Disclaimer: I only own this story. But nothing else.
In The Eyes
By RC Mason
[The Present]
1.
~ Words Unspoken ~
There are things about Hinata that Sasuke doesn't say.
Not that words can express them anyway – like how in the mornings, when dawn is but a golden ghost that creeps through his window and casts a warm shadow over his face, he doesn't have to open his eyes to know that the gentle footsteps pattering down the corridor belong to a certain raven-haired girl, and he doesn't have to count the seconds before she bursts into his room with a 'Morning Sasuke!' and a smile on her lips, as if seeing him, tangled in the sheets and all, was enough to make her morning.
He doesn't tell her that every time she does this and twirls out of his room all too soon, the sight of her long hair fanning out behind her, its darkness catching the light in the most intriguing shades of black and gold, hitches his breath and leaves him confused as to why he had been so mesmerised, so caught, by the simplest of things.
Instead, Sasuke feigns disinterest, almost boredom, and lets his dark hair cover his face, as well as throwing an annoyed arm to shield his eyes. Partly from the morning sun, and partly because he wants her to think that he has just woken up, that he needs her wake up call, when, in actuality, nightmares have long chased away his sleep and he had been lying in bed all this time
(for her).
So when he ambles down to breakfast, with a shirt half-tucked in his pants and half-buttoned, exposing the sharp outlines of his collarbone underneath, he gets another smile as well as a steaming hot cup of coffee – strongly brewed because she notices small things like that.
Today, as Sasuke takes his coffee and the caffeine begins to open his eyes, he realises that she is out of her usual attire.
She's wearing a light violet dress that skims delicately at her knees, and, compared to her shinobi gear, it makes her seem lighter than usual, almost carefree. That and the fact that she is smiling more than usual, almost flying about the kitchen as she gets her own cup of coffee and seats herself across the table from Sasuke.
She blushes under his inquisitorial stare and takes a sip of the brown liquid before she explains.
'I have a date with Naruto,' she says, unable to contain the sparkling in her white eyes. 'We're going to the flower show that's opening today.'
Suddenly, the warm coffee tastes bitter, and Sasuke forces himself to swallow it, rather than spit it out.
However, he says nothing in reply and resumes to sipping his coffee, the very picture of nonchalance. Except he finds himself staring at the cream-coloured cup in front of him instead of at her.
'I hope I haven't dressed too lightly,' she continues, a bit of anxiety coming to gild her soft voice, and she tugs self-consciously at the hem of her dress. 'It looks like it's going to be a sunny day, and I thought, well, it's spring and you can't wear pants all year long?' Her tone tilts up at the last word, like she is seeking his agreement.
'You look fine.' Curt.
'Really?' she says, and he is forced to actually look at her.
Sasuke notices how the colour of the dress brings out the subtle lavender shade in her pale eyes, giving her a gentle, pleasing look not framed by the guardedness that appears with her shinobi outfit. Instead, there is soft fabric that drapes over her curves like cascading water – and, at this, Sasuke forces himself to look away.
'Yeah.' Barely a grunt, almost non-committal sounding.
But she smiles anyway and it is here that Sasuke really thinks that Naruto is one lucky guy – and he better damn know it.
He clenches his fists under the table so Hinata can't see.
Then he says something before he can stop himself.
'Have you always liked Naruto?' he demands suddenly. 'Even when we were kids?'
The question comes to a surprise to both himself and Hinata, and before Sasuke can bite the insides of his cheeks for sounding so stupid, for being so stupid, just because some dobe was-
'Yeah … ' comes Hinata's voice, softly, distantly.
Sasuke jerks his head up and studies her. She is staring far away and one hand is idly stirring the coffee with her silver spoon. There is something in her eyes that Sasuke cannot read – normally the whites are like an open canvass for him, but it is as if a veil has been drawn over them, hiding some great abyss.
'Maybe for as long as I can remember …'
The next question that Sasuke wants to demand is 'why?' (actually, it is 'why the fuck?', followed perhaps by some disfiguring of the dobe's face if its charm had anything to do with Hinata's answer) but Sasuke is not stupid (unlike a certain someone) to ask stupid questions twice, so he lets it slide and pretends to find something fascinating in his coffee, as if he hadn't really heard, or cared to hear, Hinata's answer at all.
(Inside, he knows the reason. Given the choice between light and dark, what fool would choose the shadows that beckon of strife and ruin?)
A small sigh, like a passing breeze, comes from across the table. Suddenly, Hinata gets up and extends an outreached hand for his coffee cup, another kind smile on her face.
'It's fine,' Sasuke says and he follows her to the sink where she rinses the cups and he towels them dry.
He notices that the scars from her last mission have still not healed completely, leaving red jagged lines across two of her fingers as if bleeding across her knuckles, and Sasuke finds this another blatant example of the incompetence of the mongrel Kiba at working effectively as a team without getting the rest of your team members killed.
(Although, in a twisted logic, sometimes Sasuke wishes that Kiba had been a bit more incompetent and landed himself the enviable position of dead last so that he would have been placed in Sasuke's genin team, and that Hinata, with her complementary skills, might have placed there with them, him, too.)
'I better get going,' Hinata wipes her scarred hands on the green tea towel that Sasuke had been using, and slips her purse, neatly planned and placed on the kitchen counter, over a shoulder.
She reaches for the door, but stops and looks back at Sasuke, who is standing by the kitchen window. The light from the window casts a silhouette over half of his features and it makes him appear cold and withdrawn.
'What would you be doing today?' she asks.
'Training,' Sasuke shrugs. 'What else?'
He is determined to look indifferent and has already reached into his pocket to pull out a kunai for practice when he feels a pair of warm, slender arms wrap themselves around him.
Hinata's face is pressed against his rigid back when she says,
'Don't be too hard on yourself' – at this, Sasuke resists the temptation to point out that Itachi is still well and truly alive, and thus making Sasuke a failure by his Avenger standards – 'You should take a break sometimes.'
She hesitates.
'I know that you don't like flowers. Otherwise I would have asked you to come too.'
She says this quietly and slips it in so fluidly that Sasuke barely has time to register it before the arms around his waist tighten in a final hug and Hinata disappears out the door.
It is there, standing by the kitchen window and staring at the receding figure, that he finds the words that he could not express.
(I can make you happy too … if you would give me the chance.)
o
o
o
Apologies for past readers as there has been some revamping of this story. But let my muse assure you that it is all for the best, and it will fit in more nicely as we go along.
So how did you find it? Any questions?
The basic premise is that the Hyuuga took Sasuke in after his clan's massacre, and it has changed things. A lot of things.
In the present (and for now), Sasuke and Hinata are around 14. The canon time frame has shifted somewhat, but all will be revealed later.
Anyway, please leave and review and let me know what you think!
Lots of thanks,
~ RC Mason.