Chapter 12 - A Better November

It's the first day of November, and Sasuke is still combing through Hyuuga drawl and seal statistics that make him bite his tongue so hard it bleeds. When his family was still alive, the Uchiha were close enough to the Hyuuga to know a little more about this seal than the rest of Konoha was privy to. He remembers his father was neither here nor there with it, but his mother was never pleased with it. She would say it created too much tension in a clan, which was always a dangerous thing with powerful families like the Hyuuga.

Sasuke had been young then, and Itachi had been good at keeping his naive mind from thinking too hard about it.

He hadn't understood back then — why would a family need a seal? What good did that do?

But as he reads line after line of the importance surrounding the secrecy of the byakugan, he recalls an event that happened years ago — when Hinata had been young, and she was kidnapped. It had been talk of the town. His parents, especially, were worried over it; his mother would stay late at night, walking back and forth by the door of her room, as if scared the kidnappers would attack the Uchiha, next.

The seal was to protect the byakugan from the countless amounts of enemies and wrongdoers who seek the secrets and power of the eyes.

The Caged Bird Seal is thereby appointed onto members of the Hyuuga Branch Family to ensure that protection falls onto the Byakugan and the Hyuuga Main Branch.

But then the text falls into paragraphs after paragraphs about loyalty, about servitude, about the role of the Main Branch and the Branch Family. Not only is keeping the byakugan safe important, but so is the Main Branch, who is in charge of the clan, clan affairs, and more dire secrets the clan possesses. In turn, the Branch Family is expected to serve and protect the Main Branch, and from what it seems to imply, the text notes that sacrifice is expected above everything when the byakugan or the Main Branch is put in danger.

In other words, Hinata is expected to serve the Hyuuga — to be their slave.

It is required that members of the Hyuuga Main Branch understand their role as leaders, and thus are expected to use their better judgment when it comes to punishing the misdeeds of Main Family —

I can't read this.

Sasuke flips through several more pages littered with that garbage, until he comes across the section explaining the appointment of the seal and how it's put onto someone.

The Caged Bird Seal can only be implanted on Hyuuga members who are in possession of the Byakugan; in the case that a Hyuuga offspring is not in possession of a Byakugan upon the third birthday of the new heir/heiress or one year into the appointment of a new heir/heiress, the Caged Bird Seal will not be implanted on such Hyuuga offspring.

A possible loophole comes to mind in this paragraph, but it is one Sasuke is not thrilled about. It would require ridding Hinata of her eyes, and he's not sure if that is a fate better or worse for her. So Sasuke throws the idea away and reads on and on and on — paragraph to paragraph — sections and sections — bullet points — subtext —

There's nothing.

That day, Neji will come to inquire about his findings, and all Sasuke has to say is that the only way to get Hinata out of this mess is if they fucking blind her!

Frustrated, he slams the documents down onto his father's desk and circles around it.

Weeks of tireless reading and researching, all for an outcome more dreary than before.

Huffing, frustrated, Sasuke goes out to his kitchen, where he is quick to make a bowl of soba noodles to drown in koregusu hot sauce. Somehow, he feels that his mouth being on fire is a much better experience than this defeated frustration building up in his chest.

With his chopsticks, he stirs the sauce into the noodles. Through the window, he sees Shisui and Neji (the cat one) sitting on the outside sill, watching him. Their eyes glow in the dark, early morning as they watch him make food at four in the morning. Judging him, obviously.

But Sasuke doesn't care.

He's tired, he's angry, and he's helpless.

She'll be Uchiha! he keeps thinking. No Uchiha should be sealed!

He's pacing around the large room, bowl wedged against his left arm as his hand holds his chopsticks, bringing spicy noodles to his mouth. His throat burns. His stomach twists.

What am I missing? he keeps wondering. What else can I do?

Another thought comes to his head — running away.

If only he hadn't signed that contract stating specifically that he couldn't live outside of Konoha walls.

. . . But that didn't mean Hinata had to stay.

It's . . . a better outcome than being sealed or blinded.

But just yesterday — the words she had said to him — "I'll be here when you wake up." — were all he had ever wanted to hear. A promise that she would stay with him, that she would not leave like so many people have.

If she left Konoha, he would not be able to follow. He would never hear those words again. She'd be another name to the list of people he will miss for the rest of eternity.

But she'd live a life of freedom.

Wouldn't that be a good thing?

Sasuke looks down at the white ring on his finger.

She'll have to leave as Hyuuga Hinata, he realizes, and not as Uchiha Hinata.

His steps slow.

Unless . . . .

And, suddenly, something sparks in him.

He thinks back to that part in the seal documents — The Caged Bird Seal can only be implanted on Hyuuga members who are in possession of the Byakugan — and he realizes that he had been right.

He had been missing something.

It was right there in front of him, scrawled out on that paper.

Finishing his noodles, not tasting the fire or spice at all, Sasuke begins to plan.

*** Uchiha Sasuke — Loophole Finder ***

He paces circles around his complex, unsure who he'd prefer to come first — Neji or Hinata.

He'll have to tell Hinata, either way. It's her loophole, after all.

But what will he say?

This, he's unsure about. And, really, it's the biggest reason why he's nervously walking loops around his grounds. He remembers feeling this uncomfortable, uneasy, tight feeling before. It came months ago, back when the proposal first came to his front gate. He had to not only buy rings, but he had to give them to Hinata, as well.

And what a clumsy, awful, unromantic thing that was!

He doesn't want that to happen again.

For once, Sasuke would like to do something right.

So for the next few hours, as the sun comes up from the horizon and helps the sky bloom into blue, Sasuke plans his words carefully. He'll have to explain it to her — if she's the first to arrive, of course. He'll have to say this will help her — he'll have to lay it all out to her —

But that won't do!

That's not romantic at all!

Then . . . he'll frame it in a different way. He's an impatient man, and her birthday is much too far away for his liking. She'll get the impression he's impatient because he wants to be married to her now — and that — well, that seems romantic. Probably.

But, again . . . that's skipping over the whole loophole part of this plan of his.

Sasuke groans.

How is he going to do this?

Maybe it would be better if Neji came first. He doesn't have to worry about being romantic with him.

The sun is just over the Uchiha walls when Hyuuga chakra comes pressed against the gate.

Sasuke stops, focuses —

Hinata.

That's definitely Hinata's chakra.

I'm screwed.

...

"Good morning, Sas—"

He doesn't let her finish. He drags her into his home, doesn't bother to stop and let her take off her shoes, and brings her to the dining table, where the documents lay out for her.

"Look at this."

He points to the section he's read perhaps a thousand times, and Hinata blinks. Her eyes are bright with confusion, and she looks a little dizzy, but she does as she's told and lifts the documents into her hands, reading over the section carefully.

"These are Hyuuga papers," she realizes. "How —"

"It says here —" Sasuke taps on the paper again, "that only a Hyuuga with the byakugan can be given the seal."

She nods slowly. "Yes. There'd be no need for the seal if they had no byakugan."

"I thought that way, too. I thought the only way to get out of this mess is if you were ridden of your byakugan. But there's another part to it." His hand grabs one side of the documents, turning it so that it's angled for both of them to read. "Look."

Hinata does, but she does not understand. "Sasuke —"

"Hyuuga," he says. "You have to be Hyuuga."

The narrow of Hinata's eyes slowly turns wide. "But I am —"

"Not for long."

His words are heavy in the air, and Hinata's ears are pink.

"Yes," she whispers, "but they plan to seal me this month, and we're not meant to wed until . . . ."

Finally, realization sparks in her eyes, and that light pink turns a hot and scorching red that takes up her face, her neck.

"Let's get married," Sasuke says. "Soon. That way, you won't have to blind yourself or run away —"

"Run away?"

"- and I won't have to chase you whenever I'm given a mission —"

"Sasuke," Hinata laughs.

"Let's get married tomorrow," he breathes out, staring at her. "Marry me, Hinata."

There's a crash to the side, and they both look up to see Shisui on the kitchen counter, a pile of metal chopsticks rolling around on the ground. Her eyes are startled blue, and if a cat had the look of a human that could faint, Shisui definitely had that look.

Worried, Sasuke goes over to pick up the chopsticks and touch Shisui's face, careful to avoid her whiskers.

Hinata remains by the table, awestruck. "You mean it."

Sasuke turns to her.

"You're not joking," she says.

He shakes his head. "I'm serious. We'll marry in secret, and you'll be Uchiha. They won't be able to seal you."

Her hands tremble and rub together. "Tomorrow's so soon. I'll have to get ready —"

"Pack tonight. Don't let anyone know, and come to me in the morning."

"Hanabi will be mad that we —"

"She'll get over it." His answer comes off as harsh, so he tries again. "We can . . . have another ceremony later. If you want. In December."

Hinata looks down at herself. "My kimono's not ready yet, and I'm not very good at styling my own hair —"

"Hinata," he sighs. "I don't care what you wear. I'm marrying you."

She stops for a moment, squirming to herself. Her eyes flutter, and her lips quake with a pleased smile, which fills Sasuke with relief. She doesn't hate the idea. Good.

"Um." Her eyes fall from his gaze. "But I was hoping — you see, I thought we had time — so I had hoped, um —"

Sasuke pets Shisui, sure that she's fine, and turns to Hinata fully. "Go ahead. Say what you need to."

"You see," she begins, voice a little shaky with nerves, "at weddings, there a certain . . . customs."

"Mn."

"Vows, ring exchanges. Uh . . . and at the end . . . ."

The way she bites her lip makes Sasuke understand fully what she's getting at.

"Right," he says.

"But I don't want it to be just because of customs!" Finally, she looks him in the eye, and her determination is fierce and beautiful. "I want to kiss you because I — because we —"

He traverses the small distance between them and presses his lips to hers. It's short and small and barely anything, and Hinata jumps away, skin burning with a flush.

"There," he says. "Nothing to worry about now."

And to his surprise, she falls to her knees, hiding behind the edge of the table. He blinks, nervous she had fainted, until he sees her eyes peek at him over the wood.

"That was sly," she mutters. "I thought you weren't the romantic type, Sasuke."

Now he feels warm and like he's melting.

"I . . . was trying . . . ." he confesses miserably.

Her head lifts enough to show off a dazzling grin, and she's back to standing again. This time, she kisses him, and it's longer and full of Hinata: warmth and understanding and love.

Sasuke basks in her glow, and he leans in and rests his hand on the table and kisses her back.

Somewhere to the side, Shisui is having a fit, knocking things over and meowing.

Neither of them notice.

Until she jumps onto the table and bites his hand, of course.

...

"I'm sorry," he tells Shisui for the seventh time as he watches the sky, waiting for dawn to come and bring Hinata with it, "but you can't come."

Shisui's meow is long, like a whine.

"I know there should be a witness, but I don't think cats count."

Shisui's nose wrinkles, and she looks away.

Sasuke smiles. "Don't be like that. I'm leaving the house in your care while I'm gone."

He scratches between her ears, and she purrs, despite herself.

A knock comes to the gate when the horizon turns a soft pink. Hinata's there, dressed in her mission clothes, a bag hanging from her shoulder. Sasuke lets this image stay, for a while. This is the last time Hyuuga Hinata will show up at his gate. This is the last time he'll be the only Uchiha to come into this estate.

Her eyes are bright and excited.

"I'm ready to marry you, Sasuke."

He snorts, but his smile cannot be tamed. Cheeky romantic.

Before they leave, Sasuke turns back to Shisui. "Be good. Take care of Neji." He smirks. "Both of them. Somehow, I feel he won't be too pleased when he learns of this."

Shisui's tail swipes aggressively, and she swipes her paw in the air, shooing them off. Like a mother. Like a brother. Like a Hyuuga brat.

Chapter 12 - End