Sasuke's head was killing him. Excruciating sharp pains behind his eyes stabbed his brain with hot spikes, and on top of that, it felt like someone poured water into his ears. He could tell from the smell he was in a hospital if the uncomfortable bed and stiff sheets weren't a sign.
He hazarded opening his eyes. Despite the irritation that the light caused, there didn't seem to be a problem with his eyesight. Was it Sharingan fatigue? He blinked a few times and groaned. Why did his head hurt so damn much?
A sigh of relief made him turn to a smile on Hinata Hyuga's face. Was… Did he have a mission with her? That… sounded right. Where though? "How do you feel?" Her soft voice sounded like it was at the end of a tunnel.
"Awful," Sasuke flicked his head to move hair from his face, but he regretted the quick movement. "I don't remember how I got here."
"You had quite the hit on the head." Hinata's hand ghosted over his face to brush hair off his forehead.
Sasuke flinched back. When did she get so familiar?
Hinata's hand froze and slowly retracted as her eyes widened. Her hand came to clenched in her chest as she stared at him. Why was she looking at him like that? She got up from her chair quick enough that it made an awful screech that was thankfully muffled in his ears as she headed for the door.
That was strange.
Sasuke turned to look at the monitors and winced. He needed something for his head.
Hinata returned to his bedside with an unsure look. "The medics will be in a minute."
Why did she look so scared? Were his eyes bleeding? It was hard to tell. "Were you on my team when this happened?" He pointed at his head, and that's when he noticed something else hiding under her bangs. "When did you get sealed?" He could have sworn… god his head hurt.
Hinata's lip quivered, and her hand shot up to cover her mouth as her eyes were filled with terror and tears. Sakura came in just as Hinata ran out past her. "Hinata…" She sighed.
Something was wrong. He just couldn't… he felt like he knew, but he couldn't place it. What the hell was it? "Can you give me something for this headache before I rip my eyes out," Sasuke grumbled. "I can't think straight."
"Well, you're not panicking about your arm, so you're not that fried." Sakura put a hand on her hip.
Sasuke waved his stump. "This is old news. Fix my head."
"It's not that easy." Sakura collected some medication and waited for him to take it as she slid the chair Hinata had been in back into its place. "What do you remember?"
"I was…" Sasuke closed his eyes to think. Hinata flashed in his mind, causing a sharp pain. No seal. He didn't remember the seal. Maybe she was wearing a headband? No, she usually wore it around her neck. "On a mission with the Hyuga girl, and…" Where? Why? Damn it. "That's all I have."
Sasuke opened his eyes to see that look he never liked to see on Sakura's face. Something else was going on. "You weren't on a mission with Hinata. What is the last thing you can solidly remember."
Sasuke thought about it, but even his recent memories felt like… they were far away. Like he wasn't thinking about the past, the sentiment was there, but he couldn't remember the conversation. He couldn't remember what he ate last. It felt like it was all from last week, last month, last year even. "Is there something wrong with my memory?" He could hear his heart monitor speed up. "What's wrong with my memory? I can't…" Why did Hinata look so broken? "Why was she here if he wasn't on a mission with her?" What was happening? Why did his face feel hot?
Sakura sighed, putting her clipboard down. "Sasuke… Hinata wasn't on your team. She's your wife."
"What?" Sasuke shook his head. "No. I think I would remember something like that." The signs were staring him in the face. Her familiarity, her reaction, the seal, the ring that he could now feel on his finger. "Agh!" A sharp pain came to his temple and shot behind his eyes.
Sasuke slid thumbed over his wedding ring as he waited. Hopefully, he could get back home soon. He missed her.
"What was that?" Sasuke shot up and held his head. "What did I just see?!"
"Sasuke, your Rinnegan is reacting. Calm down." Sakura put a hand down his chest to push him back into bed, but he didn't want to be touched. His skin felt like fire.
Sasuke shoved her hands away and pulled off the IV and the screaming heart monitor. He wanted out. He just wanted out of here. He could figure it all out when he didn't feel like the walls were coming in, and his skin didn't feel like he was dipped in hot oil.
"Calm down!" Sakura used more force to push him back into the bed. "I need help in here!" She called over her shoulder.
Sasuke could easily have thrown her, but Hinata came back in at an alarming speed prompting him to raise his arm to block her gentle fist that would trap him in this damn bed, but it didn't come. Her arms wrapped around him as she pulled his head to her chest, fully encapsulating him.
He froze.
This… felt familiar. The smell. The comfort. Why? Why did it feel comfortable? He didn't know her that well. How could he not remember it, but it felt familiar? Sasuke gripped on to her arm desperately. He didn't want her to move. He realized that the heart monitor was trying to warn him of his heart beating out his chest. Why?
Sasuke couldn't get his hyperventilation to stop. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think straight. He clenched his eyes closed and felt tears run down his face. He wanted it to stop. What would make it stop?
Hinata sighed and rested her head on his as she waited for him to calm down. Sasuke could hear her heartbeat over his own pounding in his ears. He focused on it to think about anything else. He just wanted it all to stop.
He felt safe and didn't understand why, and that made it all worse. He didn't understand.
Why didn't he remember?
Hinata waited patiently for him to say something. The distrust in his eyes, searching for something to be suspicious of, she just couldn't look at it. He was embarrassed, and he wanted to blame her. He wanted to divert the stress and make it someone else's fault. "Why are you still here?"
Hinata flattened her fiddling hands in her lap. "I'm waiting."
Sasuke huffed. He hated answers with no substance. Maybe it was a force of habit to make him ask at this point. "Waiting for what?"
Right now? "You to say something you will regret later." Hinata brought her eyes up to him.
Sasuke face twisted in irritated confusion outwardly.
Hinata cracked a smile. He never was good at hiding that one. At least he was still himself.
Sasuke changed over the years, that was for sure. Hinata could barely see any of that competitive kid she used to see alongside Naruto anymore. He was worn down with time and circumstance and his pursuit of power, and he was just learning to be normal again.
Hinata offered him a bento she had packed before they left for their mission. It was the last home-cooked meal they would probably have for a few weeks.
Sasuke took it with a raise of his eyebrow. "This one isn't a hand-me-down this time, right?"
Hinata didn't even know what to say that. She didn't even think he remembered the times when she would make Naruto lunch but never worked up the courage to give it to him, so she offered it to Sasuke with a heavy heart. That was mortifying. If he remembered that, what else did he remember? What was his impression of little love-struck Hinata that was going to shape what he was going to think about her now?
Sasuke looked at her expression, and his face twitched, showing the grain of regret that would later turn into him buying her lunch and holding it out with a look on his face that told her it was an apology.
It was the first of many.
** Lavender-Long-Stories **
If you read Lavender Memories, this is going to be different. The backstory, set up, relationship, and even how the story is told will all be different, so don't worry about it being a rehash.