffled at the back, sticking up in a way that, Sasuke thought with amusement , was very much like his own.

'It was very brave of you to protect Naruto like that,' Hinata said.

Sasuke stiffened. He hated the soft look that came into Hinata's eyes whenever she talked about Naruto. It irked him for some reason, and Sasuke decided then that any redeeming qualities that he might have held about Naruto were conceived under completely delusional circumstances – not helped at all by the proliferation of drugs that were pumped into his system upon his return from the mission.

'Clearly I wasn't thinking properly,' Sasuke said roughly, pressing his head deeper into the pillow with a greater force than necessary.

'Weren't you?' Hinata said with a small smile on her lips. 'Kiba told me about how Naruto's planning to buy you a year's worth of ramen as a thank you present.'

'Hn,' said Sasuke, abruptly realising how annoying Kiba was too. He, like Naruto, had a mouth that was too big for his own good. He was grateful that Hinata wasn't like them - despite the large amounts of time that she was around them. 'I think you spend too much time training with Kiba,' Sasuke said suddenly.

'Why not?' Hinata said in surprise. 'He's part of my team!'

Sasuke grimaced at this. He had never liked the fact that Hinata was placed in different to team to him. The thought of being too far away to protect her made his jaw clench.

'You're better than him anyway, like training with him is going to help,' Sasuke said shortly.

'But that's the whole point to training with our teams,' Hinata insisted. 'We are all different and we can learn from each other. The other day Kiba did this amazing taijutsu with Akamaru and he showed me how to …' Seeing Sasuke's face darken, Hinata changed tack. 'Anyway, it'll be like me asking you not to train with Sakura for an example.'

'Nothing wrong with that,' Sasuke muttered. Sakura was always all over him and watching him, like a hawk, constantly aware of his every action, even the unconscious things that he wasn't himself aware that he was doing. In spite of her behaviour that tread the fine line between adoration and downright stalking, she didn't understand him.

Hinata smiled. 'Sakura likes you. So be nice to her. She's kind … and pretty too.'

'One word,' Sasuke said. 'No.'

Sasuke rolled over to face the wall, greatly annoyed for some reason at the direction their conversation was taking. He closed his eyes and tried to block out the riling thoughts that were flitting through his mind. It wasn't often that conversations with Hinata were like this – in fact, Hinata was one of the rare people that he actually looked forward to talking to (most people, on the other hand, tended to provoke dormant homicidal inclinations on his part).

Often words weren't necessary at all; they understood each other well enough to do without.

A breeze ruffled through the room, prying itself from the small gap in the window that Sasuke had left ajar. This was followed by a further pause before Sasuke heard a very small voice say from behind him,

'I was worried for you, Sasuke.'

His eyes opened. She had said it so quietly that, had she waited a few more moments as sleep took over him, he would have missed it and thought that he only heard it in his dreams. He turned over again to watch her. Her white eyes, shining in the moonlight, were wide open, looking at the ceiling above.

Sasuke didn't speak, waiting for Hinata.

'I- I heard that you were dead,' she said. 'Then they said that you were put in a death-like state, and I didn't know whether I felt any better. But … you came home, and I guess that's all that matters.'

She swallowed, and Sasuke realised that her shining eyes more than just the moonlight. He looked away. It had been long time since he had shed tears; the last time that anything had moved him to such a response was the massacre of his family. If he meant that much to her …

'I'm alright,' Sasuke said quietly. 'Really, I'm fine. There's nothing for you to worry about.'

'How did it feel?' whispered Hinata. 'To be put in that death-like trance?'

Sasuke considered this. 'Nothing new,' he said finally.

Hinata turned towards him, finding their hands underneath the sheets and giving Sasuke a surprisingly strong squeeze. 'I was so scared, you know. What I felt … it makes our chuunin exams tomorrow seem so easy in comparison!' she tried to smile.

Sasuke studied her closely. 'You're not nervous about the chuunin exams, are you?'

Hinata turned away. She stared out the window, to the full moon surrounded by a rainbow halo in the night sky. It reminded her of the Byakugan, which, in turn, reminded her of her responsibility as the Hyuuga heir to uphold their clan pride and excel – least of all pass – the chuunin exams. It was the reason why her father had been training her relentlessly for weeks, why whispers from the elders had been following her (the doubts, the misgivings, the shaking of heads) – all exacerbated by her anxiety over Sasuke's mission. Furthermore, Neji would also be competing, and Hinata bit her lip at the thought of her prodigious cousin.

Everything surrounding the chuunin exams was precisely like the moon to her, a dead rock looming over her, weighing her down, waiting to crush her all.

'You're going to do well,' Sasuke's voice broke, loudly, through her thoughts.

She stared at him, startled. His candid confidence was déjà vu from so many years ago.

'Why did you let him win?'

She had been beaten, sitting on the ground, her back against the wall where she thought nobody would discover her crying over her last humiliating defeat by Neji. Yet … Sasuke still managed to find her. He stood against the wall, watching her with impassive eyes.

'Wh- what do you mean?' she choked. He must have seen everything then. She didn't know what was worse – her actual defeat or the fact that Sasuke saw it.

'You hesitated. You could have made the final strike, but you didn't. Why?'

Hinata closed her eyes. The visions flashed before her. The blaze of bright light. Her mother. The fall.

Whathaveyoudone.

'Maybe I'm just weak,' she said softly.

A scuffle, dirt kicked into the air.

'You're wrong. You're not weak at all.'

'You have nothing to worry about,' Sasuke said. The intensity of his obsidian eyes burned like fire. 'We've been practicing together all this time. All the new techniques that we've learnt. I've seen how good you are.'

Hinata pressed her lips together in an attempt to smile. 'My father doesn't think so.'

'What would he know anyway?' Sasuke said angrily. 'He doesn't see you for what you are-' Sasuke cut himself short, biting his tongue. A calmer tone. 'Anyway, I wouldn't have been as good as I am now if it weren't for you.'

Hinata's eyes widened. 'Wh- why would you say that?'

The corner of Sasuke's lips quirked. 'Don't you remember?'

Fist slammed against the wall in frustration. Resounding like a crack in the tranquil garden, sending birds to flight in alarm.

'They won't teach me the Hyuuga techniques! Said that it wouldn't be appropriate, that I'm not one of them.' Words spat out. Bitter as vile. Then it dawned. Implications. 'But how- how would I get any better if I don't learn new techniques? How am I supposed to defeat him, avenge my c- c-' He choked, hot angry tears threatening to spill in his eyes.

The silent figure behind him finally spoke.

'I'll teach you.' Quiet, young, but determined.

He turned to face her.

'You can't. You'll be defying your whole clan. For me.'

White eyes against black.

'Sometimes … it's worth it.'

'I kind of miss our secret training sessions,' Sasuke remarked. 'When the exams are all over, and we have more time, do you want to continue again? I think there's a blackberry meadow that we can use, it's not too far, just behind the forest …'

A smile reached Hinata's eyes. 'I'd like that,' she said softly. 'Perhaps I should also ask the cook for more of his red bean desserts to bring along too? I recall that, last time, there wasn't enough.' Her eyes twinkled mischievously.

Sasuke grinned, unabashed. 'It's your fault that you got me addicted to them.'

'Still, I think fifty is a bit excessive.'

'Not when you've just learnt – and been hit with – the Eight Trigrams Empty Palm.'

They looked at each other and burst out laughing. Someone in the adjacent rooms grunted in their sleep and they had to force their laughter behind pressed hands, quietening down. They fell back to the pillow, lying comfortably side-by-side, staring up at the ceiling.

An amiable silence. Hinata was beginning to settle herself into sleep, before Sasuke spoke again.

'In any case, I'm going to protect you. During the chuunin exams … and forever.'

Hinata stared at him. His gaze was fixed on the ceiling and his hands were behind his head, the very picture of nonchalance, but Hinata sensed the tension in his body.

'Is that a promise?' she asked quietly.

Dark eyes flicking to her face momentarily, then back at the ceiling.

'Yes.'

Silence.

Then, Hinata pressed her lips against Sasuke's cheek. A kiss to a brother.

'Thank you,' she said.

She turned around, snuggling deeper into the sheets. The moon was still outside, hanging over the window, but somehow it did not seem as ominous as before. She closed her eyes, relaxing into her first peaceful sleep in weeks.

In the shadows of her mind, drowsy with sleep, she thought she heard a husky voice say, a little gruffly, but very quietly,

'I missed you too.'

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This story is set out as a series of glimpses, both into the past and present, answering the question of what it would have been like if Hinata and Sasuke grew up together. But I also intend for each chapter to be self-contained, so if you like me and prefer one-shots, this could also be read as an one-shot.

Let me know if this works for you, and thanks for taking your time to read this.

As always, reviews are love!

~ RC Mason.