It was an unofficial tradition that Hiashi would throw a celebratory dinner every time a major project was completed. Hanabi liked to say that Father just wanted an excuse to eat at a fancy restaurant, but Hinata thought it was a nice way to thank everyone for their efforts.
The Hyuga-Uchiha dinner was held at the Akimichis' latest restaurant, Saki. It had opened just last month and already received rave reviews from critics. Most people had to wait at least three months to be able to get a table, but then again most people weren't Hiashi, who had been investing in Akimichi restaurants for years now and managed to reserve a private room for his event.
Both the Hyuga and the Uchiha arrived at the restaurant the same time, despite Hiashi's usual insistence on arriving fifteen minutes early. The hostess showed them to their private dining room. It was a traditional Japanese room with beautiful calligraphy and ink paintings hanging from the walls and tatami mats covering the floor. There was a low wooden dining table in the middle with zabuton pillows placed on either side for guests to sit or kneel on. Hinata could hear Hanabi let out a quiet groan. Hanabi hated sitting on the floor.
There weren't assigned seats, but Hiashi headed straight for the seat in the middle of the table and indicated for Fugaku and Mikoto to sit across from him. Meanwhile Neji and the Hyuga Company's COO took their usual places on either side of him. Hinata took her shoes off at the genkan and padded the seat next to Neji, but as she approached Itachi swooped in and sat down before she could.
"Good evening Hinata-san," he said, cheerfully oblivious to Hinata's confused expression and Hanabi and Neji's sideways glances. "How have you been?"
"I'm fine," Hinata replied, eyes darting around for another spot.
"There's a free seat next to my brother, I'm sure he'd appreciate your company." He gestured across the table to where Sasuke was pouring himself a cup of green tea.
"Oh, um, thank you," Hinata said with a small bow before hurrying away. Had she done something to offend Itachi at some point? "Hello Sasuke, is this seat taken?
"No, feel free." Sasuke said, glaring at his brother. Itachi gave his brother an almost cheeky smile and waved back. Hanabi seized upon the lull in the conversation to make a beeline for the seat next to Hinata, just barely beating out an Uchiha Corp executive for the spot.
"That's Itachi Uchiha?" she hissed to Hinata. "Isn't he supposed to be some business genius? Why is he so weird and rude?"
"Hanabi, be quiet," Hinata murmured.
To her horror, Sasuke let out a low chuckle and leaned over. "Aren't most geniuses weird and rude? It's a package deal." His expression became serious. "I'm sorry for Itachi though. He's not normally like that."
"I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding," Hinata demurred. "Itachi has always been nothing but polite." She gave Sasuke a warm smile. "It's good to see you again. How was your trip to Yukigakure?"
"It was good. Productive. I even squeezed in time to visit their water falls."
"Really?" Hinata exclaimed, leaning forward. "Were they frozen over? When I visited a year ago, the Santaki falls were almost completely covered in ice. You could see the water flowing through the ice shell. It was so beautiful."
They slipped into easy conversation as the waiters brought the first course of the kaiseki ryorui meal that Hiashi had ordered. Sasuke recounted the tourist sights he'd managed to glimpse in between meetings, before asking about Hinata's recent attempt to start an herb garden. By the fifth course, they were discussing Naruto's newly announced mayoral candidacy. It wasn't until after the sixth course, when Hiashi stood up and called for everyone's attention, that Hinata realized the dinner was already half over and she hadn't talked to anyone other than Sasuke.
"I'd like to start by thanking everyone that worked on the Kaguya Project," Hiashi began, once the room had quieted down and all eyes were on him. "Handa-san and Sugiyama-san made sure that this partnership was feasible from a logistics standpoint. Neji and Itachi-san worked to get the initial draft of the deal together, and of course Hinata and Sasuke-san turned the agreement to what it is today. This could not have happened without all of your hard work."
There was a smattering of polite applause. "Does anyone want to say a few words?" Hiashi asked, glancing around.
Hinata, Neji, and Hanabi exchanged mildly exasperated looks before Neji spoke up, praising the cooperation between the two teams. Handa, the Hyuga Company's Chief of Engineering, followed with a story about how both research teams had only settled on the final design after almost blowing up the prototype.
"And what about you Hinata-san?" Itachi asked suddenly. The corners of his eyes crinkled slightly. "How has it been working with my little brother?"
"Sasuke-san was an excellent work partner in all of this," Hinata demurred. "I hope we can all work together again in the future."
"I hadn't received an angry email so I assumed it went well, but it's good to hear it from you," Itachi said.
"Ehh?" Mikoto leaned forward with her chin resting on her interlaced hands. "It's rare that Sasuke-kun works so well with someone outside the company. Maybe we should have the two of you manage the Hyuga-Uchiha communications from now on. What do you think Hiashi-san?"
Hiashi was staring at Hinata from across the table, studying her like a quarterly performance report. Hinata crushed the instinctive urge to shrink under his calculating gaze.
"I've been quite impressed with Sasuke-san's work. I would have no objections if the two of them were to continue on the project," Hiashi responded evenly. An excited smile bloomed across Mikoto's face. Then Hiashi's expression shifted into something approaching a frown and he directed his next words towards Sasuke. "Having said that, should any issues come up, I will not hesitate to rethink my stance on the arrangement."
"Of course, Hiashi-sama," Sasuke said politely. Hinata looked between her father and Sasuke, confused by the sudden spike in tension at the table. Itachi and Mikoto were looking smug and gleeful respectively, whereas Neji was glaring at Sasuke like he wanted to stab him with his fork. Hanabi was trying to communicate with Hinata with her eyebrows, and failing to do anything but make it look like she had gained a facial twitch. What on earth was going on?
"As long as it doesn't interfere with his other responsibilities and things get done, I don't really care," Fugaku said gruffly. "Hiashi-san, how has production been going so far? Have we been impacted by the recent storms in Kirigakure?"
Thankfully everyone's attention turned towards supply chains and current events. Neji and Hanabi were still staring at her and at Sasuke, but the rest of dinner was spent talking about logistics, and Hinata was able to breathe more easily.
An hour later, after night had settled and the waiters had long since served the final dessert course, it was finally time to go. Everyone gathered their belongings and bid each other good bye. Kou, the chauffeur, was waiting by the entrance and Neji, Hinata, and Hanabi climbed into the back seat.
"So, Nee-chan," Hanabi began from Hinata's left after they had driven away from the restaurant. "I didn't know that you were so close with Uchiha Sasuke. Why didn't you ever say anything?"
"What do you mean? You knew that we were working together," Hinata said warily. Hanabi was on the hunt for gossip and Hinata had no interest in being the target.
"Well yeah, but there's working together and then there's working together, if you know what I mean."
"No. I don't."
"Sasuke Uchiha has a suspect reputation," Neji cut in from her right. "Hinata-sama, I urge you to avoid him in the future. Who knows what scandals you might become involved in if you continue associating with him."
Hinata was getting mental and physical whiplash from trying to keep up with the conversation. She opened her mouth to protest when Hiashi spoke up.
"Sasuke-san seems like a hard-working, decent person. He was certainly polite at the dinner," Hiashi said, causing the car to fall silent and listen. "While I confess that I don't know much about him, I know that he did not get along with Fugaku-san in his early years, which speaks well to his character."
Hiashi leaned over to look at Hinata from the passenger seat. "Are you happy with Sasuke-san?"
Huh?
"Um," Hinata squeaked as all eyes turned to her. She could even spot Kou watching her from the rearview mirror. "W-We have a good relationship. I wouldn't mind if we continued working together."
Hiashi nodded once and sat back in his chair. "It's good to hear that you are happy. I hope that he continues to treat you well."
Huh?
Hinata was at a loss for words. Beside her, Neji and Hanabi were practically vibrating with unanswered questions, but Hiashi declared that he was tired of talking about Fugaku and his family ("god knows the bastard takes up enough of my work time as it is") and started asking Hanabi about her progress at journalism school.
Ten minutes later, Kou pulled up in front of Hinata's apartment building. "Don't forget what I said," Neji said in a low voice as Kou got out to open Hinata's door.
Hinata nodded jerkily before thanking Kou and hurrying into her building at a brisk pace. Once she unlocked the door to her blissfully quiet and empty apartment, she collapsed onto her sofa. At last, she'd survived all those prying eyes and loaded questions and now she could finally enjoy some peace and quiet.