Ok, this one is kinda short, but let's sit and think for a moment. Nine pages are a metric shit ton to write on my spare time, what with my classes and everything else I have to do.
I know that it's not like the 10+ I had made a habit out of pumping out near the middle of this epic tale, but nine is a heavy number.
So, TECHNICALLY this isn't exactly short.
All right, I'm sorry, the chapter begins now!
Scenes from last episode:
The trio was silent for a few moments before Kiba muttered something quietly that they, on the couch, could barely hear. "This is all your fault."
Considering it absolutely couldn't be Sakura's, Sasuke turned his head angrily to face him. "Mine?"
I don't know if you've ever heard Sasuke snarl, but it is actually quite terrifying. Sakura flinched, but Kiba kept his composure.
"Yes, yours. You're just one more thing she feels that she has to hold on to!"
"Kiba," Sakura muttered, jumping in yet again. "Shut up. Sasuke's… thing was just the straw that broke the camels back."
Kiba laughed cruelly. "That was one huge piece of straw then."
Her phone ran at least twice a day. She had thought that they would give up after a few days but nope. Even two weeks after the disastrous elevator incident with Kiba, she was still getting called.
Hinata was being completely immature and recluse, but in her mind she was protecting herself. In her friends' minds she was just being stupid. They thought her stupid, but still loved her.
The calls mainly came from persistent people like Sakura and even a little of Sasuke (though his calls had been dwindling in amount lately). Hinata just wished that they could just understand what she was thinking.
But instead of actually trying to tell them what she was thinking, she just turned off her phone. Yes, a snobby, rude, and uncharacteristic move, but she didn't really care at the present time.
Actually, at the present time she was playing Call of Duty 4 online.
Neji was off somewhere with Tenten and Hanabi was in her room doing her summer homework, so Hinata had the console to herself.
She was doing pretty well, being in the top three in every game. In the period of waiting for the next game to start, having already chosen her choice of starting gun, she quickly scurried off to the kitchen to grab a soda and a bite to eat.
Upon returning to her still warm spot on the couch, the game was loading. This was her least favorite course but that wouldn't really stop her from kicking some major ass as usual.
The game started like they all did. She started poking around the course, occasionally assisting in a kill but never getting into one-on-one fights. Then out of the blue, she was killed.
Cutebutt killed Bubbles.
Her heart stopped as she read her screen. Cutebutt, as in her Cutebutt? Cutebutt as in Uchiha Sasuke?
The replay of her death showed that she had been sniped from the top of a turret. If she had been in any normal state she would have been annoyed considering she thought that snipers were the scum of the game.
But no. Sasuke. He was in the game she was. Did he know it was her playing as Bubbles? Part of her hoped he did.
Wait, wait wait. Sasuke's probably not the only person who is named Cutebutt.
Yeah, as if. This was a local game. It was him, her cutebutt. Oh wait, but that had fallen through quite nastily, hadn't it? He wasn't hers, nor had he ever really been.
Hinata was completely thrown when she re-spawned. Her grip on the controller was weak and she hadn't moved yet.
Survival instincts kicked in as an enemy came into plain sight. She took him out in one headshot, successfully getting herself back into game-mode. Part of her hoped to find Cutebutt and enact revenge.
Sasuke, as usual, didn't even read the text on the screen of his COD 4 game. He had no idea who he had just killed, and honestly didn't care. He and Naruto were at Kiba's just hanging out. Naruto was leafing through a Playboy magazine with Kiba peering over his shoulder. Perverts.
This was his first game in a while. He was the last one to get into his queue, and since Kiba and Naruto were otherwise occupied he knew he would probably be playing for a while longer.
Being a sniper, though far from his favorite role, nevertheless was a good choice when you hadn't played the game lately and you needed to warm up. Sasuke was doing just that.
Out of the blue, an enemy snuck up behind him, avoiding the mine he had placed for protection. Embarrassingly, Sasuke found himself getting shanked from behind nastily. Naruto, who had torn his eyes away from the soft porn to observe Sasuke's situation, exploded in laugher. (Note: shanking is when you instakill an enemy with a knife.)
"Che, what are you laughing at?"
Naruto laughed more, pointing at the screen. "You just got shanked by Hinata."
Sasuke's whole system seemed to freeze. His eyes flicked to the corner that displayed who was killing whom and saw, though he was still in a daze, the stone-cold evidence to the fact.
Bubbles killed Cutebutt.
Oh my. His man-pride didn't even take a blow from that it was so odd. I mean yes, he knew that Hinata liked videogames like Halo and that she was a natural sharpshooter, but this was still messed up.
Apart from the tiny feeling of wrongness that he felt from the shanking, he was drowning most in the fact that she was there.
Lately she had been so elusive that he thought her some ethereal creature that his heart-heavy mind had created. But no, she was here, killing him with a nicely aimed shank. Wow.
"Uh, Kiba… I think Sasuke's brain just exploded."
Kiba, aware of the present SasuHina situation, smacked the unaware Naruto over the head with the magazine. "Shut up asshole."
Naruto was also unaware of the newly awakened KibaSaku situation. If he were, he'd probably not have accepted the invitation to hang out.
Suddenly, coming out of his bewilderment, Sasuke calmly quit out of the game and delicately laid the controller on the coffee table. He put his face in his hands and stayed like that for a few seconds as he took a deep breath before falling to the side so he was now lying on the couch he had been sitting on.
The blond jumped up at this chance to play and snatched the controller.
Sasuke seemed to be planning something, although how they could tell neither of his friends knew.
It turned out he was, for in the middle of Naruto's next game, he stated a simple, monotonous question.
"What's the date?"
"Uhh… July 14th?" Kiba ventured, shrugging as he said it.
"Yeah, something like that…" Naruto muttered, though he really had no idea.
Sasuke didn't say another word for a while. However, he did have a plan. Coming into contact with Hinata, even if it was through a videogame, had shaken him up into manly action.
Plus, if his plan failed, he could always just kidnap her. Maybe.
The 'plan' arrived in Hinata's mailbox 2-4 business days later.
It was a thick, seemingly expensive envelope that housed a square letter. Something about the convivial and yet formal handwritten script that spelled out her name made her think that it was an invitation of sorts.
Hinata had left to gather the mail as she normally did whenever she heard it come. The letter was the last one she saw as she flicked through the bills, ads, and magazines.
When she reached the den where her father was reading the paper, she snuck her letter away from the crowd into the front pocket of her hoodie—excuse me, Sasuke's hoodie that she was wearing.
Carefully honed patience stopped her from opening it until she reached the safety of her room.
There was no return address, which slightly unnerved her.
Finally, after lightly shutting the door and lying down on her bed, she opened it, sliding her pointer finger to break the seal.
To the Exquisite Lady Nata-chan,
You have been cordially invited to the annual Uchiha camping trip. Understand that normally no one outside of the family is allowed on this expedition, but considering that I am now in charge of all the familial affairs, I can do what I want.
This truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity to participate that shall not be extended again. I recommend that you act with the utmost haste to secure your spot on the guest list.
There is only one spot, so time is of the essence.
I would love to hear back from you with regards to this invitation, and I do indeed hope that you will accept.
Sincerely, Uchiha Sasuke
P.S. you know you want to.
Slightly offended, slightly amused, Hinata re-read the letter again, laughing at certain bits. She forgot to scold herself for starting to draw up the blueprint for the bridge she just tried to burn.
She forgot to distance herself from her friends and from him.
She forgot that contact would upset her.
She decided to write him back.
He received her letter a few days after sending his original out. It wasn't very fancy like his had been, but the intent was clear. He nearly soiled himself when he stole a glance at the day's mail.
In his terrible haste to open the envelope, he just ripped the whole thing in half. Uh oh.
After speedy clear tape reparation, he was set and ready to go. Cutely, he was sitting on the edge of his chair and was rubbing his hands together in preparation.
To the Eloquent Master Suke-kun,
I received your letter and felt obliged to respond in the same style.
I regret to inform you, however, that I will not be able to join you on your camping trip. There are prior commitments that must be upheld, certainly a man of your stature would understand. Also, you should be ashamed of contacting me, especially against my wishes.
Obligations aside, another reason for my inability to go remains. It appears that a certain 'Cutebutt' was responsible for the sniped death of a certain 'Bubbles'. I will not, in any instance, decide to spin tales around a campfire with my own murderer.
Suck it, fool.
Sincerely, Nata-chan.
P.S snipers are the scum of the COD universe.
His response came quicker than the mailman would have been able to give it, implying that he probably ran it over himself, a fact that Hinata did not miss.
Nata-chan,
Cut the crap. Why on earth would you have written me back if my contacting you was against your wishes?
--Suke-kun.
P.S Oh, the event hath been cancelleth on account of a missing guest of honor. Guess who's fault that was?
Without even thinking about her actions, she had a piece of paper and a pen ready to respond. It was only two words, but she was willing to pay the 39 cents for a stamp just to get her point across.
I'm sorry.
After writing that, her phone buzzed again. It was him.
She hesitated in reaching for it, but in the end, love prevailed. It was just too difficult for her to keep ignoring people.
Her voice was shaky and quiet when she accepted the call. "H-hello?"
"You don't have to sleep in the same tent as me if that's what your worrying about." Sasuke said it with complete certainty… as if that had been her problem all along. The seriousness to his tone made her silent for a few moments before giggles overtook her, soon to lead into full-fledged laughs.
"I'm serious." He said angrily. She almost found herself believing him, which showed how good of an actor he was, although he lost some credit for it being over the phone.
"I… I…" Hinata calmed down just enough to just sputter out one word over again.
"Why did you pick up?" Sasuke asked seriously. He had not laughed during the entire conversation. Admittedly, he didn't really laugh all too much to begin with so the feat was not too godlike.
Hinata blushed glad that he couldn't see. She honestly had no idea and voiced as much. "I… I have no idea."
"That's good enough for me. How are things?" His low, slightly monotonous voice was damn sexy over the phone.
"Sasuke… I can't talk."
"Why? Are you at gunpoint right now? I'm serious Hinata, if you are say 'I love you'."
He was so beautifully different over the phone than he was face to face. It seemed that he allowed himself to be more sarcastic and funny, and she liked that. But what she didn't like was that he had actually made contact with her.
But honestly, she was fighting a losing battle with herself. She wanted to be with him and her other friends so badly, but she wanted to go where they went, not stay home.
"Sasuke…" She chose to ignore the butterflies that starter forming in her stomach. "Why did you really call?"
There was silence on his end.
"I… you know you're making this harder for me. Why are you doing this?" She must have been PMSing because she started to tear up. Her last sentence came through a little choked.
"Because I just want to go camping with you."
"I can't."
"Listen Nata-chan. I will come, break into your house and demand that you pack a bag with a few clothes and then kidnap you. How's that sound?"
"I can't." Again.
"I am no longer asking you."
"I can't."
"Why can't you just stop holding onto the past and fearing the future? The present is all that matters."
That stung. She wanted so badly to be able to do that but she just couldn't. It was all she wished for to be able to just let go.
And in her inability to do so, she went for the honestly drastic. She blurted out something she had been sitting on for a while.
"Sasuke… I love you."
"Shit, so now you're at gunpoint?"
In any other situation Hinata would have laughed at his response. Instead her tears started running thickly.
"I love you. I hope you become successful in your life. G-goodbye."
She hung up right before he said, "I love you too."
He personally thought her brain a touch addled. Who on earth admitted their love only to give their farewell right after? He tried calling back but his call was ignored. And again… and again.
"Fuck!" He growled, tossing his phone onto his table angrily. Why can't she just get it? It's really not that hard!
The very fact that he was not freaking out about saying the monumental three words plus one was because he so truly meant them that saying them to her was like breathing. He didn't know what to do anymore. What could he possibly do?
The exchanging of letters was wonderful, and the beginning of the phone call was fantastic. She had changed her emotions so fast it was scary. Just when he thought he had been making significant process, she just collapsed under her own conscious.
But he loved her even more for it. Love has a tendency to make you see all the faults as good points, somehow.
What was he to do now? There was no way that he was about to go camping by himself. That would just bring up memories of what the annual Uchiha camping trip was before they were all killed. Probably not so good of an idea.
Maybe it was time to give up. He was fighting a losing battle against a girl who refused to see sense.
Quitters never win, but those who persist don't always win either.
Sasuke didn't know what to do, forget or keep going. Go against her wishes even though in her heart she wants it? Go against his wishes and destroy everything he had worked for over the last year? Logically, he shouldn't give up, but emotionally he felt drained.
Maybe he would try and see if she would come to him on her own.
Sadly, she only had a week longer to do that before he left Konoha and went to attend Akatsuki University, which was located quite the ways away. It took a long plane ride to get there.
Time's running out Nata-chan…
I do believe that was a really bad way to have them finally admitting their deep love (you know, spontaneously) and I apologize. I got the idea for this when I was playing COD and I killed my crush that I didn't realize was playing against.
Although, I ended up calling him up and laughing at him for losing to a girl. That's beyond the point though.
Scenes from the finale:
The remaining letters swirled around slowly. She got "STRDOIS" and "HNAGOFO", simple alphabetical nonsense. Though, if she thought about it analytically, she could get both "go for it" or "don't go for it" from those letters. Some sign that was, but since when had Alphabet-Os been prophetical?
-&-
"Do you realize you were going 15 miles above the speed limit, miss?"
"Uh… well… I suppose I was, yes." Looking up out of her panicked eyes, she saw someone she never thought she'd see ever again.
Simon. Simon McCreepster.
Terrible surprise shocked all thoughts of Sasuke retrieval out of her noggin for a moment as she froze. Then he trickled back in and she started to panic again, obviously not having the time for this. She had to go.
There was one option that she thought—no, knew would work. She didn't have the time to be chatted up again.
And thus Hyuga Hinata chose to do something she thought she would never do.