What Happens Next?
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. The end of chapter one has been revised. You can go back and read that if you want. But the change really shouldn't have confused the story line, if you don't feel like doing so. I did it upon the request of CharmingKitty. Anyway onto chapter two.
Chapter Notation: Neji lives in this because I say so. He's not a jerk, he's just overprotective.
Chapter Two
The next day, Hinata was heading to the training fields. Her sadness for the moment had worn off. It had been replaced by a righteous anger. As she was passing through the market, she saw a familiar head of black, spiky hair. It was Sasuke.
The bluenette decides she should thank him. He had in his own way tried to comfort her. Granted he had done so by threatening to Chidori Naruto where NO man wanted to Chidoried, but it still counted.
She buys some tomatoes from a stand and walks over to him. One of the few things she knew about Sasuke is that he liked tomatoes. He always ate them at the Academy.
"Good morning, Sasuke." Hinata calls out softly.
"Morning, Hinata." He says and looks at her curiously, she had never greeted him before.
Hinata walks over to him. Maybe this was a dumb idea. But she really thought she should thank him somehow. Words just didn't seem to be enough. He had helped her through the worst day of her life. She owed him more than just a simple, "Thank you."
"I wanted to thank you for yesterday. You were very kind to me. Naruto is your teammate and we barely know each other. It meant a lot to me. So I…got these for you. I remember how much you liked them at the Academy." She says and hands him the bag of tomatoes.
"Thanks. Naruto really is an idiot." He says and takes the bag from her.
"What do you mean?" She asks in confusion.
"Well in general he is a moron. But that's especially true when it comes to you. You notice the little things. Before yesterday, I doubt we even said two words to each other. But you still knew my favorite food. You're very observant. You care enough to notice the little things about everyone. " He mutters and bites into one of the tomatoes.
Hinata blinks. She had never really heard Sasuke talk that much in one go before yesterday. He'd always been rather quiet. She didn't think he was shy or a natural introvert exactly, more like he didn't socialize outside of his Clan.
"Should you really be eating those in the middle of the street? Isn't that bad manners?" She asks with a giggle.
"If they want to make an issue out of it, I can politely introduce them my fireball jutsu." Sasuke says with a shrug and goes back to eating.
Hinata didn't know he had a sense of humor. Well she supposed almost everyone did, if you got to know them. Well at least he liked her gift. That's when she noticed that people were staring at them.
She really should have expected this. Hinata was the Hyuga Heiress and Sasuke was an Uchiha. Of course people were going to stare. But it made her uncomfortable all the same.
"Sasuke, people are staring." She mumbles.
"Let them stare. We aren't doing anything wrong. So thanks for the tomatoes." He says, suddenly feeling rather awkward.
"You're welcome. I was just going to head to the training grounds." She says.
"I'll go with you if you want. You probably need to punch something and I've always wanted to test the Sharingan against the Byakugan." He offers and Hinata blinks.
Sasuke fucking Uchiha had just asked her if she wanted to train? She looks up. No the sky wasn't falling. Life could be strange sometimes.
"I'd like that. If you think you can handle me. I'm transitioning into the righteous fury stage." She admits.
"Righteous fury, sounds interesting. Didn't know you were capable of that honestly. I'll teleport us there." Sasuke says, grabbing her hand, and they disappear in a swirl of flames.
"Please don't go easy on me. Everyone always does." Hinata says.
"That's because they are idiots. Never underestimate your opponent. They teach us that at the Academy on day one. But don't worry. Holding back isn't in my nature. Still in the interest of fairness, let's just make this hand to hand combat. No jutsus." He tells her.
Hinata nods. Soon they are training. Sasuke was fast. But Hinata was more agile. Sasuke blinks. He didn't know humans could bend that way. Damn she was flexible and her Byakugan made her a formidable opponent.
"Like I said, people don't give you enough credit." He tells her as he charge at her.
It was all Hinata could do to block his punches. They were fast and furious. Possibly even bone shattering. If this was an Uchiha when they were training, she shudders to think what he'd be like if he was actually trying to hurt her.
"Thanks!" She calls out and Sasuke goes to sweep her leg out from under her, causing the bluenette to fall to the ground.
Sasuke was on her like a flash. He pinned her. The Uchiha places her hands over her head and his legs on hers, to keep from moving.
"GET OFF LADY HINATA, RIGHT NOW!" He hears someone roar and blinks, looking around.
It was Neji Hyuga. Damn it! This looked a lot worse than it was. He gets off of the bluenette and Hinata blushes deeply.
"Neji, it's alright." She tries to explain.
"It is not alright! He attacked you. How dare you attack a member of our Clan? Do you wish to go to war with our family? Is that it? What were you planning on doing to her?" The Hyuga man demands.
"I was training with her. I pinned her. That's all." Sasuke says and he could feel his anger building at the implication that he had been planning to hurt Hinata in some fashion.
"Hinata, is this true?" Neji asks her.
"Yes, Neji. Sasuke wasn't trying to hurt me. We were just training. " She explains.
Neji looks at Sasuke. Then he looks at Hinata. The Hyuga Prodigy casts another glance at the Uchiha. Was she telling the truth or just lying because she was scared of what he might do if she didn't? It was hard to tell.
"It seems that I might have misjudged you, Uchiha. I apologize. But you must admit it did look…less than innocent." Neji says.
Sasuke was tempted to tell him that where he could shove his apology. But Hinata had been through enough in the past day or so. He didn't want to add to it. Besides, he was trying to decrease tensions between his Clan and the rest of the Leaf, not start a Clan War.
"It's fine. Hinata is fortunate to have a family that is so concerned for her safety." Sasuke mutters.
"We will ALWAYS protect our own." Neji says and Sasuke didn't miss the not so subtle warning.
Neji wanted to compare kunai size it seemed. The man had balls to threaten him. Sasuke would give him that much. But he wasn't interested. He decides to give the biggest socially acceptable insult he could to Neji though. He'd ignore him.
"That was a good training session. Maybe we can do it again sometime. But I should head back to my District. It's almost lunch time. Cya." He says and walks off without even acknowledging the other man further.
"The arrogance of the Uchiha Clan knows no bounds." Neji mutters distastefully.
"Neji! He was being nice." Hinata protests.
Neji shakes his head. Hinata's biggest strength and weakness would always be her trusting and kind nature. He offers her his hand and leads her back to the Hyuga Estate.
Why would Sasuke ask her to train with him? He'd never shown any interest in her before. Perhaps he just wanted to see if he could discover some secrets of the Byakugan?
Elsewhere in the Leaf, Sakura was helping Ino with her family's flower shop. It was busy season for them. Besides, the pink haired woman was happy to have busy work to take her mind off things.
"Do you think that Hinata is going to be okay?" She asks her friend.
"I think she will eventually. It's good that she finally stood up for herself and demanded an answer. At least now she knows and can move on with her life." The blonde offers as she puts some more flowers on the shelf.
Sakura nods. She knew how hard it was to get over the one you loved, not returning your admiration. She was slowly getting over the sting of rejection herself.
Maybe it was for the best. If she and Sasuke did get married, she'd have to move into the Uchiha District. Everyone there save for him and his brother, were nearly perfect strangers to her. Her family definitely wouldn't be comfortable visiting…
"Stop that!" Ino says and whacks Sakura with a flower.
"Owe! What was that for?!" She demands.
"You were thinking about Sasuke then. Hinata needs to get over Naruto and you need to move on. Neither are interested in the two of you and there are plenty of fish in the sea!" The flower lover insists.
"Oh please! I see the way you still look at him! You can't really lecture me." Sakura defends herself.
"I'm just admiring the scenery. I don't think he's just going to magically change his mind one day and fall in love with me. Though I do wonder what's up with him and Hinata. I feel like there is more to that story." She muses thoughtfully.
Sakura raises an eyebrow. Ino couldn't possibly be serious. Did she actually think that Sasuke liked Hinata?
"Hey, don't give me that look! I'm not crazy." The blonde exclaims.
"You think that Sasuke likes Hinata?" The medic asks skeptically and looks at her friend like she had grown a second head.
"I'm not sure really. But something happened. He took off pretty quick when I showed up." Ino continues.
"He always takes off quick when you show up." Sakura says smugly.
"THAT IS NOT THE POINT!" The other woman growls.
Sakura smirks. There was nothing better than riling Ino up. They had been best friends and rivals since their Academy Days. She didn't think that was ever going to change.
"Yeah, so since he's always running away from you…I don't think that really means anything." She continues.
"Sakura! Unlike most of you, I actually have a boyfriend. I think I know what I'm talking about!" Ino protests.
"How are things going with Sai anyway? How does that work? I mean he was trained not to have any emotions for years. It has to be pretty difficult." The pink haired woman observes.
Ino sighs. That was true. She could only imagine the horror that Sai had been subjected to during ROOTS training. He still wouldn't tell her much about that time period and she couldn't blame him.
Yes, Sai was still awkward. But honestly, he was getting better at blending in. He was trying. That's what mattered most. Besides, she knew he loved her. He showed it to her by how he kissed her. She truly wanted all of her friends to be able to experience the joys of being in love. And she would help them find it!
"Better. He's getting better. I know he loves me. He just has a hard time expressing it in a socially acceptable way sometime! But I know he'll eventually be able to express himself like everyone else. He just needs some time." She says with a smile.
"Oh well that's good." Sakura says and Ino nods her head in agreement.
Meanwhile Sasuke sighs. He heads back to the District. Honestly, it was hard to hide his bitterness when he left it. People were always going to be suspicious of him. As much as they admired his ninja skills or looks, his last name meant that everything he did was suspect.
It was ironic. His clan had helped to found this village and effectively they were treated as useful Pariahs. It was a complicated relationship.
"They need our skills and yet they are terrified of us at the same time. That's why the Second Hokage shoved us all in the District in the first place." He mutters to himself.
Oh and he was really beginning to resent the fact that they were the village's Police Force. They protected this village internally. The very village that looked upon them all with suspicion, merely because of their last name.
When he was a child, he had been really proud that HIS family was in charge of the Police Force. It was an important job. They were protecting people and the village. Now as he got over, he realized it was designed to keep them busy and stroke their egos a bit.
"Damn them." He mutters.
Of course being the ones who dealt with all the "minor" internal problems had given them an even worse rep. No one wanted to be the one who got caught in a bar fight by an Uchiha. And the Uchihas were very good at breaking up fights, stopping robberies, and things of that nature. It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it.
He tries to shake off this feeling. Sasuke realized it wouldn't do any good to become bitter. He was home now. Here in the District, he was with his family. No one would judge him here.
"Oh hey, Sasuke!" Shisui calls out.
"Hey, Shisui." Sasuke replies with a smile and walks over to one of his many cousins, but by far his favorite one.
"What's that in your hand?" He asks curiously and grabs it before Sasuke could answer him.
Shisui laughs. Tomatoes. He should have known. He honestly didn't understand his youngest brother's obsession with them. Still he supposed it was better than Itachi's favorite food. The elder brother loved cabbage and rice balls. Seriously, cabbage.
"Just some tomatoes. Hinata got them for me." Sasuke says and immediately regrets saying that last part.
"Hinata? The Hyuga Heiress? I didn't realize you two were even friends. Well that was nice of her. Don't let any of the others hear you say that though. You know there's a bit of a rivalry between the Clans." Shisui says cheerfully, as if he was overjoyed to be sharing in this great secret with Sasuke.
"They are just tomatoes and we aren't. Well maybe, we are. I guess. Did you see what happened with her and Naruto?" Sasuke mutters.
"Oh yeah. That was brutal. So what you checked on her and she decided to repay you with fruit?" He asks.
"Something like that, I guess." Sasuke agrees.
Itachi sees Sasuke and heads over to his brother. His wife was with him. The elder Uchiha had his hand on her back. The two moved as a unit. Sasuke was sure that if such a thing was possible, their breathing and chakra flow likely matched as well. He'd never seen two people who were more synchronized. It was mostly romantic, though a little creepy at times.
"How are you feeling after everything?" Itachi asks.
"Better, I guess. I'll find someone. I mean there are hundreds of female ninjas outside the Clan. There's got to be someone that I can at least…tolerate." Sasuke says with a forced smile.
"Marriage should be about far more than toleration." Izumi says.
Itachi shakes his head. His wife was trying to help. He knew that. But honestly, Sasuke was still processing that he was expected to find a wife so soon. Tolerable was at least a step in the right direction.
"Yeah. I know. But you have to start somewhere." Sasuke says with a smile.
"I suppose that's true. Come along, lunch should be ready." She says and the Uchihas head into Mikoto and Fugaku's house.
Sasuke winces. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to go back in that household again. His mother was such a sweet, gentle woman 99% of the time. The other 1% of the time though, well Madara had never stood a fucking chance against a mother's fury.)
"The worst of it seems to be over for now." Itachi assures Sasuke.
"Oh good." He says and follows his family members inside to go get something more substantial than a couple tomatoes to eat.
He rubs the back of his head sheepishly, when he notices a lot of new burn marks around the house. When his mother got angry, she didn't hold back at all. It made him wonder how his father had survived this long to be honest. Then Sasuke saw Fugaku. He had more than a few lumps on his head.
"Welcome back, sweetie." Mikoto says with a deceptively sweet and innocent smile.
"Are you two done fighting? I don't want you to fight over me. Father's right. It'd be good for the Clan. He's not forcing me, mother." Sasuke says in a rush.
"You are such a sweet boy, defending your father. But he knows what he did is wrong, even if it was for the right reasons." She says.
"She has come to see that I was being logical. Your mother is still angry with me. But we have worked things out. Communication is important in a marriage. Your mother just happens to communicate with kitchenware and fireballs sometimes." He says with a sigh.
"You deserved it." She huffs.
"Perhaps I did. But that doesn't change the facts of the situation." He says with a sigh.
Mikoto looks at Sasuke with sympathetic eyes. She knew that her husband was right. His position was perfectly logical as the Head of their Clan. But as a father was another matter entirely.
Sasuke was her baby. He was her youngest. She couldn't bare the thought of forcing him into a presumably loveless marriage for the good of the Clan. It wasn't right.
"Mother, it's alright." Sasuke assures her and a hugs the dark haired woman tightly.
He'd always been closer to his mother than to his father. Fugaku was like a mountain. He was strong and unreachable. Mikoto had always doted on him. Sasuke wondered if that was because Fugaku had been so busy with Clan Matters and Itachi, that he hadn't noticed Sasuke much. Maybe her attentiveness was a way to make up for Fugaku's inattentiveness?
"Itachi and I do have some good news that should lift everyone's spirits." Izumi says, deciding to break the tension.
"What news?" Sasuke asks curiouslya.
"My love, do you want to tell them or should I?" Sasuke's sister-in-law inquires with a big smile.
"You may do it, my heart." Itachi replies and the other Uchihas raise their eyebrows at this, wondering what secret the two of them had been keeping.
Izumi nods and kisses Itachi's cheek. Truly, she was very lucky to have such a loving husband. And now their family was going to get just a little bit bigger.
"I'm pregnant." She says simply, positively beaming while she makes the announcement to her family.
"That's wonderful news!" Fugaku says.
"Our first grandchild." Mikoto says and hugs her daughter-in-law.
"Well that didn't take long. Must have been quite the Honeymoon." Shisui says and winks at Itachi, who lightly swats him.
Sasuke blinks. He was going to be an uncle. Wow. He bit his lower lip. This child was going to be born at a time when the Clan was even more isolated from the rest of the Leaf than ever. He had to do something to make sure his niece or nephew was safe. Now he had yet another reason to try to find a suitable wife.
"Congratulations brother, sister, I am so happy for you." Sasuke says.
"Thank you, Sasuke. I am sure that you will make a fantastic uncle." Itachi replies and Izumi nods.
Back at the Hyuga Estate, Hinata sighs as she allows herself to be escorted to her room by Neji. She knew that he was just trying to protect her. But honestly, she was a Jonin. She didn't need the protection. Still she humored him.
Why was it that Sasuke of all people was the only one who didn't seem to view her as a delicate flower in need of protecting? A man she had scarcely spoken two words to before two days ago, seemed to know her better in some strange way than her own family did. It was odd.
"He's probably not going to ever speak to me again after what Neji did." She mutters to herself.
Hinata wasn't stupid. She had understood the implicit warning that Neji's words to Sasuke had carried. She knew Sasuke wasn't stupid either. He had definitely noticed.
It was a miracle that he hadn't taken the bait. Things could have gotten ugly and quickly. One could only imagine the horrors that would have resulted from a Clan War between the Uchihas and the Hyugas. The streets would have run red with blood.
"Thank the Gods and Goddesses that he just left." She muses as she slips out of her sweaty training clothes.
Training with Sasuke was an intense experience. He hadn't held back at all. Most people would have been worried about hurting her or upsetting her Clan if they were too rough on her. Not him though.
Really it was hard to remember sometimes that Naruto and Sasuke were teammates. The lovable blonde always charged in without a plan and seemed to hold back when fighting women, unless they were clearly trying to kill him. Sasuke was the opposite. He always had to have a plan and gender seemed irrelevant to him.
Idly, she wondered how Team Seven functioned with three strong personalities. And then there was Kakashi, what could one say about the eccentric ninja? The man walked around everywhere reading erotic literature, wearing a mask, was late for everything, and yet was still Hokage. She had a soft spot for Kakashi. He was funny.
"I bet there is never a dull moment with that team." Hinata says to herself with a giggle.