A/N: Yo! Hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: The actual characters do not belong to me only my story.
Chapter 9: Small Talk
Her mind is awake but her eyes are still closed, a habit she picked up from Shino. She tuned her senses to the cause of her mental alertness which turned out to be a high-pitched cell phone alarm screaming and shaking from under her pillow. At first our heiress was confused to why she set it in the first place, but she soon remembered as she heard low chattering coming from her guest room. She silenced her cell phone and laid idly in her bed for a few more seconds until her sense of duty nagged her for being lazy.
Purple polished toes met her hardwood floor as she dragged herself into the kitchen, ignoring the low chatter (and the people in it) on the way. She prepped and heated the necessary items needed to refill a makeshift heating pad. With this trivial task done, Hinata drowsily trampled her way to her temporary patient who, from the tone of the conversation, is making a speedy recovery. Now usually Hinata, our respectful and courteous kunoichi, is not one to ease drop…BUT…when she recognized the second voice to be female and belonging to no other than Sakura it was now mandatory that she listen in but only for a minute….or two.
"Sasuke-kun, I've been looking everywhere for you!"
"….."
"What are you doing here? And why didn't you let anyone know you were back from your mission?"
"Anyone...or just you in particular?"
In response, Ms. Queen of Sassy made her trademark jaw smack before continuing….
"I know you enough by now to confidently say that I am immune to your sarcastic remarks."
"And I'm confident enough to say that you DON'T know me…."
Her patient's words must have struck a chord because it took a couple of seconds for her fellow kunoichi to respond. And it was in those few seconds that Hinata actually sympathize with Sakura for once….but only for those few seconds. With her back pressed against her hallway wall she inched closer and closer to the half-open door until she could literally touch the door frame with her fingertips, slowing down her breathing even further she continued to "listen".
Sakura shook off Sasuke's words with a cheerful laugh….
"Don't be silly Sasuke-kun, of course I do!...But really Sasuke, why didn't you go to the hospital or at least to my apartment where you could be given proper treatment."
The last sentence that uttered out of Haruno's cherry-glossed lips caused a feather light hitch in our heiress intake of breath. Now Hinata might be taking this the wrong way, or it may even be because she's a tad bit sleep deprived, but as of right now it seems as if Haruno is calling Hinata a second-rate healer and that is not flying over well with our heiress…that son of a beach ball….see? It seems as if Sakura needs to be reminded that her and Hinata tied in both knowledge and application when it comes to the execution of medical ninjutsu skills, the Fifth even said so herself! With her temper rising from growing tired of being second-guessed and disrespected, Hinata considered blowing her cover for the sake of confrontation….at least that was until….
"Now, now Sakura, you should really think about what you say before you say it. You never know how you might come off to people."
CRAP! …I couldn't even feel not alone sense Kakashi-sensei behind the door. It doesn't take an I.Q. of Shikamaru to figure out that Kakashi-sensei had discovered the ease-dropping kunoichi. So, Hinata did what any other ninja would do in this situation…she retreated. While Sakura complained to Kakashi, Hinata capitalized on the distraction by silently scurrying back to the kitchen to re-heat the heating pad she had been holding this whole time. She let the timer go off on the microwave to signify to her guests, mainly Sakura, that she was done fooling around in the kitchen.
She entered into the lion's den with a courteous smile and greeting to those around her as she made her way to a hunched over Sasuke on the side of her bed. She answered Sakura's questions about the items she used to prepare her makeshift heating pad and the actual process of making the heating pad. After the second series of Q&A with Sakura, Hinata noticed Sasuke rubbing his temples. She waited until Sakura started lecturing Kakashi about reading smut in front of women to inquire about his previous notion.
"….head injury?" she asked. Maybe her treatment is second rate if she allowed something as simple as a concussion to slip by unnoticed.
"…no." He replied
"Headache?" she asked again.
"…no." he said.
"Eye strain?" she question once again.
"No…" he replied. Sasuke gave her a side glance and simply stated…
"Stress."
"Oh. I didn't know Uchiha-san could feel stress." She said nonchantly.
This carefree statement turned Sasuke's side glance into a side glare.
"And I didn't know Hyuuga's like to ease-drop…interesting." He said coolly thus returning to his unfazed demeanor.
Hinata could feel the heat rise to her ears as she thought of something …anything to say to defend herself. She responded with silence as she now quickly hurried to patch up her temporary patient so she could excuse herself from the room.
With an exasperated sigh, Sakura said her goodbyes and decided to update the Fifth on Sasuke's current location personally. As for Kakashi-sensei he still lingered in the guest room fully engrossed in his book. Hinata did not mind Kakashi's presence; it was Sakura who made her uncomfortable in her own skin at times. She offered the respectable sensei her couch and asked him if he wanted to stay over since it was probably way past midnight. He declined…she insisted that he wasn't a burden…and he gave in. With a smile, she told him where he could put up his gear and where to find the bathroom if he wanted to wash up before retiring for the night. He left the guest room with a curt nod before leaving to find his bed for the night. This left Hinata and Sasuke in solitude again.
With Sasuke's last comment still lingering in her mind, she felt nervous around him for the first time this whole night. Instead of worrying about the lingering comment she asked about his health instead.
"How do you feel?" she inquired.
"Better…" he stated.
"Any pain…?"
"None that is unbearable."
"What about your back?"
"Nothing serious…" he said with a shoulder shrug.
"And your strength…can you walk without assistance now?"
"Hai."
"Good." She stated.
"Why did you ease-drop?" he asked suddenly, his body still perched on the side of her bed where she decided to join him after tending to his mission-worn body. The two cautious ninjas sat in silence, each one holding and breaking eye contact as they tried to read the other. Both pairs of eyes secretly wishing they were given the gift of mind reading at birth.
"Why did you come here?" She answered his question with a question.
This led their conversation into another stalemate. Hinata shifted her position on the bed as their gazed remained constant on each other. With his chin resting on the palm of his hand he peered at his personal medic with a new found interest. Hinata on the other hand is having trouble focusing on the question at hand for she is engrossed in their little stare-down. She is feeling butterflies that she only thought belonged to Naruto, she feels amused at their little interrogation…so amused that she can feel her lips forming a small smile at their little "play".
"For treatment…" he said finally.
"What treatment…?" she asked on reflex. Her little world shattered by his voice. She was so focused on watching his luscious lips form the words "For" and "treatment" that she forgot what they were talking about in the first place.
"I came here for treatment." said an amused Uchiha.
"Oh right, right…of course...treatment." She said with a nervous laugh.
"Why were you ease-dropping?" He asked again.
"Just curious, I suppose." She answered, breaking eye contact ….unfortunately. "What gave me away?" She inquired.
"I put two and two together from what Kakashi said." He said getting up to stretch his legs out.
"Does team 7 have a good relationship?" she blurted out.
"We have our pros and cons." He replied nonchalantly.
Silence enveloped the two again; as Sasuke stretched his legs out Hinata sat in observation trying to think of something…anything to say just to keep their conversation going. Once again, she has never been good with small talk.
"When will you report in to the Hokage?" she asked.
"When I leave…." He stated.
"Do you have another mission to go on after that?"
"Yes."
"..."
" ….. "
"I'll leave you alone now." She said moving towards the door. "Your body will make a quicker recovery with some undisturbed rest."
Hinata exited her guest room in a much better mood then when she first went in. If he is always going on missions then their friendship really don't have time to grow. Things would probably be different if the Hokage place them together on teams more often…but Hinata doesn't see that happening any time soon. She went into her living room to check on Kakashi only to find him slumbering on her couch with "Icha Icha" resting on his chest. She could hear Sasuke adjusting in her bed in the background so she decided to retire in her own room to get some much needed sleep. Hinata does not need Sasuke to praise her about her medic skills, the fact that he showed up on her front door is proof enough. Although she won't admit it, Sakura words really did knock her down a few pegs. Every ninja has a rival….Lee and Neji, Kiba and Shino, Guy and Kakashi, even Naruto and Sasuke, but Sakura's rival always is and forever will be Ino. Then who is our heiress arch rival…anyone who has doubted her, anyone who has felt pity for her, anyone who "took it easy" on her, anyone who mentally laughed at her attempts to be the striving kunoichi she is today. Honor and respect is what she is after not the rank and titles that separate the ninja classes. Heck, Hinata will be happy knowing that her name is officially in a village's bingo book.
She didn't stop to check on Sasuke on her way back to her room. I'm sure he's fine. Right now, the only thing she is thinking about is her bed and pillow. Hinata didn't even fool with pulling her covers back she just plopped down on the bed. As she stared at her rotating ceiling fan our heiress finally ran out of things to think about. She is content with herself as of now and is grateful that she decided against confronting Sakura, there was no need. Why you might ask? I'll tell you why….because actions always speak louder than words…..
******************************************* End of Chapter 9****
A/N: Our Hinata is maturing ! How lovely.