Author's Note: So I haven't updated this story in several months. I am really sorry. I know the excuse of family issues is overused but that is why I wasn't updating. And yes I could have made time but I wouldn't have had much muse to write. Life can really kill it sometimes. Anyway I hope to be back to writing somewhat regularly again. Thanks anyone who is still sticking with this story after my lack of updating. This isn't my best chapter since I am getting back into the swing of things but I don't think it is bad. Plus it throws an interesting curve into the mix. Enjoy Chapter 10 and thanks for reading.
A very tired Hinata sat on the bus to school the next morning. Naruto of course had started to bombard her with questions as soon as he had seen her and even Shikamaru was forgoing his usual nap on the way to school to hear her answers. Well actually she was refusing to answer so he was more or less studying her reactions. She wished Naruto would keep it down though. She didn't exactly want anyone to hear him asking how her date went. It might get back to Neji or Tenten or someone else she didn't want knowing. But trying to tell Naruto to keep it down was like trying to move a wall. It simply was not going to happen.
"Come on," Naruto whined in her ear. "How'd it go? It can't hurt to tell us whether it went good or bad." It was rather obvious that he was anxious to know. He could barely sit still in his seat.
"L…l…look Nar…Naruto, I d…don't want to t…ta…talk about it," she stammered out turning her face away from him to look out the window. She didn't want him to notice the color that rose on her pale cheeks at the mere mention of her date last night. Just thinking about it sent a pleasant tingle through her body as the memory of Sasuke's lips against hers burned through her mind.
"That good, huh," Shikamaru said and it was without a trace of sarcasm. He was perfectly serious as he covered his mouth and yawned, stretching his arms lazily and looking as bored as he always did.
"What do you mean it was good? She hasn't told us anything," Naruto said pointing out the obvious and quite a few thoughts behind Shikamaru as usual. Shikamaru sighed as if he was thinking why in the world he put up with the two of them before he nodded towards Hinata.
"She's blushing like crazy and all you did was mention the date. So my guess is that Hinata here had a pretty good time last night," Shikamaru said before slouching down in his seat so that he could catch at least a few minutes of sleep before they got to school.
"Come on Hinata. Why won't you tell us what happened," Naruto said once again resorting to whining since at the moment it was the only tool he had.
"Give it a rest Naruto," Shikamaru mumbled though he never bothered to open his eyes. "I doubt you are going to get anything else out of her, especially right now while we are on the bus." His words however were shortly thereafter replaced by the light sound of snoring.
"How does he do that," Naruto cried, looking as if he were in an internal conflict as to whether or not to bother the now sleeping Shikamaru. "You would think he doesn't sleep at night," Naruto muttered before finally giving it a rest and falling silent.
Hinata, having gotten control of that awful blush that was so obvious on her pale features, turned back to look at Naruto. The blonde looked quite disappointed over what she assumed was the fact that he wasn't getting any details of what happened on her date. Maybe she would talk to him about it later. And even then she still wasn't going to share with him all the details. A few of those details she was keeping for herself. He didn't need to know what had kept her sleepless all last night. Still she couldn't help but feel a bit bad for her friend. She frowned trying to think of something to cheer him up. Suddenly she remembered that she hadn't been the only one with a date.
"N… Naruto. H…h…how was y… your d…d…d…date with S… S… Sak…Sakura," she asked quietly, studying his face. It only took her a second to realize what an awful mistake asking him had been.
"It was great," Naruto shouted so loudly that everyone on the bus, including Shikamaru turned to look at him. Hinata started to blush like crazy since everyone was looking their way and Naruto rubbed the back of his neck with a chuckle. He gave a little wave and gradually everyone went back to whatever it was that they were doing.
"Could you have been any louder," Shikamaru said as he yawned again. This time however he didn't go back to sleep. Instead he turned slightly to listen to what Naruto had to say. He was also interested in how his friend's date had gone. He was interested in Hinata's date as well but it was obvious she didn't want to share. Naruto on the other had never had any problem talking. Plus Naruto had always had that crush on Sakura. He was glad that his friend had finally got a chance to get her to notice him.
"Okay so it wasn't all that great in the beginning. I was so nervous that I couldn't sit still and she looked like she wanted to be anywhere else, but it got better when we actually got to dinner. She is really nice. Did you know she wants to be a doctor? She is really smart and boy is she pretty," Naruto said excitedly.
Hinata covered her mouth and laughed quietly to herself. She was glad that Naruto had gotten his date. There was a time not too long ago that those words would have stung but now she just was happy for her friend. At least Sakura had been nice to him. Honestly had been a bit worried that Naruto might have had a bad time on his date.
"Yup and I asked her to go out with me again on Saturday night and she said yes," Naruto said with a huge grin to which Hinata's eyes widened.
"You got her to go on another date with you," asked Shikamaru in disbelief.
"Y… y…you are br…bringing her t.. t...to a race," Hinata stuttered out.
Naruto shot Shikamaru a glare and then turned to look at Hinata. "Yeah I was talking about how Shikamaru and I went to watch the races a lot and she said she had never been to one but she would like to see one. She was a little nervous about the idea of it being illegal and all but I told her that it doesn't get broken up by the cops all that often and even when it does they tend to go after the racers rather than the people watching," he said proudly. "So she agreed to come with me."
"Oh dear," Hinata said quietly.
"Don't worry Hinata, I promise I won't say anything and I'm sure she won't recognize you. No one else does," Naruto said enthusiastically. Hinata sighed and let it go. He was right. It wasn't like anyone recognized her. No one would ever connect plain and timid little Hinata with the sassy and sexy Violet. Her secret was perfectly safe though whether that was a good thing or not she was no longer sure. She couldn't help but wish a certain raven haired boy knew the truth and still like her anyway. But that wishful thinking that could never happen.
The morning was uneventful since she managed to avoid Tenten and everyone else. She found herself not paying attention in her classes which was rare for her but she supposed it wasn't all that surprising considering everything that had been going on with her lately. She deserved to let her mind wander though she had her one teacher ask her if she was feeling alright when her thoughts drifted to a certain boy again. She really wished she didn't blush so easily or that it wasn't so obvious.
Somehow she made it to lunch without anymore blushing. She took a seat next to Shikamaru who was asleep with his chin resting on the palm of his hand and his elbow propped up on the table. Hinata quietly took out her lunch and glanced up when Naruto came over to the table. He dropped his tray onto the table causing Shikamaru to jerk his head up as he was woken up. Naruto laughed and then took a seat across from Hinata.
"Idiot," Shikamaru muttered.
"Aw is someone grumpy because I woke him up from his little nap," Naruto said waving a plastic spoon in front of Shikamaru's face. Hinata covered her mouth and laughed quietly into her hand as Shikamaru rolled his eyes.
"Look it Sakura," Shikamaru said dryly.
"Where," Naruto said jumping out of his chair and looking around. Shikamaru slouched in his seat and kicked Naruto's chair backwards.
"Sorry I guess I was wrong," he said crossing his arms over his chest. Naruto's glared at Shikamaru and then took a seat. Or at least he would have taken a seat if Shikamaru hadn't kicked it away. Instead he ended up sprawled out on the floor. Shikamaru looked incredibly pleased with himself and Hinata choked on her water.
She placed the bottle back on the table and started to cough. She felt a hand giving her a firm pat on the back as she coughed a bit longer. "Thanks Shikamaru," she said between coughs. When she finally stopped coughing she glanced over at Shikamaru who still had his arms crossed and was looking at something, or should she same someone, behind her.
"You alright there Hinata," said the person behind her and her whole body tensed. Her face went from pale to flushed in record time as she turned around and met Sasuke's dark graze.
"Yes thank you," she squeaked out in a voice pitched higher than her normal one. She felt absolutely pathetic.
"Are you sure, cause your face is awful red," Sasuke stated.
Hinata wanted to sink into the floor. Instead she just nodded her head. Naruto, who had climbed back into his seat, started to laugh and Hinata whirled around to glare at him. Well that was very un-Hinata like. He deserved the glare though and it shut him up rather quickly. He fell quiet and Hinata resisted the urge to turn back around and look at Sasuke.
"Did everything work out with Sakura," Sasuke said to Naruto and Hinata was all to aware of how close Sasuke was standing behind her and how it would have felt if he took another step forward and was pressed against her. Her thought left her mortified with herself and she turned even redder if that was possible. So she fixed her gaze on the table and did her best to ignore the close proximity of Sasuke.
"It sure did. Thanks," Naruto said eagerly. He took a quick glance at Hinata before he kept going. "Did everything go alright with you and Violet," Naruto asked. Hinata didn't know where it came from but a second later her foot made contact with Naruto's shin under the table.
"Ouch," he cried to which Sasuke gave him a puzzled look.
"I uh… kicked the table accidently," Naruto said with a pathetic grin. Sasuke shrugged his shoulders.
"Whatever, but it was good. Thanks for helping me out," he said before heading back to his table, wherever that was. "See you guys around," he said and then he was gone in the lunchroom crowd.
"I am going to hurt you," Hinata said through clenched teeth, no trace of her stutter in her words as she glared at Naruto.
"Geez you already did. When did you get so violent," Naruto asked as he reached down to rub his shin to which Shikamaru chuckled.
"You're lucky that is all I did," Hinata said evenly to which Naruto gave her a funny look.
"Hey Hinata you're not stuttering," Naruto said. Hinata frowned when she realized that he was right. She really was having an off day.
"I'm too mad to stutter right now," she said brushing it off and going back to her lunch. It seemed that Sasuke Uchiha was turning her life upside down and he didn't even know it.
The rest of the school day passed in a blur. She felt like she had completely missed the hours from lunch up until now as she blinked at herself in the mirror. Her homework was done and dinner had been made but she really didn't remember it. She was distracted and she didn't like it. Especially if she was going to be doing some racing. Then she couldn't afford to be distracted.
"Focus," she muttered to herself in the mirror. She took a deep breath and retrieved her mask from the drawer. She carefully put on the mask and examined herself in the mirror. Her hair was down though tonight she had taken the time to curl it so that hung down her back in soft curls. She had on a pair of black skinny jeans that were tucked into her black boots. They made her legs look longer which was nice considering she was shorter than she would have liked to be. She wore a long, form fitting, white tank top with a black tank over that. The white tank stuck out from the bottom of the black one and came up above the low cut black tank as well. It broke up all the black. She had one her eyeliner and mascara as well. She put on a quick coat of lip gloss and then slid her cell phone into her pocket.
She shut off her lights and slipped out of her room to meet Shikamaru and Naruto. They went to the garage first and met up with Temari and Lee. Lee challenged her to a race which she declined for the time being. She didn't want to race him when she was so distracted. Once she had Sasuke off the brain she would gladly race Lee. Jiraiya informed her she wasn't racing tonight but he was working on finding her something for Saturday.
Since she wasn't racing, she said hello to her baby. She gave the black Mustang a good rubdown even though it was already shining. Shikamaru had done quite a bit of work buffing out the scratches from her last race. She headed over to the track with Naruto, Shikamaru, and Temari.
They watched the races for awhile before Naruto had to pee. Once he left, Hinata decided to make herself scarce so Shikamaru and Temari could have some alone time. Not that they were alone in this crowd but at least they wouldn't feel obligated to talk to her. She slipped away into the crowd, saying hi to a few people and taking a picture with a group of her "fans". She waved goodbye to them with a smile when she felt an arm slip around her waist.
"I don't like sharing," Sasuke said in a low voice, his lips hovering dangerously close to her ear. A slight grin crossed Hinata's features as she let him lead her out of the crowd.
"Possessive much," she said as they cleared the crowd.
"Only with things I like," he said smoothly as he spun her around so that she was facing him. Hinata looked up him. He was wearing that half-smirk he seemed to wear all the time around her. She didn't see it on him very often at school. Not that she was looking. Oh she was hopeless.
"So now I am a thing," she said folding her arms over her chest, her forearms brushing against his chest since he was standing so close to her.
"You can fake mad all you want. We both know where this is leading," Sasuke stated coolly, his black eyes gazing down at her.
"Oh and where might that…" 'Be' came out as a sigh against his lips as he caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger and brought her lips up to meet his own. Hinata leaned into him, her hands fisted against his chest as his hand ran down her back and rested on the small of her back. This time it was her that teased him. She nipped at his tower lip and teased him by running her tongue over her teeth. She heard something close to a muffled groan escape his lips and it gave her a rather pleasant feeling. Sasuke not to be outdone, applied enough pressure to the small of her back to have her lean into him more so that she was pressed up against him. Every soft part of her body was pressed against a hard plane of his own.
She wasn't about to give up just yet. As his tongue slipped past her parted lips, she opened one of her fisted hands. She trailed a finger down his chest and over the muscles over his stomach. She was fascinated by the way they tensed up beneath her touch. The next thing she knew, Sasuke's hand caught her wrist and his lips broke away from hers.
"You win," he said his voice more husky than normal. "I would have lost it if I let you keep that up. But you played a dangerous game there," he said letting go of her but leaning close to her so that she could feel his breath on her lips. "And next time I won't give up so easily," he murmured, his lips brushing against hers as he spoke. He pulled away from her once again before speaking. "I've got to get going," he said though before he gave her a chance to respond he kissed her long and hard once again. Hinata felt like the world around her was spinning. He should not be allowed to have so much of an effect on her.
"Damn I don't want to go," he said as he pulled back away. Hinata found her brain and smirked.
"Sorry you find me so irresistible Uchiha," she teased as she rested her hands on his shoulders and trailed them down onto his chest. "But I wouldn't want you to be late," she said giving him a slight shove backwards.
Sasuke was surprised at first as he took a step backwards to regain his balance. He smirked and shook his head. "The spell is broken," he said as he turned to go. "See you soon Violet," Sasuke said as he walked off and into the crowd. He seemed to have a habit of doing that. Hinata smiled to herself and then turned around to go.
She walked straight into a hard wall. Well it wasn't actually a wall though she thought it was for a brief moment while her still floating mind came back to reality. She was staring straight at a man's chest. Her violet eyes drifted upwards and feel on the masked face of Kakashi.
"Kakashi," she said with both surprise and relief. The man had a creepy ability to randomly appear out of nowhere. "You scared me. What are you doing here," she asked as she played with a strand of her dark hair. She really hoped he hadn't seen all of that.
"Just stopped by to talk to Jiraiya and see what was going on," he said in a bored sounding tone. And just when Hinata thought he was going to let her be, he spoke again. "Looks its really none of my business but just be careful with that guy," Kakashi said.
Hinata wanted to die. He had seen. She wondered how much but then it dawned on her that Kakashi was warning her about Sasuke. "What do you mean," she said fighting off the blush that was threatening to engulf her pale features.
"Well I don't know him personally but he drives for Orochimaru and a lot of those guys are trouble as well. I just don't want you getting hurt cause of him."
Hinata paled. Sasuke drive for Orochimaru, that creepy guy she had only met once face to face. Apparently Sasuke had failed to mention that little piece of information. "Thanks Kakashi," she said quietly. "I will be careful," she said as she watched him nod and leave her to her thoughts. She was a bit hurt at the moment. Why didn't he tell her, and what if Kakashi was right? What if he was a bad guy? He did ride with Orochimaru after all.
Her hurt turned to anger and she clenched her hands into fists at her side. That jerk. She wondered where he 'had to go to.' Well he had some explaining to do that was for certain. Hinata whirled on her boots and pushed her way into the crowd heading into the direction Sasuke had gone. Soon enough though as the crowd thinned, far away from where starting line was, she realized she had no idea where he had gone and she certainly didn't see him.
"Hey Violet," Naruto said popping up next to her with a grin. His grin faded though when he got a good look at her face. "What's wrong," he said resting his hand on her arm.
"Oh nothing. I just needed to talk to Sasuke," she said quietly, some of the anger once again fading to hurt since she had nothing around her to be angry with at the moment.
"Did he hurt you because I will march right in there and kick his ass for you," Naruto said making a fist with his hand.
"No he didn't, it's okay Naruto. Wait, in there," she asked a look of confusion crossing her features.
"Yeah he went into that building over there with some guy with gray hair," Naruto said jerking his hand in the direction of a building. Hinata narrowed her eyes at the building and then began to march towards it. "Wait Hinata what are you doing," Naruto said jogging a few steps to catch up with her.
"I need to talk to him. And I want to see what he is doing," she said as she walked over to the door.
"Fine but I am coming with you," Naruto said falling into step beside her. Hinata opened her mouth to protest but decided she wouldn't mind his company. She really had no idea what she was doing after all. When she reached the door she put her ear against it. She didn't hear anything so she put her finger to her lips and then proceeded to push the door open slowly. The building was dimly lit and it took her a minute to let her eyes adjust. She could hear voices talking from somewhere inside. She felt Naruto behind her as she moved forward.
The voices became louder and a bit clearer the further in she moved. There were boxes stacked up in front of her and she knew the owners of the voices were standing somewhere in the room on the other side of them. She also knew one of the voices was Sasuke's. She walked up to the boxes and peeked her head slightly around the corner. Naruto did the same, his head peeking out just above hers. Sasuke was standing on the other side of the room with Orochimaru and Kabuto. Hinata had to resist the urge to jump out a start yelling at him right now. Instead she just listened.
"Did you deliver the ssssshipment," Orochimaru said in his rather creepy voice.
"Yes, there were no problems either," Sasuke said with a nod.
"Exccccellent," Orochimaru said patting Sasuke on the shoulder. "You are doing very well."
"What are they talking about shipments," Naruto whispered and Hinata shrugged her shoulders. She had a few guesses but none of them were good. "It can't be good," he said confirming her own thoughts.
"We should get out of here," Hinata whispered figuring there would be some trouble if they were discovered. Naruto nodded and turned around to leave, knocking into a box on the floor. The sound seemed to echo through the building. Hinata winced and Naruto's eyes went wide.
"Sorry," he whispered frantically though Hinata's attention was still on Sasuke, Orochimaru, and Kabuto.
"Did you hear that," Sasuke said reaching for something.
"Yesssssss," Orochimaru said looking around. She saw a flash of metal appear in Kabuto's hand.
"Does he have a gun," she whispered rather positive that her heart just skipped a beat. She glanced at Sasuke, he had a gun in his hand as well.
"Check it out," Orochimaru said nodding in their direction.
"Oh my God they both have guns," she said frantically as she jerked her head back. "Run," she said to Naruto as she took off for the door, Naruto straight behind her. They flew out the building and neither one stopped until they felt like their lungs were ready to burst. Her chest heaving, Hinata bent over and rested her hands on her knees.
"I don't think they saw us," she said between gasps for breaths.
"Good," Naruto said as he collapsed on the ground at her feet. "Hinata what does this all mean," Naruto said putting his arms up over his head.
"I don't know," she said sinking to the ground beside him. "I really don't know."
Sasuke couldn't find anything, neither could Kabuto. He tucked his gun back into the waistband of his jeans and walked back over to Orochimaru. "I didn't see anything," he said his dark gaze glancing over to Kabuto.
"Me neither," Kabuto said holstering his own gun as well. "Probably a cat or something."
"Very well. Sssasssuke you are disssmisssed," Orochimaru said nodding towards the door.
Sasuke nodded and headed for the door. He didn't leave though as directed. Instead he stopped once he was out of sight but still in earshot.
"I set up a race for him tomorrow againssst that Violet girl. He can't lossse. I will not lose another race to Jiraiya," Orochimaru said with a spat when he mentioned Jiraiya. "I am counting on you to make sure that there is no chance of that," he said to Kabuto.
"It will be done."
