OPrincess ShinigamiO here! Bursting with happiness and spreading joy by posting extra early because of the amount of reviewers who made it a point to review for last week's chapter! I couldn't believe that I actually received about twelve reviews in just one day! That's more than the usual reviews I receive, and it makes me absolutely happy! So I want to start by thanking my oh-so-awesome reviewers mariarassie, butteflyV, NanamiYatsumaki, Saihei, kai-itachi1, ZoMg1010, Guest.t, Jeabird, Serene-Aspiration723, blablabla, Trender, Saki-hime, Tata, XpurplegurlX, and the rest of the Guest reviewers! You guys made me feel absolutely incredible! ;D
*Ahem* But before I talk about this chapter, I'd like to answer some questions from last chapter's reviewers. Someone wanted Matsuri, Gaara's student, to end up with Gaara instead of the princess that was one of the potential brides for him. Though I won't and will probably never focus on Gaara's love life in this drabble for obvious reasons, I want to make clear that Gaara will NOT end up with the princess he's arranged to marry with, nor will his student even appear in this drabble (though she may be mentioned). The princess was only a POTENTIAL bride, and the reason she existed in the first place is just so SasuHina's relationship could go further. Not to worry, Gaara fans! He will end up with someone, but not with the princess nor his student. I'm honestly not too fond of Matsuri, and if you check out my profile, you might have a clue of who he MIGHT end up with. Don't say that you'll be surprised! And whether you guys agree to it or not, I don't care because it's my story, and because they're not the main focus but SasuHina.
Now, about the chapter, it's Ino's turn to take over the "Friends' Point of View" edition! There'll only be very little fluff in SasuHina's part, but the focus of this chapter is Ino's take on their relationship anyway. And I'd also want to make clear that while Sasuke and Hinata are spending a lot of time together, they rarely go out in public together alone, mostly because Sasuke hates going out. So don't be surprised if anyone would be surprised seeing them together. Don't worry, SasuHina will have plenty of fluff on the next chapters! ;)
Oh, and the yellow tulip? You'll find out in this story! ;)
Disclaimer: ... Seriously? Do I LOOK like Kishimoto to you?
I- INnOcent
…
It was early one morning when a blonde and blue-eyed Yamanaka wandered around the marketplace. The sun wasn't quite up yet, and the streets were nearly bare save for some very early-morning birds (like Gai and Lee doing their daily daybreak handstand laps around people's roofs).
The blonde gossip, however, was not a morning person even after her busy hospital schedules in the mornings, and therefore was quite grouchy when she walked towards the fresh corner of the marketplace.
"Get a grip, Ino," she muttered to herself, "It's for the surprise picnic for Choji right? You wouldn't want him to be disappointed would you? Poor Choji must be too tired from his month-long mission. The least you could do is cheer him up with some good food."
This motivated her a little further. Her "big-boned" teammate was due to return anytime that day according to his letter, and since it was coincidentally their first anniversary as a couple, she wanted to surprise her boyfriend by showing off her skillful cooking abilities.
Unfortunately, she was too busy to go buy the ingredients yesterday because of hospital duties, and she needed her ingredients to be fresh as well (she's making her special, healthy, and very NONFAT salad, after all. She made sure to put only tiny pieces of meat in her picnic menu, and if Choji really wanted their relationship to go on, then he would have to listen to what she says and start eating healthy foods.)
It was a good thing that the marketplace opens pretty early during the weekends. It helps when people have more free time to busy up the place later on during the late morning and noon.
The ladies in the vegetables section were just opening up when Ino arrived.
"Why, Yamanaka-san, you're very early today!" a middle-aged lady, Mimi, greeted the young blonde.
"Good morning, Mimi-san!" Ino chirped, swinging the empty basket in her arms, "I just needed to get some veggies for a picnic today. I wasn't able to buy some yesterday because of some crazy patients in the hospital."
"Oh, that's fine, Yamanaka-san! Besides, vegetables are much healthier and better tasting when they're fresh. So, what will they be?"
"Hmm…" Ino tapped a finger on her chin, "I'll need some red leaf lettuce and carrots and peppers and onions and broccolis and maybe some spinach. Oh, and tomatoes as well!"
"Alright," Mimi replied as she began searching for the named ingredients in her cart, "I'll give you a free cucumber as well for being such a loyal customer! Anything else, Yamanaka-san?"
"Oh, thanks Mimi-san! Hmm, I guess that's it."
The blonde smiled and thanked Mimi again as she paid for her vegetables. After receiving her ingredients, she sighed and decided to head for the meat section after much thought. It's the least she could do if Choji really wasn't happy with her salad. But he won't be getting any if the salad wasn't in his stomach first.
After picking up a pack of fresh chicken chops, Ino paused, then slapped her head lightly.
"Darn! The anchovies! I totally forgot that he loves munching on them. Gross. I better ask some from Mimi-san."
The blonde medic turned her heel and headed back to the vegetables section. Little did she realize that she was about to encounter the main topics of her greatest gossip that day.
She was walking back to Mimi's stall, swinging lightly her filled up basket in one side when she saw them.
Them, meaning Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuuga.
The last existing Uchiha and the former Hyuuga heiress.
The former avenger and the loyal princess.
The dark, brooding hottie and the shy, innocent sweetie.
Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuuga.
Together.
In public. More specifically, the market.
It was a strange sight to see the blonde eighteen-year-old drop her groceries, with bright blue eyes widening the size of saucers, and her mouth shaped like a capital 'O'. But it was also strange that it took just one second for her to pick up her belongings before swiftly ducking behind the stall nearest to her.
The roasted pig stall.
Sakura would've surely laughed like a madman if she saw her on the spot, but it didn't matter right now for her blonde best frenemy.
Konoha's infamous gossip girl has just found her latest victims.
"What the heck? Sasuke-kun and Hinata-chan? Buying groceries TOGETHER? I know that they've been spending some time together since it's Hinata's job to watch Sasuke-kun, but hanging out early in the morning is kinda suspicious! I rarely see them together when they're on missions or just plain walking around with Naruto and Billboard-head, what more seeing them alone together in the market place!" Ino thought excitedly to herself, ignoring the frowning owner of the pig stall she's hiding at.
"Come to think of it, Keiko did tell me that Sasuke-kun bought a yellow tulip from our shop a month ago! And a bunch of other plants as well! Darn it! I knew that I shouldn't have skipped work that day!" Ino paused in her musing, her eyes widening after a realization. "Does that mean that he's HOPELESSLY IN LOVE with Hinata-chan? You lucky girl! Who would've thought you had it in you, Hinata-chan? I'm actually kinda jealous..."
The blonde gossip watched stealthily as the Uchiha and his Hyuuga companion headed towards the very same vegetable station where she just went ten minutes ago. She noticed her shy friend clutching a basket similar to hers with both hands. The Hyuuga was walking a few inches in front of the Uchiha, who was as usual, sporting a nonchalant expression on his handsome face. It's funny to see Sasuke completely comfortable with anyone else aside from his teammates. It's even funnier to see Hinata look completely calm when she's with someone else other than her teammates, what more the former threat of Konoha.
"Let's see what you two are here for!" Ino whispered excitedly to herself, suppressing the grin that threatened to spread.
"Excuse me, young lady! But this is-"
"SHHHHH!" Ino shushed the pig stall lady before concentrating back at her victims, earning a huff from the latter.
The oblivious pair had just reached the vegetables section. Mimi greeted the pair with a smile, as if they're one of her best customers. Ino supposed that it wasn't a surprise if it was Hinata, but Sasuke? No wonder they rarely see him going out to buy groceries! He does it on an ungodly time in the morning!
Ino snickered to herself. Now she knows one of Sasuke's secrets. Just wait till she tells her pink-haired frenemy! If she still held onto her long-time crush, then she would be "accidentally" bumping into the impossibly attractive Uchiha early every Saturday morning at the marketplace.
Ino continued observing as Hinata happily greeted back before telling Mimi what she wanted to buy. The Uchiha just grunted and let Hinata do her thing.
Ino couldn't hear properly, but it was already too risky to move into a nearer stall just to hear properly. If her repressed chakra didn't give her away, then being caught sneaking around from one stall to another would get her caught for sure. But at least she could hear some parts of their conversation.
The blonde medic noticed that while Mimi searched for the requested vegetable, Hinata started making conversation with her companion. Ino leaned closer, hearing only little bits of the slightly hushed conversation.
"… living with you… Father wouldn't allow it… Neji-nii doesn't like…"
At this point, Ino was already trying to fill in the blanks and arranging the mysterious puzzle that is their conversation. She gasped as her brain started coming up with the most rational solution.
"Oh…. My….. GOD! HINATA PLANNED ON MOVING IN WITH SASUKE?" she thought excitedly to her shocked self.
She quickly snapped herself out of her reverie as she noticed Sasuke grunting annoyingly before opening his sexy lips to reply.
"…. Is stupid…. Can't agree for once? ... I'm not giving up…. going to find some way until…"
At this point, Ino's mind blanked out as she calculated what their conversation meant. She froze as she digested the information completely before slowly standing up and stealthily tiptoed away with a grin that would put the Joker to shame.
"Choji can survive without the anchovies. Just wait till I tell them about Sasuke-kun and Hinata-chan planning to live together!"
As the blonde gossip dashed off to spread the latest juicy news, the oblivious victims of the gossip received their tomatoes from Mimi. After thanking the stall owner, they began heading out of the market and back to the Uchiha compound.
"It can't be helped, Sasuke-kun," Hinata sighed as she lightly swung the basket of tomatoes in front of her, "You know that my father is allergic to Chii-kun. And Neji especially isn't fond of it because Chii-kun belongs to you. If you won't let Lee-kun take care of it again, then you'll have to find someone else to do it."
"Tch, as if I'm letting that green beast handle Chii again," Sasuke muttered, "I've warned him from dressing up the cat with his hideous green suits, but he still went and did it. No Uchiha is allowed to wear those monstrously cursed inventions. I'm not giving up till I find someone other than him or my idiot teammate who isn't allergic to cats and who would allow Uchiha cats into their household."
"That's going to be difficult since a lot of them are busy," Hinata sighed again, suddenly perking up after a few seconds of thinking.
"I wonder if Ino-san could do it. I heard that she's taking a break from hospital duties this week."
Sasuke frowned at the mention of one of his most annoying fan girls. But aside from her being annoying, he had to admit that she's a better and saner choice than Naruto or Lee. Over the years, she became much more responsible, and she already has a boyfriend anyway. She'll surely take Chii if she were asked to.
Just as Sasuke was about to reply, a pair of civilians passed them by, chattering softly while giving the oblivious pair suspicious looks.
"Do you think it's true? The Uchiha asked Hyuuga to move in with him?"
"They are together now, aren't they? I think Ino might be right this time. She wasn't lying when she said that her teammate and the Kazekage's sister were getting engaged, after all."
"W-ell, they are kinda cute..."
As the chattering pair walked off, the Uchiha and Hyuuga, of whom were now the latest victims of Ino's gossip, froze after they heard what the couple said.
Hinata was blushing furiously, nervously staring at the ground. She knew that Ino was at the marketplace earlier, judging by the chakra she felt at a distance, but she wasn't able to spot her.
Sasuke, on the other hand, frowned darkly at the retreating civilians, planning in his head several ways to painfully rip a certain blonde's throat. He was planning to ask Hinata to move in with him eventually, that is, after he made their relationship official. But now that the gossip's spread, it's going to be much more difficult in his case, much to his frustration. No doubt, Neji would be coming for his neck soon.
Growling, the Uchiha quickly took the frozen Hyuuga's hands and basket of tomatoes, leading her towards the Uchiha Compound before anyone else spots and questions them even further.
"… We are definitely not asking her."
...
Reviews are ALWAYS welcome once again! The next chapter? Sasuke will be teaching Hinata one of things he's good at, but it's not going to make her a better ninja! ;)