ROAD TO LOVE
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PART 1
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Chapter 1
Written by: Daifuku Mochiin
Alpha Reader/Editor: Karamidori
Beta Reader: LadySapphire2018
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Red roses. A symbol of undying love. A symbol of fierce and restless passion. If diamonds are a girl's best friend, red roses are the chalices of their true, unspoken desire.
They don't come cheap. But all the florists in Konoha knew one man who'd never be found without supply: Sasuke Uchiha.
He simply has too many red roses to give. Not one undeserved for any woman vying for his attention. For all of them, he dated and generously catered to their every whim.
It was a peculiar arrangement. An entourage of concessions, so to speak. He'd have girls clinging in each arm and a whole gaggle behind him waiting for their turn, looking for any opportunity to serve and flirt with him.
They love his attention. They love his lavish gifts. They love his mild mannered ways. They especially love his smooth, honeyed words. Giddy and curling their toes, they indulge in the coolness of his voice.
He is chilled cucumber for the eyes on spa day. His pretty face is an oasis among monotonous sands of brusque, hard-faced young men with a crass sense of humor, smelly armpits, and dirty toenails. His laugh is like ice cubes that could make any ordinary lemonade worth hankering for on a dreary, hot summer's day.
He isn't much of a ninja. Everyone knew, and he himself was fully aware that he was more of a lover than a fighter. Though he belonged to a formidable clan of prominent ancestral lineage, famed for their fire wielding abilities and eyes that could potentially rule the world, Sasuke's capabilities are mediocre at best. He lacked ambition, at least according to his elders. His only saving grace had been belonging to a team with Menma who graduated top of their class.
Still, he isn't totally without merits. Drawn to him by whatever force be it some hidden exceptional ability or by mere novelty or charm, women flocked to him everywhere he went.
But that is not to say, all the women.
It was one such fun, breezy date night out in town when Hinata suddenly appeared before him.
"Sasuke," she called out to him, hand on her hip, and a sure look in her striking opaline eyes that she'd be VIP if he were customer service.
Her small, doll-like face framed by a blunt fringe and long silky indigo tresses were hard to ignore in any crowd. To a stranger's point of view, she'd be intimidating. Far from modest in her full bra top layered with a jersey jacket kept open at the front, and skimpy denim shorts that exposed glamorous legs and generous thighs.
She signaled with a tilt of her head to come with her. This brought on a immediate, noticeable shift in Sasuke—one that the girls in his company didn't like.
"Sasuke…" the girls whined. They tugged at his arms in their possessiveness.
"I'll be back," he assured them. "Seems like an emergency. She won't see me otherwise. I'd love to spend more time with you ladies for days on end–days which I'm afraid will be cut short unless I heed Her Majesty's summons."
He parted from them with a wink, and before he was totally out of the crowd into the sidewalk, Hinata whisked him out by the wrist into a dark alley. She pushed him up against a graffiti-covered wall, and as she leaned in, her eyes with lashes dark as kohl flashed with determination.
"Where's Menma?" she said in a low, threatening voice. Her breath was against his face, her rouged lips too close for comfort.
While this would present itself an inviting temptation to any young man with his head wrapped around fanciful imaginations about romance twenty-four seven, her lips seemed more likely to bite than to kiss.
"Let's keep things civil, shall we Hyuuga?" he said, flashing a complete row of white teeth. A raw, debonair smile.
With great calm, he sidestepped and managed to pull Hinata's clutch off of his outer purple button-down short sleeved shirt.
"Ahhh." He clicked his tongue. "You got it all crumpled," Sasuke complained. But his tone lacked real irritation. He was merely buying time, piecing all together what to say in his mind.
He brushed off the slightly creased sides of his shirt, pretending to be so occupied by it. Unsatisfied, he turned away to take it off revealing lithe, muscular arms too pale that they seemed to glow in the dark. He shook out his shirt a couple of times and adjusted his Uchiha emblem necklace before ruffling his hair back into place. With a deep breath, he turned to face Hinata again.
"So, Menma, was it?" he sighed. "I hate to break it to you like this, but..." He paused, scratching his brow with his pinky finger. "He left."
Hinata's brows knitted together. "That I already know. What I need you to tell me is where to."
"Beats me." Sasuke shrugged.
She squeezed her eyes in disappointment, her knuckles in tight fists; she had been expecting this answer.
"It's confidential between him and the Hokage," Sasuke gulped, internally bracing himself for one of her attacks. "Some personal request he was granted as a mission. Or, so I've been told." He added the last part for good measure in case he comes across as too all-knowing.
"But…" Uncharacteristically, her full-bodied voice faintly shook. "He'll be back…right?" She bit her lip anxiously, and Sasuke couldn't help but stare at it. "What are you looking at?" she snapped.
"Nothing in particular," said Sasuke, feigning innocence. "I was in a rather pensive mood."
Hinata narrowed her eyes. "Whatever you're thinking, I'll scoop it out of your skull and feed it to a pack of stray dogs."
Sasuke chuckled, suddenly feeling cold. "Nothing to earn such barbaric torture, I assure you." He stuffed his hands inside his cargo pants pockets and cleared his throat. "But since you're asking, you must've had a gut feeling. For a thoroughbred leader like Menma, the whole thing—three months in prison—must've struck at his ego more than we could ever know. Leaving for good seemed to be the only option he had in mind."
As she fell silent, he studied her eyes, watching as thoughts clashed in her mind. For a moment, she appeared defenseless. Cute. Her worried expression softened her features, tugging at his heartstrings.
He cut the distance between them and hovered an arm over her shoulder for a half-hug. "Certainly Menma would remain in contact with us one way or another—" he began smoothly.
"Don't even try," Hinata hissed, eyeing his sneaky arm.
"I was only thinking you could use some comfort." He beamed a lopsided, apologetic smile as he withdrew the attempt.
Hinata turned on her heels. "Tell me if you ever have anything on his whereabouts," she said, throwing in a last look his way.
"Will do." Sasuke gave a two-finger salute while his other hand hid fingers crossed and wound up tight inside his pocket. "Stay safe. And don't do reckless things. 'Cause I'm not coming to save you." He winked.
Huffing, Hinata rolled her eyes disgustedly and ignored his sarcastic remark. As she was leaving, he couldn't take his eyes off her retreating figure. Deep down, he knew that whether he told her or not, she would end up following Menma.
A rose to behold. And only to behold.
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To be continued
Daifuku Mochiin Corner!
Did you or did you miss me :P There's only one answer! New story here is based on Road to Ninja: Naruto the movie.
Here's a BRIEF BACKGROUND in case you're not familiar with it:
In the Road-to-Ninja Universe, Naruto is Menma (chuunin turned missing nin, who became an S-rank criminal for stealing other ninja's rare kekkei genkai, and had basically obliterated a huge part of the village with his rasenshuriken), Sasuke is a romantic playboy who is attentive to damsels in distress, the Uchiha massacre didn't happen, the Akatsuki are a group of mercenaries, and Hinata is an aggressive girl who is quite protective of Menma.
It's an alternate dimension that poses a world filled with the opposite personalities or state or conditions of our beloved Naruto characters. Writing a story set in that world definitely presents a variety of challenges. There'll be surprises along the way. And for the first time ever, I'm writing this story in collaboration with Karamidori (who has dealt with more confusion than clarity coming from me these past few months xD). Also thanks to LadySapphire for putting up with me pestering her to read my story xD
UPDATES
As for my other stories and those reviewers concerned whether I'd still continue them, yes, of course, I'm continuing everything. I'm sorry I couldn't reply. Nowadays, as a mochi I'm either writing slowly or drawing or just being a menace of a mochi over at the SasuHina Month discord server. You can see my drawing stuff on Twitter ( daifuku_mochiin) and Tumblr ( daifukumochiin) . My insta ( daifukumochiin) is not updated. Gah!
I'm also on AO3 (daifuku_mochiin) now, trying to upload my old stories. But boy, am I lazy! T_T
Lastly,
SASUHINA MONTH IS IN JULY!
Yeah:3 To those who are curious but aren't familiar, you can head over to Twitter and to Tumblr, all 31 days of July. Hashtags to look out for: #sasuhina #shmonth #shmonth2023
I'll be participating, of course. Hopefully, I'd also be able to update FLGW by following a SasuHina Month prompt on July 28th which is what I fondly call my mochi birthday, because it's the first time I ever uploaded a fanfic.
Until next time! Take care!