CCNote: New chapter for Becoming an Uchiha will be out tomorrow or Friday if my brain acts right. We'll see what happens. Slightly over word count but it can't be helped. Enjoy!
Air
Air.
He needed air.
It was suffocating to sit around a table as if everything was okay. As if in a split second, he wasn't capable of snapping their necks if he chose to. They sat, adult shadows of their former selves, drinking and laughing and reminiscing. They basked in shared memories of a time before bloodshed made them grow up too quickly. They lamented the loss of adolescence as if it were something to be missed.
Sasuke scoffed as he slipped out of the Yamanaka's home and closed the front door behind him. He knew he couldn't wander far but the small reprieve that the door gave was enough for now. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a half-empty carton of cigarettes. With a bit of fumbling, he was able to get one out using his thumb and teeth. From there he returned the carton and began to fish for a lighter. Unfortunately, the lighter fell from his fingers as soon as he retrieved it from his pocket. Living with one arm was proving to be difficult with even the most mundane of tasks.
A pale hand reached out from the shadows and picked up his fallen lighter from the ground. Mildly surprised, Sasuke's eyes followed the hand to find Hyuuga Hinata crouched in the shadows with her palm outstretched.
"You dropped this." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Hn." Sasuke grunted as he stooped down to accept her offering.
He paused, waiting for her to speak again. She didn't. She remained crouched with her knees hugged close to her chest and eyes trained to the ground. Perhaps she'd gotten sick of the charade as well. Lighting his cigarette that dangled between his lips, he took a long drag and held it in his lungs.