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.
A/N: Hi! So I have been asked if these chapters are in order given what has been happening and Hinata's silence? Well, yes they are in order. And sadly yes, despite the circumstances. I know it's hard to believe how silent one becomes when they're in denial but it's usually what happens when you're in that position... I also think it is just like Hinata to hold off heavy conversations esp that she is away from Naruto.
I know my story is a bit of a slow burn but please bear with me! I'll be updating in a week's time, hopefully get to finish the story soon too. Enjoy this SasuHina heavy chapter!
Nine.
.
"So, is something going on between you and Uchiha-san?" Tenten asks, sipping on her tea gingerly. It wasn't so hidden, she thinks, how the guy would always find ways to catch up on Hinata every after class to walk her back to her hotel and somewhat find themselves having dinner together - it wasn't a secret too that even when Kiba and Tenten were with them, they seemed invisible to the other two.
Tenten watches Hinata blush under her high coat with eyes wide in denial and confusion, shaking her head to check whether any of their acquaintances caught the question. "N-no, it's not like that! Sasuke-kun is just-" "-kun?"
"Ah, yeah, Sasuke-san"
"You call him Sasuke-kun! What's next, just Sasuke?" Tenten shrieked, her hands cupping her face with dreamy eyes. Pale pale lavender orbs widened, as if it could even more, at her friend's suggestive tone. It is not like that!
"I knew it. It's bound to happen! Forbidden long distance relationship! Formed overseas during an exchange program!"
"It's not like that! He is..Sasuke-kun is..."
Sasuke...Sasuke-kun is a friend who has been very helpful, friendly and warm in this cold cold place! Sasuke-kun is!
Sasuke-kun is..."... just a friend" Hinata says and slowly, curiously, finds herself disappointed. Sasuke-kun is just a friend, nothing more. He can be nothing more.
Warm hands enveloped her pale cold ones in surprise, "If you say so, Hinata-chan. I was just teasing," Tenten smiles cheekily, her hands folding back on the warm traditional tea before her steaming her nose, "So, last four days. Are you excited to go back to Konoha? You probably miss your Naruto-kun"
Hinata smiles and nods, "Four days and I'll be back. It's quite..bittersweet"
Pale eyes loomed over the windows, over the dark angry and cold skies.
In a few days, she will be back to Konoha. In a few days she will finally be back to her old arrangements, to her old place, to her paperworks, to Naruto... Hinata blinks, she'll be back to Naruto. She will finally be able to ask him the things she couldn't bring to ask on the phone - she'll finally be with the warmth that gets her through the days, finally remove all the clouds that loomed over her head. Right?
In four days.
There goes prince charming, she hears her friend say and so Hinata turns her head from the windows. There walks the anomaly that is Sasuke Uchiha, in his standard black suit and long dark blue coat this time donned with a winter cap. In four days, he too will be back, Hinata realizes, he will be back to Iwa.. Sasuke will be back to his arrangements, to his old friends - and highly probable that this, whatever this friendship they have created, too will die a natural death. Right?
With out permission, her lips forms to a smile albeit sadly. In four days, everything will be back to how it was. A month goes way too fast, doesn't it?
Hinata doesn't understand why her feelings turn to dread as she watched the dark haired man walk over to them with a warm small smile on his lips as if reserved only for her - suddenly she finds herself not wanting any of the four days to end.
At least not yet.
.
.
.
.
Hinata looked over what seemed like a couple of hundred foot distance between where she sat and where the concrete is solid. A strong wind sways the cable where she was stuck, gently scolding herself for her predicament. Just how did she get from getting a warm udon to the highest top of the ferris wheel that now has shifted to a halt in mid-air?
Hinata sighed and looked over at Sasuke who was looking at the other side of the cable.
"Kiba is probably feeling queasy now" Sasuke mumbles, crosses his arms and leans on his back - his hair hiking up on the glass fogged in cold. Obsidian eyes find themselves trapped in her light ones. He couldn't read the emotions on her face, scared being one to be the most obvious - scared, nervous (if was not the same).. relieved?
As if thinking what he's thinking, Hinata smiles at him a small smile that suddenly melts away the ice cold feeling burning at the back of his head. "I.. I wanted a quiet, alone time but I never knew it.. would be this" She slightly laughs, revealing a feminine lay of teeth. It made him wonder if she ever had braces because they were so perfectly arranged. Her two front teeth slightly bites her chapped lower lip. Even then, in her cold freezing look - to him, she looks just as beautiful just as she is when flustered.
"I guess it's safe to say be careful for what you wish for" He laughs, mirth reaching his eyes. Hinata finally realizes just how long and lush Sasuke's lower lashes are, how strange it is that his frown lines suit him better than his slightly obvious laugh lines, how thinner his upper lip is compared to his lower lip, how he doesn't have stubbles and just how...
"Uhm, ne.. Sasuke-kun, gomen. I dragged you here and now we're stuck" Hinata whispers, her eyes shyly meeting his dark ones. A loud angry blow from the wind blew out her thoughts and shook her through her bones just as how the cables shook in cold air. A silent vibration cut Hinata off her reverie...
Kiba I. is calling... (/) (X)
"Kiba-kun! Hai, hai! Sasuke-kun and I are okay, uhm I think. You?"
"Good, good. Well we're all queasy here...uhhh.. anyway, I'm only calling cause Tenten's friend who is around the area said the help is here, so firemen are here to the rescue. Finally"
"Oh, that's good! Please hang on tight" Hinata steals a glance over at Sasuke who was looking at the falling snow against the fogged windows.
"Yeah, yeah I'll hang up now I am really getting dizzy. I hope the bastard's not being a prick to you. See you on the ground, and be safe! " ...toot...toot...
"That's uhm, Kiba-kun"
Sasuke hums, and looks over at her again, "I heard" Hinata hums in return, her nails silently tapping on her phone screen that lights up and shows a picture of Naruto in his fireman uniform hugging Hinata from behind. Sasuke smiles and looks at her.
"If he was here, he probably would have gotten you down already" Sasuke says, pointing at the screen. He watched as Hinata's face formed different emotions that seemed too fast to pass. From confusion, to realization, to somewhat in denial... Hinata smiles and shakes her head, "No," she laughs, "No, probably not... well I wouldn't know"
Sasuke nods, "He would. I know he would."
"Eh?"
"Because isn't that what he's supposed to do?"
Hinata stares at him as if stuck, halting then silently laughing, "Well... I, I have no idea how he would handle it if he were here. But something tells me that I wouldn't be the first one to...be saved"
His frame shifted slowly, hoping it wouldn't sway further the cable they were in, and faced the girl who was beside him. Suddenly, large hands rubbed the length of her arms, warming her from the friction. Big light lavender eyes stare at him in surprise but without resistance, her chapped lips opened and mumbled a soft thank you.
"You're paper white and it's scaring me more than the height" He whispers, his warm soft breath reaching her bangs in comfort. She watched how his throat bobbed up and down as he talked and how the small hairs at the back of his neck stood in the cold.
"Are you scared of the.. height?" Hinata asks in whisper, as if someone would hear her in an empty cable. He watched how her cleanly threaded brows raised in concern. Soft blush crossed his face, "A little, just a little bit. When I'm not in control, it's scary.. a bit. But I hike, and that's a different thing cause I have control over myself. But, in general, yes"
He watched in wonder seeing how her eyes could, apparently, still go wider - as if in accusation. "You..You should have told me when I asked to ride this...Oh my, I had no idea. I'm so so sorry!"
Sasuke blinks at her panic. "It's not your fault we're stuck here, to be fair it was only supposed to be a 10 minute ride"
"I..still, I suggested this one" Hinata insists in whisper.
"I see, yes. Okay."
..."Okay?"
The rubbing on her arms stopped and Hinata felt as if she missed it the second it did. "Make it up to me then, Hinata"
The wind whistled from the outside and shakes a little more the red cable they were in. Hinata could slightly hear the shouting from below and the creaking and clanging of the metals as they fixed the large large ride and yet suddenly all the noise silenced and all she could hear was the wild beating of her heart wanting to rid of her ribcage. Hinata didn't miss the slight rising of Sasuke's dark and thin eyebrows as if asking her, what now?
"H..How?"
"Well, hmm" he breathes out, again disarraying her bangs on her forehead, "Dinner on the 9th. I won't be here on the farewell party so.. I might as well say good bye properly"
Hinata blinks at him, "You won't?"
"Hm, most likely not. My brother will come and we'll hike...somewhere. It still isn't sure, it depends how scarred I'll be when I get down from here" Sasuke chides, earning a full blush from the pale girl beside him.
"I see, okay. Uhm, dinner is on me on the 9th too" Hinata smiles, sniffing away the coldness.
Sasuke holds out his hands, rubbing the length of her arms again, "It's freezing in here, I'm almost a hundred percent sure we won't be safe from colds when we get down. Come closer, Hinata"
As if a command, Hinata scooted closer until Sasuke could feel her legs brushing against him. Sasuke fixed his jacket and his cap to cover his ears before rubbing his hands together again - but this time taking Hinata's small ones on between. "God, you're colder than ice. Sorry to hold your hand like this, well I'm not really sorry... but this will help."
Hinata laughs but lets him take care of warming up. Pale lavender eyes never left Sasuke's hands encasing her small ones. Perhaps if they weren't alone she wouldn't let him hold her hands or let him rub his warmth on her - or he wouldn't even bother in the first place. Perhaps, if they were stuck in a warm cable they wouldn't be sitting so close to each other and she wouldn't be letting him breath next to her so closely.
But that isn't the case, right? They are alone. And they are both cold. And he is here, holding her and giving her the warmth that she needs. And she will let him. Like anyone else who would be in my shoes, she reasoned.
Hinata blinks, what was she doing?
In a slight tug, Hinata tries to take away her hands having realized the intimacy of everything that was happening in the red circular cable they were in.
"I'm sorry, Sunny place, it might be awkward but I need warmth too." Sasuke says in low voice, turning to face her.
Sunny..place?
"I'll call you that now, since that's what your name means right? Sunny place. I'll call you Sunny" He declares, rubbing their hands together again, but the lift in his lips remains.
"I.. never pegged you as someone who gives nicknames"
"I don't, I'm not"
It could have been the warmth of their hands working their magic and making it seep to her person, but there was something about the way he said that he isn't that made her so warm - across her face, on her chest, at the tips of her ears...As if on cue, it seemed as if Sasuke was going nearer her - or was she going nearer him!? But at the moment she didn't care because it was making her warm. Warmth was what she has been needing since she got here, she realized. A warm forehead bumped on hers as she marvelled just how tall Sasuke Uchiha's nose is. How close he is...
"Sasuke," she whispered, "I think..you have a fever already"
Barely an inch away, Sasuke hums an audible 'I think so too'. Hinata takes her hand away from his and guides his head on her shoulder instead, and returns her wandering hand in between his to pool more warmth together.
Slowly, Hinata reminisces just how they got here. They were to celebrate their last 3 nights together before the program ends and ended up going to the Cloud Central Dome that housed large attractions. They were all full from dinner when Kiba said he wanted to try on rides - it was her who suggested the ferris wheel as to not upset their stomachs. Hinata mentally slapped her forehead, who would have known that her suggestion would become a nightmare for everyone involved? Just what are the odds of the ride halting mid air, swaying with cold wind blowing from all directions?
Without realizing it, Hinata was slowly massaging Sasuke's palms just as how she does with Naruto. They perhaps even had the same size of hands, she thinks, Naruto only being slightly more callused. Hinata stares at Sasuke's hands on hers. Had it been in another scenario, she would not even dare hold hands with another man, but this was different - right? They are cold. They are alone. They are stuck. Without any malice. Right? Clearing her head from any obtrusive thoughts, Hinata sighs and peers from below. It seems as if they were nearly done with the repair.
Sasuke lifts his head and turns to look too, "He would be very stupid," he mumbled blowing off on the air.
"Hm?" She asks, turning to face him again. Sasuke takes her in, red nose, washy eyes, chapped lips and silky straight hair caught under her heavy jacket, "What?"
"I said, your Naruto would be very stupid - perhaps the most stupid, if he doesn't save you first if he were here" He says, voice low and cracking from lack of water. Hinata swallows on a dry throat. Just how long had they been here?
Hinata smiles and hums, rubbing her hands together for warmth before he snatched them gently back to his now cold ones.
"Because I would, I would save you first" Sasuke says, blowing warm air on their hands with his dark eyes locked on hers with a smile on his face as if reserved just for her. And there she was, stuck suspended swaying albeit safely 200 feet high on a cable feeling as she were falling without fighting the fall.
Sasuke-kun is just a friend, nothing more. He can be nothing more.
He will be nothing more.
.
.
Right?
A/N: OKAY, I AM BACK. I HAVE TIME IN MY HANDS NOW! My hiatus has been lifted, hooray! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed picturing it on my brain! Please do leave me some love!
