Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

Special Thanks: goes out to DivineGlory, mangetsu no hime, Tamani, Sachiko Heiwajima, wolf-enzeru, MuffinMan9223, Sairiko, Natalie2016, Danish78, Neverfearthedark, rao hyuga 18, Marda, LaydiiV, OhSunnyDay, and hyuugalove for all your lovely reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this story to their favorites and follows lists!

Author's Note: I love this chapter. It was great fun to write, especially since Sasuke brought it all upon himself - without even realizing it. With that cryptic comment, I'll leave you all to reading - I hope you enjoy this chapter!

*~Chapter XVIII~*

~Plunge~

On Tuesday night, Hinata indulged in something she rarely did, but very much enjoyed. Taking a small glass of nicely chilled white wine, several scented candles, and a cozy Agatha Christie mystery with her, Hinata savored a nice long, hot bath. She floated off to bed feeling warm, and relaxed, and happy.

She woke up feeling like she'd gotten herself into a mess from which she just couldn't extricate herself. Which, to be completely honest, she had. She still squirmed internally at the way she'd blubbered on the phone to Sasuke, and had no idea how she was supposed to face him with any sort of composure this evening.

By early afternoon on Wednesday, Hinata felt like a basket case. She wanted to crawl under her covers and hide, like she had as a child; but as a (mostly) responsible adult, she didn't have that luxury anymore. Which left her with her phone in hand, shivering, wondering if she could call in to both Sasuke and the library with an attack of the flu. But seeing as how her shivering was brought on by apprehension rather than fever, Hinata reluctantly put her phone down and went to find something to wear. She didn't want to look like she'd gone to too much effort, but at the same time, she didn't want to be too casual. Since she had to head over to the library right after eating, she picked her usual uniform - a long skirt, this one in a patchwork pattern, and a simple blouse to match. After slipping on earrings and a necklace, she frowned at her reflection and debated whether to wear her hair down or pull it up.

What does it really matter? It's not like you're going on a date. It's just dinner. At a sort-of friend's house. Wrinkling her nose at her reflection, Hinata left her hair down and marched into the sitting room, determined not to make any more fuss. Carefully avoiding anything with a reflective surface, she occupied herself with getting things ready for Hanabi's arrival on Saturday until it was time to leave for Sasuke's at twenty-past four.

She'd decided to get there at four-forty-five: exactly halfway between four-thirty and five, the two options Sasuke had given her. Hinata was perhaps being a little too obsessive about the details, but she was terrified of doing something wrong.

Picking up her purse, keys, and phone on the way out, Hinata got into her car and drove extra-carefully along the scenic route over to Sasuke's. She kept telling herself she was making a mountain out of a molehill, but she couldn't deny her attraction to Sasuke. Recalling his impressive home library, she once again marveled at how much they seemed to have in common.

Hinata cruised past the library, then turned right at the stop sign on the corner and headed out of the "town" proper. As the houses began to thin and big yards and tree lines filled her vision, she felt her tension increase. Flexing her fingers around the steering wheel, she considered turning the car around and heading back home. But that would be the coward's way out, and she was not a coward. Not about this, anyway.

As she turned into Sasuke's driveway, Hinata thought she glimpsed taillights flashing through the trees. Confused, she wondered if she'd pulled into the wrong driveway, but the unique design of the top of the house showing over the treeline clued her in: she was definitely in the right place.

When she cleared the trees and pulled into the circular driveway in front of the house, Hinata was shocked to find out the not-so-phantom taillights she'd seen belonged to Tsunade's car. Her blonde boss was just climbing out of the driver's side as Hinata parked, her eyes narrow as she stared up at the impressive facade of Sasuke's house.

"Hinata," Tsunade greeted her as her employee got out of her own car. "What are you doing here?"

"Sasuke invited me over for dinner before his library appearance tonight," Hinata replied. Sliding her purse strap over her shoulder, she tilted her head at her boss and queried, "I could ask you the same question, though. Is he refusing to come?"

"No, nothing like that." Tsunade glanced up at the front door, cleared her throat, and then examined her candy-apple red fingernails. "His agent, Jiraiya, ah- He invited me to dinner. For the same reason."

Surprised her boss had given in, Hinata smiled at her. "It will be nice for you to be here, too. A familiar face, as it were."

"Yes, well." Tsunade smoothed her hands down the front of her olive green jacket. "This is quite a house. For some reason, it doesn't look as creepy up close as it does from a distance."

"It's a pretty old house," Hinata agreed. "And there're no spooky coffins or skeletons inside, either, I can assure you."

Sharp toffee-colored eyes stared at Hinata in surprise. "You've already been inside?"

Heat crept into Hinata's cheeks, and she shuffled a foot self-consciously. "I brought him his library cards," she admitted. "He accidentally left them at the library the other day." She knew better than to tell her boss why exactly he'd left them there.

To Hinata's relief, the front door opened just then. Sasuke smiled down at them, Ninja sitting by his side with his tail enthusiastically thumping against the floor. "Hello, ladies," he greeted them. "Come on in."

Hinata trailed Tsunade up the steps, watching the older woman with quiet amusement. It was obvious she was as impressed as Hinata had been by the entryway, with its highly-polished wooden floor and crystal chandelier. "Your house is really beautiful," Tsunade told Sasuke as she slid off her sandals.

"Thank you." Sasuke caught Hinata's eye and smiled. "One of my ancestors had this house built. To hear some members of my family tell it, his wife was a double agent for the North during the Civil War. After it was over, they moved out here to get away from some - ah - rather unfriendly neighbors. She loved her Northern house so much, though, my forebear had one quite similar built here." He shrugged. "Or so the story goes, anyway."

Hinata hung her purse on the coatrack and smiled. "Sounds like the plot of a novel."

"It rather does, doesn't it?" Sasuke led them down the entryway and into the living room, where his family and Jiraiya sat watching a movie Karura had clearly chosen. "Perhaps I'll write a true-fiction book about it someday. With some twists, of course."

"Of course," Tsunade agreed dryly. Her eyes skimmed questioningly over Itachi, Temari, and Karura before settling on Jiraiya. "Hello," she greeted him. Her usually hoarse voice sounded unusually soft to Hinata's practiced ear.

"Hello, Tsunade." Jiraiya breathed the words almost like a prayer, his eyes focused on Tsunade's face as if she were the only person in the room.

"That's interesting," Hinata said quietly to Sasuke as they watched the pair. "About your ancestor, I mean. You've got some very fascinating people in your family tree."

Sasuke chuckled. "I suppose so. We of the Uchiha have never been ones to sit idly and watch life go by unlived. I guess you could say we like to live it to the fullest." He hesitated, then smiled and added, "But don't expect me to bungee jump off a bridge or something." He lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "I'm more the exception than the rule."

After Tsunade finally turned away from Jiraiya, Sasuke introduced her to his brother, sister-in-law, and niece. Then he motioned his guests out to the deck, following a moment later with Itachi and Temari. All three of them carried various platters of food, piled high with everything from barbeque chicken to ears of corn dripping with butter to a huge bowl of grilled potato halves.

Capturing Hinata's hand, Sasuke pulled her to the seat next to his and then motioned to the food with his free hand. "Please, everyone, eat and enjoy."

"You've never read any of Sasuke's books?"

Sasuke had been trying to ignore the feeling this particular subject was going to come up over the course of dinner conversation. He'd also thought Jiraiya would inevitably be the one to bring it up - and so he did.

"I've never read any of Uncle Sasuke's books either," Karura, dear heart, intervened. She gave Hinata a look out of wide, innocent eyes. "Papa and Mama always tell me I'm too young, but that can't be the reason for you - can it, Miss Hinata?"

From her place on Sasuke's right, red crept into Hinata's face at an alarming speed. She looked down at the half-eaten contents of her plate, obviously embarrassed and at a total loss for words. Even Tsunade stared at her as if she'd just announced she'd been born on Jupiter.

"I'm sure there are a lot of people who haven't read my books, Jiraiya," Sasuke said mildly. He felt almost desperate to divert his agent's attention, particularly since Hinata looked like she was thinking about sliding under the table. "Not everyone likes the genre." Granted, the comment she'd made about his books being a "sorry excuse for literature" had initially stung; it was why he'd taken such glee in quoting that chunk of Poe back at her. The way her jaw nearly dropped had all but made up for it, though. Now, he just wanted to chuck a corn cob or something at his agent to get him to stop.

Hinata gave Sasuke a grateful look from beneath her lashes, to which he responded by smiling and tilting his head slightly in her direction.

That didn't really seem to satisfy Jiraiya, however. Of course. "You haven't even seen his movie?"

"They made a movie based on one of his books?" Hinata's eyes widened slightly. "I had no idea." Her eyes and expression, so obviously without guile, made it clear just how clueless she really was about the matter.

Jiraiya's broad shoulders slumped slightly at Hinata's response. "I just don't get it," he said in bemusement. "I just don't get it." He shook his head morosely, his eyes sad.

"Hinata's tastes in reading lie more in the classics," Sasuke told Jiraiya. "Like Keats and Christie, Shakespeare and Hugo, Doyle and Poe, Lewis and Tolkein."

"And Austen," Hinata added softly. "Please don't forget Jane Austen."

"And Austen," Sasuke agreed.

Shaking his head, Jiraiya said, "I'm as much a fan of the classics as the next guy. But here's something not many of them can claim: The New York premiere of Head Shot, the second movie based on one of Sasuke's books, is next month." He eyed Sasuke speculatively, and the author hated the too-familiar gleam in the older man's eyes. "As a matter of fact, the man was sorely lacking a date at his last premiere. I think-"

"I've already told you," Sasuke said loudly, cutting Jiriaya off mid-sentence. "I'm not even sure I'm going to this one. When I went for Metronome, I couldn't wait for it all to be over. Too many people, and cameras, and there were so many questions and requests being thrown at me from every side." He shook his head. "No, I think I'll just stay here for this one and let you handle it." He hoped the sun's warming the deck would be a good excuse for the heat flooding his own face. Why did Jiraiya have to say that, thereby jeapordizing his already tenuous friendship with Hinata?

"You need to get out some more. After a while, you get used to ignoring them." Temari, the obvious expert at such things at the table, took another sip of her water. "I won't promise they'll go away, but if they don't get answers enough times, they'll lose some of their bite. Just don't be rude, don't punch anybody, and make 'no comment' your catch phrase, and you'd be surprised how smoothly things will go. But you actually have to be there for that to work."

Temari, the female Braveheart. Sasuke sighed and shook his head. "It's not just that. It's a long drive out to New York. And while I enjoyed that part last time, I just don't think I want to get involved in the whole media circus scene again." When he'd gone to New York for Metronome, most of the main cast had showed up with their inevitable hangers-on. While that had diverted some attention from him, it had also increased the noise and number of people by about a thousand. He'd spent the whole time during the experience praying for it to be over as soon as possible.

Jiraiya opened his mouth - undoubtedly to make some sort of protest - but was interrupted by the doorbell sounding in the house. Ninja trotted over to the door and started barking, the sound loud and authoritative. But just as Sasuke started to get up to go answer, Itachi rose to his feet, his glance flickering sideways towards his wife.

"Ah, I think that might actually be for me," he said. "Please excuse me, everyone. I'll be back in a moment."

"Do you want to take Ninja with you?" Sasuke queried, settling back down on the bench.

Itachi smiled slightly. "Thanks, but I don't think that'll be necessary. Remember what I do for a living?" He vanished into the house as the doorbell sounded again.

"Well, used to do for a living," Sasuke muttered. He shot an inquiring look at Temari. "He doesn't actually take bodyguard assignments anymore, does he?"

"Not usually, no," his sister-in-law replied. She looked after her husband with twinkling eyes, prompting Sasuke to wonder if the day marked some kind of anniversary for the couple. It wasn't their wedding anniversary; he was fairly certain of that. But who knew what kind of other occasions they were in the habit of observing?

Jiraiya cleared his throat. "I think I'll take the opportunity to step into the house for a couple of minutes myself." he said. "Excuse me, folks." He followed in Itachi's wake.

Not until his brother reappeared with a rectangular white box balanced on one arm did a sudden realization punch Sasuke in the gut. "No. Oh, no," he protested. He held up his hands in a warding off gesture. "Please tell me what I think is in that box is not actually in that box."

As a broadly grinning Itachi placed the box on the table in front of Sasuke in the space hastily made for it by Temari, she challenged him saucily, "Why don't you open it and find out?" Despite their tenuous truce, apparently Temari's favorite pastime was still tormenting her brother-in-law.

Jiraiya came onto the deck again carrying a small, wrapped box. "Happy birthday, my boy!" he boomed, laying his offering on top of what Sasuke felt pretty sure was a bakery box. "This time I get to deliver your present in person!"

Sasuke wanted to throw his head back and shout to the sky I don't celebrate my birthday! With a barely suppressed groan, he shook his head and lifted the lid. A big cake covered with an edible icing plaque done as the picture on the back cover of his book stared up at him, with Happy Birthday, Sasuke! written in black and red icing next to his head.

He wanted to crawl under the table and hide. Jiraiya, Itachi, Karura, and Tsuande were all grinning at him like this was the most amazing thing ever, but Hinata's cheeks were bright red as she stared at the cake with a slightly horrified expression on her face. Was it the recreation of his book jacket picture that horrified her, or the fact it was his birthday and she hadn't known? He couldn't quite tell.

Karura bounced and squirmed in her place. "Surprise! Surprise! Happy birthday, Uncle Sasuke!"

Swallowing back all the sarcasm threatening to boil out of his mouth, Sasuke grinned crookedly at his niece. "Thanks, short stuff," he said, trying hard to sound as though he really meant it.

Temari cleared her throat, drawing everyone's attention to her. Smiling sheepishly, she said, "I have a birthday present for you, too - I mean, besides the cake - but if it makes you feel any better, I'm afraid it's going to be around six months late, give or take a couple of weeks."

As the three men at the table exchanged confused looks, Hinata and Tsunade both gasped and then clapped their hands over their mouths in unison. Karura's face puckered in obvious confusion as she stared at each adult in turn, silently demanding an explanation.

Itachi's expression shifted to shocked understanding before Temari's smile widened and she admitted, "I'm pregnant."

*~To Be Continued~*

Author's Ending Notes: Ah, how I adored writing this chapter! It was so much fun. Poor Sasuke set up his own birthday party, without even realizing it! It's so fun to fluster Sasuke, poor guy. But I'll make it up to him later! And Temari - I think she realized things were getting to be a bit much for Sasuke, who really doesn't like attention, so she let the news slip. I've been so excited to get to that part for a while now. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, thank you so much for reading, and I hope to see you all again for next week's update!