A different type of NaruHina interaction this chapter...

Chapter 39: Tuck a knife with my heart up my sleeve

Sasuke stormed down the street, shoulders knocking into civilians who weren't fast enough to clear out of his path.

He was livid. Everything was tinged red, either from anger or the lanterns lining the roads. His body felt like it was on fire, chest filled with a burning sensation resembling the feeling right before he released a Katon no Jutsu.

How could they?

Hinata pressed against Naruto, hands gripping onto his chest as the blond shinobi's lips moved against hers. The sound she'd made when Naruto had buried his face in her neck.

He wanted to set something on fire.

What was Hinata thinking? Did she not remember how miserable she'd been? Because Sasuke did. He remembered the cloak of sadness that had hung over her.

Sasuke's short nails bit into the meat of his palm.

What was Naruto playing at? He'd proven to be a neglectful partner and Hinata had made it clear that wasn't what she wanted. What did he hope to gain by repeating the same pattern?

Sasuke stopped abruptly in the middle of the street. Through the limited vision the mask he was wearing permitted he could see the villagers moving strangely. It took Sasuke longer than it should have to realize his sharingan was activated. Exhaling roughly, he redirected his chakra away from his eyes, the action inadvertently quelling his anger as well.

How many times was he going to do this? Getting worked up about something that had nothing to do with him.

"Things between Hinata and I…you're the one who's overstepping."

Letting his emotions get the best of him, throwing a fit and running away. Sasuke was acting like a kid again.

"Guess you were always a bit of a drama queen."

He was supposed to have grown past this.

He had grown past this.

Spinning around, Sasuke began to retrace his steps back to the alley. He had no idea what he would say or do when he got there, but he refused to flee like a coward.

But then the radio he was wearing crackled to life.

"Naruto, where the hell are you? It's ten minutes till your speech."

Sasuke frowned and shunshined to a nearby rooftop. Peering down, he could see that the villagers were all heading in the same direction, towards the center plaza. After a minute he could see a blur of blond hair and black silk moving too fast for civilian eyes, though several turned at the resulting gust of wind.

Sasuke couldn't stop himself from focusing on Hinata's chakra signature in his periphery before turning his attention back to the crowd. He was meant to be on duty.

As he surveyed the streets, something caught his eye. Lips forming a grim line, Sasuke jumped down soundlessly. A body lay face down with no chakra detectable through his rinnegan. Rolling the body over, Sasuke could make out the shallow breathing. Not a ninja then. A civilian. And by the looks of the uniform, a server from one of the local restaurants.

Conveying the information through his radio, Sasuke had just finished his report when the sound of shrieking echoed through the streets. Without waiting for an order, Sasuke rushed to the source.

There was no enemy when Sasuke arrived at the plaza. Konoha-nin were directing the panicking crowd away from the village center where a stage and podium had been set up.

On the stage were a handful of ninja. One of which was Naruto, collapsed on the ground and writhing.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata was on the stage as well, crouching down beside Naruto. "Is Sakura-san here?!"

Sasuke had been thinking the same, scanning the area for that distinctive head of pink. Instead his eyes caught on a man standing nearby and observing the scene calmly with his burly arms crossed against his chest. As if sensing Sasuke's gaze, the man turned and Sasuke immediately recognized his face.

Kanoto.

Despite having nothing more than his own suspicions to go on, Sasuke dashed across the plaza with kusanagi drawn. The sound of metal against metal rang out as Kanoto countered with his tantō. Their blades continued to clash as they fought. Kanoto was fast, but Sasuke was faster. The other shinobi was on the defensive, looking for an escape route, but Sasuke didn't give him room to breathe let alone retreat.

The screeching of the civilians rose in volume, undoubtedly alarmed by the physical confrontation taking place in front of them at uncanny speeds. Some of it was coming from farther away, maybe another nae-ROOT member had been found out. Sasuke continued to fight, unfazed. Then one particular gurgling scream tore through Sasuke's concentration.

Whirling around, he froze, unable to make sense of what he was seeing.

Hinata's feet hovered in the air, one geta missing. She was scrabbling at the hand gripping her throat and lifting her off the ground, pale eyes bulging in shock. That same shock was mirrored on the owner of the bandaged arm crushing her throat.

Naruto.

"Doton Tsuchi Nami no Jutsu."

The ground underneath Sasuke moved, rolling like a wave. He nearly toppled over, but switched places with the podium on the stage just in time to catch Hinata in his hold. She took in a strangled breath, her palms outstretched and lit up with a faint indigo glow. Naruto's right arm hung uselessly at his side.

Needing his right hand, Sasuke released Hinata, but kept close. He turned back in time to see Kakashi raise walls of earth to protect the villagers from slivers of the podium Kanoto had punched through with a swollen first reminiscent of the Akimichi hiden.

As Kakashi dropped his Doton Doryūheki technique, Kanoto reached into his vest and dropped a smoke bomb, filling the air with thick, grey smog. In a swift movement, Sasuke pulled his mask off and placed it over Hinata's face, shielding her from the unknown smoke. He then raised the collar of his kimono to cover his mouth and nose as best he could.

Someone, maybe Tsunade, cast a Fūton no Jutsu. The smoke cleared, revealing that Kanoto had failed to escape, pinned in place by Shino and Kiba.

Sasuke endured repeating his report to Kakashi, the atypical grave demeanor of the older man the only thing keeping Sasuke's ire at bay.

After Kanoto had been subdued, everything had moved at lightning speed. Sakura and Tsunade had whisked Naruto away to the hospital, any available ninja had been instructed to patrol the village to ensure all civilians made it home safely, and Sasuke had been pulled away along with Tenten, Neji, Sai and Shikamaru to report to Kakashi.

It had been extremely difficult to leave Hinata's side. It was only the sight of Hanabi's approaching form that had appeased Sasuke enough to go. Hinata had seemed so shell-shocked by the evening's events, she hadn't appeared to register Sasuke's parting squeeze to her arm.

The mission had been, for the most part, a failure. Nothing of importance had been uncovered at the former ROOT hideouts save for a seal they had been unable to undo and Shikamaru and Sasuke hadn't been able to prevent an attack during the celebration. Still Kakashi made them run through every detail three times.

Finally Kakashi dismissed them and Sasuke shunshined to Konoha Hospital in a matter of minutes. He strode down the hall, ignoring the small number of iryō-nins and staff milling around at the late hour.

As expected, Hinata was standing in the hallway outside the patient rooms. Her kimono looked ruffled and her pinned up hair had started to fall down around her face, though at the very least she'd managed to locate her missing geta. Her eyes were downcast, but as Sasuke got closer lavender pearls snapped up to lock with his own mismatched pair.

Relief flooded through Sasuke anew even though he'd already determined she was fine before leaving with Kakashi. Her pained expression and choked scream had kept replaying in his mind the moment she'd left his sight. It wasn't the first time he'd seen Hinata in danger and she'd already saved herself by the time he'd reached her and yet he couldn't shake the terror of the worse case scenario. Maybe because his nerves had already been on edge.

Seeing her whole and hale, if shaken, was a balm on his soul, but his body still felt stuck in fight or flight. The brief altercation with Kanoto had been an unsatisfying outlet and now Sasuke was left with all this energy he was struggling to contain.

Fear.

Anger.

Relief.

It was a dizzying mixture.

From the moment Sasuke had realized the truth of his feelings for Hinata, he'd been doing everything in his power to not lose her.

Because that's what happened to the people Sasuke cared about. He lost them.

Losing Hinata as a friend was an unwelcome outcome.

Then he'd seen Hinata with Naruto and it had felt like losing her anyway.

Immediately after that, the possibility of losing Hinata in a permanent sense had presented itself, sending Sasuke into a tailspin.

But she was here. And she was fine.

And she was entirely too far away.

It was like Sasuke couldn't see anything else, his vision narrowed to the girl in front of him. When he reached her, he took her chin in hand and angled her face up so that he could see her neck. Her pale skin was marred by angry red bruising.

"Does it hurt?" he asked. Keeping his touch light, he trailed his fingers down to her neck. Then something caught his eye and his thumb paused over it. A different kind of bruise, circular.

The shape of a mouth.

Unconsciously, Sasuke's thumb pressed against the bruise.

Hinata made a small sound of protest, but Sasuke couldn't hear it over the sound of blood rushing through his ears. For the past few weeks, he'd been trying so hard to keep his feelings in check, but now any semblance of restraint was gone.

"He touched you."

Confusion flickered through Hinata's wide eyes before understanding dawned. She flinched, but Sasuke's hand on her neck kept her in place. Automatically, Sasuke loosened his hold, but Hinata didn't back away. She stared up at him, frozen.

Sasuke scowled. He was furious, angry at the hand shaped bruise on Hinata's neck, angry at the other mark Naruto had left, and, above all, angry at himself for even caring about the latter when Hinata was hurt.

He dropped his hand to his side. "Sorry," he muttered lowly.

Hinata replaced Sasuke's hand with her own, hiding the mark from view. "…it was nothing." Her voice was a whisper.

Sasuke studied her expression, trying to determine the truthfulness of that statement. "Good," he said. At Hinata's startled look, he added, "Because I hate it."

Hinata's brows drew together. "You —"

"I hate it," Sasuke repeated emphatically.

Because what was the point of holding back, if he could lose Hinata anyway?

Sasuke took a step forward and again Hinata did not back away from him. "I don't want Naruto to touch you ever again. Him or anyone else." He took another step and there were only a few centimeters between their bodies. "I want to be the only person you let touch you like that."

Sasuke cupped her cheek, feeling her shiver under his touch. Drawing closer, Sasuke watched as Hinata stood very still and then, when his lips were just a hairsbreadth from hers, her eyelids dipped.

Closing the last bit of space between them, Sasuke captured Hinata's lips with his own. Unlike last time, it wasn't a quick brush of skin against skin. He kissed her resolutely, unrelentingly. She was soft and responsive and when her lips parted beneath his, he deepened the kiss. Slanting his mouth over Hinata's, Sasuke caught her bottom lip between his own and then released it, greedily swallowing her moan.

Time lost all sense of meaning. There was only Hinata and her body pressed against him, the soft skin of her cheek under his palm, her silky hair tickling his face and her slick lips against his.

Sasuke felt Hinata's smaller hand take hold of his wrist. Her thumb on his pulse point made him feel weak and he had to break away to take a breath. His heart was still beating too quickly, but it was no longer from fear or anger. With their foreheads resting against each other and their breath mingling, Sasuke took a moment to try to clear his head.

It seemed Hinata was doing the same because, after a few breaths, she spoke. "S-Sasuke-kun…I don't understand. You…you said to forget it last time."

"You said that," Sasuke pointed out, though he knew it was merely semantics. His eyes were shut, but he could imagine the pout on her face. "I meant I shouldn't have done that because I'm lucky to have your friendship and I didn't want to do anything to compromise that."

"You couldn't," Hinata protested softly.

"Good. Because as it turns out, I can't stand seeing you with someone else." Sasuke's eyes were still shut and so it was easier to say these words.

"…What exactly are you saying, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke finally opened his eyes and the only thing that filled his vision was a lavender pair. "I'm saying I'm here, Hinata. Like this. If you'll have me." He stroked his thumb against her cheek and Hinata's fingers pulsed around his wrist.

Hinata's lips parted soundlessly. She tried to speak. "I-I —"

"You don't have to answer now. I just wanted you to know." Reluctantly Sasuke stepped away, but not without twisting his wrist so that his hand was holding Hinata's. He guided them to take a seat on the bench Hinata had been neglecting.

Sending a sidelong glance over to the girl beside him, Sasuke found that her face was unusually blank, lavender eyes staring unseeingly at the floor.

But she didn't pull her hand away from his and that was enough.

Sasuke and Hinata waited patiently for a long time, neither saying a word. Their clasped hands sat on the bench between them. Eventually the door next to the bench swung open and Sakura came out.

Hinata jumped to her feet, Sasuke following at a more sedate pace to avoid letting go of her hand.

Sakura's green eyes skipped past Hinata, unsurprised, and settled on Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun? What are you doing here?" Her gaze skidded over their joined hands and her expression faltered. Recovering quickly, she forced her lips into a straight line.

"How's Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

Forcing her gaze towards Hinata, Sakura angled her body in a way to ignore Sasuke's presence entirely. "He's fine. I'm not sure what you did, but you completely fried the chakra network in his prosthetic arm. We had to detach it."

"Oh no, I didn't mean to —"

"Why did he attack Hinata?" Sasuke interrupted.

Keeping her eyes fixed on Hinata, Sakura answered. "We're running some tests to confirm, but what's left of the prosthetic resembles the white zetsu."

Hinata's grip tightened on Sasuke's hand. "Just the prosthetic?" she asked.

"Again, we're still running tests, but it looks like it was limited to the arm," Sakura replied. She paused for a second, still adamantly not looking at Sasuke or their joined hands. "Hinata, there's nothing you can do here. You should head home and rest."

Hinata bit her lower lip, looking conflicted.

"Seriously, Hinata. I've got things handled," Sakura said, tone harsh enough that Hinata winced. Sakura's face lost some of its rigidity, replaced by concern. "Before that, do you want me to take a look at your neck?" she asked.

In contrast, Hinata stiffened. She dropped Sasuke's hand in order to use both sleeves to hide her neck. "I-I'm fine, Sakura-san! I'll just put some ointment on it."

Hands on her hips, Sakura regarded Hinata with a worried frown. "It looked pretty bad back there. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure!" Hinata squeaked out. She looked mortified. Sasuke would have found the situation amusing if his best friend wasn't the reason for it.

"Alright then. But if it gives you any trouble, come find me," Sakura conceded. She lingered in the hallway for a moment, eyes darting over to Sasuke almost as if she couldn't help it, before saying a quick "goodbye" and going back into the room.

Alone in the hallway again, Sasuke gave Hinata a minute to calm down. When she finally lowered her arms away from her neck, he took her hand in his again, internally reveling at how she allowed him to do so with just a slight flush of pink tinging her cheeks.

"Want me to use my jikūkan ninjutsu?" he asked.

Hinata mulled it over silently before shaking her head.

They walked to the Hyuuga compound in silence. Sasuke was sure Hinata's mind was frazzled and, likely being the main cause of it, he chose to do nothing to further add to it. In comparison, Sasuke felt like a weight had been lifted off him. The day had been a disaster in so many different ways, but no one had died and somehow he'd ended up here, with Hinata's hand in his. Tomorrow, there'd be serious matters to take care of and the rest of the world to deal with, but for now it was just him and Hinata. And Sasuke wanted to bask in the simplicity of this feeling a little longer.

He regretted not telling her sooner.

When they reached the Hyuuga compound, the well-maintained gates opened soundlessly and Sasuke had to stop Hinata from walking right past them.

"Oh," she gasped.

Sasuke pursed his lips against a smile. Letting go of her hand, Sasuke tucked her fallen hair behind her ear. "Don't think too hard. You'll give yourself a headache."

Hinata's lips formed a moue and Sasuke's smile broke free. "Like I said, you don't have to answer now," he added.

Hinata looked up at him with large, wondering eyes. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun." She didn't elaborate and Sasuke didn't ask her to.

He just watched as she disappeared behind the Hyuuga compound gates.

We finally got a confession! Ball's in Hinata's court. But of course we've also got nae-ROOT shenanigans keeping everyone busy.

MVH