Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.
Special Thanks: goes out to Tamani, DivineGlory, Sachiko Heiwajima, Kibachow, Melanieciel, Orokashii, XxMelony-kunXx, Ermilus, rao hyuga 18, and CrimsonNight41 for all your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!
Author's Note: I've updated three stories three days in a row. Wow! Lots of interesting things happening this chapter, including a lot more backstory on the tension between Sasuke and Itachi. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
*~Chapter XIV~*
~Purpose~
Hinata unlocked the door of her and Tenten's (now just her) condo and stepped inside, feeling both lonely and accomplished since she had the whole place to herself.
Flipping on the light, she slid off her shoes and set her keys in the little rose-patterned porcelain dish on the hall credenza. Leaning down, she picked up her dressy sandals by their straps and padded barefoot into the family room, where she looked around and decided though it looked a tad empty without Tenten's knick-knacks sitting around, she rather liked it anyway.
After exchanging her dress for a pair of lounging pants and a loose t-shirt promoting one of her favorite bands, Hinata went back into the sitting room and turned on the television. She certainly felt tired enough to go to bed - it had been a very long week, and an even longer few months before that getting ready for the wedding - but she still felt too wound up to sleep.
I danced with Naruto. Leaning her head back against the armrest, Hinata closed her eyes and relived every moment, her feet twitching in time with the music in her head, palms tingling at the memory of Naruto's hand in hers, her opposite on his broad, solid shoulder. She wished she could have danced several more with him - or even every dance, save for the one she had with Neji - but that was just plain selfish of her.
At least she had the one dance to remember. A dreamy smile curled her lips, and she sighed at the knowledge she'd have sweet, sweet sleep tonight. No nightmares for her, not since she'd be dancing on air the whole night!
She must have fallen into a shallow doze, for the next time she opened her eyes it was one in the morning and some ninja anime was playing on television. The hero kind of reminded her of Naruto, but she turned it off anyway. She went to get a drink before heading for bed, where she could sleep much more comfortably than on the couch.
Hinata had just lifted a half-full glass of water to her lips when she remembered Sasuke's library cards. Sputtering on the drink she'd just taken, she slapped her forehead with the heel of her hand and scolded herself for forgetting to take them to him. She'd meant to do it after she left the reception, but she'd stayed to help with the cleanup effort and hadn't left until almost eleven.
It was probably just as well she'd forgotten. She didn't figure the King of Thrillers (or so some of his fans had called him during his meet and greet at the library the Wednesday just past) would like having someone dressed in wedding finery knocking on his front door at such a late hour. He'd probably call the police or something.
Sighing, Hinata set her glass aside and checked to make sure the doors were locked before she went to bed. As she brushed her teeth, she typed a note on her phone to remind her to do it after she woke up. Surely arriving in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon in regular clothing wouldn't freak either of them out too badly.
Besides, she could make the trip count double. Neji and Tenten's flat was across town, closer to where Sasuke lived. She'd promised to drop off the last of her ex-roommate's boxes while the honeymooners were in the Bahamas. There was certainly no time like the present to make it happen.
She spit and rinsed, then put away her toothbrush and turned off the bathroom light. Her bed beckoned, and with it, good dreams of dancing all night in the arms of her crush since childhood.
...As long as the creepy horror novelist and his subject matter didn't intrude, obviously.
That would be just her luck.
Sasuke waited until Temari took Karura upstairs to put her to bed to approach Itachi, reasonably sure his sister-in-law would stay upstairs and give them a good chunk of time together.
Hovering in the doorway to the library, he just couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad one.
Now's as good a time as any, I suppose, he decided after a couple of minutes passed. Lowering himself onto a chair across from the one in which Itachi sat reading, he cleared his throat to get his brother's attention.
Itachi's eyes darted up from the book to his brother, eyebrows raised as if wondering if Sasuke had actually just tried to get his attention. "Was that you?" he asked doubtfully.
No, it was the ghost. Deciding that would be decidedly poor humor, especially considering the day, Sasuke nodded. "I wondered if you had a few minutes to - to - well, talk." He was an author, for goodness sake. Shouldn't he be able to find a better way to say that, other than just we should talk?
Closing the book in his hand with a sharp snap, Itachi eyed his brother speculatively. "I do if you do." His expression turned inscrutable, though Sasuke didn't miss the flash of hope it quickly veiled.
Unfortunately, Sasuke had nothing but time on his hands. Temari seemed to think Itachi would listen, if only Sasuke took the time to say something, so he bit the bullet and went on ahead. "I want to apologize. I know I really pushed you away so hard after Mom and Father died, and it wasn't right of me. Especially for being so angry with you for leaving after that." It hadn't been logical, but he had been anything but logical at the time.
Itachi's gaze dropped to the cover of the book on his lap, and Sasuke was surprised to see it was one of his own: Head Shot, to be specific. One of his own personal favorites. "It wasn't entirely your fault. I could have stayed."
Sasuke shrugged. "I was eighteen - well, almost; a legal adult, and pressuring you to let me stretch my wings. Every conversation we tried to have wound up declining rapidly into an argument. I know I drove you crazy. I don't blame you for leaving. Not anymore." It surprised him, the truth in those words. He'd had many years to think about it, and neither of them had handled the situation the way they should have. Neither of them were really entirely at fault.
It also hadn't helped that their parents had died four days before Sasuke's seventeenth birthday. Fugaku and Mikoto had promised him a surprise trip, for which they had been scheduled to leave on the twenty-first, two days after the plane crash which killed them. To this day, Sasuke still didn't know the planned destination of his trip. Though Itachi did, he had refused to let his older brother tell him. Maybe it was time for that to change, too.
Itachi cleared his throat this time, drawing Sasuke from his thoughts. "Another thing that didn't help, I'm sure, is introducing Temari to you after she was already my fiancée - only two months before the wedding and three years after the crash. I know that's part of the reason why you don't like her, but I promise, Sasuke, it's not her fault. She kept telling me she wanted to meet you earlier, that she should meet you earlier. But I didn't know what to say, how to tell you. Eventually push came to shove, and I knew if I wanted you to be in my wedding, I needed to tell you."
"It felt like you weren't the least bit bothered about anything, like I was," Sasuke admitted quietly. He kept his gaze focused on the crossed katana on the wall over the fireplace, unable to look his brother in the face, let alone the eye. "You took over the family company and traveled the world, and I only got the occasional phone call every now and then. Which, I admit, I ignored; but only because I was mad you weren't coming home. And then, after three years of virtual silence, you show up one day with one of the world's top tennis players on your arm and announce out-of-the-blue you're getting married." He shook his head. "Seriously, how was I supposed to accept that?"
"Not well, I see in hindsight," Itachi said dryly. "I'm sorry I didn't make more of an effort to keep in touch. And that I forced you into doing so many things before I left."
"Some of them came to good." If Sasuke hadn't spent a year on-campus in college, he never would have been roommates with Shikamaru and become friends with the lazy genius. If Itachi hadn't continued to send off Sasuke's first manuscript, he would have given up on it himself - and thus would never have become a bestselling author. And if Itachi had never left, Sasuke might not have gotten the idea for his second novel and quit before he really even got started on his writing career.
"I'm glad," Itachi said honestly. "I've wanted to reconcile for years, Sasuke, but I was never really sure how to go about doing it. For some reason, seeing you this year - coming home and making an attempt to talk things out and resolve them - seemed more important than ever. It's been eleven years today since they died, and with all the traveling Temari and I do..." He shook his head. "Life is short. I would never want to leave this world without telling you at least one more time that I love you, little brother, and I'm sorry for everything that's gone on between us."
"Hopefully a lot more than just one more time," Sasuke said, with a slight smile.
Itachi inclined his head agreeably. "A lot more."
"You know, you've always been braver than me." At Itachi's questioning look, Sasuke hurried to clarify. "I wondered how you could possibly get on a plane once, let alone multiple times, after what happened. And yet you did, and do. I don't think I could ever do that."
"I'm not as brave as you think I am." Itachi sighed. "My palms still get slick and my heart pounds every time I board a plane. And even though Temari humors me and we always fly commercial instead of via a private jet, I never really breathe easily until the tires kiss the pavement at the end of the flight. I know Temari and Karura love flying, but me?" He shook his head. "It's a necessary part of my job, and Temari's. But I'll never love it, or even like it, the way they do. I'd much rather keep my feet on terra firma every day of the week, thank you."
Sasuke briefly wondered if her husband's dislike (read: fear) of flying was another reason Temari quit, since they wouldn't have to travel nearly so often that way. But he kept the question to himself and asked another instead. "Could I ask you something else?"
"We're being honest with each other, so I don't see why not." Itachi took a drink from the glass of lemonade perched on a coaster on the table next to his chair. "If I don't like it - I guess I just won't answer." The smile on his face made it clear he was joking. It was good to see his brother happy - good to see his brother period, considering the long silence between them.
That, Sasuke felt sure, would change from here on out. Considerably. "I think I'm finally ready to know. I told you I didn't want you to tell me eleven years ago, but now I'm asking: where was my seventeenth birthday trip going to be?"
Itachi sat silently for a long time, eyeing Sasuke as if to gauge whether or not his younger brother was truly ready to hear the answer. Though he wanted to nag, Sasuke sat silently allowing the elder his scrutiny, knowing he was ready and wanting Itachi to see it, too.
At last, Itachi turned slightly in his seat and glanced up at their father's katana. "Japan, the country of our ancestors."
Sasuke's breath left his lungs in a long whoosh. That had been one of the places he'd suspected when his parents first hinted at the trip. As a child, Sasuke had spent hours listening to his mother's stories of their family's illustrious history as retainers and guards to the emperor and his family in generations past. They had many mementoes from those times, including several gifts given in honor of acts of bravery or faithful service. He still went upstairs every now and then to sort through them, his mother's voice whispering the old stories in his ears as he remembered.
Itachi sighed. "Mom was really excited. She always treasured the time with you, talking about all the old stories from our family's past. And she always thought of you as her brave little warrior, when you would come downstairs and re-enact some of them, playacting as one of our samurai ancestors. She was the one who suggested the trip and talked Father into it."
Even as a child, Sasuke always realized his father wasn't as interested in their family's Japanese roots as his mother. He'd always wondered why, but never got up the courage to ask. Even now, for some reason, he didn't really want to know. Perhaps someday he'd ask that question, too, and see if Itachi had the answer. But for now... "It's the one place on Earth I've always wanted to go, for as long as I can remember. I've thought about actually going, a couple of times. Even gotten so far as to go onto a website and almost book a flight. But I always chicken out before I confirm a seat." No matter how much he wanted to go to the land of his brave ancestors, he didn't want to have to get on a plane to get there more.
"You should go," Itachi said firmly. "Temari played in tournaments there before she retired, and it is beautiful. We were able to go on several tours, and to walk where our ancestors might have..." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "It was an incredible experience."
Jealousy stirred when he found out his brother had been where he wanted to go so badly. But as Itachi might have intended, determination rooted it out. "I will go someday," he vowed. "Definitely not today, and probably not next week, either. But I will go."
Itachi opened his eyes and smiled. "Good."
For a while the brothers sat in silence, content to be in each other's presence as they pursued their own lines of thought. Eventually Temari came downstairs and settled on the arm of her husband's chair, a smile blooming on her lips as she looked from one relaxed brother to the other. When she caught Sasuke looking at her, she winked, a smug I told you so expression on her face.
After smiling besottedly up at his wife, Itachi turned his attention back to Sasuke. A slow, almost wicked smile curled up his lips, and he asked, "So, little brother, is there any hope of any nieces or nephews on the horizonfor us?"
Sasuke grabbed the pillow from behind him and threw it at his brother, but inside, warmth filled him. It was nice to know his brother cared.
*~To Be Continued~*
Author's Ending Notes: Three updates for three stories three days in a row. Wow! But this chapter had some things I've been excited to get out there for a while, and next chapter Sasuke and Hinata finally come face-to-face again. But a lot of the rest of the story wouldn't make sense if what's been there the past few hadn't been there, but from here on out there'll be a lot more SasuHina interaction! Thank you all so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I wish you a very safe and happy Christmas, and I hope to see you all again for next Friday's update!