It's All About the Timing
Hinata has a craving for sake all week.
She goes out drinking with Kiba and Choji most nights. She drinks the entire bottle and still feels like she's thirsty for something more. Sometimes, she gets tipsy, and she stands out in the fresh air and watches the roofs for Sasuke. She pretends that he's back, that he's waiting for the opportune moment to sweep her off her feet and take her away to somewhere far away, where no one will bug them. Sometimes, she's adamant to walk home because she's almost sure Sasuke's there, waiting for her; Kiba has to down his last glass and hurriedly slam money on the counter before rushing after her to walk her home.
"Oi, oi," he barks. "What are you in a rush for?"
She never explains what's going through her head. He'd probably think her mad if she did.
The taste of sake is still on her tongue when she wakes up the next morning, head pulsing with a headache. She drinks pomegranate juice and watches the morning sunlight stretch across her kitchen floor, and she hungers and craves.
...
"I know that look," Hana tells her.
Kiba sniffs the back of his hand before giving his sister a look. "Huh? What look? Hinata's got no look."
Hana gives her brother a pitying look, humming about the blindness of boys, which only gets him grouchy and scratching at the back of his ears. Hinata tries to hide the red of her face behind Akamaru's fur by stuffing her face against his back. He pants happily and gives her fingers a lick.
"She's lovesick." And then, Hana turns to her. "You're lovesick."
"WHAT!?" Kiba barks.
"It's the same look Shino has had all month," Hana adds. "Do you even pay attention?"
"Sh-Shino?" Kiba sputters, looking absolutely gobsmacked. "What — but Shino —"
He looks to Hinata for confirmation. She lifts her face to give him a rosy, timid smile, and he falls to the ground, winded by the news. Hana snorts and goes back to scrubbing soap in one of the many Inuzuka dogs running around the yard.
Eventually, Kiba finds enough breath to whisper, "Who?"
Hana smirks. "Who indeed."
"Which who?" Hinata asks.
"Shino's!" But then Kiba blinks, squints at her, and his mouth curls up. "No — you first! Who the hell — it — it's not Naruto, is it?" Hinata gasps, and Hana knocks the back of his head with her elbow. He growls and rubs at the tender spot. "Oi! I'm just askin' — cuz he's with Ino 'nd all, so I was worried."
Hinata laughs. "You'd be worried no matter what."
He grins at her in that cute, lopsided way. "Damn right! So if it ain't Naruto, then —"
"You're so insensitive," Hana sighs. She grabs the hose by her feet to spray off the massive dog in front of her. Akamaru stops being Hinata's bodyguard from embarrassment to bite at the stream of water. "You can't ask a girl who she's lovesick for. There's a reason she's lovesick!"
Kiba glares up at her. "The hell does Hina bein' a girl got to do with anything?"
"I miss him," Hinata admits to prevent them from starting up another argument. She doesn't realize what she had said until they both stare down at her, and her face turns another degree red.
"So he's on a mission," Hana muses.
Kiba jumps up to his feet, pointing at her accusingly. "So it is Naruto!"
"What?" Hinata squeaks. "No!"
"Well, if it ain't him, it's Shikamaru — and that man has a kid on the way, so it's bad any way you look at it!"
Hana turns the hose on him, making him yelp and Akamaru bark in delight.
"Use your head for once!" she hisses. "Naruto and Shikamaru are on a three-man mission right now. Hinata's not a homewrecker, so it's gotta be —"
She stops herself, awareness filling her eyes, and she turns back to Hinata.
Hana's eyes are warm and flickering, like she's just had a good shot of junmai sake.
Hinata tries to shake that thought out of her head.
Kiba, soaked, stands in a puddle with a very serious, very thoughtful expression on his face.
After a while of held breaths, he says, "Maybe he's not a ninja of our year." Hana drops her head, sighing, and Hinata gives a crooked smile. "Or — he's not a nin at all, but a merchant!"
"That's it, Kiba," Hana mutters. "You're on the mark."
Hinata tries to cool her blush, but it will not leave her. When she imagines Sasuke as a merchant, hauling his goods across the nation, her face grows warmer.
...
When she visits Neji that afternoon, she asks him if she looks like a girl who is lovesick.
She imagines he's sitting daintily on his tombstone, legs crossed in a meditation position. His eyes crack open to give her a single look, and then he scoffs.
"You have the same face Tenten has."
Hinata wonders if Tenten talks about Shino to Neji. She wonders if Tenten blushes and tries to hide her smiles behind her hands. Nothing can hide from Neji's eye, of course.
"It feels like they're getting closer," she muses. Her hand brushes his face, dusting some dirt off of him. "Don't worry, Cousin. I'll protect them."
...
And she does.
That night, Shino is up in his watchtower, and Tenten is at the foot of it, pacing, hands wringing together.
Hinata knows what's about to come, so when she sees Kiba come their way, she jumps in front of him once again.
He looks over her shoulder, spots Tenten, and frowns.
"Oh, you can't be serious. It really is Tenten?"
He sounds like Sasuke just then, and Hinata almost laughs.
"I think Tenten will make Shino very happy."
"Sure. She might. " Kiba rubs the underside of his ears as he watches Shino climb down the ladder. When Tenten calls up to him in a quiet greeting, he pauses, looks at her, and climbs down a little quicker. "It's just . . . it's just . . . ."
Hinata turns to watch the two talk in whispers to one another. When Tenten leans in to kiss Shino's cheek, she smiles, and Kiba whines in defeat.
"Come on," she says, grabbing his hand and gently leading him away. "Drinks will be on me tonight."
...
Another four days pass. Hinata feels as though she hasn't had anything to drink in days. Water is dry in her mouth. Tea tastes like nothing. Ino once witnessed her pour four sugar packets in her coffee, only to blanch at the bitter taste. Ino didn't have to say anything. She just nodded, as if understanding, as if lovesickness does this to everyone — like it's the common cold.
Everything around her seems to be going well.
She spots Tenten and Shino every now and then, looking very happy with one another. Just yesterday, she shared lunch with them, pleased with how well they worked with each other. Sakura and Rock Lee loved to feed each other. Shikamaru and Temari griped at each other, while secretly playing footsies under the table. Tenten and Shino, however, were not showy. Their love was Shino handing Tenten the sugar for her lemonade without her having to say a thing. Their love was Tenten politely correcting the waitress when she got Shino's order wrong. When Kiba showed up, his mouth was twisted, and he warned them to not be all lovey-dovey as he sat down to join them for lunch.
"Not for my sake," he muttered, looking out the window. "Hinata's lovesick. She'd hate to see it."
Tenten looks confused, but Shino gives her a knowing look, and Hinata covers her warm cheeks behind her hands.
Karin and Juugo are also doing well. Karin had sent a letter out to invite her for tea. The house was fully furnished and decorated, and when Karin allowed her a peek inside the baby's room, she was stunned to find two cribs.
"Twins?" she had gasped.
Karin cackled. "I told Juugo he's going to pay dearly for given' me two of the gremlins."
Hinata quite liked the dynamic between Karin and Juugo, as well. The way they moved around the house and pecked one another's lips when moving between rooms was sweet. She liked the idea of a future like this. A house of her own. A house with —
Karin had stared at her when that thought crossed Hinata's head, smirking, as if she could read her mind.
Konoha's doing well.
Hinata feels a bit pleased. She feels slightly responsible for everything, for this outcome due to all her efforts.
Yes, Hinata is satisfied.
Slightly.
But she is also thirsty, and she is starving, and she just wants her partner in crime back.
...
When the gates open to allow entrance, she's the first one there.
Naruto does not look himself at all. His eyes are misty and downcast. Shikamaru is just behind him, expressionless.
Sasuke is nowhere to be seen.
She activates her byakugan before panic can rise inside of her. She searches for him, wondering if he had somehow slipped by the gate and was already in Konoha. She searches far back into the forest, in case he was left behind.
She doesn't find him.
And that's when panic makes her hands shake. Her byakugan deactivates, and her chest tightens so hard that she can't breathe. Her lungs sting, and tears bite at her eyes. When Shikamaru spots her in this state, he curses under his breath and walks up to her.
"Ah, shit," he sighs. "Relax." He roughly dries her eyes with his sleeve and tries to give her a reassuring smile. "He's fine. He'll be here tomorrow."
Her body simply will not relax, but all air leaves her body, and she sort of deflates.
Hinata turns back to Naruto. "Then why —"
"Don't mind him," Shikamaru grumbles. "He's pouting."
"Damn that bastard!" Naruto shouts. "I wanted to go see Gaara! The hell does he mean — you'd just slow me down." His voice is low and groggy when he tries to mock Sasuke's voice. "I'm way faster than him. That bastard would slow me down!"
"He went to Suna?" Hinata looks at Shikamaru. "Why?"
He just shrugs a shoulder before moving past her to hug Temari, who had just shown up. Ino comes, as well, and kisses the frown right off of Naruto's face.
...
It doesn't hit Hinata until thirty minutes later, when she's thinking about it while sweeping the floors of her kitchen.
"Konoha does not have any namazake, however. It must be special to Suna, so I've been in a terrible situation. I'm nearly inclined to ask the Hokage to give me a mission to Suna, if just so I can get my hands on a few bottles."
He . . .
He didn't actually . . . .
Did he?
Her hands squeeze the life out of her broom's handle, and Hinata feels completely dehydrated.
...
She's buying beef and green peppers and squash that evening. She wants to make him something nice.
Hinata's confident that he'll eat dinner at her house tomorrow.
Well, she's confident about a lot of things, like what he'll be telling her — perhaps over this nice dinner — and what he might do afterward, as well. So she also makes a note to get some of that new, flavored chapstick that Ino likes to buy.
So when she's finished buying her groceries from a nice lady that gave her a discount, she goes down a few blocks and finds the little stand that Ino told her about. She's looking at the choices, wondering. Vanilla seems nice, but so does apple. Cherry seems to have a slight tint to it, but would that be too much? And, of course, there's strawberry — but that might be too sweet.
"Pomegranate is very tempting."
A voice hits her ear, and Hinata jumps and spins around to find Sasuke behind her, smirking.
"Sasuke —"
"But I don't think it's anything you have to worry about," he continues.
His hand moves, and her attention is directed to the bottle of namazake in his grasp. Her heart is flooded with stars and warm, sunny pastures. He really did get it.
"Shikamaru told me you wouldn't be here until tomorrow."
His smirk loses some of that cockiness that makes Sasuke Uchiha glow.
"I rushed," he says. "Someone in Konoha was waiting for me."
Hinata feels like a blooming flower, and he is her sun, her rain.
He has that look that everyone in Konoha has been telling her she has had for the past week and a half. He opens his mouth again, but she shakes her head, looking around the street.
"No," she says. "Not here. The curse, remember?"
He looks perplexed for half a second, and then he's back to that cocky, glowing Sasuke.
"Ahhh," he muses. "Then let's hide, Stalker."
Her face lights up, and she grabs his wrist and pulls him with her, the bottle of namazake hanging between them. Her plan is to take him to her home. Her plan is to lock them behind three doors and turn off all the lights so no one suspects she's home. If there's a knock at the front door, they'll ignore it. If the damn village goes up in flames, they'll ignore it.
She is not letting anything get in between them. Not this time.
But Sasuke, it seems, has other plans.
"You better hurry," he says. "I'm really tempted to say it."
Her heart is pounding in every part of her body. She starts to run, and he runs with her.
"You're not going fast enough," he calls.
She can hear the grin in his voice. She lets go of his arm and sprints, and he has no issue following after her.
They are nothing but blurs. Her chest is singing. Her pulse is racing with her feet.
"Hinataaa!" Sasuke's calling. "Hinata, I —"
"Don't!" she yells behind her, grinning.
"Hinata, I lo —"
"Sasuke!" she laughs. "Sasuke, wait!"
She's laughing hard. So hard she can barely run straight.
Her house is much too far away, so she thinks on her feet and aims for the gate, instead. They body flicker to the other side. When Hinata reaches the trees, she stops, panting, grinning like crazy. She turns to find him right in front of her, and he swoops down without a moment of hesitation and kisses her. She's pressed against the nearest tree, her hands in his hair, and he drops the bottle of namazake next to them so that his can hold her hip.
This is a Sasuke Uchiha kiss. This is the passion of a million men that cannot be tamed by any, one person. He prompts her mouth open, and she drinks him all up — every last drop of him until she's satisfied and panting, her mouth swollen, her chest ready to burst. She slides down the trunk, and he slides with her, leaning between her knees, his kisses short and sweet to give her time to breathe, but he is not leaving her alone.
Hinata's head feels absolutely fuzzy and warm.
She sighs and runs her hands down his back, pulling him in to hold him close.
"I love you," she tells him. They're now behind the cover of brush, so she doubts anyone will come to find them now.
"You're so obvious," he says, nipping the corner of her mouth.
"And so are you." Her hand reaches out and finds the bottle of sake. "You brought this for me."
"Mostly."
Sasuke sits back just enough to help her open it, and without any warning, he tips his head back to drink straight from the bottle, and then he is kissing her again. He tastes fruity and fresh, and Hinata pulls his face closer and laps at his tongue. Sasuke moans. His hand leaves her hip and slides up, under her shirt. His palm is warm against her stomach. His fingers are gentle against her ribs, and when his nails graze the swell of her breast, Hinata is in complete ecstasy.
Shino Aburame, from up in his watchtower, lowers his binoculars and purses his lips together.
Well.
To say he's surprised to find the Uchiha and sweet, darling Hinata . . . kissing . . . in the forest would be a lie.
Really, if you asked him, they were bound to get together eventually.
That didn't necessarily mean he wanted to witness it, mind you.
"Hm?" Tenten, who thought she'd keep him company for his late watch shift, moved to sit next to him, holding her hand out for the binoculars. "See anything?"
He frowns. "Nothing you want to see."
"Well, now I'm curious."
He shakes his head. "Really. It's Sakura and Lee."
Tenten makes a face. "Gross. That's gonna be in my head now."
He leans over to kiss her cheek, and she smiles and goes back to sharpening one of her many weapons.
Shino settles back into his thoughts, a bit torn. Really, he does owe Hinata big time. After all, she had been the reason Kiba hadn't interrupted Tenten when she confessed to him just a few nights ago. In fact, Hinata has worked very hard to allow everyone their own peace and quiet.
On the other hand . . . .
The last thing he saw was that damn Uchiha putting his hand under her shirt, and that made the big brother in Shino shudder.
Ignore it, he tells himself. It's not your business.
He tries to think of something else.
But . . .
Ah. Screw it.
He holds his hand out, where one of his beetles lands.
Quietly, so Tenten cannot overhead him, he whispers, "Tell her to please, please make sure they use a condom."
The beetle flies off, and Shino lifts his binoculars to his eyes once again.
He watches Hinata's startled face when the bug comes to her ear, and her byakugan activates and stares right at him. Her face turns white, and she shoves her shirt down, much to Sasuke's disappointment.
He mouths, I'm sorry.
She whispers something to the bug, byakugan never leaving him.
When his beetle returns, he's once again not surprised by the nasty string of words she has for him. He gives her an apologetic grin that may have a hint of cheekiness to it, and then turns back to Tenten, reassuring her that she absolutely does not want to see what is going on in those woods.
End