Sasuke watched, amused, as his assistant's mouth dropped.
It was four in the morning and still dark out when an airport attendant escorted his small party onto the tarmac and to the mouth of a sparkling private jet. The entire way through Konoha's international airport, Hinata gingerly held onto the first-class tickets she'd purchased at the last minute on his behalf, checking the signs for gates, and making sure their flight would be on time.
She looked so stressed––between the luggage and the entourage of unaccounted/unticketed people, his brother, Shisui, and Izumi being three of them––that Sasuke didn't have the heart to tell her that their plans had changed significantly. And also….maybe her frantic movements amused him a little.
Now they were standing outside, the early morning breeze a gentle thing around their shoulders, as flight attendants rushed to take their small army of collective luggage from them. Sasuke helped Sakura hand over her three pink suitcases, before he walked over to his assistant, a small smirk on his mouth.
"I should've told you when I called yesterday," he said, watching with amusement as the flight attendant took her bag and Hinata reached her arms out as if to stop him. She jumped when Sasuke's mouth was so close to her ear, startled. "But it's funny, the look on your face. Since Itachi-nii and Izumi are coming so last minute, my father decided it best we rent a private jet."
Hinata turned pink at his closeness. She folded her hands gently, "T-that makes sense, Uchiha-san…"
"Have you never been on a private plane? I thought most heiresses might," he said, and though he knew it was a funny thing to say, he was starting to enjoy teasing her, now that she knew who and what he was. For some reason, he felt lighter now that she knew. It wasn't that he was hiding before, it was just that things had been increasingly harder to separate.
Hinata looked up, eyes wide, like he'd just said something ridiculous. She shook her head, hair flying, as she said, "Um, no actually. My father's business is rather small compared…compared to what y-you and your family do. We could never afford this."
He smiled, showing teeth. Ah, she was beginning to understand the big wide world the Uchiha's navigated. Something about this answer thrilled him, and he didn't have time to think about why. Sakura was walking over.
"Hey," she said to Hinata tentatively, as she wrapped a hand around Sasuke's arm. Sasuke was surprised at this gesture, but hid it well as he accepted the embrace, no matter how tense it made him feel.
Hinata looked at her, equally as flabbergasted––but she didn't hide it as well. "Hello, Sakura-san, how are you doing this morning?"
"I'm okay," Sakura said. "I just––um, I just wanted to apologize to you about my behavior recently. It hasn't been fair to you, especially because you are Sasuke's employee. Um, besides that––"
Sakura squeezed Sasuke's arm awkwardly, but he had no idea what the woman was meaning to say, so he just rocked on the back of his heels, patiently waiting for her to finish. Hinata looked on, her face open, and the flabbergasted expression had morphed into a certain type of kindness. How easy it was for this woman to choose peace.
"Besides that I wanted to thank you for saving my life. If it wasn't for you at the babyshower and your quick thinking, I'm not sure if I would be here––"
"Oh no, Sakura-san!" Hinata held up her hands, turning an even deeper shade of red. "It was––it was nothing! I'm just glad you're okay, there's no need to mention it."
Her voice had become curiously high-pitched. Sasuke looked down at her in wonder. Sakura shifted beside him uncomfortably.
"Okay, If you say so," Sakura said agreeably, which made Sasuke internally chuckle. She was definitely one to let bygones be bygones, especially if she felt that she was the one who owed something to someone else. "I really just came to make amends. We're going to be sharing a residence for quite some time, and I would hate for things to continue to be awkward between us."
"Awkward?" Hinata wondered, blinking. "Why would things be awkward?"
Sasuke couldn't tell if Hinata was being serious or not, but the question made his mouth curl into an amused sort of smile, while Sakura stared at her as if she had just grown two heads. Sasuke could tell that she wanted Hinata to be as agreeable as she appeared, but it seemed Hinata wasn't going to make it as easy for Sakura as Sakura thought she would. Luckily, Sakura was saved from answering her question when an excited blonde appeared on the tarmac with Shikamaru, four purple suitcases––outdoing Sakura's three––being wheeled behind them by stressed-looking airport employees. Ino waved enthusiastically as they approached.
Sakura turned to Sasuke, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "What is she doing here?"
Sasuke just shrugged and gestured Hinata forward as the flight attendants started to board them onto the plane. He took Sakura's arm and followed after her.
"Ask Shikamaru."
He felt glad that, for once, something was not his problem.
-:-
Hinata felt endlessly relieved when Ino sat down next to her on the place, happily shoving her Birkin bag between their two bodies as she pulled a hefty romance novel from its depths. Ino patted her arm good-naturedly as the rest of their group––it had grown considerably––prepared for takeoff.
Sasuke and Sakura sat directly in front of them, Sakura's head already curled sweetly under Sasuke's arm. Sasuke just looked tired and annoyed as he glanced around the cabin, looking as if he wanted to demand the jet take off at this very moment.
To their left were Naruto and Shikamaru; Shikamaru already with his eyes closed in deep sleep, and Naruto standing to laugh loudly at something Sasuke had said. Itachi and Izumi was sitting stiffly on a pluff-looking sofa towards the back of the cabin, Izumi placing one of the pillows under her back while Itachi was focused on untying her sneakers––her ankles were swollen from their short walk from the car, to the golf cart that escorted the pair all the way to tarmac.
Shisui sat in one of the only solo-seats, arms folded with his eyes closed, the visible vein in his forehead jumping in irritation.
It was going to be a long flight. Fourteen hours and 55 minutes to be exact.
Hinata leaned over to Ino, letting her head drop, "I'm so glad y-you're here. I was so worried––"
"Oh fuck," Ino muttered when she looked up towards the cabin door, where some commotion had suddenly started. Hinata looked up to see Sasuke standing from his seat, his frown becoming even more irritated than before. Even Sakura seemed displeased as she turned her head to look at Naruto who said:
"Sai, who the fuck let you in here, huh?!"
Hinata followed his gaze to the front of the plane, where a dark-haired man with the look of an Uchiha stood wearing an all-black tracksuit and a frumpy Nike duffle bag. He was paler than Sasuke and Itachi, and his disposition was generally different––not as snobby, but certainly dismissive, as he looked over all of them with disinterest.
Everyone looked irritated and uncomfortable, and this new person didn't even flinch. He walked to the back of the plane, and sat across from Shisui, in the other solo-seat. Shisui cracked an eye open at the man and visibly winced.
"That's Sai," Ino whispered into Hinata's ear, as she turned her head minutely. Hinata watched her make eye contact with Shikamaru, who inclined his head slightly, then pointed his chin back down. Silently, Hinata noted this communication.
"Everyone, calm down," Itachi finally said––the oldest, the voice of reason––Hinata still didn't know why everyone was so upset. "My father told me before we left that Sai would be joining us. He will be acting as security, given…everything that has happened."
"Ignore me," Saic said, his voice a surprising monotone. "I'm not even here."
Hinata watched Sasuke scoff and sit back down, arms crossed: disappointed. Sakura snuggled back under his arm. The flight attendant finally shut the cabin door to the outside world, sealing them in for the next 15 hours.
"This is not good," Ino said as she combed a hand through Hinata's hair, pretending to braid it so she could speak close. "Sai is dangerous. You will have to be careful around him."
Hinata nodded minutely, already feeling his stare from the back of the plane. She swallowed uncomfortably.
She was out of her depths here.
-:-
Eight hours into their flight, Hinata woke up sweating.
There was turbulence as their jet bobbed over a storm. Looking out the window, it was dark as they flew over the heavy clouds, but Hinata was sure that once they parted, she would see the ocean.
Outside the beaches of Konoha, Hinata had only known one beach. She had never even been out of the country––those missions were reserved for the likes of Hanabi and Neji, more powerful agents with the finesse that translated internationally. Internally, Dove had been classified as a "country-bound gem," she was good in local settings and was known to blend well with their customs already. Besides, Hanabi had told her that she didn't have "much of an international face."
She would stick out too much anywhere else.
Typically, when people thought about spies they romanticized the hell out of them––considered them well-traveled and knowledgeable about customs and cultures around the world. And while some of that was true––Hinata did know several languages, including a few strong phrases in Italian that would certainly benefit this trip––Hinata never got the chance to travel like she'd dreamed. Instead, she was sent around her home country, only going where she was told. Vacations, for her, were always out of the question. She didn't even know where she would get the money, now that she was aware that money was something important to have.
It pained her to think of how complacent she had been in her life until this point, only doing what her father had ordered her to do, only going where he told her she could go, only talking to who was around. She had deluded herself into even thinking that moving into the studio apartment was her choice––surely her father had influenced that decision as well. She had done nothing for herself.
Nothing besides get closer to Kiba. That relationship had been her father's ire. Hinata tried to remember it, as she continued to think deeply about the type of person she wanted to be. Perhaps this wasn't the right environment for self-discovery but dammit! Hinata was flying out of the country for the first time in her life, and she felt fucking free.
"Good morning sleepy-head," Ino said as she looked over at her seatmate. "You okay?"
Hinata shook her head honestly as she leaned back against the plush seats. Private jets were luxury. She could spread her legs all the way out, and the chair even became flat, like a bed, at a push of a button. Behind them, Izumi had flattened the couch so that she was sleeping, a creamy, fluffy, blanket pulled up to her shoulders as Itachi typed onto his computer across from her, at a table.
"Bad dream?" Ino guessed, watching Hinata tuck strands of her hair behind her ears.
"Yeah," Hinata said blearily, as the jet shook against the wind. Her stomach jumped into her chest as it rocked, seeming to drop in the sky for a millisecond. She immediately felt nauseated. "I think I'm going to be––"
"Bathrooms down there," Ino said quickly, tucking her legs under her, and pointing. "Please don't puke on my new Birkin."
Hinata hurried down the aisle, embarrassed as Shikamaru and Naruto sent her amused looks as her hand covered her mouth. The truth was that the turbulence had scared her, but also, her dream had frightened her even more.
She dreamt about the long hallways of the Hyuga Manor, and her mother's pale, thin hands as she left heaps of raw meat onto the marble floors. In the dream, the maggots grew and grew and the smell of rot made dogs come onto the porch, howling into the night. Hinata had tried to clean it up, using her bare hands as the flesh decomposed in front of her––until finally, Hanabi caught her arm and tore her away. This dream Hanabi wasn't anything like the real Hanabi––she had the sunken eyes of Hitomi, lifeless, horrified, and hollow, and she was digging her fingers into Hinata's arm, dragging her away from the offering corner.
"Let me go, Hanabi!" Hinata cried.
Hanabi's nails began to draw blood. She didn't listen.
"Let me go, Swan!" Hinata tried again, using a different name.
Hanabi looked down at her with glossy, wet eyes, and continued to pull her. She said nothing to her sister but somehow, in the dream, Hinata already knew where she was being taken. Re-training.
Hinata gagged just as she reached the back of the cabin and wretched open the first door she saw––only to find Sasuke standing there with his shirt open, brushing his teeth.
Hinata's jaw went slack, and the urge to vomit vanished as embarrassment crawled up her skin. Sasuke simply stared at her, swished toothpaste around his mouth, and spit into the sink. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and quirked an eyebrow up––shirt still open.
"I-I-I I'm so––"
"Come here, Hyuga."
Sasuke grabbed her arm, pulling her into the steamy chamber. Had he just taken a shower? Private jets had showers? There was only so much Hinata could comprehend at one time as Sasuke gingerly sat her down on a cushioned bench beside the sink. The entire room smelled like sandalwood and that sharp scent Sasuke had that she couldn't yet identify, and before she knew it, the near-shirtless man was crouching in front of her, making an intense sort of eye contact.
"Calm down," he said quietly. He didn't touch her, but their bodies were close together. "C'mon. Let's breathe. Haven't you been on a plane before? It's just a little turbulence."
Hinata didn't realize she was having a panic attack until she was asked to inhale slowly, and she couldn't remember how to do it. Her heart felt like a toy drum in her chest and her breath kept getting caught at the back of her throat. Oh no. Oh God. This was embarrassing. How could she let her employer see her like this? She was an agent for God's sake––at this rate she was going to end up in re-training, just like her mother––just like Hanabi, and Oh no, Hanabi. Hinata was going to miss seeing her at Hizashi's and she wouldn't be able to stop her and–––
"Just breathe," Sasuke guided, his voice a gentle whisper. He touched her hand, and brought her right arm over her head, then he did the same to her left. "This will help open your chest. Follow my movements, look at my chest if you have to."
Hinata looked at his bare chest and turned red. She began to feel dizzy.
"Okay," Sasuke had the nerve to sound amused. He remained at eye-level, however, and didn't break eye contact. "So don't look at my chest. Look at my mouth as I breathe and mirror me. In," he sucked in air. "And out. Just like that."
After a few minutes of following his movements, Hinata started to feel better and her heart didn't feel like it was whirling around in her chest anymore. Sasuke stood up and grabbed the glass cup he'd been drinking from and filled it with water.
"Here," he passed it to her. "Pull yourself together, I can't have my assistant looking like she's been asked to jump out of a plane. That's embarrassing."
Gratefully, Hinata drank the water, trying not to think about the fact that it was from a shared glass. And besides––she's jumped out of a plane before! It was a specific set of circumstances that led to her this panic; she really needed to get that under control before things got any worse.
Sasuke must have noticed the crease in her brow and he sighed, taking the glass, and refilled it. "I was kidding, Hyuga. You're allowed to be anxious sometimes. But seriously, an heiress like you––never been through turbulence before?"
Hinata accepted the second glass and smiled ruefully––it was a small smile, but it was all she could manage. "I've actually never been out of the country. I w-was pretty sheltered, as a child. Plus, I had a bad dream, so it was a lot to wake up to."
This much was true, and something in her felt delighted in the opportunity to be honest about herself. She would have to investigate that urge later.
"I can't imagine seeing me there by surprise helped any," Sasuke offered, a note of sympathy in his voice. Hinata had never heard this from him before. She looked up gratefully and smiled.
"Thank y-you, Uchiha-san," Hinata said. It was a small kindness for him to calm her down the way he had, and she would not forget it. "Seriously. You didn't have to."
"I know," Sasuke said, a half-grin on his face. "But in exchange, you have to stop calling me Uchiha-san. Sasuke works just fine."
"S-sasuke-san?" Hinata questioned, unwilling to relent her professional values––though already, enough unprofessional things had happened. The man was almost shirtless for God's sake.
"Fine," Sasuke said, buttoning his shirt back up. "That'll work. C'mon, they're serving lunch soon," he tossed a look at her over his shoulder as he unlatched the door. "Think you can hold it down?"
Hinata nodded embarrassedly, and followed him back down the aisle.
Once she was back in her seat, she watched Ino's eyes follow Sasuke to his seat in front of them, before she turned to stare at Hinata incredulously.
"What the hell was that about?" She whispered.
Hinata shrugged and said, "I started freaking out about the turbulence––he was just being nice."
Ino scoffed. "An Uchiha? Nice? Never heard of that."
Hinata turned to her menu without a response. She was hungry, finally, and was ready for a quick meal. She was thinking she'd have the smoked salmon.
In front of her, Sasuke spoke to the flight attendant in low tones; he'd ordered the same.
AN: Hello everyone! Merry Christmas/Happy Yule to all who celebrate! In honor of the holiday and in the spirit of gift-giving...I have given you a DOUBLE UPDATE! Thank you to all my wonderful readers and commenters! Please let me know what you think about these new chapters.