Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter, here's another chapter! (wow, I'm actually updating!)
Enjoy!
It had just been a few days since graduates were assigned to their teams, Sasuke almost always return home late. He still felt uncomfortable with his team mates. Naruto was too loud, he wouldn't leave Sasuke alone. Sakura won't stop staring at him every chance possible, and not to mention their jounin sensei is always late. When ever Sasuke returns home, his dinner was prepared in advance for him and a note, left by Hinata. His meetings with Hinata became seldom. When he did see her, his or her team mates would be around, they wouldn't be able to talk casually. But whenever Sasuke was with his team, he occasionally saw Hinata, hiding behind poles or fences, stalking them, or stalking Naruto would be more accurate. Team 7 finished their training early today, Sasuke took this time to relax than train for once. He took a stroll around the training grounds, without Sakura following him. It has been a while since he had time to himself alone, usually it's with Hinata or his team. It felt, awkward. Sasuke rarely walk around without people following him, he quite enjoy this alone time to himself.
"Oi, Hinata, we're going to grab something to eat, are you coming?" Kiba's voice came from afar. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, he hid himself behind a tree and peaked. He had seen Hinata hiding too often to learn a few techniques. Hinata was training by herself, attacking the tree wrapped around by a mattress.
"G-Go on without me." she didn't even pause for a moment.
"Suit yourself...we won't be back for a while." Kiba gave her a last chance. Hinata didn't answer back, Kiba just shrugged it off and walked away with Akamaru and Shino. Sasuke trailed at Kiba and co, until it was safe to come out. Hinata had her back to him, she was too focused on her trainning, she didn't even notice the rustling behind her.
"Why didn't you go with them?" Hinata turned around, Sasuke had his arms folded, as usual.
"S-Sasuke! W-what a surprise." Hinata sent a final blow to the tree, the leaves to drizzle down at her.
"I-I wasn't hungry...I-I needed to train." Hinata walked towards him. She was walking shyly in her usual posture, arms held close to her chest and walking without self-esteem. Sasuke barely noticed her dramatic change. Hinata used to be less shy, her stuttered increased in her sentences than she used to too.
"I see you're training hard..." Hinata wiped the sweat and leaves off her head and nodded.
"Did you just finished your mission?" Sasuke nodded to her question.
"Let's go get something to eat then, even if you're not hungry, you still need to eat for energy." Sasuke started walked towards central of Konoha.
"M-Maybe I-I should just buy us lunch." Hinata suggested, it wasn't a bad idea either, after all, she is with the Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke thought for a moment, he would agreed with her, he doesn't want to cause her any troubles, he knew what those vicious girls could do to someone as fragile and delicate as Hinata.
"No, you stay here, I'll go buy lunch." Hinata smiled and nodded, she saved a spot by the poles where she trained with weapons. She laid back and shut her eyes, the sweet smell of grass around her smelt most relaxing. Hinata heard faint noises, she opened her eyes to take a look. There, she saw Naruto sweating and panting. Hinata quickly crouched closer and hid behind a berry bush. In his orange track suit he rarely changed out from, Naruto was training all by himself, Hinata notices the holes on the thick tree trunks around Naruto.
"Shit!" Naruto frustratedly kicked the grass. Hinata's heart winced, she wasn't sure what this feeling was, it felt sour, but burning at the same time. Seeing Naruto this way made motivates her to be stronger.
"Naruto-kun, do your best!" Hinata cheered in her mind.
"Hey." a hand landed on her shoulder. Hinata yelped, she covered her mouth when she saw it was Sasuke.
"S-Sasuke, you scared me..." she let out a whisper of relief.
"What were you doing?" Sasuke looked ahead of him, he saw Naruto training all by himself. Sasuke too had a wincing pain in his heart too, but much different than Hinata's. His was more of a fiery burn, and not sour but bitter.
"S-Should we invite him to j-join us for lunch?" Hinata asked, which made Sasuke's foul emotions tasted like bitter from herbal roots. Sasuke stood up from his crouching position. Rattles from the bushes caught Narutos' attention.
"Sasuke! What the hell are you doing here?" Naruto quickly recovered to his hyper active-self.
"Heh, as if it concerns you. At least what I don't have to worry about my training as much as you do." Sasuke smirked.
"S-Sasuke! W-what are you doing?" Hinata tugged onto his shorts, she was still hiding behind the bushes.
"Why, you! You want to go for a round?" Naruto stood in an intimidating stance.
"Bring it!" Sasuke literally pounced onto Naruto like a wild puma. Naruto quickly picked up a kunai lying next to him, Sasuke did the same from his right pocket. Their weapons collided, it gave off a loud metallic clash. Hinata didn't know what to do, she wanted to stop Sasuke and Naruto from ripping each others' internals out, but what power does she have? One simple yell might have a slight chance of stopping the two, but it will also cause misunderstanding for her beloved Naruto-kun. Sasuke continued fighting Naruto with jealousy, he was threatened Naruto, that some day, he might take Sasuke's only friend away from him. He hated that feeling of loosing someone, the more Hinata talks or looks at Naruto, the more he felt he was loosing her.
"What is wrong with you?" Naruto were blocking most of Sasuke's attacks, Sasuke clinched his teeth together, biting onto anger. What does Hinata see in him? Every time Sasuke's around Naruto, Hinata's always hiding behind inanimate objects with a blushing face. Why would she spend her time stalking this loser?
"You!" Sasuke let out a roar, he pushed Naruto down, pinned him to the ground with his kunai at Naruto's throat. Sasuke stared into Naruto's warm blue eyes. His eyes were bright and innocent, unlike Sasuke's. The two boys were tired, their breathing were heavy and unsettling. Quiet crash came from beside them. It was the lunch Sasuke bought earlier. The rice-balls scattered all over the grass, as well as the dumplings and radish. Sasuke turned back to the bushes, the leaves shook, Hinata wasn't hiding there anymore.
"Get off me!" Naruto pushed the dazed Sasuke off his chest.
"You, seriously have issues." Naruto brushed the dirt off his suit and walked away. Sasuke was in a venerable position, he was gazing at the clouds. What had he done? He thought, he was just making a fool of himself.
Team 7 had been doing pointless missions lately, it was either baby sitting, finding lost pets or weeding an old citizen's garden. These weren't missions for an avenger such as Sasuke to be attending. At their last mission, they have had it. Naruto complained and nagged about his duties, he was right too. With further debate, the Hokage finally agreed to let them have a C rank mission. Naruto sprung with excitement and joy, when he hoped for a beautiful princess or a high rank lord to protect, they only received a drunk old geezer. He had a weird pointed hat on, round glasses half way down his face, unshaven beard and obviously sloppy.
"Are you really a ninja?" he obviously doesn't trust them, who would? Any team with Naruto in it should make anyone feel insecure of being protected. That old man's name was Tazuna, he was or still is a bridge builder from the hidden mist village. Their mission starts the next day, it would take at least half a day to reach the outskirts of Konoha. Sasuke returned home to pack for tomorrow's mission, he brought all the essentials with him as well as a few useful scrolls. As he was packing, he heard a soft knock on the door. Based on that weak knock, it's most likely Hinata. Sasuke unlocked the door for her to enter.
"I-I've made some dumplings today, w-would you like to have some?" Hinata brought a small container with her. She decorated the dumplings onto a plate and left it on Sasuke's tea table.
"I have a mission tomorrow." Sasuke started folding his clothes.
"I-Is that so, I-I should have m-made you something to bring along." Hinata unconditionally started helping him pack.
"I'll just bring these dumplings." Sasuke packed the last scroll into his backpack.
"I-I wish you luck on your journey! You're so lucky, with me dragging the team down, it might take us at least a year to get a C rank mission like yours." Hinata mumbled the last sentence.
"Knowing you, it might take longer if you keep loosing confidence." Sasuke went to the kitchen, only to return with two cups of tea.
"Something wrong?" Hinata had her eyes half closed, she was holding back the tears.
"Father, has sent me to live with Kurenai-sensei. He is disowning me." Hinata held her cup of tightly. Those words made Sasuke's heart fell. He wouldn't be surprise though, he had lived with the Hyuugas before, he knew very well what kind of person Hiashi is, after Hinata's mother's death. Hinata left her tea untouched on the table and curled into a ball. Sasuke tried patting her head and tell her 'everything's going to be okay', but that wasn't what he wanted to say. His hand stopped half way from touching Hinata's head. Sasuke turned to his closet and pulled out a thin blanket. He wrapped it around Hinata, then pulling the rim towards him. Without a single word, Sasuke pressed his forehead against Hinata's head. Their face were barely an inch apart. Hinata continued to weep quietly, under the protection of Sasuke.
"I promised you, I'll protect you whenever you feel afraid."
Morning had arrived, Hinata fell asleep from crying, she didn't even realize herself. She looked up and saw Sasuke as lying on the table, she had fallen asleep on his lap.
"S-Sasuke, it's morning." Hinata felt her eyes pulsing in pain. Sasuke sat up and stretched, he let out a loud yawn.
"It's this late already? I better get going." he leaped into the air and rush into the bathroom to freshen up.
"I-I'll make breakfast!" Hinata rushed to the kitchen.
Within a minute, Sasuke had changed out from his pajamas into his typical high neck blue Uchiha shirt and shorts. He shove dried toast into his mouth, and a cup of milk poured for him.
"S-Sasuke, the eggs aren't ready yet." Hinata was still in the kitchen.
"W-Wait!" Hinata turned off the gas, she pulled out something from her back pocket.
"K-Keep this with you, it's the Hyuuga's special healing ointment, i-it might come in handy." Hinata held it out with both hands. Sasuke hesitated to accept her gift.
"Thanks." he gave a warm smile. Everything packed and ready, Sasuke headed out from his apartment.
"S-Stay safe!" Sasuke waved back to Hinata.
Hinata took a deep breath of fresh air, today's a new day, she wasn't going to waste it on feeling sorry for herself!
"D-Do your best, Hinata!" she gave herself encouragement, it felt strange but effective. Moving as fast as she could, she finished doing the dishes before returning to Kurenai's home. During this hour in the morning, Kurenai should still be sleeping. Hinata sneaked in from the back door, Kurenai's house wasn't huge, it was ordinary, but difficult to sneak back in without anyone noticing. Hinata tiptoed after removing her sandals, her room was close to the back entrance, which has a plus for her to sneak out.
"Rule number one of sneaking, never try to underestimate your enemy's ability to sniff you out." Kurenai was wearing a bathing robe stood behind Hinata, her red eyes glowed in a crimson shade under her wet hair and make-up free skin.
"K-Kurenai-sensei, I-I'm really sorry. I-I lost track of time." Hinata quickly apologizes. Kurenai saw how puffy Hinata's eyes were, a clear sigh she was crying for the whole night.
"Just tell me next time where you're going. Hurry up, we have missions and training to complete today."
"Y-Yes! I-I won't be long." Hinata returned to her room to start freshening up. She looked at herself in the mirror. Every angle of her face looked like Hanabi, the only difference was their hair, so why are they so different physically? Hinata traced her tear traces on her cheeks, how long had she been crying, she wondered.
"I promised you, I'll protect you whenever you feel afraid."
She heard those words last night, she didn't exactly heard it from Sasuke himself, but she had a feeling he said that. She smiled, Sasuke kept his promise after all.
Thanks for reading! please look forward to the next chapter :)