The SEAL'S Kiss
Silver's Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. Well this chapter includes a little bit of marine biology, lots of puns in it, and you find out who the bad guys are. So happy reading!
Chapter 3
The next morning, Hinata was already waiting for Sasuke when he came to get her. "Morning." From the slight bags under her eyes, it was apparent she hadn't slept well, but then again...who would after yesterday's events?
Sasuke frowns at the sight of the bags, but makes no comment on it. "Good morning." He, of course, had slept just fine, seeing as he was used to the set routine of getting as many hours of sleep before waking up at the ungodly hour of six in the morning that he was accustomed to.
Today, he was dressed a little differently to the black dress pants and silky black shirt of the dinner. He had opted for a more civilian style, much cleaner than typical street clothes, but the black jeans, classy black leather jacket and matching ankle boots, and a royal blue shirt underneath were less conspicuous than his uniform would have been. "Do you want to go over your schedule now, or would you rather eat first?"
"I already ate." She smiles and hands him her appointment book. "That has everything in it. I've got a second copy so you can keep that one." The bluenette pauses and adds. "It's filled out for the next month." She tries not to let her eyes linger too much on Sasuke's civilian attire. It flattered him to say the least.
"Alright…" Sasuke's eyes flit over the page, memorizing each individual day's various work hours, appointments, personal time, and get-togethers. More often than not, her schedule would keep her out until eight to ten in the evening, which meant that there would be some very long days. Not that Sasuke minded, he was well-used to working extremely long days. "I'll hand this to my father, on the off-chance that something goes wrong, so he knows approximately where we should be, but you don't have to go through the trouble of making a copy for me. I have an eidetic memory."
Hinata tilts her head at that. "Really?" She was pretty sure that meant photographic memory, but wasn't entirely certain. "What's that like?"
Sasuke smiles wryly at her. "It makes being a genius a lot easier." But on a more serious note… "I just…store things word for word in my brain, and can call it up at a moment's notice with perfect accuracy. Some seem to think it's weird, but it just…is. I've never been without it, so I'm used to it. It's especially useful whenever I'm looking through a scope, I can keep an entire field in mind, while focusing in on a single spot. That's what it's like."
"That's impressive, but potentially traumatic." Hinata giggles as a thought occurs to her. "Like if you walked in on Itachi in a compromising position or something."
Sasuke's face pales instantly, feeling sick to his stomach. "Please, for both my sake and yours, never suggest…THAT sort of image again." Thinking about his brother like that was just…no. Yuck. Gross. "I am a walking, talking example of 'what is seen cannot be unseen'."
Hinata laughs and smiles at him. "I guess there are some things that can traumatize even a SEAL." She tilts her head as she considers something. "I wonder why they call you SEALS." It seemed a bit counterproductive really. Seals weren't really high on the list of scary looking animals. "They named one of the toughest branches in the military after a cute sea animal."
"It's an acronym. Sea, Air, and Land." Sasuke folds up the schedule, tucking it away safely. "I suppose they could call us SALs, but SEAL seems more connected to the navy theme." He smirks slightly at the innocent assumption, though. "You've clearly never seen a leopard seal, then, otherwise you wouldn't think they're so cute."
"Yes, that and I suppose SALs just doesn't have the same ring to it." She smiles at him as she considers it. "Never heard of a leopard seal before, but you do remind me more of a leopard than an actual seal." Leopard she could see. Seals were adorable, but Sasuke was far more sensual in appearance than adorable. "Anyway, do you want to get going then then? We can still beat the worst of the morning traffic." Though it was cute how disgusted he looked at the Itachi situation.
"Alright, now is fine." It didn't really matter to him when they left, just that nothing happened on the way, since it as his job to make sure that nothing DID happen on the way. "…So I remind you of a big cat?" Obviously, she hadn't seen the massive wonder that was a leopard seal. Or an elephant seal, now THOSE things were beasts.
Hinata nods as she takes his hand and leads him towards her car. "Mhm." Apparently, to Hinata the reasons were self-explanatory. The reasons why he reminded her of a particularly large feline.
"Well, then I will try to keep my claws to myself." Sasuke was pretty sure that if he was a big cat, Naruto was a golden retriever, Sakura was a honey badger, and Sai was some kind of bat. One was eager to please and cute, another easily set off, and the last one…you didn't know he was there until he was swooping down on your head.
"Probably a good idea, unless you see a bad guy." She gets in the car with him and drives them towards the Dreams for the Future Foundation's headquarters. "Then you can turn them into your scratching post."
"Noted." Though Sasuke knew that if an assassin tried to get near her again, he'd do a hell of a lot more than turn them into a scratching post. But for now, he takes in the route from the White House to the foundation, memorizing it for future reference, and so that he could start formulating detours and entirely others routes from their Point A to their Point B, just in case something happened.
Soon enough, they arrive at the headquarters. Far smaller than the one on Capitol Hill, but large enough to be about the size of a small skill. The white columns of the outside were almost Greek in appearance. The grounds were lush and green with some flowers just beginning to bloom on them, mostly tulips. And there were a lot of people milling about, going in and out of the building, presumably on business.
A flash of memory dedicated to the exterior of the building accompanies Sasuke's mental snapshots of every room and corridor they pass. The way it was designed made it rather frighteningly easy to get in, at least in Sasuke's mind. On the other hand, it was an easy place to get out of as well. His weapons were all concealed and easily accessed, but he would have to find a place wherever she worked that he could see all of the angles from. "Your mother works here as well?"
Hinata nods. Her mother was the Director and she was the Administrative Officer. "Yes, her office is across from mine." She leads Sasuke down another hall and opens the door of one of the offices.
Good, it meant that Naruto would also be here, in case this deathtrap of a building was broken into. "Noted." He glances back at the door of one Emiko Hyuga, before stepping inside Hinata's office.
"Well this is my office." Hinata smiles proudly. The room was about the size of a small apartment, and was equal parts elegant and understated. The walls were painted a soft ivory cream, matching the plush executive chairs. They were a harmonious mix between functional executive chairs and casual armchairs, obviously designed both for comfort, and to be appealing.
Numerous cabinets dotted the room. Like the oval shaped desk that had dozens of drawers in it, they appeared to be made out of oak. The floors were made of wood, but dotted with white tile in a fashion resembling an exotic rug. "Sorry about this. You're probably going to be bored out of your mind watching me do paperwork and take meetings all day."" From the ceiling hung a simple chandelier, lighting up the room with the help of a few old fashioned wall lamps shaded in the same ivory as the tiles and chairs. There was even a lovely light green couch and dark teal curtains in the background for a splash of color, in addition to the usual working items such as a computer, printer, television, and so forth.
It could have passed for an apartment with ease. It was decorated in a way that almost gave off the impression of being someone's home office, while still being the environment of a professional.
In Sasuke's opinion, the best part about this office was that there was only one way in and out of it, and it was closer to the couches than the desk. This way, he could set himself up to see anyone coming in, before they even spotted Hinata. "This works." He eyes one of the armchairs, scrutinizing it, before choosing the couch instead. Comfort aside, it would be easier to get up from the couch in a hurry, and he could draw a weapon from it as well. "You're not the only one with paperwork to do." Though all of his would be digitized, and for his and his team's eyes only. His laptop was equipped with the best spyware and firewall software that the military had to offer. All to protect the reports he would be compiling on the comings and goings of all of the people around his charge.
She smiles and nods. "Good. I'm glad." The last thing she wanted to do was to make his job harder than absolutely necessary. "If you need anything, let me know."
"I'll be fine." Sitting himself at the perfect angle to see any movement in the door, Sasuke pulls out his computer and boots it up, immediately setting to work making files on each member of the First Family, including Neji, as well as everyone who had attended the dinner, save his own family and Naruto. He knew them as well as he ever could, making files about them would be redundant.
"Alright then." Hinata nods as she turns her attention to her own work. "We can go for lunch at noon."
Sasuke nods, his eyes flicking to Hinata. "Where?" He could look the place up beforehand, and it would help his makeshift psychoanalysis of his charge. Predicting her movements would be important in the early days, he knew that. Eventually, it would become instinct, but they'd met only yesterday, so he had no such instincts regarding her just yet.
"The cafeteria here or anywhere else you like." She smiles at him. "What are you in the mood for?" Honestly, Hinata didn't have any idea what Sasuke preferred to eat and what he didn't. It was probably better to ask.
He shakes his head slightly. "You learn not to be picky in the military. I'm not craving anything, so you can pick whatever you like." He as used to subsisting on a little bit of everything. Not the high quality stuff, but rations and the navy's cafeteria food weren't nearly as horrific as people seemed to think. He was pretty sure that the state of military food was an urban myth by this point.
She shakes her head. "That game drives me crazy." The bluenette decides to make an executive decision of sorts. "So we'll go to the sea food place down the street."
Sasuke blinks, frowning slightly. "Game?" What game was she talking about?
"The Whatever You Want Game." The Hyuga woman smiles at him. "When someone asks what you want to do and then you say you don't know and the cycle repeats."
Ah…right…that game. Sasuke vaguely remembered hearing it mentioned once or twice in high school. Some girl talking about her boyfriend, or something like that. Once he was into the academy, and then into the navy, he never heard mention of it again. "I didn't mean to offend you. I just…really have no particular issues about food." Well, except tomatoes, he could eat those all day, every day. "Seafood is fine as long as there's no puffer-fish involved."
She shakes her head. "You didn't offend me. I just...got a bit trigger happy." Probably just because what had happened. It felt good to actually have plans even if it was just about where they were going to eat. "I'm used to being around people who are more..." How did she says this without sounding insulting? "Well less flexible, I guess."
Ah…now that made more sense. Sasuke puts down the laptop for a minute, watching Hinata carefully. "My job generally requires a fair amount of flexibility, and the ability to improvise, but when it comes to basic needs, they tend to be extremely basic. Have I slept enough, eaten enough, and had enough water to function? I have lived on a ship and military base for the last few years."
"Well that's very practical." It was also very sad though. "Surely, you have some preferences though. It can't all just be the basic pyramid of needs for survival."
"You mean when I'm on leave?" Sasuke's brow furrows. "Italian food, they use a lot of tomatoes. And…Japanese and Chinese food. Mom used to make a lot of that when I was younger. I guess those are my preferences. But I'm used to limited options."
He liked tomatoes, she observes. "Well yes. When you're on leave." She nods. "Alright. We'll go for Italian then."
Sometimes, Sasuke felt like he would never understand women. At last Sakura was more straightforward than whatever reverse psychology Hinata was using. "If that's what you'd like, there's a place eight minutes from here that Itachi used to take me to when I was going to the academy."
"I like lots of kinds of food." She smiles at him at him, but inside was wondering why men had to be so difficult about the simplest things. "One has to when your father is a politician." She was asking what HE liked, not what she liked. "It sounds perfect. We'll go there."
"Alright." Sasuke brings out a pad and pen, jotting down the directions to the restaurant. "It's a small place, old, but it's quiet." And most importantly, Sasuke knew the area, and knew that it would be safe for Hinata to go. There was little need to thoroughly scour the area for threats. Not that he wouldn't be on alert, anyway.
Hinata nods and takes it. "Alright. We'll go there." Well that was settled at least. It was probably wrong, but her thoughts were drifting to places that they shouldn't. "Are you always so accommodating?" The bluenette had only known him for a day, but she had pictured him as more decisive. Maybe, he was the sort that liked being given orders...out in the field and off.
His eyes pin her down with a sharp gaze. "Not usually, no. But my job…" He sighs and shakes his head. "Is to protect you, not dictate where you have your lunch. As long as there is no ramen, at which point I WILL put my foot down, I'm just not fussy about food. If I'm on leave, I usually cook for myself."
"You sound like you really hate ramen." She laughs. Ah so it was just food that he wasn't particularly fussed about. So much for that theory. "I really have been spending too much time with Ino." She mutters under her breath. That theory that maybe he preferred what Hinata would call "Bossy Women" or what her friend would call Dominatrices.
"No, I don't hate it, it's just extremely unhealthy, and Naruto has an even MORE unhealthy obsession with it." One that had proven impossible for even Sasuke to break his best friend of. "He's loved the stuff ever since we were kids. So in middle school, I told him that he could drag me off for ramen once a month, and that was it. And ONLY because the idiot is my best friend." It's all that Sasuke could tolerate, even for Naruto.
The story makes Hinata chuckle. "Well leave in a couple hours then." Hinata smiles as she gets back to work. "And I'll make sure to keep ramen far away from you." She really had to stop going off on these silly daydreams about him. Hinata decides to pawn it off to the fact that Sasuke was very attractive by almost anyone's standards and he had saved her life. That was why she was so...unfocused around him. "I'd rather not have to deal with an unhappy SEAL." She laughs softly.
Once she got more used to being around him, the infatuation would fade. She was sure of it. Her sister was a model. Hinata had been around attractive men before and it was rare that their good looks was more than a side note for her. Pretty faces usually didn't have much of an impact on the aspiring ambassador.
Sasuke smirks. "Yes, unhappy SEALs are a very dangerous thing." More than people though, but less than they could be. "But I'll try to curb my…as Naruto puts it, bastardly control-freak personality." It was a struggle, but he felt like he was doing really well so far. He hadn't tried barking orders to Hinata even once! Well, apart from last night, but that was to save her life.
"You don't really seem like a control freak to me." Hinata shakes her head and smiles reassuringly at him. "If anything, it's more like the opposite." The bluenette pauses and adds. "And you don't strike me as a bastard either."
"That would be because when I'm on duty, I make an effort to suppress those parts of my personality." Sasuke had gotten into trouble more than once because he was feeling defiant. "And I know how bad I can be, I'm not oblivious to it. I just didn't plan on subjecting YOU to that. If you'd rather me act otherwise, I can do that."
She felt like she might have committed some kind of error or at the very least made him uncomfortable. "You saved my life. The least that I can do is allow you to be yourself." She smiles at him slyly. "After all, a leopard can't change its spots."
"Hn." He rolls his eyes, taking back up his laptop. "You're really going to push the whole big cat thing, aren't you?"
"I'm sorry." She laughs softly. "It's just there are so many puns."
Sasuke's eye twitches as he relaxes a little. "Say a single one in front of Naruto, and I promise, I will make things extremely awkward for you for however long I'm assigned to you." The blond idiot had more than enough ammunition already, he didn't need Hinata giving him any extra.
Hinata gulps and nods nervously. She wasn't sure exactly what Sasuke meant by extremely awkward, but she knew that it wasn't good. "Understood. No cat puns in front of the blond." Yep. It was only food that he didn't care about. Sasuke was very...assertive when he wanted to be.
"Good." Sasuke smirks smugly, feeling a lot more secure in the knowledge that she wasn't going to rat him out for being…not quite as professional as he tried to be. "Because he already makes more than enough jokes about me being like a cat, he really doesn't need the extra help."
"Well there are far worse animals to be compared to." She giggles.
"Yes, but the two of us have been the source of our families' 'fight like cats and dogs' jokes since we were old enough to walk around and pull each other's hair." Sasuke was glad that they didn't resort to such childish measures anymore.
"Well if he finds out how nice you're being to me, you won't need to worry about cat jokes." She smiles at him. "He'll tease you about Puppy Love instead." As soon as the words left her mouth, Hinata mentally winces. Why had she said that?!
Tempering his expression, Sasuke glares at her slightly. "Oh no, he gets all the puppy jokes. There is no way I'm going down from cat to puppy." Then, his expression softens. "Besides, the last thing I need is that idiot getting it into his head that I need to be dating someone. He takes a far too active interest in my sex life as is." Not that such a thing was entirely unexpected.
"I can certainly sympathize there." Ino did the same thing and probably made Naruto look tame in comparison. "My best friend is the same way."
Sasuke scoffs. "I seriously doubt that your friend is the same way as the Dobe." Even if he was the most loyal, trusting, and affectionate idiot Sasuke had ever met.
"You're right." Hinata nod in agreement. "Ino is at least a thousand times worse."
Sasuke stifles an amused laugh. Poor Hinata had NO idea.
Danzo watches his team. To say the least, he was not pleased. "We've been planning that attack for months!" What the Hell had gone wrong?! "I demand an explanation! Why are they all still alive?!"
The two remaining members of the six-man team keep their heads bowed. Fu's brow furrows behind his mask. "It seems that the others were met by sniper-level gunfire within the complex. The perpetrators were far more skilled than the agents posted around the complex."
"Sniper fire in the fucking White House?!" Unbelievable! "Did we acquire any footage of the incident at least?!"
Fu shakes his head. "It seems that whoever these gunmen were, they called their associates quickly, who arrived with ambulances, and the FBI not far behind. It was impossible to infiltrate with the agents on full alert." There had been another twenty agents securing the building, getting four of their team inside in the first place had been difficult enough.
This was unacceptable! They had lost four agents and didn't even know who was responsible! "Well you had better find out who killed them. I want names!" And he wanted blood! No one defied ROOT and lived to tell the tale, except for his grandson.
"Yes sir." Fu and his silent cohort disappear into the darkness, as the assassins were wont to do. It had been a difficult night, and he had only just barely glimpsed the faces of the two who had taken out their team. Perhaps, though, with faces, he would be able to put names to them and discover their identities.
Alone once more, Danzo fumes. He was the leader of ROOT. The real powerbrokers that no one had heard of. People thought the politicians or wealthy controlled this city. They had no idea how wrong they were.
ROOT was what lurked underneath the surface of the trees. Everyone was familiar with the glitzy monuments and beautiful buildings that were displayed all over the city. No one knew just how ugly the underbelly of it was though. Well very few did anyway.
"Sai just had to go and join the Naval Academy." It was a shame really. His grandson would have been an excellent ally in this circumstance. "No matter." He'd just find a way another way. Another way to make sure everyone in that room died and he could replace them with new 'leaders' who would be his willing puppets.
Minato Namikaze, the media titan, the one who prided himself on uncovering the truth and exposing it for the world to see, whose family connections brought him the facts from far and wide. He was 'plugged in' to the people in a way that Danzo simply was not. And the stories he brought to light only exposed the corruption found in dark corners in his righteous crusade for 'truth and justice'. A childish notion, at best.
Fugaku Uchiha, the head of the federal department of military investigations for the Marines and Navy, with connections throughout the ranks of the military and federal agencies. His son, the senator, was just as dangerous, through his alliance with the Hyuga boy, who would soon be joining the Uchiha in the Senate in only a few short years. He two were a team that was not to be underestimated.
The Sabaku governor and his children were an annoyance, but nothing to be worried about. Though his youngest's association with Senator Uchiha was a cause for concern. And for the most part, the senators in the room were simply convenient casualties.
And of course, the First Family, beloved by the nation, and a veritable political dynasty. Their influence was great, too great to be allowed to stand. And because of the interaction between their families, they were putting this country in danger because of their idealistic notions best left to fantasy. No…it was much safer to use puppets to control this country from the shadows.