Sungrazers

by El Reino

ShikaHina. When Shikamaru's mother procures him a noblewoman from the capital to be his wife, he thinks he'll be getting a spoiled, demanding shrew of a woman. Instead, he gets Hinata. He remembers Hinata from his pre-genin class. But he knows nothing about who Hinata is now, and is equally confused about her best friend, Sasuke. Smut later. ***Drabble length chapters***

4. Four

Thank you to Motroshell for being super, duper fast and reviewing!

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One evening, when Hinata lay in bed, Sasuke climbed in through her window.

She sat up in a rush, gaping. "What are you doing here?"

Ninja, unless otherwise instructed, were not allowed in this palace.

"You wanna spar?" he asked, sticking his hands in his pockets.

Hinata pressed a hand to her chest. "I… can't use chakra."

"So?" he sniffed haughtily. "You can do taijutsu, can't you?"

Warmth slowly suffused her, starting at her cheeks and growing outwards.

Hinata looked at the sliding door as if she could see without the Byakugan past the papered walls, past the hallway, and into the room that belonged to her minders. They were not particularly light sleepers. But what if they heard Hinata and Sasuke talking? They would be livid if they found her speaking to a boy who snuck inside.

"Um…"

She startled when she realized he was walking through her room, poking at her jars of powders and tubes of lipstick.

Sasuke scoffed. "Will they notice you missing?"

Sasuke's chakra and loud whispers had not woken them up. They were not nin and so Hinata and Sasuke had an advantage over them.

She smiled, excited now. "No." She threw off her covers and rushed over to her wardrobe. "Turn around, I have to change."

Sasuke obediently did as told. Hinata slipped a hand under a pile of blankets to pull out an old pair of pants and shirt. She stared at the cloth of her old sparring uniform. The only sparring uniform she could save from her old life.

Hinata shook her head. She did not want to be sad anymore. Not when she had something to look forward to.

Once she changed, Sasuke gave her a piggyback ride out the window. She suppressed a giggle as he nimbly ran down the palace wall. The air rushing through her hair felt good. She savored the feeling as Sasuke sprinted towards the gardens.

Itachi and Sasuke let her feel like herself again. She did not realize it then, but Itachi and Sasuke's insistence on being her friend and sparring with her would one day save her life.

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Word count: 355

Coming up: We get to see Shikamaru in the future. :)