What Happens Next
Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews. Hmm toying with an idea of a jealousy scene for Sasuke or Hinata, let me know if you are interested and which you would prefer to get jealous. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 9
The next few days were chaotic at best. Apparently, some people really couldn't handle the truth. The Uchiha Police Force was forced to assign double and sometimes even triple shifts to keep up with all the domestic and public disturbances.
"Do you really have to go out again?" Izumi whines as Itachi suits up to go for his third shift.
"I have to. It's getting crazy out there. As the police force of this village, it our Clan's job to keep the peace. Unfortunately, that's become much harder because of this jutsu." He says with a sigh and kisses his wife's forehead.
Izumi nods. She knew it wasn't right to make him feel guilty. Itachi was just being a good ninja. He was looking out for the village. But it was hard.
She barely saw him anymore besides when they woke up and went to bed. She wanted to cuddle up to the future father of her child and bask in their impending parenthood together. A good morning and a good night kiss, just wasn't enough.
"I know. Just come to me, safely." She says.
"You know that I will. I always do. Besides, it's mostly just angry drunks and spurned lovers." He says and heads out the door.
She sighs and watches him go. Damn it. Izumi really hoped this Truth Jutsu wore off soon. The Uchiha woman wasn't sure how much longer her Clan could keep up with this. The village was in so much turmoil that it was like a powder keg, just waiting to go off.
"Don't worry, big sister. He'll be back soon." Sasuke assures her.
Sasuke had been spared police duty because Itachi had insisted someone be with his pregnant wife while he was aware. Sasuke had been entrusted with this task because well he was Itachi's brother.
"I know. But this getting crazy. At first it was funny, but our people are utterly exhausted. Shisui doesn't even have the energy to flirt with every pretty face he sees anymore!" She points out in alarm.
The younger Uchiha had to admit that was pretty bad. If Shisui was too tired to flirt, they had officially hit rock bottom. That was just who his cousin was. He was playful and mischievous. (Much to Fugaku's constant annoyance.)
"Yeah. I'm worried to. I'm not going to lie. Mostly because I can't. But you know what I mean." He says and leads her to the living room.
"So why did the little Hyuga Princess faint?" She asks curiously, eager to change the subject to something less worrying.
Sasuke rubs the back of his head sheepishly. He really didn't want to discuss this with Izumi. She was like a dog with a bone when it came to matters like this. But he didn't really have a choice. Sasuke knew her well enough to realize she'd find out sooner or later anyway.
"She saw you and Itachi being rather affectionate towards each other. I made a comment that I probably shouldn't have." He admits.
"And what, pray tell, dear little brother did you say to make that poor girl faint?" Izumi demands.
"That that was how you got pregnant in the first place. I didn't expect her to pass out. But I guess I should have. She's always been really innocent. Hinata used to faint around Naruto all the time. I'm surprised she didn't faint when mother mentioned those fuzzy handcuffs to be honest." Sasuke replies.
Izumi nods. She certainly couldn't disagree with that assessment. Hinata did seem like such a sweet girl. Which was why she was surprised by Sasuke's apparent interest in her. He was getting far too flustered at Shisui's matchmaking attempts for that not to be the case.
"Yes, you should probably go easy on her. I'd safe the handcuffs until after marriage." His sister-in-law advises.
"IZUMI!" Sasuke yells at her.
"Well then again, you know what they say. It is always the quiet ones." She says with a giggle, it was so much fun to tease her little brother.
Elsewhere in the Leaf, Hinata was having tea with Neji. Neji said he wanted to talk about something. She was curious what was on her introverted cousin's mind.
"What did you want to talk about?" She asks as she sips her green tea.
"You and Sasuke. I saw the way that the two of you were dancing when we were having the gathering. I'm pleased by the fact that our Clans are making inroads towards a more cordial relationship. I just don't think it should be THAT cordial." Her lavender eyed cousin informs her.
"What are you talking about? We were just dancing." Hinata replies in confusion.
Neji shakes his head. Hinata really was an innocent. But he wasn't as naïve. He knew that there was probably far more than just dancing on Sasuke Uchiha's mind when it came to the heiress of their Clan.
First, he had rushed after Hinata to comfort her after Naruto had broken her heart. Then they had been "training" together. When the village was attacked, he saved her. Finally, there was the dancing. Something was going on and he would bet his life on that fact.
"It's just dancing now. But be careful. I wouldn't want you to give your heart to someone and then find out that you are forbidden to see him because of a Clan War. Things are going fairly well between our Clans now, but that could change at any moment." He warns her.
Hinata frowns. She knew that Neji was just worried about her safety. But she couldn't shake the impression that she was being babied. The bluenette wasn't an idiot. She was well aware of the history between the two Clans.
"Neji, it was just dancing. The gathering went well. I think things will get better. You are worried over nothing. Besides, we have more important things to focus on. We have to find out who casts this Truth Jutsu and find a way to reverse it. I don't think the police force can keep this up. There is going to be blood in the streets soon." She whispers.
"You're right. I meant no offense. I just worry about you and your well being. I still haven't the faintest idea who is responsible for this jutsu. They must be powerful though. The amount of chakra it would require to influence the whole village must be immense. We are looking at someone with Kage level chakra. That certainly narrows the pool of possibilities." He murmurs and Hinata nods.
She had thought of that as well. Was it possible that maybe another village was trying to weaken the Leaf by casting this jutsu? Another Kage. She ran through the list of Kages in her head mentally.
Onoki was old. He wouldn't have the chakra reserves. Mei didn't seem very malicious. Certainly Gaara wouldn't have a reason to do this. The Raikage maybe?
"I don't think it was one of the Kages though." He offers.
Hinata nods. She found it difficult to believe. But she supposed anything was possible. She didn't have any proof. So she really didn't want to accuse the Raikage of anything. That could start a war all by itself.
"That's quite enough!" She hears someone shout in the street and send a man flying into the side of a building.
She blinks when she saw who it was. It was Itachi Uchiha. Sasuke's older brother. It was clear that he was feeling rather frustrated to put it mildly. She had never seen him lose his composure like that before.
"Owe! Fuck you, you Uchihas are psychotic! You don't throw someone against a wall, just for hitting on a pretty woman!" The man protests.
"You were doing far more than hitting on her. The woman told you that she was not interested in your advances. Yet, you persisted. I responded accordingly." Itachi mutters in disgust.
Hinata blinks. She decides it would be best to intervene. The bluenette heads over. She really didn't want Itachi to kill a guy for being a pervert and it was clear the Uchiha was at his wits end.
"Itachi?" She asks gently.
"Hello, Hinata." Sasuke's brother replies and watches the drunken lecher warily, wondering how much he was going to have to beat the other man up.
She offers him the sweetest smile she could. Hinata wanted to try to calm the man down. Itachi could be positively lethal, when he wanted to be. He just didn't choose to be often.
Given everything that had happened though, it was only natural he would be on a short fuse. She had to find a way to calm him. Things were already tense enough between the Uchihas and the rest of the village, without adding a murder on top of things.
"I think that he has learned his lesson." Hinata says.
"I find that highly doubtful. But he is not worth bothering with further. I am sorry to have disturbed you. That wasn't my intention. It's just this is the third frisky drunk that I have had to deal with today. My patience is wearing quite thin." The Uchiha confesses.
"I think we are all feeling that way. Why don't you take a break and join us for tea?" She asks kindly.
Itachi nods. He walks over to join them. Neji watches Itachi anxiously. He knew the man well enough to realize he wouldn't be foolish enough to attack them while negotiations were ongoing. But Itachi Uchiha was a formidable ninja and should never be taken lightly.
"I should probably head back. Lord Hiashi wanted to train this afternoon with me." Neji says.
"Alright. I will see you later, cousin Neji." Hinata says and briefly embraces her cousin, who returns it.
He nods respectfully at Itachi. Neji walked off. He kept his pace even. If he went too fast, it would give the impression he was frightened of Itachi. If he went too slow, it would look suspicious. Soon enough he was out of their sight, altogether though.
"I do not think he cares for me much." Itachi states with amusement.
"Oh no! It's not that. It's just Neji isn't the most social person. Alright...well maybe he is a little wary of you. But only because you are a powerful ninja and an Uchiha. I don't think it is anything personal!" She says quickly.
"If he is skittish of me because of my Clan, then it is personal. It is very personal. But it's alright. He's not behaving any differently than the rest of this village. I do hope he gets over his unease with my family though, for your sake." He says as he sips down and sips some tea.
Hinata looks at Itachi in confusion. What did he mean by that? What did he mean by he hoped Neji became more comfortable with Uchihas for her sake?
"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean by that?" She inquires.
"I saw you and Sasuke at the gathering. He rushed in to push you out of harm's way instinctively. I know that the two of you have feelings for each other. They might be more subconscious than conscious now, but I don't mind. It is no more your fault that you were born a Hyuga, than he was born an Uchiha. There would be no reason to be uneasy about the two of you being together, if you were an Uchiha or he was a Hyuga." He observes.
Hinata gulps. Itachi knew. Had he said something to Sasuke? She really hoped he hadn't. Sasuke was just being nice to her. He felt sorry for her more than anything, she supposed. Maybe he felt guilty because it had been his teammate that hurt her. (Which was silly, but who knew how Sasuke's thought process really worked?)
"He saved me because he's another Leaf Ninja. Though I imagine that he would have done the same for anyone else. It's an instinct to save someone in danger." She tries to explain.
"And the dancing lessons? Sasuke has never expressed much interest in the activity before. Actually, he seems somewhat disdainful of it. My foolish little brother has always viewed it as being somewhat frivolous." The elder Uchiha brother informs her.
Hinata blushes. Sasuke had mentioned that. He had never bothered dancing. But it had been a special occasion. He had been humoring her, nothing more. After all, he had pointed out Izumi and Itachi kissing and said that he didn't think he'd want to copy them. It was just the beginnings of a friendship, if that.
"He wanted to join everyone else. It was the first gathering between our Clans in years." She protests.
"And the reason you are blushing?" He inquires with a quiet chuckle.
"I blush easily." She mumbles in embarrassment, feeling her face heat up even further.
"I apologize. I may have overstepped my grounds. I hope the negotiations will prove successful. I do think that you would be good for him. However, I must go for now. It seems our job will never end until this damn jutsu is dispelled." Itachi sighs as he hears a window smash, heading off.
Hinata blinks. Had that really just happened? Had Itachi Uchiha just given her permission to date Sasuke in some way? She looked up at the sky. Nope, pigs weren't flying. Maybe she had imagined it.
Later that day, Sasuke was grateful when Itachi returned home. Izumi was very nervous without him around. He wondered if this was just an Izumi pregnancy thing or a pregnancy thing in general. He greets his brother and then heads off towards the public hot springs.
"Nothing like a nice hot soak after a long day." He mutters as he quickly strips, throwing on a towel to preserve his modesty in case someone else happened by.
His father had encouraged him to seek out a wife. So it'd probably be a good idea if he started socializing with the rest of the village. Using the public hot springs instead of the Uchiha Clan ones, was a good way of doing that, he supposed.
That and it meant he wouldn't have suffer from more of Izumi's interrogations. Honestly, just because he found Hinata attractive, didn't mean she had to give him a royal inquisition! It was insane.
"Sorry. I didn't realize anyone was here." Hinata mumbles.
After dealing with Neji and Itachi, she had decided to go and wash away her troubles. She decided to do this in the most literal sense of the phrase. Hinata didn't think anyone would be here at this time of night.
"It's fine. It's a public hot spring. Not much use for it, if only one person uses it at a time." Sasuke says, not looking back.
He had been too caught up in his thoughts to really pay attention to who was speaking to him. He recognized it was a feminine voice. Shy. If it was a fan girl, he would have heard giggling. If it was someone who had an issue with his Clan, they would have been more abrasive. So he wasn't worried about it.
His back was towards the woman. She could disrobe to her heart's content and throw on a towel. Sasuke wasn't Shisui. While he would definitely look if someone was displaying herself, he didn't go out of his way to peek. (Of course he would look if someone was prancing about half naked, he was a man after all.)
"Th-at's true." Hinata says and seeing that Sasuke apparently wasn't going to turn his back, she quickly strips and throws on a towel.
The bluenette shyly gets into the water with him. She kinda had to. If she ran off now, Sasuke would probably get his feelings hurt. The Hyuga Heiress didn't want to hurt his feelings.
It was a strange relationship the Uchihas had with the rest of the village. On one hand, they were idolized and practically considered Gods…much like her family. On the other, they were feared and there were certain segments of the village that loathed them. (This was mostly the more…unsavory sort. They were after all in charge of the police department.)
"Yeah." He says and looks at her, once she was in the water.
He blinks. Sasuke hadn't expected it to be Hinata of all people. Oh great. Just great. If his Clan found out he bathed with her, Izumi would never let him hear the end of that. Neither would Itachi or his father, for that matter. And Shisui, would never let him live it down.
"It's good to see you. Thank you for catching me, earlier. I didn't mean to faint. It just…happens when I get flustered." She mumbles, feeling rather embarrassed at this trait of hers.
"It's fine. I'm just glad you are okay. It's kinda cute how easily you get embarrassed. But I'm worried you are going to hit your head one of these days and get a concussion." He mutters.
Hinata blushes deeply. He had called her cute. Well he had called her flusteredness kinda cute. She supposed that wasn't surprising. He had called her beautiful on their "date."
She didn't consider it a real date though. Neither of them had known the other was coming. Hinata wondered if he would have shown up, if Sasuke had known he was going to be eating with her.
"Yeah. I'll try not to do that. That wouldn't be good. Concussions are bad." She mumbles.
"Mhm. As a medic, I'm sure you know all about them." He replies.
"I'm not a medic yet. I'm still in training. But yes, we've covered them. They can be quite serious sometimes." The bluenette responds to his observation.
Sasuke shrugs. To him a medic in training, was close enough. He knew that there was some difference. But honestly, if she didn't know what she was doing, she would have been kicked out of the program by now. The Leaf couldn't afford to train people to become medics, if they didn't have the talent for it.
He didn't know much about it. But Sasuke did know that it required excellent chakra control to pull it off. That's why Sakura was a medic. When he first met her, she was weak in everything physically…besides chakra control. That had always been her strength. Now her punch could level a mountain.
"Yeah. Thanks for the physical earlier. It was nice to be able to get through one without an incident." He mutters.
"Incident? What do you mean by that?" The Hyuga Heiress asks genuinely curious.
"Let's just say some of your colleagues aren't nearly as professional as you are and leave it at that." Sasuke answers.
Hinata blushes. On second thought, maybe she didn't want to know the answer to that question. A lot of the medics were women between the ages of 16-30. It wouldn't have been outside the realm of possibility for them to have tried to do more than just ogle.
"Doesn't matter though. So how is your Clan doing?" He asks.
"Well. I can't really tell you more than that. I'd like to give you a more specific answer, but…" She trails off.
"You don't want to get in trouble for potentially giving me away valuable information that you weren't supposed to. It's alright. I get it. I'd probably do the same in your position. Neji still hate my guts?" He asks idly.
Hinata rubs the back of her head sheepishly. While Neji might be wary of Itachi because he was a powerful ninja and an Uchiha, his dislike of Sasuke felt more personal. Probably because he hadn't stumbled upon Itachi while he was on top of Hinata during a training session and jumped to conclusions.
"I don't think he hates you. He just…doesn't really trust you much." She mumbles quickly.
"Because he saw me on top of you. Yeah, I'd probably have a similar reaction, if I saw him on top of a woman from my Clan. I guess it's to be expected." He says with a shrug.
"Probably best not to talk about our families right now." Hinata offers and Sasuke nods.
The two spent the rest of the evening discussing whatever topics came to their minds. Anything but their families. Sasuke seemed more than content to let Hinata do the lion's share of the talking. Which was odd as Hinata was normally the introvert of any group.
She knew that he was listening though. There was a quiet attentiveness about him. Occasionally, he'd add a comment. It was usually sarcastic in nature. Though thankfully, his biting sarcasm never seemed to be directed at her. Which was a good thing, those were some sharp "teeth."
"So how are bug boy and dog breath?" He asks.
"Sasuke! That wasn't very nice!" Hinata gently chides him for those unflattering nicknames.
Sasuke shrugs. He had never claimed to be nice. Hinata was clearly the more nice of the two of them. That didn't bother him though. Uchihas weren't wired to sugarcoat things. They preferred accuracy.
In his mind, bug boy and dog breath were perfectly accurate. The nicknames were going to stay. That was that.
"He likes bugs. He has dog breath. You knew who I was referring to. So you know the nicknames are accurate. I'm not saying I have a problem with either of your teammates. I don't. I barely know them. I'm just saying that based on what little I know about them, if the sandal fits, wear it." He replies.
Hinata shakes her head. She didn't know whether to be exasperated or amused. Sasuke was apparently rather stubborn. She knew when there wasn't a pointing "debating" a matter further. So she decides to let it drop.
"What's that mark on your neck?" Hinata asks suddenly, deciding to enjoy the view.
A mostly naked Sasuke was rather exciting sight after all. She tried to keep her eyes from drifting further than the neck. She didn't want him to think that she was some kind of pervert. So that was how she noticed the marking.
"Cursemark from Orochimaru. The bastard bit me when we were in the Chunin Exams. He wanted to have an Uchiha vessel. Don't worry, Kakashi sealed it for me. I'm surprised he would attack the Leaf years later though. He must have found another body. I thought he'd be dead by now." He says.
Hinata's eyes widen. Orochimaru had wanted an Uchiha vessel. He had a Summoning Contract with snakes. There were only a handful of people who could summon snakes that size, let alone that many. Perhaps it had simply been a diversion.
"Orochimaru is the one who cast the Truth Jutsu." She whispers.
Sasuke blinks. Shit! How hadn't he thought of that before. It was probably because of how chaotic everything had been since the jutsu took root. He had to speak to Tsunade about this.
"Hinata, you're a genius. Come on. Let's get dressed. We need to let the Hokage know." He says, standing up, and offering her his hand.
Hinata takes his hand. Sasuke pulls her up. Once up though, his foot slipped on the wet ground. He fell backwards and Hinata landed on top of him. And that was how Ino and Sai found them, in that very suggestive position. It seemed they weren't the only ones who had decided to go for a dip in the hot springs.