hi! thought in italic , dialogue in " ", POV alterning and Naruto's still not mine.
Chapter 9
Hinata gripped her kunai firmly and lunged.
She was disarmed in a blink of an eye.
"Sloppy." Sasuke said as he shoved her hard enough to leave a trail in the dirt. He pocketed the weapon as Hinata pulled another and attacked him again.
She delivered a high kick with her leg aiming for his side. He batted it away easily.
The Uchiha dodged the slash of the sharp kunai aimed at his throat and stopped the next by gripping her forearm with one palm. Hinata added her hand on top the other trying to push the dagger towards his chest but his grip was stronger.
In one move he took away her weapon, used her momentum against her to turn her around and pin both her arms.
In a matter of seconds, Hinata found herself uncapable of moving. With her back against his chest, his arm encircling her waist and arms.
Her breath hitched as she felt the cold steel against her neck.
"And you're dead." Sasuke breathed in her ear. His hold lingered before he freed her from his deadly embrace.
"You're distracted today. What's on your mind?" He asked handing her the kunai.
"Flower arrangements." Hinata answered trying to calm her hammering heart. His proximity coupled with the physical strain left her slightly breathless.
Sasuke raised a questioning eyebrow.
"My clan is hosting a welcoming ceremony for the Suna delegation. I'm planning it." She answered.
"Did Naruto put you up to this?" Hinata detected a hint of annoyance in his tone.
"No. Father passed the responsibility to my sister, but she is hopeless when it comes to things like this. Her idea of a party is cheap booze and dancing on a table" The indigo-haired kunoichi sighed.
"Ah. So, you took over." Sasuke dusted his sleeve.
Hinata was glad she was able to dirty him, it meant she was improving. When they first started these training sessions, he always went home without a speck of dust on his attire.
It was aggravating.
"And I have to study for an upcoming surgery. Except I cannot properly focus because I'm busy debating whether it's the ponies or lilies that goes better with the lilac napkins. Or should I just switch to off white?" Hinata paced around while ranting, unaware of Sasuke's amused gaze.
"Should we serve traditional Suna dishes or are Konoha's more appropriate? Which type of music is better the traditional or western? Do Suna's citizen even know how to waltz?" Hinata's face was getting red by the minute from lack of oxygen.
"And I can't even properly make plans because Hanabi keeps chiming in with ridiculous suggestions. On top of that the seamstress keeps hounding me to take my measurements for the Kimono for the ceremony which makes me even more nervous because the last time an elaborate Kimono was commissioned the elders were trying to sell me off to the Daimo's son."
Hinata was suddenly stopped from taking another step forward.
"Hyuuga. Breathe." Sasuke's grip on both her shoulders left no room for arguing.
Hinata gulped air into her lungs following his command.
She didn't want to examine too closely why that particular low tone made her obey without question.
"I'm sorry. Let's continue the spar." She said calming down.
"You can't spar in this state." The Uchiha said before turning and walking toward the exit of the training ground.
Hinata's shoulders slumped. Way to go, you even failed at training.
"Are you coming?" Sasuke turned his head to peer at her. She sent him a questioning look.
"You said you can't work at home. Come to headquarters, I have paperwork to do and you can do yours." The Uchiha stopped walking to wait for her.
"Hai" Hinata said hurrying to his side.
Hinata was no stranger to the Anbu headquarters.
No one batted an eye at her being there anymore, for who in their right mind would defy their commander's unvoiced permission?
As they stepped into his office, Hinata remembered that she didn't have the necessary documents with her for planning this tiresome event.
She was such a scatter head.
" I am just killing it today" the kunoichi murmured massaging her temples "I don't have my binder with me"
Now she has to run back to the Hyuuga estate to grab it.
"What does it look like and where did you leave it?" Sasuke asked
"It's a big white binder, I left it on my desk in my room"
Before she can question him about his inquiry, a dark spiraling portal opened and Sasuke disappeared.
Hinata stood there contemplating the fact that one of the most powerful jutsu in existence was being used to ran errands.
A few minutes later the Uchiha reappeared holding her binder and handed it to her.
The young heiress immediately opened it and flipped through the pages not noticing Sasuke's distracted stare.
"Your seamstress has taken over your room." he said clearing his throat.
"That bad?" Hinata groaned internally.
"She left a few….garments" he bit the inside of his cheek.
"Just great. Any preference?" She sighed
"You're asking my opinion?" Sasuke's lips twitched.
"One less thing to think about." Hinata said jokingly. She didn't expect him to reply.
"For that particular layer" his smirk made an appearance "I much prefer the dark blue with the flower pattern"
His eyes seemed to sweep along her frame as if he was imagining her wearing it "I think it'll suit you"
Hinata didn't think much on his answer as she took a seat on the couch situated under a small window and spread her sheets all over the low table.
Sasuke sat down behind his desk and focused on his own paperwork.
Neji folded his Anbu attire and placed it inside his locker.
He took to keeping it at headquarters since he found Hanabi rifling through his wardrobe wanting to see if the Anbu mask really was impervious to their Dojutsu.
His Anbu status was supposed to be a secret. But anything hardly stays hidden in a house full of Byakugan users.
Both his cousins and uncle knew.
Still for the sake of propriety he kept it here.
"Hey Hyuuga, do you have any more homemade food? I'm starving. " Genma Shiranui asked twirling a senbon in his mouth.
He was in charge of training the new Anbu guards for the Hokage . Apparently Sasuke wasn't impressed with their performance.
"I just came back from a mission." Neji answered stoically.
"Ah. When I saw your lovely cousin, I thought maybe she brought one of her delicious bentos" the special jonin said.
"Hinata-sama's here?" he needn't ask which cousin it was.
"Yep. She's holed up in Uchiha's office for two hours." Genma wiggled his eye brows "do you think they're getting it on?"
"That's just a rumor." Neji glared at him.
"Is it?" Genma reclined on the sofa. He loved messing with the younger Anbu.
Neji slammed his locker before walking calmly out of the room.
He then broke into a sprint.
Because Neji Hyuuga had absolutely no chill when it came to Hinata and the opposite gender.
Hazard of the job.
He barged in the office to catch them in the act of….reading silently?
On separate seats. Not even remotely close to each other.
"Neji-nii-san welcome back!" Hinata was ecstatic by his appearance.
Sasuke less so.
"Do you need something?" The Uchiha raised an eyebrow condescendingly.
He probably knew what was going on inside the prodigy's head.
The bastard.
"I wanted to see if Hinata-sama needed anything before I head home." Neji was proud of his quick thinking.
Sasuke wasn't convinced.
"Nii-san! You should be resting after your mission." Hinata scolded then gasped "Are you hurt? Did you sustain any injuries?"
"I'm fine Hinata-sama." Neji grimaced now that he poked the bear. Hinata in medic mode was relentless.
"I'll be the judge of that after you Go. Home .To. Rest" she narrowed her eyes
"As you wish." Neji threw one last glare at the Uchiha who had the audacity to smirk at him.
The bastard!
Spending time in a calm environment was exactly what she needed to quiet her mind. Hinata has never been bothered by silence. She preferred it really, especially if it was shared comfortably with another.
She didn't know how he does it, but Sasuke always seemed to know what she needed.
Sometimes even more than she did herself.
He provided an anchor for the storms raging in her daily life in his office.
He provided an outlet for her frustration in training.
He gave her a safe haven to run to from her stifling clan in his apartment. Not that she used that open invitation regularly.
And most importantly he plied her with cinnamon rolls constantly.
It was like he saw her no matter what. She wondered if she was that transparent or if he was that good at reading her.
They say the Byakugan sees all, they obviously never been under Sasuke's dark penetrating charcoal eyes.
And if he saw all of it. Then there was no need to hide anymore.
She loved her friends and family dearly. But there was always this sense of expectations with them.
It was human nature.
Ino wanted her to be more outgoing and confident.
Her teammates wanted her to be their damsel in distress so they can protect her.
Neji wanted her to be strong constantly.
Hanabi wanted her to be her role model.
And her clan demanded she be demure and obeying, now that they lost faith in her leadership. Not that she ever was good enough for them.
But Hinata wasn't always confident. She was no damsel in distress but she couldn't always be strong either. She couldn't always be perfect and she certainly wasn't one to submit easily.
With Sasuke, there were no expectations. She could be just be.
He was like coming up for fresh air.
Hinata realized she'd been staring at him for quite some time when he sent a quizzical look her way.
She was spared from the embarrassment by the sound of the door opening.
"Yo" greeted a white-haired nuisance .
"What do you want Kakashi?" Sasuke mentally prepared himself for what was to come.
"Can't I visit my cute student?" Kakashi smiled under his mask. Then turned around "Hi, Hinata-chan!"
Sasuke's eyebrows twitched in annoyance at the familiarity.
"Hello, Kakashi-Sensei" Hinata smiled back.
"Not your Sensei anymore remember" the silver haired jonin teasingly said "Plus I heard you found a new Sensei. Kurenai must be so heartbroken at being replaced."
"I'm sure she'll forgive me." Hinata giggled.
"And you." He said pointing at Sasuke "How could you break my old heart and not tell me you found a cute student of your own?" Kakashi placed his hand on his heart prompting Hinata to hide another giggle.
"You are not that old." A vein throbbed on Sasuke's forehead "Why are you here?"
"Who me? Oh, I have a top-secret document to give you" Kakashi walked to the desk. "I figured you could use all the help you can get."
His old Sensei threw a book in his direction.
"The plot starts out just like yours. An emotionally stunted teacher who learns how to love from his student while teaching her about the pleasures of the flesh" Kakashi's visible eye had a wolfish gleam to it.
You have got to be kidding me.
In Sasuke's hand lay the second novel of the Icha-Icha series.
"I mean it's been a few months and you still didn't close the deal" Thankfully Kakashi lowered his voice.
Hinata was of course clueless about the murder that was about to occur.
"You obviously need to be educated properly. Lucky for you, your old Sensei has your back." The copy ninja said seriously "if you're stuck you need to do a grand gesture since you lost your touch apparently. Now that I'm thinking about it the number of your fangirls did decline." Kakashi tutted.
Sasuke was done listening to his inadequate relationship advices.
"Get out. Before I throw you out."
"So mean Sasuke-kun." The jonin said before marching toward the door. He turned around addressing the young heiress who had been busy writing invitations, not paying attention to their conversation.
"Hinata-chan how is your training going? Sasuke must be hard for you all the time."
Thankfully the kunoichi didn't seem to get the meaning of Kakashi's not-so-accidental slip of the tongue.
"It's good. It's hard and long but very satisfying in the end." Hinata answered innocently unaware of the innuendo she just uttered.
"You don't say. How long exactly?" Kakashi chuckled.
Sasuke threw the book at his face.
Fucking pervert.
"If you don't leave right now, I will set you on fire." Sasuke's cheeks turned slightly red.
Kakashi failed to hide his laughter as he left a confused Hyuuga and very embarrassed Uchiha.
Hinata sighed deeply.
Almost done.
She had been running around all the estate putting together a welcoming ceremony worthy of the Hyuuga clan.
She went over the menu with the chefs, gave the maids their instructions for setting the decoration and made sure the flower arrangements were to her liking.
Everything has to be perfect. This party will be representing Konoha and the clan.
This, at least was one of the few things her father and elders trusted her with.
I should hope so, after the hours spent with Grandmother.
Now that old crone wasn't easy to please. But her lessons have been invaluable, necessary to survive the cut throat politics of her clan. And they served her well outside the village's walls.
"A different type of battle. Different weapons to wield" was something her grandmother used to say.
Hinata headed towards her room. It was time to choose which armor she'll be putting on.
Her armor will be made of the finest silk and most elaborate designs.
The Hyuuga heiress hoped the selection of Kimonos provided wouldn't be very restricting. She did so love to breathe after all.
Hinata was at least glad she didn't have to go through the initial selection. If Sasuke was to be believed her seamstress already left a few choices in her room.
The kunoichi prepared herself to be assaulted by heaps of colorful layers and fabrics.
But she was wrong.
Sasuke-san saw this?!
Hinata's cheeks warmed.
On a closet hanger. On her bed. On her desk.
Everywhere, laid a colorful selection of lingerie made of satin, silk or lace.
Why the hell is that here?!
This was usually chosen it the fitting room after she selected the kimono's fabric. It seemed her seamstress decided not to wait and left her samples.
Hinata stalked in with a sense of panic. Who even needed this many options; White satin bras, Lavender silk panties. Babydolls!
And then she saw it.
"For that particular layer" his smirk made an appearance "I much prefer the dark blue with the flower pattern"
Hinata swallowed hard. She made her way towards the close-fitting set; she knew would hug her curves perfectly. Delicate rose-patterned lace that somehow looked more striking in blue than it did in the red one next to it. When she touched the soft seams of the stockings, she knew it would be easy to slide off.
"I think it'll suit you"
Hinata's cheeks were on fire.
"Excellent choice My Lady! I always thought that particular shade of dark blue would look splendid with your complexion." She was startled by the arrival of the seamstress, who immediately took the hanger from her hands and putted it aside.
"Come my Lady .We still have much to do. I have just the fabric to go with the set you chose."
Hinata let herself be dragged to the fitting room.
She didn't think her brain would function for at least an hour.
AN: I hope there's been a decent amount of giggling.
I sure did while writing this chapter.
Oh and trust me when Sasuke starts flirting you'll notice.
I cannot wait to start writing the next chapter.
As always your feedbacks are very much appreciated.
-Your giggle inducing writer
Lady Thunder Storm.