Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.
Special Thanks: goes out to mangetsu no hime, WarFlower, misao97, Sachiko Heiwajima, DivineGlory, xHinaLovex, Danish78, Guest, NeverInUrWildestDreams, SahelTheWaltzingDinosaur, Hanyou- Hayami, Break Blade, CrimsonNight41, Kibachow, ZukiShi, TheseFourWords, and Tamani for all your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!
Author's Note: The premiere has finally happened, but there's still several chapters left. There's one more important story arc left, one which ties into what I'll be working on next (more details about that later, I promise)... I hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!
*~Chapter XXXVII~*
~Soar~
Hinata felt like her feet didn't touch the floor for the rest of the evening. Every word of Sasuke's intensely passionate red carpet speech replayed itself over and over again in her mind all through the movie, then through the meal afterwards with the cast, director, producer, and screenwriters of the movie. She vaguely tasted the food - which was good - and spoke when someone addressed her, but she always forgot the encounter as soon as it was past.
By the time they made it back to the Waldorf-Astoria, it was almost one-thirty in the morning. They wished their bodyguards goodnight, then rode the elevator up to their penthouse suite, where Ninja greeted them with a wagging tail and one of his big chew toys dangling from his jaws.
Slipping out of her high-heeled shoes, Hinata swooped down and kissed the big shepherd on top of his head. "This has been one of the greatest nights in the history of the world," she sighed. Perhaps it was an exaggeration, but she felt like the night had been a pinnacle in her life which could never be reached again, let alone topped.
Sasuke moved across to the window overlooking the city, his hands in his pockets. For a moment he stared out at the view, then he turned to look at her with a hesitant smile. "So you - enjoyed yourself?" he queried.
"Yes!" Hinata smiled at him brilliantly, making no attempt to scale back her excitement. "Very much." Butterflies performed happy swoops and dives in her stomach, fluttering their way up to her throat. She swallowed back an uncharacteristic giggle and leaned down to pick up her shoes by their straps. "I think this very well might have been the best night of my entire life so far." She padded barefoot across the room to stand next to the author, staring down at the brightly lit city below. It still bustled, even though it was almost two o'clock in the morning.
Something brushed her free hand, and then Hinata felt Sasuke's fingers close around hers. "You know I mean what I said on the red carpet, right?"
Turning away from the city, Hinata looked up into Sasuke's serious dark eyes, which regarded her with mingled anxiety and hope. She remembered what it had been like, standing there in that private, wonderfully romantic moment with him. The crowd, and reporters, and lights and cameras had vanished, leaving the two of them in their own little world. It had been absolutely exquisite. "How could I ever doubt it?" she whispered. An echo of the same giddy lightheartedness she'd felt then stirred inside her, and she swayed a little closer to him. "I didn't say it then," she breathed, his warmth and scent surrounding her, "but I will now: I love you, too, absolutely and totally." It seemed surreal, loving him so strongly even though they'd only known each other a month. But at the same time, the rightness of it sang through her veins, beat with her heart, whispered through her mind. He was hers, she was his, and it almost felt like it had always been that way.
Their breaths mingled for a long moment before Sasuke closed the distance between them and kissed her. She vaguely felt all the muscles in her body relax; her shoes dropped from her fingers to thump on the floor. As Sasuke's strong arms closed around her waist, Hinata trailed her hands up his chest and over his shoulders, twining her fingers in his soft black hair as he deepened the kiss.
Warmth blossomed in her core, spreading through her veins and tingling in her limbs as Sasuke slowly ran his hands in a lingering caress up her back, pausing to remove and discard the wrap from around her shoulders. His palms smoothed circles across the skin thus bared, before he moved one hand to splay between her shoulder blades. With the other he teased the hair at the nape of her neck, his thumb brushing the sensitive spot just behind her ear, sending a delicious shiver down her spine. After kissing her nearly breathless, his lips left hers to trail kisses along her jawline. Breath catching in her chest, Hinata tilted her head back as he explored the column of her neck, then around to her throat...
His lips pressed lightly against the hollow of her throat, and Hinata's pulse stuttered in reaction. She felt hot, dizzy, but at the same time like she was soaring, finding new heights of happiness she never thought she'd ever experience save for in the pages of a book. Sasuke's fingertips traced a tingling line back down her spine, coming to rest at the small of her back. As his palm flattened so he could draw her even closer against him, she sighed and pressed downward ever so slightly on his head, subtly urging his lips to travel even lower. At the same time her bosom lifted, yearning to feel the heat of his kisses.
Sasuke started to nuzzle the curling fall of her hair out of the way: but suddenly he froze, his entire body going stiff against hers. Hinata shivered as his breath blew across her chest when he whispered, "You need to go to your room."
Brought back to earth with a startling thump, Hinata blinked and stuttered, "Wh-what?" Why? Everything in her cried out against the thought of separating from Sasuke, though the more cautious part of her screamed its agreement.
Sasuke slowly released her and stepped back from her, leaving her feeling cold. She glimpsed his eyes then, filled with smoldering heat which promised things a thousand times better than what she'd just experienced. But she also saw regret there, and wisdom, and recognized the necessity of those two things as he went on huskily, "I want to take you to bed, my darling, and make love to you through the rest of the night and into the morning. But I promised you I would be nothing short of a perfect gentleman to you the whole time we're on this trip. And I love you too much to break that promise." His voice trembled ever-so-slightly, and she sensed the strength of the control he was obviously exerting over himself. "So, my love, you really need to go to your room. And probably lock the door."
Hinata swallowed hard and nodded once, the buzz in her mind finally settling enough to let her think. She felt flushed and shaken, but oddly enough not as if he'd just rejected her. On the contrary, she appreciated the fact he cherished her enough to protect their virtue. "All right," she whispered, afraid to speak any louder for fear of breaking the fragile spell surrounding them. "Good night, my darling Sasuke."
"Good night, my sweetest Hinata." Though still slightly unsteady, his voice was filled with warmth which wrapped around her shoulders as palpably as a blanket.
She sensed his gaze on her back as she wove her way across the room to her bedroom door. It took a Herculean act of willpower to stop herself from turning around; they'd been tempted enough this night, no point in making it worse. She slipped into her bedroom and closed the door before turning around to lock it. Then she rested her forehead against it and let out her breath on a long sigh, reliving those wonderful, blissful moments she'd just spent in Sasuke's arms. He loves me.
Uchiha Sasuke loves me.
Her dreams would certainly be sweet this night-
-If she were able to sleep at all.
A faint buzzing sound woke Hinata from a wonderful dream she was loath to let go of. For a moment she lay still under the bedclothes as the dream wisped away, puzzled as she tried to pinpoint the sound and its origin. Then she rolled her head to the right and saw the screen of her phone lit up. Reaching over, she caught a glimpse of the clock on the mantle - almost eleven! - as she picked up the mobile device. Just as her fingers touched it, it stopped buzzing.
Pushing herself upright, Hinata scooped her tangled hair off her face and yawned before checking the screen. A gasp tore from her throat when she saw all the alerts waiting for her: ten missed texts and seventeen missed calls. Dropping back against her pillows, Hinata clutched her phone against her chest, choosing to hide from her responsibility temporarily as she relived every splendid moment of the night before.
Sasuke loves me. A completely silly grin stretched her lips, and Hinata laughed quietly to herself. And I love him!
At last she dragged herself back down to earth. Checking her texts first, she shot off quick responses to Sakura and Ino, promising them details over lunch when she got home. Then she dialed the number which showed up the most among her missed calls - Tenten.
Her best friend answered on the first ring. "Hinata!" Her name exploded out of the speaker.
"Tenten, I had the most amazing time last night!" Hinata swallowed down another laugh and tucked her free arm behind her head. "It was so-"
Her cousin-in-law cut her off. "Hina, have you turned on the television yet this morning?"
Frowning, Hinata instinctively glanced at the door leading to the main room, where the only television in the suite was located. "No, I just woke up. Why?"
Tenten was quiet for a long moment, then cleared her throat before answering. "You can turn on just about any channel today, and you and Sasuke are the top news story."
Hinata nearly choked. "What?" Shoving off her covers, she slid off her tall bed and hurried to the door, nearly pulling her arm out of its socket trying to get it open since she forgot she'd locked it. Twisting the lock, she opened it and stepped out into the main room.
Sasuke had beaten her there. He sat on the couch in front of the television, barefoot, wearing a pair of loose pants and an unbuttoned shirt. The remote dangled from his fingers, and his dark eyes looked glazed. His laptop sat open on the coffee table in front of him, its screen displaying a very popular social networking site.
Hinata stepped up quietly alongside the couch, the phone still pressed to her ear. The red-carpet interview from the night before was being replayed, with a crawl along the bottom of the screen reporting it had gone viral in under twelve hours. Her gaze flickered down to the laptop, and the hit counter.
It showed millions, and millions, and millions of hits.
She breathed an epithet which was halfway a prayer.
"I take it as you just turned on the TV?" Tenten asked. Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "Hanabi and I both think it's terribly romantic. Neji is fit to be tied. And none of us have even dared to try to contact Hiashi."
Sasuke reached out to take her free hand in his, gently tugging her down onto the couch next to him. His wide eyes seemed even blacker against the bone-white of his skin. "Can you believe this?" he asked quietly. "Jiraiya called me a little bit ago and told me to turn on the TV. This is - it's - it's everywhere. We've supposedly set a new record for the highest number of hits in the least amount of time."
"You and Sasuke have basically set off a media firestorm." Tenten sighed again, then was quiet as Neji said something in the background. "Like Neji just reminded me, several channels have mentioned you as 'the biggest thing in the world' right now." A nervous giggle shook out of her. "You're even bigger than the royal couple and babies, Hinata!"
At the moment, all Hinata wanted to do was go back to bed, crawl under the blankets, and hide until everything finally calmed down. "Oh, no." All of her good feelings from the night before had been sucked beneath a riptide of embarrassment and anxiety. "Oh, no."
Leaning in close to press a kiss to her temple, Sasuke whispered, "Sweetheart, I'm not sorry I told you I love you. But I am so sorry for putting you in the middle of a media circus like this."
Hinata whispered back, "This doesn't change how much I love you," just as, "What's going on?" Tenten asked over the phone. "Neji wants to know: Are you starting home today, or are you going to stay in New York as you planned?"
Hinata cringed at the thought of trying to leave right then. Images of hordes of paparazzi hanging out in front of the hotel and haunting every road between here and the way out of New York City, just waiting to waylay Sasuke and her, crowded her mind. She would understand if Sasuke decided they should cut their losses and get the heck out of Dodge. But she'd so looked forward to going to the Empire State Building. It was the one thing she'd always wanted to do if she got to go to New York, and now she was here, she didn't want to go home without doing it.
When Hinata repeated Neji's question to Sasuke, he shook his head. "No," he told her. "I already talked to Jiraiya about it. He said it should be okay if we stay. After all, we have Izumo and Kotetsu if and when we decide to leave the hotel." Lowering his voice, he said, "And besides, you want to go to the Empire State Building. I promise, somehow, I'm going to make that happen for you before we leave."
A whisper of calm pushed back against the flood running rampant through her. Drawing in a deep breath, she nodded to Sasuke and asked Tenten, "Did you catch all of that, Tenten?" On receiving an affirmative reply, she added. "It's not like we have hired assassins gunning for us. We'll be fine."
"Tonight," Sasuke said suddenly. Looking at Hinata, he said firmly, "We'll go tonight, but late, so hopefully no one will notice. If we time it right, with luck the paparazzi should have given up - if they even know this is where we're staying - and there shouldn't be too many people there. Plus, Izumo and Kotetsu are used to dealing with media attention around their clients, if we do encounter any."
"I guess that'll be okay." Tenten still sounded a little doubtful. "I won't call you anymore today, promise, and I'll pass on the word to Neji and Hanabi. Want me to call Sakura and Ino, too?"
"Yes, please." Hinata also had some missed calls from Kiba, but she'd call him herself. He didn't let too much bother him, so she wouldn't have to deal with him freaking out on her like Sakura and Ino would. She just couldn't deal with that right now. "And I'll call you tomorrow as soon as I know what our plans are, okay?"
"Sounds good." They said goodbye and hung up. Hinata turned back to the television. Sasuke had changed the channel, to where yet another show was replaying the clip of Sasuke's declaration. The hit count on the video online was still climbing.
"I've had several calls from Kiba, too," she told Sasuke. "I really need to ring him back." The concept of breakfast flitted through her mind, but she pushed it away. There was no way she could eat anything thanks to the nerves balling up in her stomach.
Surely, surely, it can't get any worse.
Right?
"Whe-ew." Jiraiya's drawn-out sigh gusted through the phone and into Sasuke's ear. "This has been a day and a half! I don't think I ever want to live through another one like it again."
Sasuke, leaning in the doorway to the kitchen as he watched Hinata fix a late dinner, winced at how worn out the older man sounded. Guilt washed through him as he briefly thought about the quiet day they'd spent in their suite. "Okay, stupid question coming: Has it been that bad?" he asked tentatively.
"It's been worse than 'that bad.'" Jiraiya sighed again. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy you realize what a keeper our little Hinata is. But everybody, and I do mean everybody, from the early early morning news shows through the midday talk shows to the really late late night ones, want to interview the two of you, and are willing to offer truly obscene amounts of money to get it. And that's not counting the newspapers and entertainment rags. This is literally the first chance I've had since this morning to call and check on you kids to see how you're doing. And to see if you're still planning on going to the Empire State Building tonight like you'd talked about doing."
Sasuke clearly heard his agent's unspoken, Please tell me you're not that dumb. Drawing an unobtrusive, fortifying breath, he replied, "As a matter of fact, we are." To forestall the protest he could sense building on the other end of the line, he went on firmly, "Hina has offered to wait until the next time we're in New York to do it, but I don't think she should have to. I've talked to the guys from my brother's agency, and they're okay with it. We're not going to wear or do anything to announce, celebrities in disguise here! And as Hinata says, we won't be all 'glammed up.' We'll just be ordinary tourists doing an ordinary, touristy thing. If there's even a hint that we've been made, Izumo and Kotetsu have consulted with security there, and we'll be whisked away pronto."
After a long silence, a sound suspiciously like a muffled groan came through the phone speaker. "I can tell I'm not going to be able to talk you out of it. But, please, just promise me you aren't planning to go on one knee and propose to her tonight."
Sasuke felt his cheeks heat. "I, ah, don't think you have to worry about that right now," he said. "I promise, we'll keep a low profile." It wasn't a hard thing to promise; Sasuke wasn't eager to be in the spotlight again any time soon, and he knew Hinata felt the exact same way.
"Good. -And there goes my phone again. We'll talk later." Jiraiya hung up without saying goodbye.
Much later, Sasuke and Hinata left the Waldorf-Astoria in the van, with Izumo driving and Kotetsu riding shotgun. Traffic at midnight in New York was still busy, but not bumper to bumper as during the day. They made good time to the Empire State Building.
After passing through security, their express passes enabled them to go straight to the top. Only a few other people rode in the elevator with them, and thankfully none of them seemed to recognize the author and librarian as the world's current hottest couple. As soon as they stepped out onto the observation deck on the 102nd floor, smooth music from a saxaphone met their ears, joined by the murmured conversations of the handful of other groups and couples already on the deck.
As their bodyguards hung back inconspicuouly, Sasuke followed Hinata across to the bank of windows lining the far wall, hands in his pockets. She withdrew a camera from her purse and began snapping photos, while he looked down at the beautiful glow of New York at night and marveled. From his previous reading, he knew on clear days one could see up to 80 miles away from the 102nd floor, and he readily believed it. The sheer number of lights below, stretching out as far as the eye could see, made the city look like a giant puzzle, or perhaps a maze. He remembered going through a corn maze once as a child with Itachi around Halloween, and he smiled at the memory as Hinata took a few more pictures, oohing and ahhing over the view.
His fingers brushed the small box in his pocket, and he felt the world go very still around him despite his public surroundings. All day the excitement of his plan had percolated inside him: the whole scheme he'd cooked up when they made plans to go to the top of the Empire State Building. The presence of that little box made his heartbeat speed up as he turned to look at Hinata.
She'd paused her picture-taking, standing still with an awed look on her face as she stared out over the city. The overhead lights glowed on her night-dark hair, pulled back in a casual ponytail at the base of her neck. She wore a dark green top and loose black pants which allowed the tattoo on her ankle to be visible, which Sasuke liked. Round multi-colored earrings dangled from her ears, winking with greens, blues, reds, and yellows every time she moved her head. But prettiest of all were her eyes, shining soft lavender in the reflected light from the window.
"Hinata?" Her name slipped off Sasuke's lips on a whisper.
"Hmm?" Hinata turned to him with a dreamy smile, her eyes brightening as she gazed up at him. "Oh, Sasuke, this is wonderful! Thank you so much for bringing me here tonight!"
He could get lost in those eyes... Blinking quickly, Sasuke tore his attention away from her opalescent eyes and focused instead on her face, worthy of a porcelain doll. "I have something for you," he said softly past a sudden tightness in his throat. Pulling his hand out of his pocket, he brought with it the velvet box, which he held out towards her with a nervous smile.
Hinata looked down at the box. Her eyes widened as her mouth dropped open.
"It's not what you think it is," Sasuke hurried to assure her. That's already packed away in my suitecase back at the hotel. He wisely kept that to himself. "But regardless, it is for you. Go on, take it." Open it, and please like it...
Her small fingers brushed his as she took the box. Cradling it in the palm of her left hand, Hinata opened it with her right. Though Sasuke couldn't see what the box held from where he stood, he didn't need to - he'd looked at it a hundred times since he bought it two days before.
From the look on Hinata's face, she was amazed. "This is - is beautiful, Sasuke," she whispered. Pulling the ring out of its velvet nest, she held it between her fingers and tilted it, allowing the light to shine off the beautiful red stones forming an infinity symbol.
"It's a promise ring," Sasuke said softly. Stepping a little closer, he enclosed Hinata's hand in his and joined her in gazing down at the ring. "I know we've only known each other for about a month, but-" He drew in a deep breath and decided to go for it. "But I meant what I said last night. I love you. And I know it's too soon to ask you to marry me, but - but this is my promise that someday, I will ask. And I'm really hoping, when that time does come, you'll say yes?" He'd just put everything on the line, and he prayed Hinata wouldn't shoot him down.
Hinata stared at the ring for another long moment before lifting her head to look at him, her eyes misty, the most breathtaking smile curling up her lips. "It's perfect," she whispered. "And Sasuke?" Ducking her head shyly, she added, "I'm really looking forward to that someday."
The tension coiled in Sasuke's gut relaxed, and he let out a breath of relief. He took the ring from Hinata and slid it onto the third finger of her left hand - a perfect fit, as he'd hoped. Leaning down, he shared a quick kiss with her, careful not to let himself get too swept away since they were in a very public place.
Just as Sasuke congratulated himself on how well his plan had gone, Hinata groaned. "What's wrong?" he asked anxiously. Had she suddenly changed her mind, and was now going to throw the ring at him? (And Jiraiya wouldn't like that, considering he'd practically begged Sasuke not to make another scene.)
Hinata looked down and fished her phone out of her purse, the lit screen catching Sasuke's attention as soon as it appeared. He relaxed; just another phone call, then. Much better than her breaking up with him.
She glanced at the screen, annoyance clear on her features, but then confusion took its place. "It's Tenten," she said hesitantly. "But she said she wouldn't- Please, excuse me." Turning slightly away, she lifted her phone to her ear, and said softly, "Hello? What's going on?"
Just as Sasuke started to avert his gaze to the window and the view to give her at least an illusion of privacy, all the color drained from Hinata's face and she swayed, a small cry escaping her lips. Jolting forward, he caught her against his chest, holding her close to keep her upright as he took the phone out of her lax hand. "Hello? Tenten? This is Sasuke. What's going on? Hinata nearly passed out."
Something which sounded suspiciously like a muffled sob met his question. "I'm sorry." Before he could say anything more, she went on, "Hinata needs to come home right now. Th-there was an incident at the hospital."
Sasuke felt his blood, which had been humming so warmly through his veins only a few moments ago, turn cold.
But Tenten wasn't done yet. In a voice thick with tears, she added, "Neji's in surgery right now - and it's bad. Really bad."
*~To Be Continued~*
Author's Ending Notes: You're all going to kill me now. I know you are. Would it help if I said I'm sorry? This was actually the second of the main story arcs in this story which occurred to me (the red-carpet walk was the first, and the others just kind of fell into place after that), though ironically it fell last in the story. But before everyone freaks out too much, let me just say this: I love happy endings. On a happier note, Hinata said those three little words back! I was so excited to get to that part. Despite the ending, I did really have fun writing this chapter, and I hope you all enjoyed it too. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to see you all again for next week's update!