Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.
Special Thanks: goes out to DivineGlory, Kibachow, Sachiko Heiwajima, Dani Stark, mangetsu no hime, Break Blade, Marda, Tamani, Hikari To Seimei, MysteriousEyez, Yuki no Ai, and rao hyuga 18 for all your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who added this story to their favorites and follows lists!
Author's Notes: And finally, part one of the two-part SasuHina Sunday Date chapter(s)! One thing I did do - this chapter is exclusively from Hinata's POV, and the next will be exclusively from Sasuke's. It's a little different from the others, but I'm really excited to share this with you all. Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy!
*~Chapter XXII~*
~History~
An hour before Sasuke was due to arrive Sunday afternoon, Hinata started trying to get Hanabi out of the condo. She tried a little of everything - threats (which she'd never been good at), bribery (hard to do, since she wasn't really sure what Hanabi liked), and even straight-out wheedling.
Nothing worked. Hanabi stayed lodged on the couch, bowl of cereal in hand, eyes glued to the action movie playing on television. "No," she replied to each of Hinata's attempts to get rid of her. The answer never changed, nor did the inflection, though the volume went up with each reiteration.
Finally, Hinata flopped down on the couch next to her sister. "Don't you have any friends you want to spend time with?"
"No." Hanabi took another big bite of her soggy cereal, being sure to slurp it. Loudly.
Hinata hid her face in her hands. "How about your boyfriend?" she asked, half-jokingly.
"No, he's doing something else today," Hanabi replied absentmindedly. An instant later she gasped and her spoon abruptly clattered back into her bowl.
Lifting her head alertly, Hinata turned to stare at her sister, who looked back with frozen horror. "You actually have a boyfriend?" How had Hinata not heard about this before? Hiashi should have called to rub it in his older daughter's face that his younger had a boyfriend first.
Hanabi's face turned bright red and she sunk down a little lower in her seat. "Yeah," she mumbled. "Father doesn't know."
Well, that explained a few things. "Who is he?" Hinata probably wouldn't know who he was, but she couldn't just let this go without asking.
"I think I'd rather not say," Hanabi replied cautiously.
"Probably just as well," Hinata remarked casually. She examined her unpainted nails (which, in point of fact, probably needed a trim in the twenty-two minutes before Sasuke's scheduled arrival) and added, "Because I'd probably give his name to Father when I call to tell him you're already being a pest."
Spine straightening as if a metal rod had just been shoved down it, Hanabi stared at her older sister in horror. "Are you - blackmailing me?"
Smiling sweetly, Hinata shrugged. "May-be," she drawled.
"Why do you want me to get out so badly?" Hanabi demanded. "I mean, I literally just got here yesterday. I'm tired from moving in, and I was looking forward to crashing on the couch and watching movies all day."
"I'll owe you a favor." Hinata hesitated, knowing she was going to regret this, but she was in for a penny. Might as well go in for the pound - or, better yet, the whole farm. "A big favor. A huge one."
Hanabi's eyes lit with a frightingly calculating light. "How big?"
Already regretting making it, Hinata said, "Like - Sears Tower big. Or - or Empire State big. Or even the Pyramids of Egypt big!" That last one might have been an overexaggeration. But she was getting desperate, and there were only eighteen minutes left to get Hanabi out.
"You've got a deal." Hanabi shoveled the last couple bites of cereal into her mouth, then stood and padded toward the kitchen. "When's he getting here?" she called over her shoulder.
This time it was Hinata's turn to freeze. "He?" she inquired thinly.
Hanabi came back around the corner into the sitting room and smiled, catlike. "Yeah. Your boyfriend." She tilted her head to the side at Hinata's faux-innocent look. "Oh, come on, sis. You can't fool me. I never believed you were cooking all that food for the two of us. There is no other possible reason why you would want me out of the condo. You have the most boring life in the world. -And, by the way, that makes me super proud of you, knowing you finally have a boyfriend. But, given you have such a boring life, the only reason why you're so desperate to get me out would be because you want to have your boyfriend over for a little somethin'-somethin'. In the middle of the afternoon, no less." She waggled her eyebrows.
Blushing furiously, Hinata grabbed one of the decorative pillows off the couch and tossed it at her sister. "He is not my boyfriend!" she protested loudly. "And I would never do somethin'-somethin' period, let alone in the middle of the afternoon!"
Nodding, Hanabi headed toward her room, one finger waving over her shoulder. "Uh-huh, sure. I believe it, sure." The door slammed shut behind her pointedly.
Falling facefirst onto the cushions of her couch, Hinata groaned loudly. Now her sister thought she had a boyfriend and was doing - things - with him.
Hanabi's bedroom door opened again, and Hinata rolled her head to the side to see her younger sister headed toward the door, messenger bag on her shoulder, hair pulled up in a sloppy ponytail. "Call me when it's safe to come home," she said cheerfully.
"Where are you going?" Hinata sat up straighter, wondering what trouble her sister could get into.
Pausing with her hand on the doorknob, Hanabi raised her eyebrows. "Out," she said. "I might call up - my boyfriend - and see when he'll be free. Or I might pop in on some of my other friends. Or I might just go catch a movie. There's plenty for me to do, Hinata." She laughed. "Don't worry, big sister. I won't tell Father about your boyfriend, and you won't tell him about mine, and we'll all be happy. Deal?" Without waiting for an answer, she left.
As soon as the door closed behind Hanabi, Hinata got busy. She trimmed her nails, changed her clothes, brushed her hair and pulled it into a loose bun at the back of her head, and had just slid a stack of silver bangle bracelets onto her wrist when the doorbell chimed.
Hinata checked her reflection, then hurried through the condo to the front door to answer it, her bare feet quietly slapping against the polished hardwood floor. She peeked through the peephole, smiling when she saw Sasuke standing on the other side. A quick twist of her wrist turned the knob, and then there was no barrier between them.
Sasuke smiled at her. Though his expression was friendly, she saw the tenseness in his posture as he stood on her porch, easily within eyesight of anyone who stepped out their front door. If someone recognized him...
She stepped back quickly. "Please, come on in."
He gratefully accepted her invitation, the tension easing out of him as she closed the door. Smiling again, Sasuke held up the bottle in his right hand. "A little something for the hostess," he said.
"You shouldn't have." Hinata cradled the beautiful bottle carefully in both hands, admiring the rich burgandy color of the wine inside. She knew the brand - it was very exclusive, and very expensive. She'd only had it once before in her entire life, and even then she hadn't actually bought it herself. Though she liked fine wine, she often didn't feel right shelling out huge amounts of money to get it. This would certainly be a treat.
And it would go perfectly with the homemade lasagna, fresh garden salad, and baguette she was making for dinner.
"Let me go start this chilling," Hinata said. She motioned to a doorway at the end of her little entryway. "There's the living room. Please, feel free to go ahead and make yourself comfortable. Do you want something to drink?"
"No, thanks. I'm fine." Sasuke headed toward the indicated doorway as Hinata went into the kitchen, dug out her ice bucket, filled it, and nestled the wine into the ice so it would chill. The timing should be just about right for when she was planning to eat.
When she got to the living room, she found Sasuke standing in front of her entertainment center, looking at all the pictures and knick-knacks sitting there. Among the photos of her with her sister and parents, her cousin, and her friends sat a figurine of a kimono-clad Japanese woman holding two fans, a small opaque glass slipper, four nesting dolls, and a selection of seashells.
"Florida?" Sasuke queried, pointing to the shells.
"California, actually. Tenten and I went to the beach for spring break our sophmore year of college. We had such a great time, especially since we decided to avoid the usual spring break destination and go to the opposite coast. I was halfway tempted not to come back, it was so beautiful on the beach, with the golden sand and the turquoise water. Peaceful, too." Hinata shrugged and went to retrieve the boxes her father had sent over. When she returned she went on, "But ultimately, my home is here. I do want to go back again someday, though."
Sasuke came to help her carry the boxes over to the couch, where they sat down side-by-side. Hinata borrowed his car keys to slit the tape on the first box, then opened it and dug through layer after layer of packing before she finally pulled out the first item, protected by a laquered box engraved with the ancient Hyuuga clan crest. "Here we go," she murmured satisfactorily. Cradling the delicate fan in both hands, she unfurled it to show off the exquisite cherry blossom pattern.
"This once belonged to an empress," she said proudly. She handed it over to Sasuke's careful hands, watching as he studied every inch of the beautiful fan. "She gave it to Hitomi, her handmaiden, for being the only one loyal enough to stay and nurse her back to health when she fell very ill with a highly contagious disease." In fact, the fan had only been used by the empress once, or so the story handed down through the generations with the fan went.
"Incredible. Your family has taken such great care of it - it looks like it could have been made only last year." Sasuke carefully handed it back, and Hinata gently folded it up again and set it on the coffee table. Digging through the layers of packing peanuts and bubble wrap, Hinata withdrew the next item - a sheathed katana with a gold silk braid hanging from the grip and an intricate dragon design on the sheath, detailed with jade, gold, and small rubies for the eyes. "This belonged to Hiashi - my father's namesake. He served three emperors for a span of fifty-four years. He fought many battles, saved the royal family's lives many times, and was gifted with this ceremonial sword when he finally left the emperor's service close to the end of his life." It was one of the Hyuuga family's most prized heirlooms, and Hiashi usually kept it in a glass case in the library at home, nestled in a specially-designed bed of velvet and guarded by a pressure-plate alarm.
Sasuke accepted it with just as gentle a touch as he'd used with the fan. He studied the dragon carefully, a slight smile playing across his lips as he tilted the sheath so the high-quality ruby eyes caught the light and glowed bloodred. "This is incredible. Makes the katana I have at home look puny in comparison."
"Not at all." Hinata carefully returned the katana to the box after re-rolling it in its bubble wrap. Pushing away some stray peanuts, she pulled out the pair of jade shīsā, guardian lions engraved with extraordinary detail. "These actually belonged to my great-great-grandmother. We're not sure where she got them, but she brought them to America with her when she came here after marrying her husband, who was American." As a little girl, she'd loved sitting on a cushion in front of the fireplace and staring up at the twin shīsā crouched on either end of the mantle.
After she returned the twin lions, Hinata opened the other, smaller box, and pulled out the shallow, glass-topped box holding the square of fabric from the emperor's robe. Sasuke held it for a long time, silently staring at the pattern, looking vaguely awed to be holding something so old and rare. After several long minutes, he carefully handed it back to her. "That is - really amazing."
"Yes," Hinata agreed. She set the fabric's container next to the fan in its box, then reached back into the packing and brought out the final object. Long and cylindrical, it was housed in a big dark red velvet drawstring pouch. She opened it and pulled out the kacho silk wall scroll, which she then unfurled across Sasuke's and her own knees.
Sasuke held on to the bamboo rod at the bottom and let out a breath at the beautiful design on the scroll. The flowers, birds, and water all looked real enough to touch, even to smell. The colors were slightly faded from age but still surprisingly vibrant, considering how old it was.
"This once hung on the wall of the empress's bedroom. Her highest-ranking handmaiden, my ancestor, served her for almost thirty years. When she finally gave up her position, the empress gave her this wall scroll, knowing how much Hoshi had admired it." Hinata carefully handled the bamboo rod at the top edge of the scroll, eyes lovingly taking in the scene she'd admired a hundred times as a child. Her own mother had pulled out some of her own favorite heirlooms and told the stories to Hinata several times - so many the young girl had them all memorized by the time she was ten. When she had children of her own, she would do the same thing, handing down the Hyuuga family legacy to the next generation so the fascinating old stories would not die out.
For some reason, she couldn't see Hanabi doing the same. She knew Neji and Tenten would do it with their children - who would inherit the Hyuuga name as well as the clan's legacy - but Hinata wanted her descendants to enjoy the family's rich history, too, even if their last name would be different.
Very gently, Hinata and Sasuke rolled up the scroll and returned it to its velvet pouch. Pulling the string closed again, she set it aside so she could dig out some of the packing to put back in top of it and the other fabric's case when she returned them to the box.
Her hand thumped against something as she dug out yet another handful of packing peanuts. Confused, Hinata tugged at it, wondering if her father had sent along a little something extra. Perhaps he'd been in one of his generous moods, or had thought he remembered his daughter requesting something more.
Hinata pulled out a thick, heavy leatherbound journal with slightly yellow deckled pages. She ran her hand across the cover, into which the Hyuuga clan crest had been embossed. "This is new," she murmured.
"Is that a journal of some sort?" Sasuke asked, leaning a little closer.
At any other time, the warmth of his arm against hers would have made Hinata blush. But she was so caught up in the mystery of this leather book she didn't even notice. "I do believe so," she said slowly.
"It can't be very old," Sasuke said, running the tip of his index finger against the rough edges of the pages. "If it were from your long-ago ancestors, it would be scrolls."
"Hmm," Hinata agreed distractedly. Securing the edge of the cover, she lifted it, feeling her breath rush out when she recognized the handwriting on the first page. "That's my mother's handwriting." She'd halfway expected to see Japanese kanji, but neat rows of English letters and words filled the pages she quickly flipped through.
Returning to the first page, she stared at the five words penned in her mother's finest script: The Chronicle of Hyuuga Harumi.
A memory tickled the back of her mind - her mother sitting at the large desk in the library, old, fragile-looking scrolls lying open next to her. She'd often look at them and the foreign characters there before turning back to the expensive leather-bound book in Hinata's hands, her pen busily scratching away as she murmured to herself under her breath.
Her mother had been deeply in touch with her Japenese ancestry. She both spoke and read the language, and though she'd tried to teach it to Hinata, her elder daughter hadn't possessed the same knack for the language as Hyuuga Hoshi. Hanabi was just a baby when Hoshi died, so she had never even gotten the chance to try, since Hiashi had made no effort to learn the language of his ancestors, and wasn't interested in helping his daughters do so.
"It is a journal," Hinata whispered. "I remember seeing Mother working off old, fragile scrolls. I think she was translating them into English, and then writing them down in this book." She flipped through the pages, catching a word or phrase here and there as she scanned. The book was very thick, and when she reached the final page, she was relieved to see a neat End penned there. "It looks like it's complete." Hinata shook her head slowly, more of the memory coming back to her.
Hoshi had been working on it after Hanabi was born, and she'd spent over a year with her translating. One day she had closed the book and never gone back to it, and Hinata had wondered why. Now she knew: the translation was complete.
Hoshi had died not long after that, and Hinata figured Hiashi must have thought the journal belonged to his dead wife and packed it up in the attic. When he'd gotten down the boxes to hold the things Hinata had requested, the forgotten journal had been housed in one.
Either that, or he'd had a servant do it. Hinata doubted her father would have sent the journal over if he'd found it in the box. She knew with complete certainty she didn't plan to ask.
In fact, she didn't plan to send the journal back at all. Setting it aside, she quickly put the scroll and the fabric display case back into the box, covered it with the bubble wrap, then covered everything with the packing peanuts she'd pulled out a few minutes before. Closing the top, she pushed the box away and let out her breath on a long, shaky sigh.
Sasuke watched the proceedings with his serious dark eyes, saying nothing until Hinata looked at him again. "I presume you're not going to send that back?" He motioned to the journal.
Picking it up, Hinata hugged it to her chest and shook her head. "No. Even if Mother was just translating someone else's story, she touched this book, she wrote in this book." Her voice broke, and she had to clear her throat twice before she could speak again. "I miss her so much, and I don't have that many things of hers. It might be selfish of me, but at least for now, I'm going to keep this. I'm going to read it, and find out what about it made it so interesting to my mother." She smoothed her hand along the back cover, a small, wistful smile curling her lips. "Besides, I think my mother always intended for me to read it, anyway. Why else would she go to so much trouble of translating it into English, when she spoke and read Japanese so well and could just tell me the story herself?" Hinata liked the thought of her mother going to so much effort so Hinata could experience some of the joy of reading the story, even if it wasn't in its original language. It made her feel closer somehow.
Turning slightly, Sasuke glanced toward the doorway. "Do you want me to leave so you can read it now?" His voice and expression were gentle, understanding, and Hinata appreciated it - him - so much in that moment.
"No." Stroking the cover one final time, Hinata set the book on the end table and shook her head. "I'll read it later. I invited you over for a meal this afternoon, and I intend to follow through. Besides, I - I like spending time with you." It was perhaps too forward of her to say so, but it was the truth.
The warmth in Sasuke's eyes when he looked at her again, and the way the corner of his mouth turned up ever-so-slightly in the hint of a rakish grin, made her feel like she hadn't just taken a liberty - or, at least, that he appreciated it if she had. "I like spending time with you, too."
*~To Be Continued~*
Author's Ending Notes: I actually like Hanabi in this story. I've got so many plans for her, and I really enjoyed writing her scenes - especially the one at the beginning of this chapter. She thinks she's got big sis all figured out... Anyway, a lot of the inspiration for the items Hinata showed Sasuke in this chapter (particularly the fabric from the emperor's robe) is from the mother of my own mom's best friend in college. She's got some beautiful heirlooms from Japan, and I've had the honor of seeing a few of them. So I drew a lot of inspiration of that part from her own things. I loved writing this first half of the SasuHina Sunday Date, and I hope to see you again next week for part 2! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!
Q & A: One reviewer asked what state Sasuke and Hinata live in, since I'd mentioned previously that Itachi and Temari live in Florida. This prompted me to remember - I hadn't actually mentioned that before, though it will come up later in the story! They live in the fictional town of Konoha (somewhere close to the real town of Pleasant Hill), Missouri. They're just to the east of what's typically thought of as Tornado Alley (which always includes central Texas, Oklahoma, central Kansas and Nebraska, and the eastern part of South Dakota; on a particularly active year, it can also spread east to encompass Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and western Ohio). That's why, a few chapters ago, a possible tornado-producing storm came through the town, though it didn't actually produce a twister. I hope that answered your question, and thanks for asking!