Chapter 6 - Walls We Build and Break

Hinata is haunting him.

That sounds awfully poetic, but it's the only way Sasuke can describe it. Therefore: Hinata is a phantom in his home of phantoms. She's sitting along the tatami mat. She's watching the night sky out in the yard. And this is weird — because phantoms are meant for family. They are his cooing mother and his strict father and his doting brother. Hinata is not . . .

Well, not yet, at least.

And yet, here he is, haunted. By her.

By her, and by that damn date.

If he's being honest with himself, he had been nervous about it. Not exactly in the shaky, sweating sense, but he didn't know what to expect, and that left him unbalanced and unsure. It was mostly Hyuuga Hinata herself that caused this trouble within his chest — because the only bits of information he has on her dates back to their Academy days. She was a quiet kid back then, always nervous and blushing as red as a sunset, especially when a certain teammate was around. She hadn't a bone of courage in her body back then — but now — well, Hinata is no longer that girl. She's the woman that stood at the front of his gate and asked him out on a date, determined and meek at the same time. Brave. Very, very brave. Which means Sasuke will need to update his log of information he has on her.

And wouldn't you know it — a date is the perfect way to do so.

Which is why he had gone.

Which is why he had gone out and found her and allowed her to take the lead. She took them to the great trees on the outskirts of Konoha, where they sat up in the high branches, away from eyes and ears alike.

And they talked.

They talked awkwardly. She was forcing herself, and he was forcing himself, and neither of them were very good at it. But it was better there, within the cover of leaves, than in the public eye — so that gave them some comfort. She started with vague conversations about teammates and recent missions, and he tried to follow along. Somehow, it felt wrong to mention Naruto, so he tried to avoid that subject; but that meant his stories were short and colorless because Naruto took up most of the noteworthy events that have occurred in his life.

It was hard to keep up, but then Hinata turned the conversation on its side when she said, "If I, um, understand correctly . . . you've been working on rebuilding your estate."

His body had immediately turned from stiff to stone-like. "Yes," was all he could bite out at the time.

"I hope . . . your progress is going well," she said, quietly.

He wondered if she was worried about the state of his estate in particular. Did she want to be married and come home to a perfect, pristine place like that of the Hyuuga's? A flash of fire burned his lungs, and he frowned.

"It's fine."

"Will you bring the koi pond back?"

Sasuke had been slightly surprised that she remembered the pond. He and Itachi loved it dearly, and had even named the two black koi that swam in pairs. It's a dry pile of rubble just slightly off-center as of now, but he did, indeed, have plans on restoring it.

"Yes," he said, and watched the child-like wonder bloom on her face.

"Oh, I'm glad!" Her hands had clasped together. "I think that will make it look very lovely — ah, not that it would be un-lovely without it. But I always thought the Uchiha complex had such character, and I'm excited to see how you will bring that back."

She painted a picture of a glowing estate with koi ponds and painted walls depicting the history of the Uchiha. She imagined a towering library and an open-concept kitchen that will let the summer breeze add flavor to the food. Sasuke could see the green grass and the clean floors and the fixed, sturdy walls. He wanted that place.

So they planned together. He mentioned a miniature river in the back, and she detailed the windchimes being decorated with all kinds of birds. They make this idea a painting in their heads, and before he knew it, that tension was gone.

She was smiling, which he hadn't expected. Really, he hadn't expected anything good to come from this date.

"Mr. Uchiha," she said, "can I be forward for a moment?"

The tone of her voice had told him she would be touching on that tricky subject neither of them wanted to come close to discussing. He was not nervous, however. He gestured for her to continue.

"Um." Her eyes had fallen, then lifted up again. "I fear you should not expect the perfect wife out of me. I'm not very good at cleaning, you see, and I'm told I get lost in thought a lot. It will take some adjusting, but I hope to be someone good at your side."

To hide the startled flush to his neck, he had looked away and leaned back into the shade of the leaves.

"I won't be a good husband," he said.

She shook her head. "That's fine. Or rather, um, we'll learn together." Her face was red again. Maybe a little bit of that girl from the Academy was still in her. There was no Naruto around, however; it was just him. Then, slowly, timidly, she covered her hands over his own. Their rings clicked together, connected. "So . . . please trust me . . . . Sasuke. I'm on your side from now on. You can count on me."

And that had —

And still, hours later, deep into the night, his hand feels warm. His whole body does.

And it haunts him.

He cannot sleep. His body is too awake, and his brain is trying to figure out what all of this means, what he's feeling deep inside.

Sasuke gives up on sleep for the next two hours. He goes around, cleaning all the windows, until he's on the verge of collapsing.

*** Uchiha Sasuke - Wall Expert ***

He wakes up that morning to a hurricane of chakras outside his wall and a thundering set of knocks to his gate.

He gets dressed, steps into the hot, morning sun, and opens his gate to find almost all of Konoha 11 standing before him.

"About time," Inuzuka Kiba barks. "We thought you'd never open up."

"Told you it was too early," Nara Shikamaru yawns in the back.

Ino is working on tying her ponytail into a tight bun at the top of her head. "Well, I ain't going back for another hour of sleep. I'm already here and ready."

Sasuke stares down at them all, noting their odd clothing. T-shirts and baggy pants and gloves, as if they're expecting to be working the whole day away doing . . . labor . . . .

Wait.

Hinata is in the crowd. He locks eyes with her, and her ears turn pink, ashamed.

"I mentioned a few things to Hanabi," she whispers, "and she insisted on getting everyone together to help for the day."

Sasuke frowns, already annoyed by the lot of them showing up unannounced and practically demanding he let them inside. The idea of them coming into his estate and pointing out every piece of rubble and ruined paper door is not a pleasant thing to think about, either.

But before he can consider shooing them away, Hyuuga Neji passes him, knocking shoulders with him.

"Stop being proud, Uchiha," he mutters. "It won't help you this time."

Now his annoyance is doubled, but Sasuke swallows his anger and steps to the side, letting them in.

Hinata is the last to enter. Personally, he thinks she should be the only one allowed in. She's got good reason.

"I'm very sorry," she says, bowing. "When Hanabi gets an idea, it's impossible to stop her. A-And no one would listen to me. When they heard about the engagement, they were determined to come — and I know it's out of their own kindness, but for you, it's —"

"Hinata," he sighs, "stand straight."

She snaps up, eyes wide, searching him for more signs of his obvious irritation. He tries to cool down his face, showing her it's not directed her way.

"It's fine," he says.

"It's not," she corrects him, realizes what she'd said, and looks away once again. "I mean — it's your home. We barged in."

Despite it all, a bit of amusement tips his mouth up slightly. "Alright. It's not fine. But some good will come from this, won't it?"

They look back to see the lot of them getting ready for whatever is asked of them. Even Akamaru seems pleased to be here, tail wagging wildly.

Hinata's smile is unsure, but at least she's not stressing over this as much as before.

"Alright," she says, finally stepping inside the estate. "Then let's . . . try to take the best out of this."

He nods, but on the inside, he's not sure just how well this is going to go for him.

...

He's teaching a good few of them how to fix the wall. Most of them watch closely, but a few — namely Rock Lee and that Inuzuka — look ready to just jump right into it. Hinata and Aburame Shino and Akimichi Choji are going through the yard, collecting rocks and rubble and setting them in a pile to the east-most wall.

Neji is comfortable with fixing the wall.

Sasuke's not sure how to take this, for a while. He wonders if it's just because of his supposed "genius" mind that he's able to pick up on it so quickly, but even the Nara seems to struggle a bit in the beginning. Neji picks it up like the Hyuuga should be known for their skills in wall-fixing, and he even helps Tenten and Rock Lee in their efforts.

His mind puts things together, but before he can consider confronting the Hyuuga about this, a very familiar chakra comes to his gate. Sakura comes with lunch and polish for the engawa, and her smile is fiery, like she's making up for a certain, missing teammate.

He doesn't say a word, and neither does she. Instead, she rolls up her sleeves and asks where she can help.

...

"God, you smell like Tamaki," Kiba keeps barking when Neji gets too close.

For the most part, Neji ignores him and focuses on the wall. They're about three hours into the afternoon, and a good amount of progress has been made on the wall.

Tenten, next to her teammates, grins at Kiba. "You'd know what Tamaki smells like, wouldn't you, lova-boy."

Kiba's face heats up. "Oi! Stop — we're not talking about me."

"He sees her four times a week," Shino, with about four, large chunks of concrete in his arm, adds. "Why? It's because they're —"

"Shut up!" Kiba yipes.

Neji looks as annoyed as Sasuke feels. "The wall, Inuzuka."

"I didn't realize you were seeing her that often." Hinata hovers by them, looking down at her teammate. Sasuke sighs and takes a moment to pause from packing the mortar. "How is she?"

Kiba, thoroughly embarrassed, scratches at the back of his neck. "Fine. I dunno. It's not important!" Regaining some of his gusto, he turns back to Neji. "Still doesn't explain why you smell like her!"

The implication is clear.

Hinata's hand rises to her mouth. "Neji!"

Ino snickers to the side. "Oooh. Love triangle. How shoujo."

Neji, finally past his line of tolerance, snaps, "I'm not seeing anyone. Maybe you should get your nose checked before accusing me of disgusting things, Inuzuka."

Ino giggles, but Kiba, somehow, turns more red.

"Huh!? And what's so disgusting about Tamaki? She's waaayy over your league!"

Sasuke smacks his forehead into the stone wall, regretting ever letting these people into his estate.

...

Finally, by evening, everyone is on their way out. They make plans to grab dinner together before cleaning up at home and collapsing into bed, and Sasuke's glad to see the estate empty again.

Well . . . almost glad.

It felt a little nice to see it full of people. He'd rather it be Uchihas than those idiots, but that's neither here nor there.

Soon, it's only Hinata and Neji who remain. Hinata is busy washing rags and picking up any trash left from lunch, giving Sasuke time to find Neji by that wall, covered in paint and dirt and mortar.

"You've done this before," Sasuke drones.

The Hyuuga doesn't look at him. "Sure."

"I noticed it yesterday. You came by while I was out with Hinata and worked on it."

Neji stands, dusts off his pants, then finally looks at him.

"Get to the point, Uchiha," he says.

Sasuke tries to keep his irritation at bay. "I don't want your pity. Leave my home alone."

Rather than angry, Neji looks almost disappointed. He wipes a hand down his face, sees the grime on his fingers, and frowns.

"Again with that pride. How could you ever make Hinata happy?" That sends a knife into his chest, and Sasuke will not take such an insult lightly. But Neji continues. "It's not pity. There's a hole in the wall, making the area unprotected. I'm looking out for a comrade."

Hyuuga Neji leans against the wall he just helped build. It takes his weight. It does not topple. It is tall and sturdy. Sasuke sees all the hands of Konoha 11 on his wall. He sees their sweat and their attention to detail.

"You're a part of us," Neji says. "It's not pity. It's loyalty to a teammate."

And Sasuke hates how that makes him feel. How he feels just a little less alone, now.

He's irritated beyond belief.

It seems all the Hyuuga know the right things to say.

...

Neji leaves first, letting Hinata stay a while longer to talk privately with him.

Sasuke does not miss the pointed look aimed his way by her cousin, warning clear in his gaze.

But he leaves, nonetheless, and Hinata clasps her hands together.

"Some good did come from this," she admits, "but I still apologize."

He squints down at her. "Should I apologize as well?"

"Huh? For what?"

His head tilts just a bit, thinking it was obvious. "For the date." She blinks rapidly, trying to keep up with him. Her confusion is still bright on her face. "I'm not the romantic type."

Her mouth falls open, understanding, and then she laughs and waves her hands in the air.

"That's fine," she says. "You don't need to be. It was fine as it was."

He almost agrees with her. Almost.

After another pause, she starts again. "But I suppose if you really want to do something about it, you can take me out to dinner one day."

Despite her teasing smile, he nods. "Alright."

Hinata squeaks. "I-I was joking. You don't actually —"

"I don't mind," he says, and a little dash of pleasure fills him when her face turns sunset again.

Her eyes squeeze shut in pure embarrassment, but her smile, though wobbly, is obvious, so he's sure she's happy about it, too. He hesitates for a second or two, then touches his hand against her jaw and lifts her head. Her skin is smooth and warm. The sensation gets trapped in the lines of his palm.

"Uchihas are proud," he tells her, "even in a situation like this."

Her eyes open, looking him in the eyes, daring. She does not correct him and tell him she's still a Hyuuga. That doesn't matter. Not right now. Instead, her hands lift to his, and she holds him close and does not let him leave her.

He cannot ignore how his heart beats.

He feels alive.

...

When she's gone, he notices Shisui on the wall, watching.

Sasuke brings a plate of chicken for him on the engawa, and then they sit together in the warm, evening air.

He's still not sure about any of this . . . but, somehow, Hinata makes him want to push harder. He's not sure why. It might be because, no matter what, she's going to be in his future — in this place — in Konoha. There's no stopping it, so he might as well work to make this work.

But is that really it?

Doesn't it seem like there's something more than simply securing a comfortable future?

Because when he touched her — when his hand lifted her chin and she looked at him — it was like he was looking in a mirror. She looked starved of touch. She looked like she forgot how nice it felt to simply be touched by someone else.

And Sasuke understands.

It woke up a part of him that had that same desire, and now his hand still burns, and he's sitting on the engawa, waiting, maybe even hoping she'll come back and tap her knuckles on his gate. He'll let her in. He won't even hesitate this time.

"She wants to make this place colorful," he tells Shisui. "She has a vision."

And he wants to go along with it.

He will make his estate great.

Their estate.

His fingers curl, and Shisui, finished with the chicken, stretches out to play with his ring on his finger.

Sasuke's hardly aware of it anymore.

It's like it's a part of him.

Chapter 6 - End