Some lighthearted fluff, then things get serious again.
Chapter 23: One more day like this (don't stop, don't change)
"Eep!" Hinata felt the projectile whoosh past her as she sidestepped.
A small gloved hand slipped into her own. "This way, Hinata-sama!"
She followed along, crouching behind a barricade of snow, face to face with seven year old Hyuuga Ryota. His pearl eyes shone as he grinned broadly. "Don't worry, I'll protect you!"
Hinata smiled behind her scarf. "Okay, Ryota-chan. What should we do?"
"We just need to go there, then there, and then we'll sneak up behind him," Ryota said, pointing at walls of snow similar to the one they were hiding behind. "I'll go first, you can follow me, Hinata-sama."
Hinata nodded as seriously as she could in the face of the boy's childish excitement. "Okay, let's do it!"
In a hushed voice, Ryota began to count. "One. Two. Three." He took off, pulling Hinata along by the hand as she tried her best to keep pace with his shorter strides while snowballs flew around them.
They hid behind another barricade. Hinata watched fondly as Ryota peeked above the wall before ducking back down.
"Oh no! We've been spotted!" Ryota cried. He gathered up some snow in his hands and quickly shaped it into balls which he then launched one by one. Once his arms were emptied, Ryota began the process again.
The sound of a bell rang through the air, but the snowball fight continued. Some time later the academy doors opened.
"Alright kids, time to — Ack!"
Ryota froze, empty hand thrown forward and face aghast. Hinata chanced a look over the barricade and winced.
A wide-eyed Iruka stood at the doors, face splattered with snow.
For the next few minutes Hinata was reduced to her pre-genin years. Iruka's scolding voice hadn't changed. He didn't falter at all when the students bowed in apology and just sternly told them to hurry inside.
Calls of "Bye Shino-sensei", "Bye Lee-senpai!", "Bye Neji-senpai!" and "Bye Hinata-sama!" filled the academy yard.
Hinata lined up with her friends, sheepishly waving goodbye as Iruka turned his unamused glare at them.
"Now I'll have to try to get an overexcited class to sit through their next three lessons. I really didn't expect this kind of behaviour at your age. And this tomfoolery from you is especially surprising, Shino-kun," Iruka said, hands on his hips.
Shino silently mouthed the word 'tomfoolery' and Hinata had to look away to stop from laughing. She caught Neji's eyes doing the same thing and bit her lip to stifle a giggle.
"Next time, save it for after school," Iruka finished. He relaxed a little then, face softening. "It's nice to see all of you though. You should stop by more often. Just not during class time."
After promising to do so, they waved Iruka off.
"Neji-nii-san, please stop teaching people to call me Hinata-sama," Hinata said, lips settled in a pout.
"You are the heiress of the Hyuuga clan. It is only right for you to be addressed as such," Neji responded, arms crossed against his chest.
"I'm not —" Hinata started, only to be ignored.
"In any case, it was Ryota that taught his classmates how to speak to a clan heiress," Neji finished.
"Shino-san, I did not realize that teaching academy students is so fun! Perhaps I too should join in fanning the bright and youthful flames of our future comrades!" Lee exclaimed, shooting a wink and finger guns at Shino.
Shino grimaced and turned to Hinata. "I didn't expect quite so much company for lunch."
Hinata held her hands up in a placating gesture. "Um, nii-san and I were visiting Gai-sensei and ran into Lee-san while we were leaving and…"
"I had requested Neji and the lovely Hinata-san to join me in doing laps in the Naka no Kawa — the icy waters make for the perfect endurance training! And certainly the healing properties will be good for Neji," Lee added.
Neji's lips tightened, a dubious expression on his face. "However, I informed Lee we would be unable to join as we had lunch plans."
Hinata shivered at the thought of dipping even a toe into the Naka no Kawa in the middle of January. "Then I invited Lee-san to lunch with us."
Shino raised his brows at Hinata and she shrugged helplessly. With Kiba out on a mission, it was meant to be a lunch between herself and Shino. But she could hardly leave Neji to Lee's latest training gimmick and it had felt rude to bring it up and not extend the invitation to Lee. When they had arrived at the academy, they found the children on break and Ryota had come over to greet them with some friends asking if they were there to play. Somehow with Lee involved things had gotten out of hand.
"I see," Shino said. "And at what point of this story did Sasuke-san come in?"
Hinata tilted her head in confusion. "Sasuke-kun?"
"I was passing by."
Eyes widening, Hinata nearly jumped in surprise. "Sasuke-kun!" Whirling around, she found Sasuke standing nonchalantly in the snow.
Sasuke nodded in greeting. "Hinata."
Hinata flushed, hands rushing to fix up her disheveled appearance. She tightened her scarf around her neck and brushed the snow out of her hair.
"Sasuke-san!" Lee exclaimed. "Congratulations on your promotion! I have not seen much of you since you came back to Konoha, you must come to lunch with us!"
Eyes sliding between the four boys, Hinata tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. The idea of Sasuke seated between Neji, Lee and Shino, eating and relaxing brought a small smile to her face. Yet she couldn't imagine Sasuke agreeing. Her eyes drifted back to Sasuke, finding him already staring back.
"…Sure," Sasuke said, looking directly at Hinata.
Hinata blinked in surprise, then smiled even bigger.
"Excellent!" Lee cheered.
"Shino, did you already select a restaurant?" Neji asked.
Shino shook his head. "Does anyone have any preferences?"
Hinata hesitated for a moment. "Shabu-shabu might be nice," she said softly, checking Sasuke's reaction.
The corner of Sasuke's lips quirked. "I know a place."
Neji and Sasuke glared at each other across the table. Hinata swallowed nervously at the tension while Shino looked on in interest and Lee remained oblivious.
Lunch had started out smoothly enough. The five of them had been seated and had ordered and been served with no issue. Then Neji had cooked a slice of beef and started to place it on Hinata's plate where he was intercepted by another set of chopsticks doing the same thing. Sasuke's initial reaction seemed to have been one of surprise before he met Neji's accusing glare with his own.
Finally seeing that neither were willing to back down, Hinata tried to ease the tension. "Um…thank you both. But I can cook my own meat."
"Of course, Hinata-sama," Neji said stiffly. Without breaking eye contact with Sasuke, he set the slice of beef down on Hinata's plate. "However, we are family. It's not unusual to be courteous to each other."
Hinata pursed her lips and refrained from saying that Neji never did such things for Hanabi. She could only imagine how her younger sister might cackle if he treated her so gallantly.
Eyeing Sasuke, Hinata considered that if Neji's behaviour was gallant then that should apply to Sasuke as well. But the thought hadn't crossed her mind the last time they were here, though he'd cooked for her then too.
The Uchiha was now mulishly eating the beef he'd tried to give her. It was a little cute.
Hinata picked up the communal chopsticks and cooked a slice of beef which she placed on Sasuke's plate. When startled mismatched eyes met hers, Hinata simply smiled and proceeded to cook three more slices of beef for the rest of the table. Satisfied, she then cooked herself a slice, enjoying the swishing sound the meat made in the broth.
"Sasuke-san, you must tell us about your travels! What kind of adventures did you have? How many young maidens did you protect? Where did you taste the best delicacies?" Lee asked with his usual enthusiasm. His arms waved as he spoke and Neji avoided the wayward chopsticks of his teammate without batting an eye.
"I ate things I was familiar with," Sasuke said blandly, ignoring the first two questions.
Lee gasped dramatically. "Sasuke-san, the second best part of missions that take you to foreign lands is the opportunity to try new food! The best part is, of course, the opportunity to grow stronger."
"Team Eight has a compiled a list over the years of our favourite restaurants. If you are interested, I can share a copy for you to use when you travel next," Shino offered.
Lee banged his first on the table in excitement, rattling the nabe. "What a wonderful idea! Our team has a list as well!"
"We do not," Neji contradicted.
"A mental list!" Lee said, not missing a beat. "It would not be much trouble to write it down."
Sasuke glanced at the two of them before nodding. Shino looked pleased and the interaction brought a warm feeling to Hinata's chest.
"And when will you be traveling next, Sasuke-san?" Neji asked, his voice devoid of emotion.
Hinata's head turned sharply to look at her cousin, but his attention was focused on his meal. She then turned to look at Sasuke. His chopsticks were frozen halfway to his mouth, napa cabbage pinched tightly between them. Eventually Sasuke continued eating, chewing slowly. Then he responded.
"Right now, I don't have any plans to."
Hinata sighed, shoulders relaxing where she hadn't realized they'd been tensed. Neji grunted disinterestedly through a mouthful of rice.
After lunch, Lee dragged away a protesting Neji to track down Tenten and make a list of the best restaurants they had eaten at while Shino returned to the academy to help Iruka with grading assignments. This left Hinata and Sasuke standing outside the restaurant together.
Although stuffed from lunch, Hinata's sweet tooth was not sated.
"Zenzai, dango or cinnamon rolls?" Sasuke asked.
Hinata blinked in surprise, dragging her eyes away from the road leading to Amaguriama to look up at Sasuke. He stood calmly, arms tucked beneath his black cloak, looking like he had all the time in the world.
"…cinnamon rolls," Hinata said, a touch sheepishly.
Sasuke only nodded and began to walk in the direction of Amaguriama. Hinata followed along and Sasuke wordlessly adjusted his stride so they were side by side.
Stealing glances at the boy beside her, Hinata thought of the conversation over lunch. She was curious about the length of Sasuke's stay in Konoha, but reluctant to push for more than he'd already shared. Instead, she asked another question on her mind. "Sasuke-kun, do you perhaps…not enjoy food?"
Sasuke made a questioning noise.
"Or…" Now that she thought about it, Sasuke had seemed to enjoy the bento she packed for him. But he had also claimed to not be picky with some preference for onigiri and tomatoes which were very simple foods. "Do heavy or elaborate dishes trouble you?"
Sasuke was silent for a moment. "I didn't have time to think about things like that. Food was necessary for survival and to grow stronger. The taste was inconsequential."
Hinata frowned, saddened by the bleak outlook. "But isn't it natural to have likes and dislikes?"
Sasuke shrugged. "Sure. But they can be ignored when there are more important things to focus on."
Hinata hummed in understanding. Sasuke had always been driven. It shouldn't surprise her if he had neglected everything else in favour of his goals. "And now?"
"Now?"
"Is it important enough now? Can it be?" Hinata asked.
Sasuke didn't speak for a long time. When Hinata looked over, she saw that he had a thoughtful look on his face and so she let the topic rest.
Though he'd been on his own for most of his life, Sasuke had never mastered cooking.
While his family fortune had been inaccessible to him as a minor, what little stipend he'd received from Konoha had been spent on the cheapest packaged onigiri in the convenience store. If pressed, he could fry eggs and boil plain rice, only occasionally burning the edges. He'd had no interest in improving this particular skill. As long as it was edible, he could bear through it.
Any and all time not spent at the academy or getting the minimum amount of sleep he could get away with was dedicated to training. The rare times he'd let Naruto and Sakura pull him into their shenanigans — trying to see under Kakashi's mask came to mind — he would compensate with an extra long session.
The one week of homemade bento boxes he'd received from Hinata had probably been the best he'd eaten in his entire life.
Orochimaru's base and the nomadic traveling afterwards hadn't been conducive to the culinary arts either and by that point Sasuke's senses were so dulled, he wouldn't have flinched if Suigetsu ran his sword through him. Karin's pitiful demonstrations gunning for Uchiha matriarch had barely registered, much less impactful than the disgusted faces of the other two members of Team Taka.
After the war there had still been a million things more important than food, but at the very least Sasuke had started differentiating between the good and the bad kind, palatable and not. His own food tended to lean towards not, but Hinata's…
Sasuke stared openly as Hinata worked methodically in his small kitchen. He was severely lacking in cookware, but she made do and if the smell of oyakodon filling his apartment was anything to go by, she was hardly hindered.
Hinata looked relaxed and confident, her movements here as seamless as her routine katas. Her long, indigo coloured hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, highlighting her straight back and pale neck.
It was the day before the last of the seven days granted by the Fire Daimyo and Fujiwara Minoru would be on his way back to the capital before the next sunset. Sasuke suspected this homemade lunch was to mark the occasion, though Hinata hadn't explicitly said as much.
Sasuke had already set the table and soon enough the food was done. After a quiet "Itadakimasu", they began to eat in silence. Sasuke was not unaware of Hinata's stolen glances. He knew he wasn't the most vocal, but whatever expression he made at his first bite seemed to please her.
For good measure, he added aloud, "It's good." Hinata's answering smile was more than worth the effort.
Like everything Hinata made, the oyakodon was delicious. It was a simple meal cooked to perfection, homey and comforting. When they were done, Sasuke shot Hinata a forbidding look when she tried to take care of the dishes. Cowed, she retreated to the living room couch with one of the Uchiha books on juinjutsu while Sasuke washed up. Of course, Hinata had been cleaning up after herself as she cooked, so there was not much to be done.
Joining Hinata in the living room, Sasuke sat down on an armchair and began to unseal all of his weapons and fastidiously sharpen and oil each one. Every now and then he would look up to see Hinata jotting down notes on a pad as she flipped back and forth through the book. It was clear by how easily she found the page she was looking for that Hinata had read through it more than once. While thinking she would sometimes tap the end of the pen against her bottom lip, thin brows drawing together in concentration. She had curled into the corner of the couch, taking up a comically small amount of space, and yet with several books, scrolls, a notepad and other paraphernalia splayed around her there wasn't room for much else.
This wasn't the first time they'd done this, sharing space quietly. As much as Sasuke enjoyed solitude, Hinata brought a unique sense of tranquility with her.
"Are those Lee's?" Sasuke asked, eyeing a familiar set of weights laid across Hinata's lap.
"They're from Gai-sensei," Hinata said, still taking notes. "The seal on them is similar to the storage seal, but it's modified to allow a single property to be maintained, in this case the weight."
Sasuke continued to run a cloth along the sharp edge of kusanagi, his own eyes reflected back at him after each swipe. "You said you visited him the other day with your cousin."
"Mm." Hinata's hand paused in writing only to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. "Nii-san is aware of what I'm looking into. He was the first person I told," she said, answering the implied question. "He…supports me."
"Supports you, but not your approach?" Sasuke surmised.
The sound of Hinata's pen stopped again. This time when Sasuke looked up she was frozen in place, bottom lip caught between her teeth.
"Nii-san has some reservations. About pursuing this without officially claiming the heiress title and its protection. About seeking information outside of the clan," Hinata admitted.
"He thinks it's dangerous," Sasuke said simply. His grip tightened on the hilt of kusanagi. "Is it?" he asked.
Hinata kept her gaze on her notepad. "I think…change is always dangerous," she said softly.
Her words jabbed into him. Worse still was the submissive tone covering the underlying obstinance. Dropping the cloth on his knee, Sasuke sheathed his sword in a swift movement. "Just how much are you willing to risk for your beliefs?" he ground out. His blistering glare finally provoked her to look his way. As expected, despite the soft line of her lips, her lavender eyes were unyielding.
"The only way to risk nothing is to do nothing," Hinata said. "With every day that the juinjutsu exists, Bunke Hyuuga are at risk. Of complications during or after the sealing. Of having it used against them for any perceived slight. So then how could I do nothing?"
Within a matter of a second, Sasuke crossed the living room to stand in front of her. Sasuke was sure his expression was thunderous, but Hinata didn't shy away. Her neck craned back to maintain eye contact with him. Bracing his palm against the armrest, Sasuke leaned down until their faces were only centimeters apart.
"Hinata. I really hate martyrs and self-sacrificing idiots," he said, enunciating each word clearly.
"There are people I need to protect. Ryota-chan and the other children like him. Hanabi…" Her dark lashes fluttered as she blinked.
Sasuke opened his mouth, but to say what, even he wasn't sure. Probably something terrible and rude, like the ugly feeling in his chest. However, Hinata continued before he could speak.
"If nii-san was really against it, I'd rethink things." Hinata offered him a trembling smile and the darkness clouding him receded a little.
"Tch. At least you're not completely blinded by your convictions," Sasuke said snappishly.
Hinata's brows drew together as she considered his words. "It's not an indication of my conviction," she said slowly, "I trust Neji-nii-san."
Sasuke frowned. Had Itachi had anyone he trusted? Was Shisui's death the reason Itachi let himself sink so deep into his own flawed thinking, convinced it was the only way? Or was it where he chose to place that trust, putting too much faith in the Sandaime and Konoha?
If only Sasuke had been older or wiser. At seven Itachi had already distinguished himself as a genin while Sasuke had yet to master a Katon no Jutsu, hardly fit to help shoulder the burdens of the clan and the village. Even at the very end, Itachi hadn't been able to confide in Sasuke, not until Sasuke had forced his hand.
What would it be like to have absolute trust in someone? Sasuke himself had never experienced it. For all that Itachi had done with Sasuke in mind, the manipulation and lies would always cast a shadow of doubt. Naruto and Team Seven might come closest. And yet when they had told him to stop, to turn back, he hadn't listened. Now he could admit that they had his best interests at heart, but Sasuke still wasn't sure what choice he would make if they were on opposite sides of an issue again. With the Fujiwara situation even being on the same side had almost led to blows.
"Sasuke-kun?" Hinata's soft voice broke through his thoughts.
Sasuke blinked, refocusing on Hinata's face. He realized suddenly just how close they were and embarrassingly felt his face grow hot, particularly at the tips of his ears. For once, Hinata's face was free from a blush. She'd dropped her pen and pad at some point and her hands lay lax in her lap.
"You asked me before…about my dream," Hinata started. "Since then, I've also been wondering about yours. What kind of things would you dream about?"
Sasuke huffed out a breath. "All of my dreams ended up being nightmares." Killing his double agent brother, restoring his cursed clan, becoming Hokage. All laughable in retrospect. The look on Hinata's face made him pause, however, and brought to mind his open mission. "I'm working on creating some new ones," he said. The way Hinata brightened was almost enough to make up for Kakashi's nonsense.
"I'm glad," Hinata said with a small smile. Sasuke already knew the way her cheeks raised and her eyes curved, but it felt new from this angle. "A dream doesn't have to be a grand thing. It can be something simple, like eating delicious food, or travelling somewhere exotic, or just living happily."
"I —"
Sasuke detected the disturbance only a moment before the heavy thud at the window, a testament of his focus on the girl in front of him. While Hinata startled and immediately whipped her head in the direction of the noise, Sasuke leaned back in a slow and deliberate movement.
"Both of you are needed at the Hokage Tower," Pakkun said brusquely from his perch atop Bull. The larger dog's body was squashed against the glass of the window. "Fujiwara's gone."
Dun dun dunn
Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays ^^
Someone asked about the names of certain locations in the fic - 99% of the time they're from canon! You don't want to know how much time I've spent in the Naruto wiki...
And I know a lot of you are waiting for SasuHina to get together or at least kiss and it'll happen! But first the slow burn's got to keep burning a bit longer.
Thanks as always to everyone who continues to read and leave a review!
MVH