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

Special Thanks: goes out to pheecat, MuffinMan9223, Break Blade, lilshadow lover, Sachiko Heiwajima, bellarkemixtape, mangetsu no hime, DivineGlory, revelatum, Danish78, xlyphiechanx, misao97, Tamani, Sahel, WarFlower, NeverInUrWildestDreams, and Melanieciel for all your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this story to their favorites and follows lists!

Author's Note: And finally, the long-awaited second date! All sorts of juicy things are in store for this chapter, so I'll let you all get to it. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

*~Chapter XXVII~*

~Proposition~

Hinata was beginning to think she could drive the route between her house and Sasuke's in her sleep. Not that she'd really driven to his house so many times; it was more like each of the few times she'd gone had been very memorable.

Sasuke opened the front door of the house as she climbed out of her car. At his side, Ninja wagged his tail enthusiastically and stared at her with his usual "Got treats?" expression. As she came through the door, she palmed him a doggie biscuit out of the bag she'd bought to keep in her car for just such an occasion. "Hello, Sasuke," she greeted him, feeling shy. It was the first time she'd seen him since he'd kissed her on Sunday. Though she'd relived them a hundred times since then, she wasn't sure how he felt about them.

His smile holding a shy edge, Sasuke returned her greeting. Then, "I hope you like grilled salmon?" Though his expression was mostly relaxed, there was a hint of hope in his eyes, like he was praying she wouldn't say I hate it.

"I love it," Hinata said honestly. Ninja followed her with his nose practically glued to her hand as she followed Sasuke deeper into the house. "Besides cinnamon rolls, I think it very well might be my favorite food."

They moved quickly through the sitting room, and Sasuke opened the door to the back deck so she could go outside ahead of him. He stepped out after her, then gave Ninja permission to come out, too. The big shepherd shot across the deck in a blur of black, jumped the back steps entirely, and romped off toward the middle of the yard. Once there, he ducked his head, picked up something, and charged back to the deck, where he proudly presented Hinata with a raggedy-looking rope toy.

"Tug is his favorite game," Sasuke told her as he checked the temperature on his shiny silver gas grill. Though it looked clean and brand-new, Hinata suspected he used it a lot. And with the skill he had of making food on it which tasted so good, she was glad of it. "You can tell him 'no' in a firm voice if you don't want to play."

"That's all right." Hinata leaned down and accepted the other end of the rope, laughing in surprise as Ninja gave his own a sharp tug with a playful little growl. "You're a strong boy!" she declared. "Looks like I've got my work cut out for me."

Propping his hip on the wooden railing next to the grill, Sasuke grinned as he watched the pair of them. "He beats me often as not," the author admitted. "He doesn't mess around at all when it comes to tug."

Ninja shook his head hard, the sheer force of it rattling up Hinata's arm, through her shoulder, and into her head. Grasping onto the rope with both hands, she put her full weight into pulling on it as her opponent reared back on his haunches, continuing to growl softly as he tugged her across the deck toward the stairs. It felt a little bit like she was gliding, since she had been standing on the rug and it was sliding across the deck with her feet firmly planted on it.

"You look like a genie or something," Sasuke told her with a laugh. "A genie on a magic carpet who can't get liftoff."

Hinata playfully bobbed her head and blinked her eyes in imitation of a famous blonde genie from an old sixties sitcom. "I think I might get liftoff here in a minute," she grunted. "Ninja's going to pull me right off the deck!" A yelp escaped her control, and then she couldn't help but laugh again.

"Or maybe a surfer," Sasuke added musingly as he opened the lid of the grill and reached for the package of salmon sitting in the cooler next to it. "You kind of look like a surfer with that stance."

She ruined it by stepping off the rug and onto the top step, then following Ninja as he backed down the steps. Though he steadily dragged her forwards, she was determined not to let go unless she absolutely could not hold on any longer. "I think this is my workout for this week," she panted. She liked to do yoga, and when Tenten had still lived in the condo some martial arts, so she didn't really think of herself as out of shape. But Ninja was really putting her through the wringer, and this was just the first game!

The salmon sizzled as it met the hot grill, and both she and the dog paused to savor the sound. "I'm hungry already!" Hinata called to Sasuke as the dog impatiently renewed the game.

"Good! It won't take too long for the salmon to grill, so hurry up and win that game!" Though Sasuke had to stay right next to the meat so it wouldn't overcook, he cheered on Hinata as if he were her own personal fan club. She found it really quite flattering.

Suddenly the author lurched forward. "Watch out for the land mine!" he shouted, brandishing the spatula in his hand as if it were a sword.

Letting out a gasp, Hinata released the rope and jumped backwards, narrowly missing evidence of Ninja's call of nature as the dog happily trotted off, prize still clamped in his jaws. "Wow, that was close!" Gripping her skirt off the ground with one hand, Hinata scurried back to the deck on her bare feet and joined Sasuke next to the grill. "Thanks for the warning. I was so caught up in the game, I forgot to watch where I was going."

Sasuke flipped the salmon with two expert twists of his wrist. "I've stepped in it enough times to have learned my lesson. I could see Ninja pulling you right toward it, and figured you'd really rather not follow my rather unfortunate example."

Hinata swayed a little toward the grill and the mouth-watering smoke rising from its contents. She noticed at some point he'd added some sort of potatoes to the grill. "That smells wonderful."

"Won't be much longer," Sasuke told her. "I put a big bowl of salad in the fridge earlier. Would you mind going to get it? The bottle of dressing is sitting right next to it."

"No problem." Hinata slipped into the house, wiping her feet on the rug just inside the door before going to the kitchen. She saw the bowl as soon as she opened the refrigerator, and grabbed both it and the fluted glass bottle of dressing sitting next to it. Cradling the bowl to her stomach, she carried the bottle in her free hand as she made her way back to the deck.

"This looks great," she said as she set down the bowl next to the two place settings at the table. "What is it?"

"Baby spinach salad," Sasuke said. "There'll also be grilled asparagus with melted butter and grilled quartered red potatoes. I also made a mango salsa to put atop the salmon."

"Sounds like you intend to feed an army," Hinata said with a laugh. Ninja trotted up to the steps and planted his front paws on the second one up, his intelligent dark eyes watching her intently. She had a feeling he was hoping she'd drop something - anything - for him to snatch up.

It was hard to ignore those pleading big brown eyes, but she made herself do it. "Anything else I can do?" she queried.

"Grab a drink," Sasuke said, tilting his head toward the cooler. "And then have a seat. The salmon's ready to come off the grill."

They sat down to a spread which looked like it could have come from a five-star restaurant. And, when Hinata took the first bite, she admitted quietly to herself it tasted that way, too.

"Perhaps you missed your calling," Hinata said with a smile as she reached for her bottle of tea. "You could have been a chef at a restaurant where you have to pay three figures just to walk through the door."

A strange expression crossed his face briefly; then vanished as if blown away by the warm summer breeze. "I'll hold it in reserve," he said dryly. "But things are ticking along quite well on my new book, so forgive me if I'm not in a huge hurry to abandon my pen - or, in this case, keyboard."

"Speaking of your new book..." Hinata looked down at her food, which sent fragrant tendrils of steam up into her face. She hoped he would think the pink hue overtaking her face was a product of the steam instead of her rapidly-growing embarassment. "I - I guess it's not directly related to your new book, but..." If she kept tripping over her own tongue like this, she was never going to get around to her point. As a matter of fact, she wasn't even sure she wanted to get to her point. Curse her little sister!

Sasuke looked up from his own plate, fork speared through a perfectly grilled potato quarter. "Yes?" he queried. "Do you - do you want to read it?" He sounded so hopeful.

"Ah..." And just how was she supposed to answer that? He was wanting a yes, she could tell, but she wasn't ready to go quite that far yet. "It's actually about your m-movie."

His eyebrows shot toward his hairline. "Head Shot? The one premiering in New York next month?"

"Ah - no. No, not that one." Hinata ran a nervous finger along the edge of the table as she felt Ninja's head come to rest on her knee beneath the table. Either he sensed her discomfort, or wanted food. Probably the latter, but perhaps both. "I'm talking about Metronome."

"I see." Sasuke very carefully laid down his fork, the tines still speared through his uneaten potato. "What about it, exactly?" He looked at her warily, almost anxiously.

"The other night, when Hanabi wanted me to watch a movie with her after we talked? Well, she didn't tell me what it was, and I didn't know until it was over, but-" she drew in a deep, fortifying breath "-but it was Metronome."

Sasuke blinked once, twice, but said nothing. He looked tense, like he wasn't sure whether to smile or frown. His gaze begged her to tell him what she honestly thought of it - but only if it were positive.

"I actually kind of, well, liked it." There, she'd said it. The six words she'd never thought she'd say about somthing thought up by Uchiha Sasuke.

The hope in his eyes blazed into something akin to shy pleasure. "Really? You enjoyed it?"

"Despite myself, yes, I find I did." Hinata inched her left hand across her lap to scratch behind Ninja's ears, a nervous gesture. "I especially liked Kuon. He was a very strong hero. Confident without being overbearing, but with enough mistakes and pain in his life to keep him from being too perfect. Setsu was a very good heroine as well, with the clairvoyance she was trying to hide and deny she had. And Tasuku-" she tilted her head slightly "-he seemed somehow familiar. Both him and Kuon."

Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck. "One thing about writers," he admitted. "We tend to draw from life experience often as not. It tends to add a touch of authenticity, shall we say, to our stories."

"I've heard that, a time or two. But this is the first time I think I've ever believed it." Hinata looked down at her plate again, wanting to get back to her food but knowing she needed to say something else before she did. "If I were to read one of your books," she ventured, "which one would you recommend I start with?"

This is your chance, Uchiha! Don't blow it!

Swallowing back his sudden case of nerves, Sasuke stared down at the half-eaten contents of his plate as he debated how to answer. Now she'd tested the waters, as it were, he didn't want to scare her off. "What, exactly," he asked, relieved when his voice came out calm and even, "did you like about Metronome? So I know how to go about recommending another," he hurried to add. The last thing Sasuke wanted was for Hinata to think he was fishing for compliments.

"I liked how everything tied together in the end," Hinata began. "And the characters were very real, easy to relate to. And it wasn't just about making me jump, or a kill-a-minute, or the typical blood and guts. There was more to the story. It had substance, instead of mindless, pointless violence the whole way through."

And in that assessment, Hinata got the crux of it. Sasuke always found himself feeling faintly ill at the end of most horror novels and movies - either that, or he laughed because of how much they were (as Hinata had so aptly put it) filled with mindless, pointless violence. When he began to write what he did, Sasuke knew he wanted his stories to have a great purpose. He wanted there to be a visible struggle between good and evil, light and dark, the heroes and the villians. He wanted people to love his heroes and hate his villians, and thus far, it seemed like he'd succeeded.

Until Checkmate, the book which would forever haunt him even if it never did see the light of day (or, in this case, the harsh florescent lighting of a book store's interior).

"While I'm really glad you liked Metronome, and that you want to read one of my books, may I make another suggestion?" Perhaps Sasuke was moving too fast, but this seemed as good a time as any to approach the subject of the New York trip. The longer he waited, the more likely he was to chicken out, so the sooner he got it out in the open, the better state of mind he'd be in for the book signing in just a few hours.

A wariness crept into Hinata's pearlescent eyes, but she tilted her head and asked, "What would that be?"

"Well, you remember the second movie based on a book of mine, Head Shot, premieres in New York City next month, right?" At Hinata's nod, Sasuke realized he'd already said that earlier. Oh well, too late to keep himself from looking like an idiot now. "Well, Jiraiya's really been pressuring me to go. He's already got everything arranged, so all I have to do is show up. I'll drive cross-country from here to New York, stay for a few days, attend the premiere, and then drive back home."

"That's a long way to drive." Concern replaced the wariness in Hinata's gaze, and she looked quickly down at her own plate. "I'll miss you while you're gone."

Hope bubbled up into his chest. If she would miss him, maybe, just maybe, she would agree to go with him... "Have you ever been to New York before?" he asked, striving to keep his tone casual.

"No. The farthest east I've been is Chicago, and Father did take me on a business trip to San Fransisco once. And spring break to the California coast with Tenten, of course. But no, I've never been to New York." If Sasuke wasn't too mistaken, a touch of wistfulness touched her voice.

The prospects looked better and better. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on the table, stared at her until she shyly looked up at him, and said, "How'd you like to come to New York and attend the premiere with me?" He hesitated for just a moment before delivering the kicker, the possible deal breaker, the part of the plan which very well might send her screaming into the night. "As - as my date?"

Hinata's mouth and eyes widened in perfect sync. For a moment she stared across the table at him with an expression trapped somewhere between disbelief and what he thought might be sheer horror. Sasuke wondered what was going through her mind as he debated reaching across the table to close her mouth so a fly wouldn't zip in. But if he did that, she might really scream and run, so he kept his thoughts - and his hands - to himself.

"New York?" Hinata blinked and shook her head slowly, almost dazedly. "Home of Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and the Statue of Liberty?" She pressed her palm against her forehead and let out a shaky breath. "Wow. New York. The Empire State building. Times Square. And - and your movie premiere." She lowered her hand slowly and pinned him with her strange, captivating eyes. "Are you sure you want me to come?"

"There is no one else I'd rather have at my side," Sasuke told her honestly. With her, he could make it through the crowd, past the people screaming his name, and the flashing cameras, and the reporters. "We'll stay a few days. I'll take you shopping at some of the most famous stores in the world, I'll take you to a show on Broadway, we'll eat at some of the best restaurants the city has to offer, and we'll go to the premiere in a limo."

Hinata pressed the tips of her fingers against her mouth, half-giggling as she shook her head. "New York," she breathed. A little bit of her former dazed expression lingered in her eyes. "Wow." Her gaze cleared, and she sat up a little straighter and lowered her hand. "I could help you drive," she said.

"Yes," he admitted. "But that's not the reason I asked you to go."

"I know." Hinata peeked under the table, and Sasuke felt Ninja's tail thump against his knees a few times. Apparently his dog was picking up on the excitement in the air. "What about Ninja?"

"I'll take him with me. Jiraiya secured me a penthouse suite, so there's plenty of room. He e-mailed me the details Monday, and you should see the pictures. It features a great view of the Empire State Building, two bedrooms, a kitchenette, a massive sitting room, fully-stocked bar, and a private elevator." It looked like a miniature house perched on top of a hotel. Sasuke was more than comfortably well-off financially, but even he cringed to think what the price tag for such a suite was. Thankfully, the studio producing and distributing the movie wanted Sasuke to come to the premiere so much, they paid the bill for it.

"And on the way? Are you planning to drive straight through, or...?" Hinata trailed off, arching one eyebrow.

"Definitely not. I'll stop somewhere in Indiana to spend the first night, and then probably Pennsylvania for the second. We'll get to New York on the third day. Then we'll stay five days - two before the premiere, the night of, then two days after. Then three days back, with stops in the same states again, probably, for the night." Sasuke had planned things down to the most meticulous of details, knowing Hinata would want as much information as possible. "We'll get two hotel rooms at each stop, I promise. And I'll be nothing short of the consummate gentleman."

Hinata's expression softened. "I never doubted that," she assured him. Biting her lower lip, she turned her eyes down, and her shoulders moved as if she were petting Ninja under the table. "But it's a long way, and that's a long time to be off work, and - and it's so, well, expensive." She whispered the last word.

"Money is no issue," Sasuke told her firmly. "The penthouse suite is already paid for, and please don't worry about the rest. I have plenty of money." He paused, then smiled and added, "And if you still have an issue, please consider this a gift. One to thank you for everything you've done for me."

"I haven't done anything!" Hinata protested.

"You've done more than you know." She had inspired the heroine of his newest novel, she'd treated him like he was a normal person, and above all, she'd broken him out of his solitude. "Please, Hinata. I really want you to come with me."

She visibly wavered, looking as if she were giving serious consideration to agreeing to go. He knew if she did come, everything would be perfect. If she didn't...

Well, Sasuke didn't want to think about that. Not until he absolutely had to, and if he absolutely had to at that.

"When do you need my answer?" she queried after a long, contemplative silence.

"We'd leave here Saturday, August 16," Sasuke told her. "I need to book hotel rooms in Indiana and Pennsylvania fairly soon to make sure we can secure two rooms at each stop. So I'd say probably no later than Monday, August 4." Just a few days away, but that couldn't be helped. Even that date was pushing the time schedule to its farthest reaches.

Hinata stilled, and her eyes met his across the table. She studied his face, his eyes, as if searching for some affirmation or denial she needed to make up her mind one way or the other. Then, as if she'd found it, she drew in a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, and nodded. "All right, Sasuke. I'll go with you." A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth, and her eyes brightened as she added in an awed whisper, "To New York City!"

*~To Be Continued~*

Author's Ending Notes: She's going to New York! I've been waiting so long to share this story arc with you all. Of course, the whole story is already written, but I feel the anticipation all over again that I felt back when I was just getting to write this part. I'm so excited! Also, thumbs up to everyone who caught the Skip Beat! references in the last chapter with the names of the main characters in Metronome. And the name of Kuon's brother, Tasuku, is a reference to the main male character in Dengeki Daisy (Kurosaki Tasuku), another really awesome shoujo manga (probably my favorite, actually, with Skip Beat being a close second). Thank you all so much for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope to see you all again for next week's update - Sasuke's last appearance at the library!