That's it. It was over. Years of training and pushing herself past her limit to be stopped by a piece of paper.
Medical discharge. Hinata was officially retired from being a nin.
It wasn't like she wasn't healthy. She was in the best physical shape she had ever been, but after three failed psych evaluations, she was no longer fit to be put into the field.
Where was she going? She would find out when she got there. Hinata smelled bread. It smelled amazing. The smell led her to a corner shop she recognized, but mostly from a memory of her childhood.
It used to be a pastry shop her father never stopped at, and she wasn't allowed to beg. It closed down by the time she was old enough to run around on her own. She noticed that it had new owners when she passed it before. She didn't know when. It never seemed to be open when she passed by.
Hinata looked in the window at the baskets of rolls and full-sized bread in a case. She let herself in and heard the bell ring. She crouched down to look at the bread in the case. All savory. Tomato, basil, curry. They all looked delicious, but she was hoping for something sweet. She pressed her finger to the glass at the tomato bread, thinking it looked good. She was startled as a hand behind the glass grabbed it.
Hinata jumped up to come face-to-face with the store owner. She was more startled to see him.
Sasuke Uchiha raised his eyebrow and held the bread up, asking her if it was the one she wanted. She nodded and dug out money while he put it in a brown paper bag. She handed him money for the bread, and she turned around.
There were no chairs in the shop.
It was a bakery, most people didn't sit down immediately to eat their bread, but that is exactly what she wanted to do. She bowed her head and exited the store, and without much more thought, she crouched down there on the curb to eat the whole bread.
That's what she felt like doing. She ripped a piece off and stuffed it in her mouth. It was great. Carbs felt like the best thing in the world right now. Now she just wished she had a cup of tea.
Hinata sat and picked off pieces of the bread until it was gone, and she seriously debated going back in to get another, but it would look strange coming in to get another loaf after she was just there a few minutes ago.
She brushed off her hands and folded up the bag as she thought.
Sasuke Uchiha. Hinata hadn't heard much about him since he had come back. She heard he voluntarily retired and ran a shop, but she never asked what he was selling. For some reason, Hinata always pictured something more like a shrine or antique weapon shop.
It suited him. He made good bread.
Hinata brushed the crumbs off her shirt as she got up. Maybe now she could go home to break the news to her father.
Sasuke watched from the window as the Hyuga girl sat outside again. She came three times this week, bought a full loaf of bread, and ate it at the curb. She didn't get up until she ate the whole thing. He wondered if she would come back next week now that she exhausted his major flavors.
He remembered her being shy when they were kids, but she looked empty now. She didn't look at him after the first day, she barely got out a thank you, and she was always alone.
After the first day, she was dressed as a civilian and removed her forehead protector. It aged her. She didn't look like a nin in the prime of her life. She looked like a tired widow.
After a month of her being his most frequent customer, he decided he needed a new flavor. He added cheese bread. When Hinata crouched down to the case that day, her eyes lit up for the first time. Then she sat out in the rain under the ledge to eat it.
Sasuke knew he needed to add chairs to the empty room. There wasn't enough room for more than two small tables with two chairs each, and he hadn't put any out because he didn't want people to stick around, but it hadn't stopped her.
Hinata ate her bread at the table by the window, looking out at the same spot she had when she sat outside.
At two months, Sasuke noticed Hinata always seemed to look at every basket before deciding for the day. "What are you looking for?"
Hinata was surprised by his voice. In all the times she came, he only spoke to her to give her change. "Cinnamon."
Sasuke's nose was scrunched. "Why?"
Hinata kept her eyes down on the case. "This used to be a pastry shop. I always saw cinnamon rolls in the window. I never got to have one."
Sasuke made a note to make something with cinnamon in the future.
Hinata stared at the case and the new label. Cinnamon twist. She pointed at it in the case and could smell it before Sasuke even handed it to her. She glanced up at him while they exchanged and then just quickly glanced back down. It was as close to looking someone in the eye as she had come in three weeks.
Hinata took the bag back to her spot and glanced at his reflection in the window. She was happy he had fulfilled her request, but she didn't know why he would when he so clearly disliked the idea. As she stuffed the first piece in her mouth, she didn't care. This was one of the few moments in her life where she was content to just be. She would sit with her bread until it was gone. Until then, she didn't think about what was waiting for her at home or the shame.
She just enjoyed her bread.
Hinata looked at the closed sign and breathed a disappointed sigh. She knew she was running late, but she had hoped it was a slow day, and maybe he hadn't run out yet. Maybe wishing for that was rude, but she didn't care what bread she got. She just wanted her moment with it.
The bell of the door startled her. Sasuke held out a brown bag. Hinata accepted it, looking inside. It was full of assorted rolls. "How much?"
"Don't worry about it. They're defective ones. I was surprised when you didn't make it. I thought I would save them in case you came." Sasuke shoved his hands in the front of his apron.
"Thank you." Hinata pressed the bag to her chest and leaned on the building. She dug into the bag to rip a piece to eat.
Sasuke shrugged. "You have come every other day for three months now."
Hinata paused to chew. "I like bread."
"You haven't had a mission in three months?" Sasuke asked.
"I'm retired," Hinata brushed off her with her fingers. It didn't feel right talking to him while she was eating.
"Then what do you do?" Sasuke asked.
Hinata stared across the empty street and thought of an answer. "I eat bread." That was all she could come up with. What did she tell him she did? She wandered around to avoid going home and locked herself in her room to hide from the stares she couldn't escape from in her own home. Take the long way around the compound to avoid her father's routine because she couldn't stand that her father couldn't look at her.
She didn't do anything. She was useless.
No, calm down.
Hinata tightened her grip on the bag, focusing on her breathing. She could get worked up when he was only asking simple questions.
Sasuke let out a sigh looking up at the sky. "That's why I started selling bread. All I was doing before was making and eating it by myself."
Somehow it felt like, on some level, Sasuke understood. Maybe he just understood the void that being retired made in your schedule. Honestly, it was more than most people understood.
Hinata came next time with a thermos of tea and two cups. The bakery seemed busier than usual. She waved a few people ahead of her and waited for them all to leave before she made her choice and handed him a cup of tea.
Sasuke sipped it and gave a shrug of approval. Hinata collected her bread and sat by the window. She was startled when the chair across from her was pulled out, and Sasuke sat down with his tea. She sipped hers and tore at her bread, only stealing a glance.
"Why did you retire?" Sasuke asked directly. "You didn't want to." He said confidently. "You're not happy."
Hinata breathed in her insecurities and curled her fingers into the ends of her long sleeves. "I failed my psych evals. No one wants someone they can't trust on their team." Sasuke raised his eyebrows, surprised by her honesty. "A nin needs to be strong of body and mind, and one can't make up for the other," Hinata added, picking another piece from her loaf. "Especially when one was already lacking."
Sasuke's mouth flattened into a line, and his eyebrows knitted together. He must have guessed wrong.
"I'll be alright." Hinata lied.
"That's what I said when I quit," Sasuke told her. Hinata feels his eyes boring into her soul, seeing her lies. "You know what I did?" Hinata shook her head. "I locked myself in my house and started questioning life," Sasuke told her bluntly.
Hinata pressed her lips in a line. That's where she was now. "How did you go from that to this?"
"One day, I wanted bread, it was too late in the day, and the bakeries were closed, and I didn't want shit supermarket bread, so I thought it can't be that hard to make," Sasuke explained, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "I didn't sleep that night because I kept screwing it up, it was edible, but it wasn't what I wanted. So I spent the next week determined that I would make a simple loaf of bread."
Hinata folded her hands together, looking into her cup while she listened.
"Then, when I did it. I had to make it better. When I made it better, I had to make different kinds, and after a while, I had a lot of bread, and it had run out of its challenge. That's when I realized that's what I had wanted. I wanted a new challenge. We've been trained to see an obstacle and drive it into the ground. I spent my whole life on goals, so I needed a new one."
It felt like he was looking into her soul.
"So one day, I passed this place and the for sale sign and thought. How much bread could I make if I started selling it." Sasuke shrugged. "Now the goal is to open every day and sell bread, and when that doesn't work anymore, I'll do something else.
"I've been waking up and waiting to come here," Hinata told him honestly.
"Tea's decent," Sasuke commented.
"I'll keep bringing it," Hinata told him.
Sasuke nodded, finishing the cup and putting it in front of her.
Sasuke started to sit with Hinata when she came in. It was comfortable, usually quiet. Sometimes they didn't say a word to each other. Hinata was somewhat quieter than when he left.
It took a couple of sittings for him to notice distinct scars on the backs of her hands. It wasn't just the backs of her hands. They went straight through on both sides. There was a cluster of them between where the bones lay. Sasuke made the mistake of letting his interest show on his face, and both hands disappeared into her sleeves.
Hinata's eyes snapped down the table and stayed there. Sasuke wondered if this would be the thing that would make her stop coming. "I was captured and tortured for information." Sasuke felt the confession in the core. "I escaped, but it was too late. I'm still not…"
"I understand," Sasuke told her. He could feel the pain coming off her. Hinata went silently back to her bread. "The tea's getting better."
Hinata's eyes flickered up and met his in understanding.
Hinata placed two glass bottles on the table and rubbed her hands together. It was a warm day, but the cold glass had gotten to her fingers. She bought her bread, and Sasuke came out to sit, and he picked up the bottle of pink liquid and made a face. "What's this?"
"Raspberry ice tea." She answered.
"I don't like sweets," Sasuke commented as he opened the bottle and sipped it anyway.
"I'll keep that in mind." Hinata hummed.
"I assume you do?" Sasuke asked. Hinata nodded. "Then why didn't you find a pastry shop to spend your afternoons at?"
"I did. I found a bakery instead." Hinata hummed as she ate.
"You might actually eat more bread than I do." Sasuke sat back and crossed his arms.
Hinata scrunched her nose. "It's good."
"Do you want to learn how to make it?" Hinata's eyes shot up in question. Sasuke raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer.
"Would you be willing to teach me?" Hinata asked.
"If you want to show up early in the morning. Bread need's to be made before dawn." Sasuke shrugged.
Hinata nodded. "That sounds nice."
Sasuke patted the flour off his hands and wondered if Hinata would accept his offer. She hadn't shown any interest in making bread, only eating it. He had a hunch she would enjoy it. He felt a calm connection to her, their pains were different, but they had similar reactions.
The bell on the front door gave him his answer, Hinata peeked her head in the back, and he tossed her an apron. Hinata took it and put it on. Sasuke pointed to the sink for her to wash her hands.
"Right, come over here." Sasuke slapped dough in front of her station. "I have a batch mixed. You can start by learning to knead."
After a few hours of various dough making, Hinata was covered in flour, just like he was on his first day. She ducked her head into looking in the oven and watching the bread bake.
Sasuke patted off his hands and folded his arms to watch her watch the bread. Hinata seemed to forget her scars partway through the morning, shoving her sleeves up out of her way. There were deep scars trailing up her arm. Some were formed in kanji he couldn't make out. They were only that deep if they were repeatedly opened or purposely healed while held open, so she would always have them. He wasn't sure which was crueler in the long term.
Sasuke made sure not to look long. If Hinata closed off, there was a good chance she wouldn't come back. "I think it's done," Hinata said, pulling her hands from her latest dough ball.
"You're good at this," Sasuke told her. "When I started, I couldn't make it through the morning without my wrist killing me."
"Not all that different from Gentle Fist." Hinata shrugged.
"You have flour on your nose." Sasuke pointed.
Hinata swiped her face with her sleeve, leaving a bigger trail than before. Sasuke snorted.
Sasuke moved to brush it away, but his hand hovered as an intrusive thought won, and he leaned in. The kiss was cut short by a rise timer going off, breaking them both into realizing they hadn't even thought about stopping.
"I should go…" Hinata breathed.
"As long as you come back tomorrow." Sasuke brushed the flour from her face.