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

Special Thanks: goes out to Sachiko Heiwajima, Tamani, DivineGlory, mangetsu no hime, Break Blade, Dani Stark, new, Sahel, Kibachow, ArtisticAngel6, and Marda for all your wonderful reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this story to their faves and follows lists!

Author's Note: And we've reached the second half of the date! I'm really excited for this one, and I think you all will like it. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

*~Chapter XXIII~*

~Recall~

The scents of fresh bread, spices, cheese, and rich tomato sauce blended into a single heavenly fragrance as Sasuke followed Hinata into the kitchen. He subtly inhaled, trying to remember how long it had been since he'd had homemade lasagna. Whenever he did indulge, usually it came from a box.

Hinata opened the oven door, releasing even stronger smells into the room. Sasuke propped his shoulder against the fridge, closing his eyes as he took in another deep breath. How come the things he cooked never smelled so good?

The oven door closed. Sasuke opened his eyes to find Hinata headed around the island toward the cabinet next to the sink. "Almost ready," she said with a smile. "As soon as I get the table set, it should be good to go."

Sasuke took the plates, bowls, and silverware from Hinata when she got them out. "I'll set the table." He ignored Hinata's halfhearted protest and moved over to the dining room, just on the other side of the bar-style kitchen counter separating the two rooms. He listened to the sound of the beautiful librarian finishing up the food as he carefully set the table. It brought back memories from his childhood, when he started setting the table as soon as he was old enough to reach the tabletop. Itachi was usually in charge of drinks, though they occasionally switched.

The ice bucket and two wine glasses were perched on the counter when he turned around. Sasuke carried them to the table as Hinata followed with a big salad bowl resplendant with fresh greens, onions, carrots, cheese, and tomatoes. Lots of tomatoes. Beside the bowl she set a capped fluted glass bottle of what looked like homemade vinagrette dressing. Next came the bowl of bread, wrapped in a towel to keep it warm. Hinata handed Sasuke the bottle opener so he could pop the cork on the wine as she went back to the kitchen to retrieve the lasagna.

With a very satisfying pop!, the cork came off just as Hinata set the glass dish on the wrought iron trivets waiting for it on the table. Fragrant steam rolled off the cheese-laden top of the pasta dish, tempting Sasuke to sway a little closer as he poured wine into first Hinata's glass, then his own.

"Everything looks - and smells - delicious," Sasuke told Hinata as she set down a small bowl next to his plate. At his inquiring look, she explained, "It's a mixture of olive oil and freshly ground black pepper, to dip your bread into. It's really good."

She unwrapped the bread as Sasuke cut generous portions of the lasagna and placed a piece on Hinata's plate, then his own. She reciprocated by filling his salad bowl, then her own. They sat down and both inhaled at the same time, taking a moment to enjoy the scent and look of the food before they started eating.

Sasuke's first bite of lasagna hit his tongue in a hot rush of rich meaty sauce, gooey cheese, and perfectly tender pasta. It put to shame all the box lasagna he'd eaten. To be honest, he wasn't sure he'd ever tasted anything so good in his entire life.

"I'm your slave for life," Sasuke told Hinata as soon as he emptied his mouth. At her startled look over her fork, suspended halfway bewteen her plate and mouth in shock, he elaborated. "This is the best lasagna I've ever tasted. I'm a huge fan of Italian food, on account of all the tomatoes. I think this is even better than what Kushina makes down at The Yellow Flash for Italian night."

Bright red suffused Hinata's face, and she slowly set down her fork. "Thank you," she whispered. "I just-" she hesitated, then smiled and continued, "I'm glad you like it so much."

The wine Sasuke had contributed was the perfect complement to the meal; which amused him, since he'd had no idea what the planned menu was when he selected it. Hinata had asked him what his favorite food was - "anything with lots of tomatoes" - and he'd brought along a bottle of his favorite wine. It went with just about anything, in his experience, so he felt relatively safe.

Halfway through the meal, Sasuke finally built up the courage to ask the question which had been nagging at him almost from the moment he met her. "Forgive me if this seems too personal a question, Hinata," he began. "But it's been driving me crazy, and I have to know. What's with the tattoo? No offense, but you don't strike me as the type to get one, even if it is one like a sunflower."

Hinata visibly swallowed her most recent mouthful of wine and very carefully lowered her glass back to the tabletop. Staring down at the contents of her plate, she squirmed a little in her seat as pale pink brushed across her cheekbones. "I was afraid you'd noticed that," she muttered to her lasagna.

"I've been debating with myself whether I should ask or not," Sasuke admitted. "But I couldn't take the curiosity anymore, so I asked. You can answer or not: I don't want to pressure you into doing so if you don't want to."

"No, it's all right. I understand your curiosity." Leaning back in her chair, Hinata sighed. "Before I tell you anything, though, I must ask for your discretion in this matter. Only four people - including you, now - know I have this tattoo. You, me, Tenten, and Neji. Not even my sister knows. I'd really rather she not find out. And I definitely don't want my father to know."

So Hinata was a bit of a rebel. Interesting, and definitely unexpected. He quirked his lips. "It's not like I have a vast circle of friends to gossip with. I'm the town recluse, remember? I won't breathe a word of it," he promised.

She smiled a tiny smile, but didn't say anything else at first. "My mother," Hinata finally began after a few moments of silent contemplation, "named me Hinata, which is the Japanese name of her favorite flower - the sunflower. The garden at my father's house is still full of them, though he never ventures back to that part of the estate. Anyway, whenever I think about my mother, I think about sunflowers. It's the way it's always been.

"When I was twenty-one, I moved out of my father's house and co-bought this condo with Tenten. One day the two of us were just kind of joking around, and Tenten suggested we should get tattoos. She'd always wanted one of a dragon, and she begged me to go with her and get one myself. 'Just a little one,' she said. 'Doesn't have to be anything fancy, and doesn't have to be on your arm or anything like that.'" Hinata shook her head with a slight smile. "I'm still not sure why I did it. Maybe, somewhere deep down inside myself, I wanted to do something rebellious, even if only quietly. So I went with Tenten, and I got my tattoo."

After pausing to take a sip of her wine, Hinata cleared her throat and went on. "It wasn't a hard decision for me to make. When my turn came, I instantly said, 'I want a sunflower,' and asked the artist to put it on my ankle. This way it could be sort of a private thing, visible but still easy to hide, and I could have the memory of my mother with me always."

Sasuke felt his stomach clench when a sad expression overtook Hinata's contemplative one. He took a quick sip of his wine, feeling the atmosphere shift, turn slightly darker, heavier. The rest of the story Hinata had to tell was, clearly, not going to be a happy one.

Tracing her finger along the edge of the table, she said, "When Hanabi was still very young - barely two - our mother went across town for lunch with a friend. While she was gone, severe weather moved into the area." She swallowed hard, her fingers suddenly clamping down on the edge of the table until her knuckles glowed bone white. "Mother tried to drive home and beat the storm, but - but the tornado struck too fast."

Hinata blinked her big pale lavender eyes quickly, but it didn't stop a single tear from streaking down her right cheek. "They found her car almost to the next town over. She - she was still in the driver's seat."

His mind flashed back to the storm the week before (had it only been a week?), when she'd panicked while on the phone with him when there was a possibility of a tornado. No wonder she'd reacted the way she did, going beyond the usual healthy wariness of them into full-out fear.

Pushing back his chair, Sasuke went to kneel next to her, resting his arm along the back of his chair and placing his opposite hand over one of hers, still clenching the table's edge. "I'm sorry," he said very low. The words weren't enough to convey how sorry he felt: both for what had happened to her mother, and for his own insensitivity in dredging the subject and its emotions up again, even inadvertantly.

She shook her head. "It's all right," she told him softly. "You didn't know, and I can completely understand why you were so curious. It's been so many years, but sometimes I feel like it just happened yesterday. Especially when there are storms in the area..." She trailed off.

Without consciously making the decision, Sasuke began to stroke Hinata's long, silky hair. It smoothly parted around his fingers, flowing almost like water across his calloused skin. "I remember that storm." He wasn't sure why he'd brought the subject up. The words had just ... escaped. "I live on the other side of town, of course. Mom had been out. Father had one of his rare days off, so it was just me, Itachi, and Father when the warning was called. We were headed down to the basement when Mom came running in the door, just as the tornado hit the other end of Konoha." He shook his head, still remembering the wild panic in his mother's usually bright eyes, sparkling with humor and a slight hint of mischief. "I'll never forget that sound..." A distant roar, like a freight train barreling through the town; something he'd never heard before and to this day prayed he'd never hear again.

Her eyes locked onto his, full of concern. "Were you all okay?"

It amazed him, her feeling that way about his family when she'd lost so much that day. It showed how truly selfless she was, to put aside her own remembered grief to tiptoe toward the possibility of having to share his own. Despite the pang of guilt he felt, however, part of him was glad to put her mind at ease on this subject. "The house took some hail and wind damage. I think the roof took the worst of it. But no, we were all fine." They'd all suffered from nightmares for a while, though - even his father. Fugaku had scolded Mikoto soundly for trying to beat the storm home. But right after he pulled her into a tight hug and just held on to her for a while, his face pressed to the top of her head. It was the only time Sasuke ever remembered seeing his father initiate any sort of contact with his wife. Usually Mikoto reached for Fugaku, or leaned over to kiss him when he sat at the table, or in his chair.

"Good." Hinata let out her breath. "I never saw the storm, of course. As soon as the warning was issued, Father got me and Neji out of our rooms and hurried us down to the basement, carrying Hanabi - who, of course, had no idea what was going on - in his arms. There were only a few servants working that day, and they came, too. Kakashi, too, our chauffeur. Father went to the phone and kept trying to call Mother, but she didn't answer. Cook held Hanabi while Kakashi grabbed me and Neji and threw a blanket over all three of us. He kept telling us we were having a kind of camping trip without leaving home, trying to help make a horrible situation better for two terrified kids. I've never forgotten that, and even to this day, I'm thankful he did everything he could. It helps ease the pain, a little, to have a good memory to cling to among all the bad."

Sasuke stroked his fingers through Hinata's hair again, watching her profile. What part of her face he could see went from pained, to resigned, then smoothed out into something almost peaceful. When she looked down at him again, she smiled. "Thank you, Sasuke."

"For what?" He was, after all, the one who brought up such a sore subject. Why was she thanking him? She should be pouring the rest of the wine right over his stupid head.

"Listening." Twisting her hand beneath his, Hinata squeezed his fingers and then withdrew. Reluctantly taking the hint, Sasuke returned to his chair and picked up his fork to finish his lasagna. Even nearly cold, it was still good.

"That's enough about me," Hinata said brightly. With clear eyes, she looked at him and smiled teasingly. "What about you, Sasuke? Any tattoos you keep hidden?"

Smiling crookedly, Sasuke shook his head. "No, no tattoos," he admitted. Taking a sip of wine, he swirled it around in his mouth a moment to savor the different flavors before swallowing it and setting down his glass. "It is, though, something I'm considering. I can't let the little librarian outdo the big, bad horror novelist, now can I?"

"You'll get a skull and double-crossbones, no doubt," Hinata guessed dryly. But he saw the smile she tried to hide behind another bite of her bread.

"I was actually thinking something more along the lines of barbed wire." Sasuke found it shocking, how easy bantering with Hinata felt. He'd spent so long trying to avoid contact with most people - other than Jiraiya on the phone, and occasionally Naruto and Shikamaru in person - that enjoying being around someone so much was a very pleasant surprise. Not that he planned to go out and be in a parade through town tomorrow or anything, but perhaps he'd leave his house a little more often.

They shared a chuckle, and Hinata leaned back in her chair. "There's dessert, too," she said. "I don't know if you're too full now or not. If you are, it'll keep."

"I'm a little full," Sasuke admitted. Though true, he was also trying to avoid dessert (nicely). He didn't quite know how to break it to her that he hated sweets, because Hinata seemed like the kind of person who adored them. "Tell you what. I'll help you do the dishes. That might make things settle a bit, make more room."

Hinata laughed and shook her head while she got to her feet. "You can help, but I don't know how much it will help things settle. I've got a dishwasher, and am quite happy to let it do all the work."

"I'll help you load it, then." But when they got all the dishes into the kitchen, Sasuke neatly slid between the dishwasher and Hinata, and got busy loading it. Over the years he'd become an expert at loading his own; he didn't want to do dishes by hand, and besides, who else was there to do it? Ninja was lacking opposable thumbs, though he happily "helped" by prewashing some of the dirtier dishes with his tongue. But only occasionally did that happen, and only with his master's permission.

She tugged at his sleeve ineffectually, trying to move him out of the way, but Sasuke mulishly planted his feet and refused to move. Finally, she gave up with a little huff of annoyance and went to stand by the counter, mostly-empty glass of wine still in hand. "Thank you," she said, genuine gratitude shining on her face.

"You're welcome." Sasuke drained his own wine glass before tucking it on the top shelf alongside several glass measuring cups, undoubtedly used for the lasagna and the homemade vinagrette. "Now then, where were we in our conversation?"

"Tattoos," Hinata reminded him with a smile. "You were going to go out and get a barbed wire one, since you couldn't let me outdo you."

"Right." Sasuke wouldn't be caught dead with a barbed wire tattoo - or a skull and crossbones one, either, for that matter - but the idea of getting one wasn't repulsive. Maybe the Uchiha clan crest, the fan and flames, on his shoulder... "I'll have to make a note to go get that done tomorrow. Do you want to come with me and get another one? Perhaps a heart on your other ankle, or a fleur-de-lis on the back of your neck?"

"No thank you." Hinata held up her free hand and shook her head. "One is plenty. Besides, it really hurt. I'm not anxious to repeat the experience now, or any time soon for that matter."

They chatted casually for a few minutes then, about books (they really did have the same taste, at least when it came to the classics), movies, and even their preferences in pets. Finally, the subject circled around to schools.

"I don't remember ever seeing you there, and we should've been in the same class," Hinata said. She handed him her empty glass, and Sasuke slid the top rack out again so he could put it next to his own in the slot he'd left for it. "Did you go to private school, or...?" She allowed the sentence to trail off inquiringly.

"No. I was homeschooled, pre-kindergarten through my senior year in high school." Sasuke hesitated with a big bowl halfway to the bottom rack, then shook his head. "Okay, that's not entirely true. I did do pre-k and kindergarten at home, but then my father said I needed to follow in my brother's footsteps and go to public school." He still remembered the day his parents had sat him down and told him he'd been enrolled at Konoha's grade school, the same one his brother had attended his entire academic career thus far, though he'd started out the same way as Sasuke. Mikoto had wanted to give her sons a little extra jump before enrolling them in public school; though she'd considered letting Sasuke continue homeschooling through at least first through eighth grades, Fugaku had soundly disagreed.

"Did you go to a private school, then?" Hinata tilted her head to the side, a thoughtful expression on her face. As if she were trying to pull out a memory of seeing him in the halls of her own school.

"No. I went to Konoha's grade school, same as my brother before me." Sasuke closed the dishwasher door, started the machine, then leaned against the counter next to it, across the room from Hinata, and sighed. "I didn't want to go, and Mom wanted to let me stay at home. But Father insisted. He said I needed to get out, make some friends, get over my shyness. My 'backwardness,' as he called it."

Hinata tactfully didn't voice the thought hanging heavily between them: obviously that hadn't happened.

Sasuke tried to keep the memories threatening to overwhelm him distant and impersonal. "I tried to pretend to be sick the first day of first grade. Wasn't that hard, since I was so scared I actually was sick to my stomach. But Mom and Father still took me. Itachi stuck with me as long as he could, but he was several grades above me and eventually had to go." Which left Sasuke feeling alone in a building full of other kids, both his age and much older. He'd been through orientation, but that was with his parents. This was completely different. This time, he was on his own.

"I made it through my first two subjects, all the way to recess." The memories fought to resurface, to take control, still as fresh and ugly as they had been when it happened. "Our teacher released us out onto the playground with several other classes. But with only three teachers and a couple of aides, there wasn't nearly enough supervision."

Something akin to horrified suspicion crossed Hinata's face, but she didn't say anything.

"Several other kids - not necessarily older than me, but definitely bigger - cornered me. They made fun of me, because I was staying separate from the others. And because - because..." Sasuke trailed off. He hadn't spoken of this in years. Hadn't even thought about this in years. But Hinata needed to know. Besides, she wasn't meanspirited or vindictive like those playground bullies. She wouldn't look down on him, or make fun of him.

Pushing away from the counter, Sasuke went around the center island and stopped in front of Hinata. "Give me your hands," he requested.

Her forehead wrinkled with obvious confusion. "Why?"

"Please trust me," he said, with as much of a winsome smile as he could manage. "I promise, I don't bite."

Still eyeing him with slight suspicion, Hinata placed her hands in his upturned ones he held out between them. Lifting the small, warm appendages to his face, he guided her fingers under the wings of hair hanging on either side of his face, then behind his ears, where two narrow scars resided. "Feel those?" he asked softly.

Forehead wrinkling further, Hinata nodded slightly. "Are those scars?" she asked.

"Yes." Sasuke let go of her hands and smoothed his palms down her forearms, fingertips brushing across the goosebumps he felt forming on her bare skin. "When I was born, I had a medical condition which gave me protruding ears. I've since had surgery to correct them, but I hadn't had it yet when I went to school for that one day." His first and last. His mother had picked him up and firmly told Fugaku she would not send him back. She homeschooled him until her death, and then Itachi basically took over for the rest of high school. "I attended one year of college on-campus, then completed my degree via long-distance learning."

"Children can be very cruel." Hinata's words held the weight of intimate knowledge, but Sasuke didn't push her for details. He'd already dredged up enough pain in this woman's life today. There was no need to stir up any more. "I'm sorry that happened."

Sasuke shook his head. "I still remember, but it's not as painful now as it was. But I've always been shy, and self-conscious about my ears. Even after I had the corrective surgery, I still couldn't shake my insecurities, my fears. My imagination has always been bigger than the world around me, which is part of why those kids were bullying me. I look at the world and see possible characters, stories, settings for novels - even back then. I suppose I still carry a lot of that with me, though I'm not the same scared kid I was back then." Though, in a way, that was a lie. He still didn't like being around people, and still wondered what they thought when they looked at him. Part of him still felt deeply afraid they'd look at him and see the same weird, big-eared target he'd been as a young child. He knew it wasn't true, but it was hard to convince himself of that.

Hinata ran her gentle fingertips along the shell of his ear, a small, wistful smile on her face. "Even as a child," she whispered, "I'll bet you were a heartbreaker."

Sasuke's breath stalled in his chest at her unexpected words. He had never considered such things before. His brother had been popular, being handsome and athletic and smart. He'd had girls flocking all over him even in grade school. But Sasuke had never stopped to think about whether or not he was attractive, too, even when people commented on how much he and Itachi looked alike. The fact Hinata, who was beautiful and bright, funny and intelligent, as well as the kind of woman he considered, just maybe, he could spend the rest of his life with, thought he was attractive - even back then, when she didn't know him...

It was a surprisingly heady feeling. Warmth pooled in his chest, and he felt his breathing hitch when it resumed.

He'd never been kissed, or kissed anyone, or even considered it past the point of any romantic link his characters had to each other. What would it be like to experience it himself - and with Hinata?

She hastily took her hands away from his ears. A blush slowly bloomed across her cheekbones, spreading back toward her ears and down toward her jaws. "Dessert," she said shakily, her voice surprisingly hoarse. "We should eat dessert."

Sasuke silently argued with himself about how wise it would be to kiss Hinata versus how stupid it might be as he replied, in an equally low and gravelly voice, "And what would that be?"

She licked her peach-colored lips, and Sasuke nearly lost it. But before he could swoop in, she said in a rush, "Dark chocolate soufflé with a black cherry on top," she half-whispered.

It sounded, surprisingly, like something he might like. The dark chocolate would keep it from being too sweet, and he actually liked the taste of cherries. But Sasuke wanted something more than the soufflé. He wanted a completely different kind of dessert: something sweet, and delectable, and staring up at him with mingled hope and nervousness in her eyes.

"I've got a better idea," he whispered. Placing his hands against the counter on either side of her waist so she couldn't slip away, he tilted his head down and finally, finally, tasted those peach lips.

And they were positively decadent.

*~To Be Continued~*

Author's Ending Notes: I've been looking forward to this chapter so much, because I really got to dive in and explore both Sasuke's and Hinata's backstories. I've touched on a few things before, but nothing close to this extent. In some ways, it made it a hard chapter to write; but I knew it would all come together to that kiss at the end, so I also had fun writing it for that reason. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, thanks for reading it, and I hope to see you all again for next week's update!