The Cut That Always Bleeds
Summary: She will always be the cut that always bleeds. He will always let her. Hinata endures, Sasuke knows she doesn't have to. Here's why exes should remain in the past.
Pairing: Naruto x Hinata x Sakura , Eventual Sasuke x Hinata
World: Alternate Universe, Modern Era without special abilities
I own nothing.
Eight.
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To say that she was hiding, avoiding, him was an understatement. Cause why would she?
Hinata blinks at the sight of the unsuspecting Uchiha who stood across her just as she was about to have a big bite of her mushroom burger. Why would she? Hinata mentally scoffed.
The man clad in dark suit approached her as she silently settled on nibbling the bun, what now? He sits on the chair across her, a question mark paints all over her face. It has been three days since they last saw each other - since she last saw him to the very least - and it was the most awkward moment! Hinata silently cursed her growing blush.
"Are you feeling better now?"
Aa. Here goes.
"Y-yeah uhm, yes I'm.. I'm okay, thanks"
Sasuke humms, tapping on the table.
Must he ask?
"I uhm, sorry. I'm sorry about the other night"
"Stop thinking about it. I've half forgotten" He teases, earning a smile on the pinkish girl's face. "After this program, I won't be seeing you anymore anyway, what's wrong with being vulnerable with a stranger?"
Hinata laughs airily, "Everything. Everything"
Sasuke humms again, taking the packet of fries from her tray and eating it on his own. "If you say so."
"Say, do you have plans this afternoon?" Sasuke asks, offering a fry to Hinata as if it was his. She takes one and shakes her head, "Tenten will be out of town for two days I think she's meeting a cousin so uhm I have the day to myself"
"Last two weeks and she's skipping classes"
Hinata giggled and nods, "Yeah, how about you? Oh uhm where's Kiba-kun?" She looks around for the face tattooed man among the crowd. Sasuke looks around too, "I was with him. I think..I lost him.. maaa he's gonna get mad again." The blue haired girl across him lets out a happy laugh, and suddenly a small tug pulls at his chest.
Beautiful.
"Mind coming with me? I'm going to go around town, well if you want to hang"
And for whatever reason, as if her head had a mind of its own (which in fact it does), Hinata finds herself nodding. "O-okay"
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.
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"What do you mean I can't go!?" Kiba hissed and threw a wet towel on his friend who effortlessly dodged. Sasuke sighs, looking up at the ceiling, wall - anything else.
"Kiba, I know we're close but please have some decency and put on your underwear." Kiba glares at him, picking up a grey boxers, waives it in front of Sasuke and finally puts it on. "I took a shower only to be ditched. What a friend you are! I thought we're going to the park"
"Yeah I know, maybe on the weekend. I have dinner plans"
Now, Kiba isn't stupid. If anything - he's inquisitive. Sasuke wouldn't leave him for just anything. Kiba straightens his back and looks at Sasuke again this time with solemn eyes. "I'm telling you, man.. Just drop it, she's taken"
"I know"
"Just.. maaa.. man, okay. Fine. Go, go away" Big tanned hand gestures and ends up with a middle finger hanging up, shooing the Uchiha away. Sasuke smiles, leaning on the wall as Kiba tucks himself on his hotel bed for a nap. "Maybe beer.. tonight? On me"
Kiba laughs, "Yeah. I'll be here if your lover boy heart breaks tonight. In fact, I wish it does...and you're paying!"
Sasuke leaves with an airy laugh, "Yeah yeah. I'm holding on to that"
.
.
.
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"Have you shopped for souvenirs?" Hinata asked, her eyes skimming over keychains of various designs and colors and fingers particularly staying on the orange fox holding a Cloud flag.
"I really don't have anyone to give any" Sasuke mumbles, his back hunched inside the small local shop. He looks around nonetheless. His eyes traces over a deep blueblack scarf, his fingers feeling the texture. Thick, soft...soft.
"It's pure wool, sir!" A little girl chided, breaking the Uchiha from his reverie. "It's the last one, are you getting it?" She asked excitedly, eyes not leaving his surprised ones. Sasuke nods, "Do you want me to wrap it too?" Sasuke nods again, this time he looks over at Hinata who now had a handful of refrigerator magnets and keychains. Raising her head and meeting his glance, she shoots him a smile.
And somewhere, somewhere deep inside the cool unwavering exterior which he hopes he does not break - Sasuke feels soft. Cursing to himself, finally admitting he has been doomed, he slowly finds himself smiling back.
.
It wasn't long until Sasuke and Hinata found themselves deeper into the streets of the shopping district. The place was livelier than alive, bustling with the colors and noise, people huddled in the cold and warmth of each other's conversations. In the colors and cold wind, Hinata drowns. No one knows her here, she knows nothing and no one here and yet.. and yet, her eyes falls on Sasuke's hands as he reaches to her, finally resting his large pale hands on her arm and somehow in its own little way, warms her up..
and yet... it feels just right
"Dinner?" Sasuke asks, his hands on her forearm keeping her close.
Hinata nods, "Somewhere warm, please" she settles on a whisper. Without any other word, he guides her to another alley that leads to a warm inviting ramen shop. Hinata wanted to ask if he planned it, how could he know just exactly where to go? "Is this okay?" He asks again, his other hand fiddles on the entrance door and the other still on hers.
Hinata blinks and nods.
"Welcome! Have a seat. Here's our menu, kindly let me know if you need my assistance" A lively middle aged woman bows, her hands extended with a plastic covered menu. Hinata mutters a low thank you before she skims over choices - despite knowing her go-to.
From words, letters, numbers and plastic - she could not, for the life of her, remember just when did her eyes settle and for how long, on the man before her who was chewing on his lower lip deep in thought. She swallows a dry throat. From his thick dark hair that frames his angular jaws and sharp tall nose...
what?
"what?" she hears herself ask, blinking. Her head turns again to lady in waiting, repeating.
"I asked if you're uh ready to order, Miss?"
Hinata nods, her hands holding out the menu. "Shio ramen and gyoza, please. Thank you. And warm tea, if you have"
The lady turns with a smile as Sasuke tells her his order.
Hinata blinks the fogginess of her mind away. "I think this is the warmest we can get" Sasuke tells her, pulling his coat closer to him, his nose is now pink from the cold and his breath fogs to her and vanishes in the air. "Warm enough for me" she smiles and then looks around the interior of the ramen shop. Everything is warm and cozy just like their go-to ramen shop back in Konoha where Teuchi-san and Ayame-san awaits with their warm smiles. Warm and bright and...yellow. A momentary lapse in her memory brings her back.
Yellow!
Hinata almost gasped, her hands searched for her phone in her bag slightly annoyed by the clutter - mostly more annoyed by the fact that she hasn't even remembered him today! She hasn't even messaged or called. Hinata silently cursed at her mind fog that has been going on the whole day.
"Do you like ramen?" Sasuke asks, looking around the shop too but stops at the huge dragon drawing that hangs on the wall.
"Ah, n-not much," she replies with her hand still blindly tapping and frisking in her bag for her phone, "But uhm, I like it just enough. Ramen.. ramen is Naruto's favorite" She smiles, half because she finally gets a hold of her gadget.
She hears Sasuke hums, his big pale hands nesting his chin. "Excuse me, I'll just check my phone"
He hums again, this time fishing his phone too from his coat.
Hinata didn't know what bothered her more, was it the fact that when Sasuke turned on his phone there were a dozen of buzzes that went through? or the fact that when she did, she finds herself forgotten?
X Messages.
X Missed calls.
Light eyes blinks away the disappointment as she stares at her empty screen. She settles on the latter realization as she types a message to Naruto, asking him about his day and that hers has been well so far, that she is having ramen and thought of him and wondered if he has eaten dinner too? That she misses him and counts the days she will be back.
She swallows another dry throat before looking up to Sasuke, hoping a conversation would shove away the disappointment that bubbles in her for forgetting that while she enjoys herself in a new place, there was someone waiting for her in Konoha... who has apparently, she now feels, has forgotten her too.
And yet as she steadies her gaze, she finds herself again trapped in the darkness of the eyes of the man before her with a small smile adorning his beautiful face - and from there, she felt soft, ashamed that somewhere in her hopeless selfless self, she hopes she's the only one in the receiving end of those smiles.
Hinata slowly finds herself confused.
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Sasuke laid on Kiba's bed still with his outside clothes late that night, his hand on his chest that housed his wildly beating heart. "Kiba.."
Said Kiba grunted, kicking the dark haired guy on his side freeing his thigh from the bothersome figure on his bed. "Shut up, I'm sleeping"
Sasuke blinks again, his eyes on the dimmed lights of his friend's room. There was something about tonight he couldn't grasp. Something about how she smiled at him, something about the unspoken connection? Was it spark? God damn, if someone could hear his thoughts they'd probably bring him to an asylum. He is Sasuke Uchiha and he doesn't ignite with sparks.
Right?
He breathes out the air he didn't know he held for so long, repeating in his mind the way she looked up at him in which he found himself lowering his gaze.
"I'm fucked"
Somehow sinking, he feels another kick on his side with a gutteral whisper from the supposedly asleep Inuzuka..."I told you so"
.
.
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Hinata lays on her hotel bed still with her eyes on an empty screen. Her calls unanswered. Her messages sent and unseen. Her inbox numbers staying the same. All these and yet, she knew he is online.
What's happening? Why wasn't he messaging? Calling? Replying? Has be been in an accident? Is he hurt? Did he lose his phone?
..Is he with Sakura? What are they doing...Oh God.
Her hand skims over her chest, feeling guilty and disappointed and warm at the same time. What has she been thinking? She was the one who was out with another man! Naruto would never... Hinata wanted to cry, what's with this confusion? What is with the doubt? She hates it and yet she lets a drop or two of her tears fall. She wants to go home.
10 days to go and she'll be home. The fog will clear. It will.
Right? It has to.
Naruto, what's happening?
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.
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Naruto lets out a heavy sigh as his phone buzzes again for the nth time today, it's probably Hinata - and yet he finds himself refusing to check. He turns and switches the phone off, raising his arm over his eyes covering it from any light. Why can't he get it away from his head?
"I think.. I think I'm drunk, Naruto. Maybe this is the sake talking but...but there's a part of me hoping you'd think about this a thousand times and a thousand more and maybe... maybe you'll think of me"
He swallows, what did she mean by that? He never asked... he never got to ask. And she cried too. What did he mean, to think of her? And what if he does?
He sighs again, turning to his side and blindly reaches out to his landline phone punching an all too well known numbers on its pads. It rang, on the third time it did he thought maybe he shouldn't be calling - but on the fourth, she picked up.. "Hello?"
The blonde combs his hair with his fingers, "Hey"
"Oh, Naruto. What's... what's up?"
"Nothing, I just.. I just have nothing to do. Do you, do you want to come over?"
He hears her hitch a breath, he almost takes it back and said it's okay of she was busy and that he just was not thinking straight, that it was nothing! - but he doesn't. He stills and waits, and she says yes. She asks if Hinata won't mind, he answers she won't. She says she'll be there soon and he hangs up.
Naruto's hands feels the raging heart under his chest, feeling like a traitor to his bones.
"It's just talk. Nothing more, we'll just talk." He convinces himself as he looks over at the picture frame that housed his and Hinata's picture embraced in each other's limbs. He blinks again, he'll just ask. It's nothing but talk, he's not doing anything wrong.
Right?
And yet somewhere, somewhere deep in his chest he feels like it is. And he lets it.
Hinata would understand.
A/N: SasuHina ship has officially sailed!
I know I'm not supposed to update yet because I'm in the middle of something really important but here I am updating because nothing is being processed in this little head of mine, so I might as well update! I hope you enjoyed the chapter... I hope you're all well! I can't wait to hear from you all soon!
