It took him a moment to remember her name, the one Naruto called out so fondly to her whenever they crossed paths. Hinata.
The girl in question walked passed him, entering his apartment without invitation. She lowered her picnic basket to his kitchen counter before throwing him a weak smile and saying, shadily, "I thought you could use a good meal."
He noticed the insinuation behind her remark. "You're thinner than I am," he noted.
"Well I'm a girl." Hinata belatedly caught herself, and blushed.
Sasuke's cheek twitched. "This is my normal body weight," he said.
She surveyed him with doubt. "You're so pale."
"Compared to who? Naruto?" He watched her blush deepen, confirming his suspicions. So he wasn't as brawny as Naruto, nor was he as tan, or...stupid. He wondered if she thought him nothing more than some ocean-dwelling squid. "I haven't been back very long. All I have are baggy clothes right now. I'm not so bad underneath them..." He trailed off as he realized what he had said. Hinata's face reddened more.
He didn't know why he kept talking. It wasn't as though he cared what she thought. He glanced her over, noting that she was wearing loose clothes as well. So what was her excuse? Sasuke looked away and tried to move his thoughts from clothes and body types. "You cooked," he deadpanned.
Hinata blinked, suddenly remembering the meal she had prepared. "Un!" she said, rummaging through the basket. She began to pull out a small assortment of food.
Sasuke was bothered when the aroma aggravated his hunger. She was clearly a fangirl. He had to resist. "I'm not...interested," he mentioned robotically.
Hinata looked up at him in confusion. A smile suddenly broke across face. "This is my mission."
"What?"
"Tsunade-sama sent me. She wants me to...um...k-keep you c-company."
So she wasn't a fangirl. He reluctantly joined her by the counter and took the riceball she offered him. He tasted it and decided she wasn't a horrible cook. She was actually a fairly decent cook, not that he'd expend the energy to mention it.
"What are your favorite foods?" said Hinata conversationally.
Sasuke eyed her suspiciously, whilst continuing to eat his riceball. Her face fell, and she didn't pursue the matter.
Hinata would probably make a good wife. Not that he wanted a wife, he didn't like girls, which wasn't to say he liked boys... Sasuke refrained from hitting himself, and wondered if this was a consequence of being alone for so long. He wasn't accustomed to women who didn't spend all their time unintentionally repulsing him, and was suddenly having thoughts about this plain-looking Hyuuga with little sex appeal to speak of. Tirelessly he had searched her form for any indication of femininity. At least Karin had nice hips, and Temari had decent breasts. He tried to mentally combine those features, and picture what it would look like on a woman, but he just wasn't imaginative enough. It was a hazard of the occupation, he supposed. Then again, since when was he interested in girls? It must have been something in the Konoha air. The stench of peace was clearly inebriating him, reacquainting him with hormones he hadn't noticed since puberty. He glanced up, and noticed Hinata staring at him. She quickly looked away.
"I don't need a babysitter," said Sasuke. Again, he scrutinized her excessively-loose apparel.
"Of course Sasuke-kun, I'm just here to help."
Sasuke simply watched her, deciding she could stay as long as there was food. It wasn't as if she had any power over him.
Hinata got up early the next morning so she could make Sasuke lunch before she left for training. It was the only way he was going to let her in. Absently, she wondered which of them was being manipulated.
The Uchiha seemed to have been displeased with what she had made him the previous day. Today she made him a bento with sushi, and put vegetables in his riceballs instead of meat. Everything had to be perfect! Hanabi strolled by to notice her sister painstakingly putting together the meal.
"What's for breakfast?" inquired the younger Hyuuga.
"Sorry, no time," said Hinata distractedly.
Hanabi frowned. Hinata usually made breakfast for her and Neji. She pressed her lips and thought for a moment. "So, how did it go-?"
"Fine, everything was f-fine," said Hinata.
She was stuttering. That was definitely a good sign. "Nothing weird?"
Hinata paused to finally look at her sister. "No, why?"
"No reason," said Hanabi. She grabbed an apple out of a bowl on the table and strolled off.
Hinata scratched her cheek as she watched Hanabi leave. Something odd had occurred, but it was nothing...noticeable. She had always known Sasuke to be attractive. Everyone did. With his light skin, raven hair, firm brow, and dark eyes, he had most of the girls in Konoha fighting for his attention. But whereas they were lured by his external appearance, she had always been repelled by his infamous apathy. Uchiha Sasuke had never appealed to her, and yet, several times had caught herself staring. Barely a few dozen words had been exchanged between them, yet she couldn't have been more intrigued.
Hinata lightly shook her head. The war was over. The air of peace was probably just getting to her.
That morning, Sasuke was summoned to the Hokage's office. He had expected as much to occur in the coming days. Merciful as Konoha was, they would not allow a former missing nin back into their ranks without some sort of punishment.
He released an annoyed sigh as he shoved the door open, surprised to see Kakashi standing beside the Hokage's desk. He eyed the man.
"It's good to see you're doing better, Sasuke," Kakashi mentioned, his visible eye crinkled cheerfully. "Though you're looking rather thin."
Sasuke's fists clenched, but he refrained from commenting. He wasn't thin, he was perfectly normal! It wasn't his fault he had no properly-fitting clothes.
Deciding it best to ignore the man, as he was likely baiting him, Sasuke instead turned his attention toward the Hokage who silently watched him, her elbows on her desk, her fingers entwined, and chin resting on her knuckles. She surveyed him for a while before clearing her throat. "Your punishment has been decided."
"Aa," responded Sasuke, uncaring. There was nothing she could do to him that hadn't been done already.
Tsunade looked exceedingly solemn. There was pity in her eyes. "You will be moving in with Kakashi."
Sasuke blanched. Before he could voice his adamant protests, Tsunade continued-
"Moving in, as in residing within Kakashi's apartment, sleeping there, living there. For six months, at least. When you leave depends solely on your behavior. Kakashi will be your guardian, a sort of baby-sitter," She smirked at this. "And he will keep you in check. You will obey his rules, and any violation of them will only heighten your punishment."
She waited for Sasuke to absorb this information, but it didn't seem he had registered any words following: "You will be moving in with Kakashi." He simply...stared, his mouth hanging open. The Hokage glanced at Kakashi who seemed to have already lost interest, for he was absorbed in the latest Icha Icha issue. She smiled, and continued, "You will not be allowed to leave the house without an escort, whether it be Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, or another approved shinobi. When you return, you must always have an alibi. If you cannot state where you have been every moment of every day, you will be brought here for questioning. Understood?"
He didn't understand. Yes, he had defected, run off with a convicted felon, become the leader of a criminal organization, aggravated a war, and tried to destroy the village, but Kakashi – Kakashi was a freak of nature.
Silently smoldering, Sasuke looked around his apartment and tried to decide what he would pack. It wasn't as though he had many personal possessions. He paused at a knock on the door.
When Sasuke opened it, he was surprised to see that Hinata had returned, the same basket clutched in her arms.
He tried to detach it from her, but she clutched it to herself. When he tried more aggressively to take the basket away, she cried out as though he was trying to snatch a baby. Several of his neighbors poked their heads out of their apartments to ogle the Uchiha and the innocent Hyuuga girl.
Sasuke reluctantly let Hinata inside, firmly closing the door behind her. He clenched his jaw. "You're back," he stated flatly.
"I thought we could have lunch together," said Hinata, throwing him a strained smile. He could tell she didn't want to be there.
"Like a date?" said Sasuke.
Hinata's cheeks reddened and her smile fell. She was easily embarrassed. He could work that to his advantage.
"N-no-" she stammered.
"If you're not a fangirl, and you're not a teammate, I can only assume you're my girlfriend," said Sasuke.
She opened and closed her mouth.
"And as such, I have certain expectations." Like a fox stalking its prey, he approached her, carefully closing their distance. She backed away in the meantime, when he suddenly lunged for her-
Hinata disappeared in a flash of white, the door slamming shut behind her.
Sasuke eyed it in her wake. He chomped on a riceball, mildly satisfied with his success.
Author's Note:
Haha, I love how distraught they are with each other's apparent lack of sex appeal. Baggy clothes indeed.
Hm, I don't usually let myself do long author's notes because I'm pretty lame...
Anways, hi guys, The Hyuuga Curse is a romance. Just because it's under the humor genre doesn't mean I'm going for fits of laughter. If you're looking for an aggressive humor, click on Date Night, Bathhouse, A Christmas Story, etcetera, etcetera.
A Light in Darkess was also, always a lightweight story compared to The Chaos Theory, The Benefits of Amnesia, and maybe even Light. Of course it's been blown out of proportion, but if you're expecting me to do backflips, look somewhere else. Of course, some chapters have more depth and description than others.
So, a lot of you had a lot to say. Unfortunately, I can't respond to everyone individually. I made an "A Light in Darkness Complaints" thread in my fanfiction dot net forum if you have any other concerns about the original story that I don't address right now, so don't expect me to respond anywhere else but that thread from here on out. If you review, no more complaints.
So yeah, you guys misunderstood, my intent with the altered plotline is to rationalize how perverted Sasuke is in A Light in Darkness. Of course, in this one, Hinata is more mature, and Sasuke is less of a freak of nature, so yeah, there will definitely be lots of mutual pervertedness this time around. But also, more maturity to go with it.
Anyway, the original was written by a depraved teenager. It was pretty ridiculous, the way it fluctuated between humor and angst. Hinata failed to significantly develop, all the side-characters were unrealistically crazy/evil. One moment Sasuke was a crazy-suicidal-rapist-cutter, and the next he'd be trying to get into Hinata's pants. It just made no sense!
Which isn't to say this version won't have drama. It just won't be as nonsensical. A Light in Darkess was always just a romance/humor with random angst sprinkled in the most arbitrary of places, so I just got rid of the random-angst.
Though of course I have to consider that Light is heavier in terms of genre, so I'll keep that in mind when we get to that stage in the game.
As a teenager, I was a strong romance writer, but I wasn't a strong writer in general. So as an adult, I just can't be held accountable for things I wrote as a teenager. A Light in Darkness was irreparably flawed. I would go over it endlessly and wonder how I could possibly fix it, but all my options seemed to lead to my torturing myself. It had its charm, but it was flawed at a fundamental level.
No, you can't have the originals, though maybe they're being traded for bath salts on the SasuHina black market. Any scenes I exclude may or may not be turned into one-shots not unlike my story Parenting, so let me know as the story progresses. If there's a scene I exclude I'll see what I can do.
And think on the bright side. Wouldn't you like to see the recreation of scenes I wrote as a teeny bopper re-written by adult-Winkle? More importantly, don't you want to see this story completed once and for all?
