#and of course I had to start a SasuHina now that Red Memories will be done mid-way through June

[lavender-long-stories]

July has 5 Mondays this year.

Since I put a new chapter of every ongoing story every Monday That means 5 new chapters for all 5 ongoing stories, and that is if I don't start something else, which, knowing me, I most certainly will.

@_@ I do this to myself, honestly.

I am happy that I got all of June done to be able to enjoy SasuHinaMonth.

I have a new multi-chapter and a dozen one-shots coming your way for SasuHinaMonth. Are we ready!

[givemestories-givemelife]

Blueberries, Lavender & Hot Matcha Tea  (Part 2)

A SasuHina ficlet

PART 1| Part 2

AN: THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THOSE WHO COMMENTED, OR RE-BLOGGED, OR LIKED THE FIRST PART TO THIS FIC. It truly means more than I can say. Helped a lot with motivation and it’s super cool to know that people are reading the things I write. I hope the follow up chapter doesn’t disappoint <3

Summary: Hinata has a run in with a familiar face.

Warnings: Brief mentions of grief and anxiety (because Hinata’s a nervous butterfly) but nothing remotely heavy. Also there’s alcohol consumption.

Word count: 6167

                                   __________________________

Lavender

Hinata knows that she needs to start putting herself out there. She can’t stay holed up comfortably in her room while years of her life pass on by, listening to cigarettes after sex under the safe warmth of her white fluffy blanket that still smells like her late mothers perfume, and sniffing essential oils like they’re some kind of soft-core drug to distract her spiralling thoughts from every embarrassingly mortifying predicament she’s ever found herself in.

She’s been trying really hard not to think about spilling her extra hot matcha latte all over this potentially handsome stranger a few days ago. She thinks - potentially - because she did not have the courage to look at the man's face after maiming him and probably ruining his expensive suit!

Hinata’s sure she must have ruined his entire morning, which must have ruined his whole day, and now he probably hates her. Oh goodness, Hinata strongly dislikes the thought of people out there in this world walking around hating her.  

Wow, these thoughts are entirely useless, she really needs to stop her brain from going down these awful paths.  

Today Hinata has decided to try really hard not to wallow in the comfort of all her numbing guilty pleasures.  

So, when Sakura Haruno, the loud and outgoing girl with pretty pink hair, who always smells like strawberries and vanilla from her photography course asked if she wanted to hangout and work on their portfolio’s after class; Hinata was thankful for the distraction.

They had spent that afternoon drinking green tea at the kitchen table in Sakura’s little homey apartment, showing each other their favourite pieces and sharing feedback.

“You have to include this one, it’s so cute” Sakura gushes, pointing at a print of children finger painting; a mischievous little boy is smearing bold red paint all over the face of a girl whose expression is twisted in pure terror.

“You have a real talent for capturing the essence of people.” She continues in a dreamy tone, “it’s like you’re able to capture the moment they’re most alive, even if it’s just the little moments, y’know?”  

Hinata blushes at the complement, “th-thank you Sakura.”

“It's kind of ironic that people are your main muse considering how afraid of them you are.” She teases.

“I’m not sca-AhyH!”

Of course, that’s the moment a woman with a giant blond ponytail barges through the door brandishing a bouquet of peonies making Hinata squeal. “Sakura I swear to god if you ate the last of the ice-cream again, I’m gonna- Oh! hello there.” The crazy flower lady stops mid-threat noticing a stranger in her apartment.

“Ino this is Hinata from class, Hinata this is my roommate Ino.” Sakura introduces, failing to constrain her laughter.

Ino’s demeanor does a 180 as she gently rests the flowers on her lacquered kitchen counter and approaches Hinata in a trance like state. “Your hair is so long and gorgeous, it totally reminds me of the violets we have at the flower shop -- you have to let me braid it.” She breathes and Hinata’s eyes are as wide as the sky outside.

“Ino, tone it down you’re going to scare her.” Sakura chides, rolling her eyes, not at all surprised by her roommate's antics. “Do you always have to act like such a spazz?”

“I am but a simple girl who is a slave to all things beautiful.” Ino proudly counters running her fingers through blue strands and Hinata mentally notes that she smells like a garden.

Sakura’s phone vibrates on the kitchen table, “it’s Naruto,” she says glancing at the screen. “Wondering when we’ll be coming over.”

“I don’t know, an hour or two? Tell him we’re bringing Hinata!” Ino adds excitedly and starts to braid blue hair without permission. “You should come out tonight with Sakura and I, meet the rest of the gang.”

“Oh.” In high school Hinata was never able to make friends with girls, and spent most of her time in the photography club’s black room developing pictures. Her introverted nature made it difficult to connect with people, but in this moment, the prospect of meeting Sakura’s friends, and the inclusive enthusiasm from these girls is making Hinata a little emotional. “I-I don’t know.”  

“Hinata, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to, but I think it could be good for you,” Sakura encourages.

“Carpe diem bitch,” is Ino’s convincing addition.

Hinata giggles, absent mindedly sniffing her wrist searching for the comforting sweet scent of the fragrance she’s wearing today, “yeah, okay.”

Ino makes a pleased sound and saunters over to a kitchen drawer to snatch a pair of scissors and clips the head off of one the peonies, then ties it into the base of Hinata’s braid. “You really have no idea how cute you are Hinata,” she coos observing her work in admiration and Hinata feels warm all over.

Hinata likes the rapport between Ino and Sakura, there’s something about their friendship that she finds inspiring.  

When they split what’s left of the chocolate ice-cream and start getting ready for a night out, Hinata can’t help pulling out her camera and snapping shots of Ino with her shades of purple and Sakura’s vibes in red. Hinata feels outshined in her usual high waisted mom jean and oversized grey patterned sweater.  

But that’s okay, she still feels like one of the girls.

~~~

Ino had made a strong case for wanting to get her steps in for the day, (since her fitbit said she had only reached 8243 so far) convincing the girls to walk to Naruto’s apartment instead of taking the bus. On their stroll Sakura and Ino began giving Hinata character profiles of everyone she was going to meet and Hinata found them to be quite amusing.

Ino playfully starts with, “Shikamaru’s like, my best bro. I’ve known him forever, smartest guy I know but a total stoner and he doesn’t give a fuck about anything.

“Choji gives the best hugs and he loves giving them, so if he looks like he’s going in for one - just let it happen - you’ll hurt his feelings if you don’t.”

“Naruto and Kiba are basically the same person and are the biggest loudest dorks on the planet,” Sakura chimes in, “but they’re also super friendly and kinda funny if you can get over their lack of brain cells.”

“Then there’s Sasuke,” Ino says, and hearing that name strikes a familiar chord with Hinata, triggering flashes of fond memories. “He’s really hot, but kind of a dick,” Ino hugs herself smiling at a distant memory, “basically, we all know each other from going to the same high school -”

“Ino and I had the hugest rivalry back then because we both wanted him.”  

“What happened?” Hinata really wanted to ask if they were talking about Sasuke Uchiha, but didn’t want to interrupt the momentum of their story.

“We were so stupid causing all sorts of drama in our little social circle nearly tearing it apart, and Sasuke wasn’t having any of it, one day he told us to grow the fuck up and to leave him alone.” That did kind of sound like something Sasuke would say, but that would just be too big of a coincidence, wouldn’t it?

“We both cried.” Sakura snickers sheepishly.

“Eventually we finally realized that friendships should be forever-”

“And boyfriends are whatever.” Both girls enthusiastically finish the rehearsed line making silly faces at each other.

Hinata giggles at that, whishing she had taken a picture, “awe, that’s so cute.”

“And now he’s one of our good friends, but I just want to warn you that he can be cold and he can be mean and if he says something dickish, please don’t take it personally.”

Hinata hums, only half listening to Ino. Was it possible that when Hinata arrives at this apartment she was going to be face to face with the childhood friend she hasn’t seen in over a decade?  

Guess she’ll just have to wait and see.

~~~

When Hinata enters the apartment, her senses are immediately overstimulated; it smells salty like ramen and sour with beer which clashes with how clean and pristine the space actually is. It’s decorated with blacks, whites and a few splashes of colors, but overall has a very minimalist feel.

Hinata barely has time to kick her shoes off before she’s surrounded by strangers, and can’t stop the heat from suffusing her face from the disorienting barrage of unwanted attention.  

“Hey bitches!” Ino yells at the group, “we’re here! We know you missed us!”

“This is the beautiful Hinata,” Sakura adds, and Hinata really wants to hide under a rock somewhere. “Be nice okay, she’s really shy.”

“Hey I’m Naruto.” A blond man appears beaming at her, outstretching his hand. “I have never seen eyes that look like your eyes before!”

“Oh.” Hinata went to shake his hand but was interrupted by another hand grabbing hers and kissing it, which is so uncalled for.

“And I’m Kiba, don’t listen to that guy, he’s a complete moron.” He says with a wolfish grin and Hinata has no idea what’s going on anymore.

When she tries to turn away, she’s met with the kind face of a stout man in a green Zelda t-shirt with his arms wide open for an inviting hug. She decides to accept her fate by awkwardly stepping forward wearing a confused pout, and lets the arms of a stranger wrap around her in what is surprisingly one of the best hugs she has ever received. He smells nice, Hinata thinks. Savoury and warm like a thanksgiving dinner. For a moment she actually feels safe, like a veil has been thrown over the sudden wave of chaos, giving her a quiet moment for her heartbeat to settle, “I’m Choji, it’s really nice to meet you Hinata, try not to worry so much, everyone here is harmless, I promise.” He says, rubbing gentle circles on her back.

When Choji pulls away, he sends her one last reassuring smile before padding off towards the ponytailed man currently dying of laughter, and joining him on a leather couch. Choji grabs a handful of potato chips from a bowl on the marble coffee table and starts earnestly snacking.

Snacks! Snacks sound really nice right now! Tasting tasty things can sometimes be a good distraction when Hinata is overwhelmed. She self-consciously shuffles forward towards the provisions, drawn towards the colorful array of fresh fruits, grabbing a small handful of blueberries and popping one of them in her mouth. She tries to ignore the pair legs in her periphery... she needs a moment before making another introduction.

Hinata jumps feeling a presence directly behind her, she twirls around to see Naruto pulling back appearing extremely guilty.

What was he doing?  Was he pointing at her hair?

“Hehehe, sorry about that,” he says, smiling sheepishly, and scratches the back of his head, “I was just pointing out to my friend here, how beautiful your hair is, what a wonderful shade of blue,” he made a weird face directed at someone over her head, “are you enjoying those, blueberries?”

Okay.

Hinata hears more laughter coming from ponytail boy on the couch.

Weird.

Hinata turns to see who Naruto is looking at and-

Oh.

Sasuke?

Sasuke was here.  

It was her Sasuke!

She instantly looks away, eyes wide, staring down at the hardwood floors.

Well, not her Sasuke. But an older version of the one she knew as a child. The one she met that one summer years ago and spent nearly every day with him before her mother fell ill and her family moved away in the wake of tragedy.

And he was... Glaring at her? No, he was glaring at Naruto? He kind of looked like he recognized her, but why would he be glaring?

“This is fucking stupid,” Sasuke seethes and takes off towards the kitchen, where Kiba and Ino are talking and drinking.

Ouch.

Sakura approaches Hinata with a glass in hand, Hinata stares at the ice clinking as she offers it, “vodka soda, with lime?”

Well, one drink couldn’t hurt, Hinata thinks.

She glances over at a brooding Sasuke leaning on the kitchen island sipping his beer.

She might need it.

~~~

It’s nearly an hour later and Hinata feels the dread sinking deep into the pit of her stomach. She desperately wishes she could conjure up some courage, approach Sasuke, and see how he’s been after all these years, but he still hasn’t left from his spot in the kitchen.  

She’s starting to believe that maybe he doesn’t recognize her, which is a rather sad thought.

Hinata also appears to be at the butt end of some sort of mean inside joke that she doesn’t understand, ponytail bo- Shikamaru and Naruto joined Sasuke in the kitchen and kept making not-so-subtle glances her way -- but whatever -- she’s a big girl, she’s not going to cry about it even if she wants to.

Currently she’s sitting on the puffy leather couch between Choji and Sakura, Sakura is sharing the memes she’s saved onto her phone this month with Ino and Kiba while Hinata stares down at the melting ice in her drink and Choji attempts to calm her with platitudes.

Hinata doesn’t regret coming tonight despite feeling like the biggest fool in existence.

After all, tonight she actually has the opportunity to reconnect with someone she still thinks about, even after all these years.

She has always wondered what had happened to that bratty boy she met that one summer.

The sinking feeling grows deeper and Hinata feels her heart beating in the drums of her ears.

She takes one last tentative sip before downing the rest of her drink and summons every ounce of bravery she didn’t know she had to strengthen her resolve.

She stands from the couch with shaky determination ignoring Choji’s concerned inquiry, then forces one foot in front of the other strait towards the guiding bright lights of the kitchen.

The easy conversation awkwardly dies down when she arrives beside Naruto and Sasuke. She feels both their gazes land on her, and Hinata spots an ugly orange magnet on the stainless-steel fridge Sasuke is leaning on that has the phrase - believe it! - stamped on it and chooses to direct most of her focus on the positive affirmation.

“Uh, hey Hinata, you doing okay?” Naruto asks, slightly taken aback. Hinata nods still focusing on the magnet, face heating up as the beginning of a buzz tingles in the corners of her mind. “Can I get you another drink?”

She looks down at the empty glass she grips and nods again, muttering a quiet thank you, and handing it over. He takes it and moves further down the island to chat with Shikamaru and starts making her another.

“Hi Sasuke,” she forces passed her chapped lips.

“Hello Hinata.” Sasuke says, sounding about as uncomfortable as she feels and she looks up, hopeful, to meet his burning gaze and quickly looks back at that stupid orange magnet.

“So, you do remember me?” She asks, confused as to why he’s been ignoring her since her arrival.

“I remember how two days ago you ran into me quite rudely, burning me with tea.”

Hinata’s brain short-circuits.  

“Wait what!?-”

No! No no no no no. Impossible. No.

“-That- that was you? oh my god, oh no! I am so sorry about that, I really wasn’t looking where I was going, I-I can’t believe this, I swear you just came out of nowhere though, oh my goodness, I can’t believe that was-”  

“Please just stop before you give yourself an aneurysm.” Sasuke lifts his hands in a placating manner and Hinata snaps her mouth shut. “So that’s not how you seem to know me?” He asks, further rankling as the conversation drags on.

“So you don’t remember me.” She says mostly to herself, completely humiliated by this entire exchange, every time she opens her mouth it’s like falling down a flight of stairs -- Hinata seriously wishes she would reach the bottom already.

“Remember you from... where?”  

“I-I mean I guess it’s not that surprising, we were only nine or ten at the time and it-it was only one summer... over a decade ago... You-you never really did call me by my name either.” Hinata says focusing on her twiddling fingers, her voice barely above a whisper, a pensive smile framing her lips at the memory.

There’s a long drawn out silence before Sasuke slowly asks, “...Tomato face?”  

Hinata feels her face burn red at the old moniker, nodding. “Yeah...”

“Hyuuga, Hinata. Shit. Yeah. I do remember.”

The culminating tension finally releases from the moment and Hinata smiles at the black and white tiles breathing just a little bit easier.

He remembers.

“Wait... Did I hear you call her a tomato?” Naruto returns with a mildly amused Shikamaru in tow, handing Hinata her drink, and looks between the pair completely intrigued.

~~~

It didn’t take long for the word to spread that Hinata and Sasuke were childhood friends and everyone congregated into the small-ish kitchen asking curious questions.

It also didn’t take long for everyone to lose interest when Naruto nudged Hinata and started grilling her for embarrassing details of what a prepubescent Sasuke was like, earning him a surly glare. Hinata shyly shrugged saying, “I-I don’t really remember, it was a long time ago.”  

Safe to say -- Naruto didn’t buy it, but surprisingly didn’t press further, and the group dispersed, leaving them to reacquaint.

The conversation between them after that was unfortunately still quite awkward, thankfully, Hinata wasn’t entirely to blame.

They exchanged small talk, Hinata mentions that she actually works at Heaven’s Little Corner and was just coming off her shift early when she ran into him the other day, and Sasuke talks about going to school and getting a Bachelor's degree in Business and how he focused on E-commerce after graduation. Overall, their -- re-connecting -- consisted of the typical pleasantries involved in catching up, and Hinata couldn’t distinguish if she was disappointed or relieved when their conversation came to a lull and she couldn’t think of anymore pointless verbiage to drag it along.

What she really wanted was to reminisce over hot days on the beach, collecting tiny crabs to occupy the sandcastles they built, and how Hinata had found sand in her hair days after the event. She wanted to talk about ice-cream and food fights and sneaking out to gaze at the stars in the night sky way past their bedtime, and how they pondered if aliens exist.

“I think the universe is too big for there not to be something out there somewhere.”  

She remembers Sasuke saying, thoughtfully looking up.

“I-I think you’re an alien.”

She said back, earning her an indignant huff.  

“Whatever tomato face.”

She wanted to talk about how simple everything was when they were kids, how she misses that naivety and how scary the world had revealed itself to be over the years.

Hinata was never good at making friends, even as a child, but she could still look back and she knew that Sasuke was one. He had been the last mark on her childhood that had made it a good one, the last moments she had to truly be a kid before she lost her mother, the truest love she had ever felt, forcing her to grow up.

Instead silence overtakes the kitchen and they both stare at their drinks unsure of what to say.

Sasuke isn’t how she remembers him at all. Yeah, he has the same face, just matured, and the same haughtiness, but the spark for life that had once inspired her seemed to be gone.

Which is an unfair thought to have, she admits, but she can’t stop herself from thinking it.

“Well I think it’s time to go on an adventure,” Naruto awkwardly offers.  

“An adventure?”  Hinata repeats, eyes growing wide.

“Naruto’s idea of an adventure is leaving the house and walking around the block.” Sasuke says rolling his eyes.

“Hey anything can be an adventure if you let it!”

~~~

It smells like damp grass and Hinata nearly jumps out of her skin as Naruto’s roar of triumph echo's off the surrounding buildings, catching the glow in the dark frisbee Kiba threw him. Sakura and Ino had joined them in their late-night excursion and Hinata can’t suppress the giddy giggles from watching them stumble about attempting athleticism when they are clearly four or five drinks deep.

She snaps a few photos and decides that she likes Naruto’s philosophy of approaching even the mundane aspects of life as an adventure.

This whole day certainly has felt like one.

Hinata puts her camera away, feels the chill in the October air, and pulls her scarf tighter. She casts a glance over at the park bench where Shikamaru was smoking a joint to see that he’s now casually chatting about... string theory? -- to Choji, who continues to nod his head like he understands.  

Her trailing gaze then lands on Sasuke and-  

Hinata immediately looks back towards the glowing air bound frisbee.  

He was watching her - he looked suspicious - Hinata doesn’t know of what.

“Hey Sakura,” Hinata tries to call out, voice wavering, “it’s getting late, I think I-I should start heading home.”

That seems to put a halt on the physical activity for a moment, she’s then hugged by every frisbee player.

“It was nice meeting you Hinata.”

“Come back any time.”

“Yes please! We need more girls in our group, Sakura and I are severely outnumbered.”  

“Are you sure you don’t want us to walk you?” Sakura slurs slightly, pulling away from the tight embrace.

“I’ll be fine, thank you Sakura,” Hinata smiles at her newest friend and turns to leave but stops at the bench to wave goodbye at Choji and Shikamaru, earning her a warm smile and a lazy nod. She looks at Sasuke’s arms proudly crossed over his broad chest and says, “it was nice seeing you again Sasuke.” And makes her way down the busy street, casting one last glance behind her just in time to see Sakura jump on Ino piggyback style to catch the frisbee in an impressive display of drunken camaraderie.

She smiles wider to herself. Wow. Today was a good day. An Adventure! Even if seeing Sasuke again was really weird and awkward and not at all how she wished it could have gone, she still met a lot of new people – Sakura's friends are so nice! They made her feel right at home and didn’t make her feel too weird about being shy and -

“Hey, Hinata.”

Hinata startles, hearing the sound of her name accompanied by footsteps catching up and her breath hitches when she turns to see Sasuke slowing down next to her.

“S-Sasuke? What are you-”

“I’m going to walk you home,” he snorts like it’s obvious, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his black jacket, “it’s late.”

“Oh,” Hinata hugs herself, suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious and maybe even a little nauseous as they walk in silence, their steps in sync.  

She can feel the heat of his gaze on her and Hinata makes a point to stare at the crispy autumn leaves on the pavement – yeah – Hinata has no idea what to make of this.

“You know it finally makes sense now, why I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”  

Hinata trips over nothing, “you what?”  

Leaves. Look at the leaves. The beautiful burnt orange leaves. Just. Keep. Looking.

“At the coffee shop, there was something about you, I couldn’t get you out of my mind. Guess I thought you were familiar somehow.” Sasuke shrugs, with an air of nonchalance as they cross the street.

“Oh,” Hinata’s starting to feel warm, she doesn’t know if it’s from their quickening pace, the two drinks she’s had or how Sasuke is close enough for their shoulders to brush.

“It’s kind of crazy that we’d run into each other like this, after all these years.”  

Hinata stops walking and Sasuke mirrors her. There’s something in his tone that catches Hinata off guard, something almost fond? Hinata looks back in the direction of his friends, they’re about five blocks away now.  

Sasuke seemed... different than how he’s been all night -- more open somehow. Maybe he feels weird about their earlier interactions too, but didn’t feel comfortable acting this way in front of his friends? Sasuke’s always been a very private person, even as a child.

“Yeah it is,” Hinata bites her lip and throws him a timid fleeting smile, silently wishing she knew what was going through his mind.

“So, why did you come back to Konoha.”  

“I-uh-” Hinata starts playing with the hem of her sweater and reminds herself it’s good to open up, “-wanted to figure out this life thing for myself – be independent - if my dad had his way, I’d never leave home or do anything that wasn’t part of his plan-” she tapers off, distracted by the approaching sound of music, a dumb smile spreads across her face when she sees an old skinny man on a sparkly bicycle riding past them on the road blaring ‘Dancing Queen’ from an oversized speaker he probably installed himself -- he seemed so – in the moment, like all that existed was him and the music filling the streets that he owned – Hinata silently mourns the missed opportunity of capturing that moment forever in a-

“You were saying,” Sasuke pokes her shoulder harder than necessary, bursting her from her reverie, and starts leading her down concrete stairs away from the bustling main road of the city, towards the waterfront.

“Right,” Hinata continues feeling energized from the random encounter and embarrassed from being caught drifting away in a daydream when they were in the middle of a conversation, “it was – uh - hard to leave my sister, but she encouraged me to go, that I should at least attempt to do the dream chasing thing.” Hinata pats her shoulder bag in reference to her camera. “I saved up some money and here I am, making it up as I go.”

“Hm, you always were snapping pictures everywhere you went.”  

Their steps slow to a stop once they reach the cold metal railing where tourists gather during the day overlooking the docks, but it’s mostly quiet at this time of night.

It smells cold from the breeze and salty from the ocean. The lampposts must need changing because the only light is from the half-moon in the cloudless sky, casting them in dark shades of blue.

Hinata takes a deep breath observing the skyline and the colorful lights reflecting in the undulating ocean waves, then asks the question that’s been bothering her since their seemingly kismet reunion. “What do you remember after all this time?”

“I remember...” He trails off, Hinata doesn’t miss the sly edge in his tone. “That I had told you I’d marry you one day,” his voice is deep, almost gravely when he takes a slow playful step closer and Hinata swears her heart skips several beats noticing their breaths mixing in the cold air between them. “And that... you were technically my first kiss.” He says with a sarcastic snort, stepping back, and gesticulates somewhere behind them. “You can’t tell them about it though. Especially Naruto, the idiot would never let me live it down.”

Hinata blushes at the memory and attempts to mask her frown with an indignant pout, trying not to take the jeer personally.

Sasuke always did like to mess with her.

“You were my only kiss.” Hinata then whispers without thinking and regrets it. She immediately hates the implications -- like she’s some inexperienced-love-sick-twenty-something, who’s never gotten over her childhood crush.

Hinata sighs, briefly drowning in her own self-deprecating thoughts, gripping at the railing, eyes a passing ship, and pretends she can’t feel him studying her, surprised by the admission.

“What do you remember?” He asks back, finally breaking the silence.

She bites her lip, thinking, a rush of memories flashing one by one, settling on their goodbye -- her sobbing because she had to move away to a new city thousands of miles away that had special doctors who could treat her mother, how Sasuke was speechless and could only squeeze her tight in the first and only hug they had ever shared.  

She remembers how he always told her she should stand up for herself, even against him, and she remembers how sometimes when she was around, he’d bite his tongue, holding back petulant sneers.

There’s a small quirk to her lips when she softly says, “Looking back, I-I always thought that we brought out the best in each other.”

There’s another long silence and Hinata once again feels the heavy weight of his gaze examining her, he reaches out and she stiffens when he gently grips the base of her braid touching the bright pink flower there.

“Did Ino do this?” He quietly asks, and there something hidden in his voice that shifts the mood of their conversation, and he’s close again, close enough for their visible breaths to once again mix, his fingers trail down towards the tail end of her braid.

“Uh huh.” Hinata breathes, watching his fingers play with the tip of her strands.

“Why can’t you…” he starts to ask, unsure, but curious, “never mind.” He let’s go of the braid, huffing lightly in frustration and leans on the railing, looking out towards the roaring waves.

Hinata’s stunned by his sudden apprehension. "Why can’t I what?”

“I said never mind.”

“But… I- I want to know.”

“Why can’t you look at me?”  

“Oh.”  

Sasuke sighs, “you don’t have to answer.”

Hinata bites her lip hard, internally wincing. “I-it’s not just you it’s most people really.” She starts, racking her brain for the right words “- It’s -it’s embarrassing… Well everything is embarrassing but, I get anxious about nothing all the time? And looking at people. I don’t know. I get paranoid that they can hear my thoughts or something? Not that I’m thinking about anything weird, well sometimes I am… it’s easier when they’re not looking back at me... Anyways... I guess it’s just become a bad habit now…” she sighs and smiles bitterly at the mess that just flew out of her mouth. “So, to summarize, looking at people kind of sometimes really freaks me out?”

“I see,” Sasuke says, Hinata glances at his mouth, he’s smiling a little, it’s almost warm in an amused sort of way, which completely disarms her.  

Hinata’s tongue feels dry, “uhm, do-do you ever feel anxious?”  

“Never. I get annoyed or frustrated with people very easily though, which can be problematic, not that I care”

“I guess some things never change then.” Hinata teases gently.

Sasuke smirks, he seems ready to retort with a quip but retreats and opts for something entirely different, “are there things that help you with your anxiety?”

There’s something about the question that makes Hinata feel warm all over, she never really gets to talk about these kinds of things without it feeling like it would dampen the mood, but there’s surprisingly no judgement in his tone, he seems genuinely curious, which encourages her to open up some more, "I find different scents to be calming, so I wear whatever my current favorite essential oil is on my wrist every day and whenever I feel too overwhelmed,” Hinata begins to explain in a rush pulling her sleeve up to demonstrate and presents Sasuke her wrist, “I close my eyes, count down from ten and-” Hinata’s breath catches in her throat and her eyes fly open when Sasuke gently pulls her forward by the wrist and she feels the softness of his lips brush over her pulse, then draws in a slow breath to scent the fragrance she chose to wear that day, “...and... sniff.”

Oh goodness, is it getting hot out here? Because Hinata’s face feels like it’s about to burst into flames. Hinata debates pulling her arm back but is currently enraptured by the softest look she’s seen on the Uchiha’s face this evening.  

This feels way too intimate, and Hinata thinks she likes it. Hinata thinks that maybe this is what’s been missing in her life. The feeling of being close to someone in more ways than just proximity. Is it possible she’s been physically and emotionally touch starved for years without realizing it?

That’s a thought that petrifies her. How sleeping on your basest human needs can become a habit, and you find yourself going through the trivial motions of existence, not bothering to search for more, for something that makes your heart sing, twist, and turn into itself the way that muscle pumping blood through her circulatory system at a quickening pace is doing right now.

“Lavender,” Sasuke murmurs against her wrist and his breath feels hot on her skin, Hinata struggles for breath when the sensation brings her back to the present moment and she realizes that she’s been staring directly into his darkened obsidian eyes, boring into hers and she finds herself unable to look away. A subtle look of achievement flashes through them when he softly asks, “you okay there?”

Is she dead? Is she imagining this? This whole situation with the soft touches coinciding with depressing epiphanies triggered by Sasuke smelling her suddenly seems completely absurd, and Hinata’s not sure she’ll be able to form a coherent sentence any time soon.

“I uh, uhm.” There’s definitely something wrong with Hinata’s voice when she attempts to speak.

“I think that...” Sasuke smoothly adjusts their hands to interlock their fingers and his hand feels so warm in hers, “you should go out with me.”

What is happening?

“No.”

Hinata kinda meant to say yes, but sure, no works too?

“What?”

“I mean, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Hinata winces slightly. Gosh what is she even saying? Is this some sort of weird defense mechanism because she’s afraid of getting hurt?  

Sasuke nods slowly, narrowing his eyes, “why not.”

Don’t you have to risk getting hurt to get anywhere in life that’s worth while?

“I-I don’t know.”

“Hn.” Sasuke breaks eye contact and lets their holding hands fall. Hinata reels at the loss of warmth. He turns away from her and crosses his arms over the railing and looks out towards the dark rhythmic waves of the ocean. Hinata worries her bottom lip between her teeth as she studies the man before her. The moonlight is hitting the sharp angles of his face just perfect, and Hinata’s in awe. He’s all grown up now, and by default that means Hinata is too. Yet, here they are, the oldest they’ve been, and still the youngest they will ever be.  

Nostalgia floods through Hinata’s system, deciding to grab the moment instead of letting it pass. She’s not sure when she pulled the camera out of her bag, but the flash went off before she understood that she was taking a picture.

Sasuke jumps slightly at the flash and is pulled from his brooding thoughts, shooting her a puzzled glare.

“Sorry, that was kind of weird of me. I just – I just thought you-you looked erm... nice in the moonlight?”  

A bewildered look flashes across Sasuke’s face before a small smile begins to form and he laughs! He actually, genuinely laughs while shaking his head in what appears to be disbelief.  

The only thing Hinata can do is smile sheepishly distracted by how handsome he looks when he lets go of his composure, the light in his eyes makes him look younger, like the Sasuke she knew all those years ago.  

Hinata wonders if any of his friends get to see him like this.

He looks down at the pavement, shoulders still shaking, smile still present and pinches the bridge of his nose while taking in a slow breath and on his exhale, he reaches into his pocket, pulls out his phone, unlocks it, hands it over and says, “give me your number.”

Hinata tentatively obliges, pulling open the add new contact page, filling in the blanks then handing it back. Sasuke starts typing something in his phone and asks. “Do you work Sunday?”  

“Uhm, yes?”  

Hinata’s phone buzzes, when retrieving it from her bag she sees a text from an unknown number.

>> I’m going to come by after your shift and I'm taking you out. Don’t even bother using your mouth to respond.

Hinata feels her fingers tingling and tries to open her mouth to speak, closes it, bites her lip to try and stifle her giggles and resists the urge to slap herself in the face for acting like a complete airhead.

She pushes her fears aside one more time tonight...

And takes the damn dive.

<< Okay <3

                __________________________

AN2:  Wow, okay. A month later and I have the second part to this little story. This is the first time that I’m posting something I didn’t just throw together in one sitting. I’ve also never posted anything that was longer than 1200 words and it’s unexpectedly a little nerve-wracking??? OKAY SO, I guess there’s going to be one last chapter and it’s going to be like 90% SasuHina interactions? And spoiler alert they’re finally going to make-out. I have this SasuHina headcannon where they’re both private people who generally keep to themselves -- so people think they’re a boring couple, but when they’re alone together it’s like they’re in their own little world, and that’s the dynamic I’m looking forward to exploring in the final part.  I’m not sure when it’s going to be up since I have a bunch of other stuff I need to work on so it depends on how the inspo hits me, but I do have plenty of fun ideas!

[dianapana]

SasuHina Month Day 11- Mafia Au

Part 1 (Day 7- Falling in love with an Ex)

Dark side of life -Part 2

Hinata

For months after high school ended I imagined running into Sasuke, I imagined him coming to me and apologizing, I imagined him saying he loved me still and I would have been ok with it, I would have forgave him for the pain he had caused because i was 17 and I love, but as time went on and Uni started and he disappeared I imagined another scenario. I imagined meeting my true soul mate in University and then running into Sasuke and showing him how I had moved on. But once more that didn’t happen. I dated quite a bit in Uni but nothing serious, the longest relationship was barely 2 months and even that I knew wouldn’t last. I never imagined meeting him in a club when I was dressed in someone else’s clothes. I didn’t imagine him hugging me like we’re old pals and for sure I didn’t imagine myself blocking. All of a sudden it feels like the air has been sucked from my lungs, my heart is beating so fast and hard I feel it physically hurting my chest. Ino is grinning at me, Sakura is looking worried and Sasuke is up in my face, smirking.  

His smirk is something I'm familiar with, I remember him looking at me that way whenever I told him that I loved him, he’d say ‘i know’ and kiss me hard and whisper that he loved me too. Out of everyone that I have dated Sasuke made me feel the most loved, but he also hurt me the most. He finally let me go and I breath in deeply. I close my eyes while he shakes hands with Sakura and I try to compose myself. When I open my eyes, I feel better. He just caught me off guard, in a place and time when I was already feeling awkward.  

I notice Naruto looking at Sasuke alarmed. That makes sense if he’s friends with Sasuke he probably knows what his dark smile means. He's worried that Sasuke will make me upset and I'll vent to Ino and that might affect their relationship. I know this, I've seen this before with Ino’s boyfriends. When she sets me up with the friend of her boyfriend, they always worry about that. But I never cause problems for them and Ino is a hopeless romantic and never sees any of these signs, even now she’s looking at me with stars in her eyes. She's made up her mind that me and Sasuke will be a couple, we’ll have a double wedding and move in the same house and out kids will be best friends. Again...I’ve seen this play out before.  

“So how do the two of you know each other?” Ino asks  

“We went to the same high school.” I answered vaguely. I hoped Sasuke would leave it to that. But as always Sasuke disappoints me.

“Oh don’t be like that. We were in the same class all thought school from 1rst to 12th grade. And then in 10th grade we started dating until 12th when due to unfortunate events we broke up amicably, of course” He spoke with so much ease even I for a moment believe him. But I quickly remember the true story and the fact that he lied makes me hate him a bit more.  

I thank God Temari left, she’s the one that knows about Sasuke. I told both her and Gaara everything one drunken night at their home a couple of summers ago. Ino still looks like she just won the lottery while Sakura and Ten just share a puzzled expression. Naruto is cringing, either he knows the real story, or he can tell that Sasuke is lying.  

Ino goes back into party mood and orders more shots for everyone. “You can’t drink tho. You have to drive us all home” she tells Naruto sternly. He only nods and dips his head to kiss her. The thought of getting drunk while Sasuke is around is as pleasant as getting stabbed in the eye with a spoon. But when Ino gives me a shot I drink it anyway, because it’s so much easier to do what she says then to fight with her and end up doing that anyway. For the 8th time that night I wish I had told Neji to come with.  

Sasuke

When Naruto said that his girlfriend is celebrating her birthday at K9 club the very night that I had some business in the area I didn’t think much of it. When he said that he wanted to tag along and then party with her I said I'm ok with it. We got to the club, I finished what I had to do pretty fast and I started making my way to where I saw Naruto and Ino and then I noticed her, she was looking at me like I was a ghost. I couldn’t help but mess a bit with her. If I'm honest I expected her to leave early after we arrived.  

Naruto keeps throwing me worried looks. He knows about Hinata. When Ino asked how we knew each other I couldn’t help but tell them the story I had made up in my mind. I’ve been refusing the truth, that I broke her heart, since the moment it happened. I keep telling myself it was ok with both of us how we ended. I figure that if I keep saying it enough, I'll eventually start believing it.  

Hinata and the other 2 girls are dancing and Ino went to the bathroom so it’s just me and Naruto in the booth for the first time since we got here. “Dude what are you doing?” Naruto asks, I know he’s been worried. I honestly have no idea what I’m doing. I’ve taken every chance to be near Hinata and touch her. Nothing in my life has changed since high school, it actually got worse so I can’t drag her into any of that. But I didn’t expect that just seeing her and being close to her would do this to me. I want to pick her up, throw her over my shoulder and take her home with me. I want to apologize for breaking her heart and help her put it back together. But I can’t. Yet seeing her brings back memories of the 2 years we had together, those 2 years are my happy place. Even the beginning of our relationship when we were a bit awkward, everything about it is perfect, of course if you don’t count the last 2 hours of our relationship when I ruined it all.  

I watch as she dances, she’s smiling at her friends, her cheeks are red from the alcohol she drank and probably because she’s hot from dancing. Her clothes are a tad too tight and short but I'm not complaining, I can see every curve of her body, she looks different from when we were in high school, she has a more mature look in her eyes and everything about her is adult now. I used to know every dip and freckle on her body and the thought that it changed, and I will never be able to familiarize myself with it once more makes it hard to breath. I take my eyes off her because I can’t think when I’m watching her. i look around the club and see at least 6 other men looking at her with filthy thoughts read in their eyes and it takes all my willpower not to go to them and smash their heads against a wall. My murderous thought must have been obvious because Naturo places his hand on my shoulder. “Dude I'm worried about you”  

Hinata

I ended up drinking enough that now I don’t care that Sasuke is here, actually in a sick kind of way I like feeling his stare burn me. For a while I closed my eyes and imagined we are back in high school. That this is a normal party, that I am dancing with my friends while he is laughing with his friends and that soon enough he’ll come over and hug me from behind, that we’ll dance for a while that way but I'll turn in his hold and we’ll kiss all night long. But as I open my eyes I'm still in the club 6 years later, and he’s sitting at the table and there will be no kissing. I'm oddly disappointed in that. I'm disappointed in me too, I thought I was over this. But just seeing him brought back everything I felt for him, the hurt, the heartbreak and I'm scared that the love is back as well.  

Ten and Sakura are back to kissing and Ino is still in the bathroom. I stop dancing and consider going to look for her in case she’s sick. I look to where the boys are and my eyes meet Sasuke’s. For a second I forget everything when I look at him so I smile at him. I point to the bathroom and nod. He looks to the bathroom and nods back. He points at Sakura and Ten, then to himself and makes an ok sign. He’ll watch over them while I'm gone. The high of the alcohol is coming down and I feel emotional. I haven’t found anyone with whom I can talk like I can with him, I feel myself tearing up, so I start walking to the bathroom. I realize that all these years I've tried to get over losing Sasuke as a boyfriend and I did nothing for the part of my heart that broke when I lost him as a best friend.  

I knock on the door and Ino shouts that ‘It’s fucking busy’ and if I knock again she’ll break my arm Sometimes I forget how irritable alcohol makes her.  

“It’s me. Open up” The door opens and she lets me in.

“Sorry some bitch has been knocking for 5 minutes and she pissed me off” I nod.  

“What are you doing here?” I ask, but then I see her make-up kit on the sink, and I understand.  

“i’m re-touching my make-up. It was a mess after sweating and kissing Naruto.” she looks back to the mirror and I put the lid down on the toilet and sit on it. I know Ino well enough, this will take her another 10 minutes at least.  

“Entertain me. Tell me about Sasuke” I sigh. I knew sooner or later she would wanna know.  

“We were friends. We dated. We broke up. Nothing more to say there” Her eyes are on me in the mirror.  

“Well you dated him for 2 years that must have been serious. I mean you barely dated that Vet student for 2 months and no one else lasted over 3 weeks” She’s looking me in the eyes and I feel trapped. I hate it so much that I actually get up and leave, I hear Ino shouting after me. I know she won’t follow me. Not until she finishes her make-up. I see Sakura and Ten drinking at the bar, Naruto passes by me with his phone at his ear, so I turn to Sasuke and he’s alone in the booth looking at me with his eyebrow rose. I look at my options, I don’t wanna go back to talk to Ino, i don’t wanna drink anymore, I don’t know Naruto enough to go with him and I can’t just sit alone on the dance floor. A part of my brain tells me I'm just lying to myself, that I actually just want to go to Sasuke and I don’t even bother to correct that part, I just make my way to where he is.  

Sasuke

This is the third time tonight that I feel like my heart will jump out of its place. First was when I saw her for the first time, the second was when she smiled at me before going to the bathroom and now is the third as I look at her as she makes her way towards me, her eyes are focused and they have a purpose, I just don’t know what it is.  

She sits down next to me and closes her eyes. I touch her cheek with the back of my hand, I can’t help it. She's too close to me for my brain to make any sense. When I saw her initially, I just wanted to tease her a little because I believed she’d leave soon. She didn’t. Her eyes open and she looks younger and hurt.  

“Why?” her voice is meek and halfway a sob. I feel like crying too. I know what she’s asking but I don’t answer, I can’t. I just pull her closer. My arm is around her waist, I tilt her head so it’s resting on my shoulder and with my other hand I take one of hers. She fits next to me just as perfect as she always did. She turns her head so her nose touches my shoulder and I can feel her inspire in, I turn my head too so I can bury my nose in her hair and I smell her, she smells like all my wildest dreams come true. I want to cry too, for the time lost, for the happiness I could have had with her.  

“My family is doing bad things, really bad things. I couldn’t risk putting you in danger.”

Her head raises. “bad things?”  

I nod. “Japanese mafia is no joke.”  

I can feel her gasp. Without saying anything else I lower her head once more and stay in the same position as earlier. I open my eyes and see Naruto stare at me with sad eyes, Ino looks ecstatic while the other two girls just look confused. That pretty much sums up what I feel too, I'm sad because I could have had Hinata forever but our lives were just a bit off and we didn’t fit as we should have, I'm ecstatic to be here with her now, touching her, having her warmth all around me, and I'm confused because I don’t know how to fix everything, to make it all fit so I can have her. In high school I gave her up without thinking about how much it would hurt, but now that I know how it is to live with her and how it is to live without her, and I want to do anything in my power to make her want to stay with me and to figure out how to protect her from everything, from my life, my family, myself.  

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Three Hundred Twelve: A Red Blanket ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Uchiha Tenkai, Uchiha Chikyū ] [ SasuHina, pregnancy ] [ Verse: A Light Amongst Shadows ] [ AO3 Link ]

It was a baby shower gift at the beginning. A soft, velvety blanket of a muted red - not too bright, but not too dull. No pattern, no fancy stitching. Just something for the newborn Uchiha when the day would finally arrive.

Hinata, still a ways off from meeting her firstborn upon receiving it, had cooed in appreciation. First blankets, first toys, first clothes: all were important milestones and things children tended to cling to for many of the first years of their lives. She herself had received a little plush bunny on the day of her birth from her aunt she’d kept for years and years, only retiring it once the threads had run too bare and its stuffing was nearly more outside than in. So Hinata knew well how much a first gift could mean.

“This is perfect! I’m sure they’ll love it,” she’d offered with a smile. Red, of course, was an infamous color for the clan she found herself married into, no matter how small. Most of the things gifted that day followed the Uchiha color scheme.

How funny she thought it would be if their first child ended up taking after her side of things.

Sasuke, however, was certain long before the birth that not only would they be Uchiha genetically (or in simpler terms, be born with the ability to awaken the Sharingan), but they would also be a boy.

“What makes you so sure?”

“Just call it a fatherly instinct. I really can’t claim more than that. After all, my parents had two boys.”

Hinata just laughed. “And mine two girls! I’m not sure you have much of a basis for this besides wanting an Uchiha boy.”

“Can you blame me”

“...no.” Of course she’d understood. Having a son with his kekkei genkai would mean Sasuke’s lineage could carry on, in both genes and in name. His dreams of bringing the clan back to its former glory and population had, by then, long faded. And part of him claimed he’d rather see them slip peacefully into memory. But even he couldn’t deny not wanting to be the last.

Of course, their child had cousins. But all, due to the lack of people, were half blood Uchiha. Sooner or later, without significant inbreeding, the Uchiha would - as Sasuke wanted - quietly go into the night as their blood thinned.

Part of it made Hinata sad, but...considering the clan’s long and bloody history...she could also understand.

And the day she finally went into labor that August, she had to wonder if Sasuke really was able to read minds. The baby, once free, was declared a boy. And upon opening his eyes, twin dark irises peeked out.

Not a sure sign, but...well, there’d never been a Hyūga with dark eyes before.

“Remind me never to bet against you in anything,” she’d murmured, tone exhausted. “Not that I would, but...clearly you have eyes even I can’t beat…”

Sasuke had simply snorted, looking to his new little family with a myriad of emotions flickering across his face like sped-through TV channels. “...should we start taking wagers on number two?”

“You want to talk about number two now...with me fresh out of labor?”

“...maybe later, then.”

Once mother and baby were permitted to go home, Hinata settled their son - named Tenkai, for the earth - in his new crib, along his new red blanket.

“There...that’s just for you,” she’d murmured, stroking a finger along his cheek. Already a tuft of dark hair was untamed atop his head.

Just like his father.

And so began the tradition of Tenkai sleeping with his blanket. Wherever he went, the blanket had to go, too. It was his play rug in the sitting room, his swaddle when carried around the house, the thing he slept upon for naps and at night, and the belonging he most obviously became attached to.

Whenever Hinata had to wash it...it was a warzone. He’d cry and cry until reunited, appeased with the soft plushness freshly warm from the dryer whenever it was returned. Once he was old enough to comprehend the need, he’d sit in front of the washer and watch it turn until he could finally have it back.

His sister, Chikyū, was more like their mother: in both appearance, and her choice of object. She had a plush lamb that was her constant companion. Not a very talkative or social child, she instead preferred to mime with her toys, and little lambie was her favorite. She’d mostly leave her brother to his blanket, but...well, there were times when it would be fought over. Though Tenkai was, as a bit older, more mature and inclined to share...Chikyū was of the mind to simply...take.

And thus came the first scar: a tear along a corner from a rather heated tug-of-war.

Tenkai had been devastated.

Hinata had immediately began emergency surgery, finding thread a close color in her sewing kit and doing up the rip by hand. Tenkai had sat tearfully nearby while his sister sulked guiltily in the next room.

“There we go...right as rain,” Hinata announced once finished, handing it over and watching her son quickly cling to the fabric. “Now...we’ve surely learned an important lesson today, haven’t we Chikyū…?”

Making her way back in, the girl had just somberly nodded.

From there...the occasional accident would happen. It once got caught in a shut door as Tenkai was walking, and another split nearly tore it in half. Various spills - drinks, food, paint - would sully it, and some leaving stains Hinata did her darndest to remove...and yet even she couldn’t always work miracles.

And then came the fateful day when Tenkai claimed he didn’t need it anymore.

“Are you sure…?”

“Yeah...I’m sure,” he’d offered softly.

Hinata looked to her son with a hint of worry. “...did someone make fun of you for it? You know you don’t have to listen to anyone else if it makes you happy.”

“No, kāchan. I’m just getting too old for a blankie, okay?”

“...okay. I’ll put it away for you, all right?” She gave him a warm smile. “Someday, you might change your mind...or at least want to remember.”

He hadn’t replied, just handing over the rather battle-worn blanket before taking his leave.

Looking over the hardy fabric, Hinata just smiled to herself. It had had a long, tough life...so maybe a little retirement would be well-earned. Rips, stains, and patch jobs...all in all, it looked pretty sad.

So, she folded it into a neat little square, tucking it up into the back of Tenkai’s closet. Someday, she knew, he’d remember it.

Just like the little bunny plush she kept in a drawer in her and Sasuke’s room.

But until then, it would wait here diligently, filled with all the memories of a little boy who loved it.

                                                         .oOo.

     Sorry this is so short, but...guh, had a long day, and my head is killing me, but darn it I wanted to get this done @~@      Just some random fam jam fluff, really...I wanted to write more but I'm lucky I got as far as I got OTL      Anyway, I'm gonna go try to sleep this off. Thanks for reading~

[givemestories-givemelife]

Blueberries, Lavender & Hot Matcha Tea 

A SasuHina Oneshot.

Part 1 / Part 2

AN: Why? Because someone @muzikaldove  asked and I obliged . It came to me relatively easy in all it’s tropey goodness. I think you can tell how much ao3 I’ve been reading lately from this. My apologies over the fact I have no idea how to properly use a comma.

Summary: Sasuke has a run in with a certain blue haired girl and he’s confused.

                                       ------------------------

Blueberries

Sasuke glares at a punnet of blueberries, a memory of wide lavender eyes flashing in his mind. He pinches the bridge of his nose and grits his teeth. Fuck. Things like this weren’t suppose to happen to him. He forces himself to take in a slow calming breath and attempts to sigh out all his current frustrations.

He hasn’t been able to stop thinking about that damn blue haired girl and her stupid embarrassed blush and the way she just couldn’t make direct eye contact with him, and how for some fucking reason that made his heart twist in some weird foreign way.

Because he wanted her to look at him.

He really wanted her to look at him.

Sasuke wasn’t used to the desire of wanting attention from women.

In fact Sasuke was used to women throwing themselves at him since that appeared to be the only way to receive any sort of regard from the aloof Uchiha. Sasuke didn’t have time to engage in such frivolous affairs and was mildly thankful he didn’t have to put in much effort.

But there he was for the first time ever, looking at a woman and instead of thinking the word ‘annoying’ he thought of the word ‘cute’ and that in it’s self should’ve been an indication of hell freezing over because Sasuke is Sasuke and he definitely doesn’t fucking think about anything as cute. Especially not short blue haired women with shy dispositions who spill burning hot tea all over him and his expensive new suit when he’s already late for an important business meeting.

But that’s exactly what happened.

He was uncharacteristically running ten minutes behind schedule when he noticed his favourite coffee shop was obnoxiously overrun because of course it’s a goddamned Wednesday and they have that dumb promotion for half priced iced latte's. So he scoffed at the betrayal and hoped to find a less busy cafe on the way.

And once he crossed the threshold of some hole in the wall bistro he’d never before noticed called ‘Heaven’s little corner’ he looked up at the bell that rang when the glass door hit it and smacked into something oddly soft then suddenly felt pain-

Searing pain, wet and hot, burning his chest and trickling down his legs. Sasuke clenched his eyes shut cringing violently and hissed at the sensation, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“O-oh my god,” a sweet little voice squeaked and Sasuke snapped his eyes open to glare at the retreating form of blue hair, “no no no no no no no.” The quiet offender muttered to herself grabbing all the napkins she could muster from their dispenser and turning back to look at the soaked fabric covering his chest like a devastating problem she needed to solve and quick. Rushing towards him she started wiping at the creamy green liquid that smelled like matcha with quivering fingers. “I am s-so sorry so so so so s-sorry.” She said with reverence. “A-are you okay?”

Sasuke froze watching dainty hands meticulously rub huge bunches of paper napkins against him, slowly starting to feel his ire ebb when he took in the strange girls appearance. She had long soft looking blue hair, a milky ivory complexion, an increasing redness to her cheeks and pink chapped lips pulled in a gentle pout... And that damned troublesome word popped into his mind before he could stop it.

Cute.

Sasuke’s eyebrows shot up at the intrusive thought and snapped, “stop,”  grabbing her wrists and something twisted in his gut seeing her wince at his grip so he lessened the pressure of his grasp into something resembling gentleness and pushed her hands back as if returning them. “Before you embarrass yourself even more.”

Eloquent eyes pinched with mortification shooting to the ground, he realised that she actually looked like she was about to cry.

Which really should have pissed him off.

But for some reason he couldn’t fathom, it didn’t.

He let go of her wrists like he’d been burned a second time, raising his hands in  surrender, “ it’s fine, I’m fine,” and scoffed. “Are you... okay?” He scowled at the stupid question, she’s the one clearly in the wrong but for some reason he couldn’t ignore her current distress.

She buried her face into her hands. “Y-yes. I mean, of course I am.” She said throwing the napkins in the trash.  “Sorry. I-I have to go.” And she booked it out the door not even sparing him glance.

Sasuke had to resist the urge to run after her and demand she tell him her name which was a rather concerning sentiment.

And it dawned on him that she never once looked him in the eyes throughout their entire interaction.

Sasuke changes his mind.

She is definitely annoying.

Annoyingly cute.

Fuck.

This isn’t good.

And it doesn’t make any sense! The exchange lasted less than two minutes and there was literally nothing special about this girl but for some reason he couldn’t get her out of his mind and It’s starting to be a fucking problem.

“Why is Sasuke looking at the blueberries like they’ve personally offended him.” Shikamaru drawls, hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his ripped denim jeans reminding Sasuke that he is in fact not alone on this grocery run.

It’s 7 pm on a Friday night and he and Naruto always have people over at their flat for drinks to blow off steam and bitch about the work week. Usually Sasuke would get snacks on his own but Shikamaru showed up early and Naruto asked if he wanted to go on an adventure like it was the most exciting thing and now here they are in the organic fruit section of their local super market.

“Oh, Sasuke’s pining.” Naruto says casually and Sasuke wants to punch him in the throat. Sasuke doesn’t pine, he only casually mentioned the interaction with the weird girl in passing this morning and Naruto hadn’t stopped teasing him since.

“Explain.” Shikamaru inquires with a lazy smirk.

“Sasuke’s pining,” he repeats, picking up a fat orange, throwing it up in the air and catching it, “I know he is because he mentioned some girl who spilled tea on him and he has never brought up an interaction he’s had with a girl with me. Like. Ever.” Well... Hn, Sasuke hadn’t thought about it like that.

“No way.”

“Which obviously means he’s found the one.”

“What else he say about her?”

“Not much, but he’s been doin’ a lot of glaring at a whole lot of nothing. I’m starting to think he’s actually daydreaming.”

“Would you two shut up.” Sasuke grits indignantly, prompting Shikamaru to slap an antagonising hand on his shoulder.

“So what’s it going to be Sasuke; blueberries or no blueberries?”

Naruto slaps a hand on his other shoulder. “That seems to be the question.”

Sasuke frowns and grabs the damn blueberries, throws them in the basket swivelling out of their grip towards the checkout line, attempting to remain indifferent towards the fuckers. He grabs a few bags of chips on the way.

“Did I mention that said mystery girl has blue hair.” Naruto stage whispers and Sasuke scowls when he hears Shikamaru snicker.

~ ~

Twenty minutes later they’re making the short walk back to their apartment after picking up booze, “so do we know who’s coming tonight?” Sasuke asks.

“The usual; Kiba, Choji... Uh... Ino and Sakura.” Naruto kicks a stray rock on the pavement as they pass a streetlight. “Oh yeah! Sakura said she asked some girl from her photography class if she wanted to come, what was her name?”  

“Hinata, I think.” Shikamaru adds.

“So that should be cool, we never have new people over.”

“Hn.”

“I just hope she’s cute.”

Sasuke hoped she wasn’t.

                                      ------------------------------------

AN2: DUN DUN DUNNNNNN Is that a cliffhanger there? Well huh. I guess that means there’s gonna be more? Really I promise you I wanted to write the whole thing and post it as a longer-shot (Is that a term?) But I also just wanna start writing things and getting it out there so it doesn’t get trapped in my drafts. And It kinda works as a one shot... So hey... Maybe bug me for more? CHAPTER 2 is up.

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Three Hundred Fifty-Two: An Open Magazine ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Hyūga Neji ] [ SasuHina, death, cancer ] [ Verse: Best Years of Your Life ] [ AO3 Link ]

This has to be one of the worst days of her life.

It all started with a phone call from her father. Her aunt - his deceased brother’s wife - had lost her battle with cancer and passed away overnight. As devastating as it was, she knew Neji would be taking his mother’s loss far harder. Now without either of his parents, he’s an orphan. Grown, sure...but a lost parent makes anyone feel like a lost child. Hinata hadn’t lost a family member since her mother when Hanabi was born, so...she couldn’t quite understand that loss now. But even so, the news received at ten past seven in the morning was how her day started...and it just didn’t let up.

Deciding to head into the city to be with her cousin and family, Hinata quickly got out of bed. Her morning routine of checking her phone showed the now-typical barrage of negative news on Twitter, only further degrading her mood. She tripped over her roomba and dropped her breakfast all over the floor. And as if having sensed the impending negativity, her plants along her tiny apartment balcony looked a bit withered and sick.

Wonderful.

Touching them up with some water and fertilizer, she hoped they’d last until she got home...probably pretty late. Otherwise, she didn’t have time to try her hand again at breakfast, and looking up what might be wilting her beauties would have to wait.

Pulling on her favorite white and lilac jacket, she’d scooped up her keys, shouldered her purse, and made her way out of the apartment to the garage below and her waiting car.

Born and raised in one of the large coastal cities, Hinata had abandoned it come adulthood. There were too many tearing memories to stay, and as much as she loved her hometown...the smog, the crowds, and the crime was enough for her to pack up and move to another smaller, quieter, it not more boring town two hours inland. Sure, she isn’t getting as much business as she might in the big city with her architectural degree, but to her...the peace and quiet are worth it.

But the rest of the Hyūga family remained in town, hence her needing to return. Her father’s tech repair business is rooted there, Hanabi is finishing up school, and Neji has his law career. His mother had been retired on her husband’s life insurance, but...well, no one is immune to medical bills. They’d all been chipping in, hoping she’d pull through.

Fate, however, isn’t swayed by human wishes.

The entire ride was done in silence, Hinata too full of sorrow to abide the radio or her mp3 player. It just felt wrong to break the quiet in the wake of her mourning. Instead, she wordlessly went over memories of her aunt in her mind. Most were happy...some not so much. But they brought her a small amount of comfort, knowing that her aunt had gotten to live a fairly full life, all things considered...with plenty of happy moments. Perhaps less so the past few years, but...they have to count their blessings.

...but that’s when it happened.

Eyes almost zoned out, Hinata snapped to attention at a loud bang, the entire car jolting and making her scream in surprise. Slamming on the brakes, she thankfully kept the car straight and upright, pressed back into her seat with a hammering heart and empty lungs.

...what the hell?!

Sitting and listening as the car sat idling, she tried to identify any other sounds, but...nothing. Only once a full minute passed with nothing else did she gingerly undo her seatbelt, hands shaking as she got herself out of the car, intending to check under the hood.

...but she quickly realized that wasn’t the problem.

The car jostled a bit more than usual when she stepped out, and a glance showed the now-bare rim of her front driver’s side wheel.

...her tire...exploded.

Gaping at it, she looked back, seeing the shreds of the tire then scattered all over the roadway. It...it…? Holy shit! Did she run over something? Was it just a faulty tire? Slumping back against her vehicle in both shock and despair (she didn’t have a spare tire...or even a tire iron…), Hinata did her best to stay calm, burying her face in her hands.

...okay. Call her father. Have him send...someone. She’d made it about halfway there, so...an hour to get her, and then an hour back into the city.

...she’d be fine.

Digging out her phone, she powered on the screen, opening up her contacts and selecting Hiashi’s number.

...it didn’t ring.

Drawing a deep breath, she looked to the phone, and saw...no bars. No signal.

Nothing.

Of course. Of course! Now she’ll have to wait for someone to drive by, take pity on her, and hopefully not kidnap her, what with her being out here alone, with no phone, and no way to escape.

Tossing herself back into her car, she put on her flashers...and prepared to wait.

...ten minutes later, we find her staring blandly through the windshield...only to perk up at a noise.

Someone’s coming…!

Gasping, she scrambles out of the car, carefully standing out of the road and waving. It’s some red, fancy sports car she couldn’t begin to tell you the make or model of, given her complete disinterest in cars. But it slows, and she wilts in relief.

Hopefully they’re here to help, and not...hurt.

Pulling up behind her, the vehicle powers off and a man steps out. He looks about her age, flyaway dark hair and even darker eyes making for a rather broody-looking (and admittedly handsome ) face. “...you all right?”

“N-no,” she admits, loosely hugging herself. “My tire, it just…”

“Oh...was that yours all over the road?”

“Y...yeah…”

He walks around to examine the wheel. “...I take it you don’t have a spare?”

“No...I kept meaning to get one, but…”

“Yeah, I know how that goes. Take it you’re heading to the coast?”

“Yes, um...long story.”

“Need a lift? Or are you waiting for someone?”

“No, my - my phone has no signal. If you wouldn’t mind, I...would greatly appreciate a ride into town.”

“Yeah, sure thing. Here...let’s get your stuff, pull it off the road, and lock it up.”

Once the car’s situated and properly settled, he holds out a hand. “Name’s Sasuke, by the way.”

The name rings a very distant bell, shaking his grip slowly. “Hinata. Thanks again for your help.”

“No problem.”

Hinata settles sheepishly on the passenger seat. The car smells brand new, impeccably kept and clearly rarely driven. Seems he was out on a joyride when he passed by. The radio powers back up with the engine, but Hinata doesn’t refute it. With her frazzled nerves on top of...everything else, the background noise is actually rather nice.

“What brings you into the big city?” Sasuke asks as he pulls back onto the road.

“Oh, um...m-my aunt passed away last night, so…”

“Oh, shit...I’m sorry.”

“It...it’s fine. We knew it was coming. C-cancer.”

He gives her a somber glance. “...it’s nasty business.”

“...yeah. S-so, um...I wanted to go be with my family. They all live in town, so…”

“And then of course your car dies. When it rains it pours, right?”

“...right. So...I’m s-sure glad you drove by. Today’s been enough of a disaster…”

The rest of the hour passes with conversation, starting idly before slowly getting a bit more personal. Hinata, to her own honest surprise, dives right in despite her reserved nature. Maybe it’s having a distraction after her horror of a morning. Or...maybe she’s just lonely.

...maybe both.

Either way, Sasuke takes her to her cousin’s apartment building, shutting down the car and walking her to the entryway.

“Thank you again. Is...is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

“Nah, don’t mention it. Besides, you’ve got enough to worry about. I was happy to do it. Hope you can call and get it towed all right.”

“Yeah, it should be fine. Just...no signal before. I’ve got pretty decent insurance, so…”

“Good. Sorry again about your aunt…”

“...me too.”

“Well, maybe I’ll see you around.” He nods to her phone in her hand, which has his number in it: exchanged during their talks. “Need anything, let me know.”

“Thank you…” Waving, she watches him cross back to the sidewalk where he parked before turning and heading in.

Neji opens the door after a long silence once she knocks, bags under his bloodshot eyes. It’s quite clear he’s been crying.

“Oh, Neji…” Expression crumbling, Hinata quickly embraces him, sobbing quietly into his shoulder. “I’m s-so sorry…”

Eventually they retreat inside, Hinata making tea as he sits on the couch, head in his hands. Handing him a cup, she takes a ginger seat beside him, sparing a hand to gently rub at his back. “...did you sleep at all last night?”

“No...no, I was with her, when…”

Her head bows somberly.

“...thank you for coming.”

“Of course! I’d have been here sooner, but...I g-got a flat tire. Caught a ride in.”

Neji’s brow quickly furrows. “...with a stranger?”

“He was fine. Very polite, a-and friendly. Point is, I’m here now. I called the tow truck before I came up, so...it’s being taken into a shop. I’ll be good to drive home later today.”

“...I see. Seems it’s just that sort of day, isn’t it?”

“...yeah.”

The pair fall into a companionable silence, and Hinata lets her eyes wander to the coffee table beyond their knees. A few magazines and envelopes litter the surface, one of the former open to an article about some movie awards show.

...and then she jolts.

That...that’s him! That’s the guy who -?!

Feeling her jump, Neji glances over. “...are you all right?���

“I...t-that…?” She points. “...he’s the one who picked me up!”

“...you’re joking. Sasuke Uchiha?”

“Y-yeah!”

“He’s a pretty big name lately. How did you not recognize him? He’s on that one show, Clan something or other...and they just had some big movie come out. He and his brother were both in it.”

“I...I don’t really w-watch TV…”

“...well, seems you’re making friends in high places,” he can’t help but note dryly. “I suppose there are worse people who could have taken you off the side of the road.”

Hinata just nods slowly, still staring at the picture in disbelief. She...has an actor’s number. Is...is it really okay to just talk to him? Sure, she did on the way in, but that was before she knew who he was! Why didn’t he say anything…?

...well, there’s more pressing issues for the moment. Snapping herself out of it, she clears her throat a bit sheepishly. “...a-anyway...should we go see Dad?”

“...yes, we should. He had a meeting this morning, but...it should be over now. I”ll text him, let him know we’re coming.”

Hinata’s brow furrows in disapproval. Hiashi’s working today…? Really? Well...whatever. So long as he helps out, she can’t get mad. They’re all going have to work through this...but for now, she’s most concerned about Neji. Not her father, or her car, or her new friend.

...that all will have to wait.

                                                              .oOo.

     This is super random (and super depressing OTL) but...it was the first idea that hit me to make the prompt fit ^^; Sorry for the downer piece everybody. I try not to do angst too often...I prefer fluff, lol - or drama.      Anywho! Poor Neji...and poor Hinata. It's always hard losing a loved one, especially to something like a terminal illness. But at least they have each other to rely on. Sasuke takes a bit of a back seat in this one, but...I don't focus on Hinata enough, tbh. Which is odd, given how much I adore her!      But on that note, I'm finally getting to bed a little bit early for once! Woo! lol, thanks for reading guys~

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Three Hundred Forty-Four: On an Island ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Hoshigaki Kisame ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Blue Waves and Black Flags ] [ AO3 Link ]

What else is an orphan lad of an island nation to do but become a pirate?

Hanging from a web of rigging, Sasuke watches the waves roll and feels the seaspray against his skin. It’s nearly the end of a cloudless day in late Spring, and the weather is about as fine as seafarers could ask for as night begins to fall. The wind ruffles his flyaway hair, a small smile on his face. Should be easy sleeping tonight with the calm waters.

As tough as life has been these past few years...he knows he’s simply lucky to see them passed. With most others sharing his blood long gone, Sasuke had little choice but to resort to the less lawful ways of surviving.

Of course...his current arrangement wasn’t, at first, intended. Attempting to filch some supplies from a slew of crates along his hometown’s dock one foggy morning, he’d found himself caught and hung upside down by an ankle. Protesting quite loudly, it hadn’t done much to sway the pirate that had caught him red handed in their goods.

“Seems a little rat’s nibbled his way into the rations,” he’d laughed, ignoring Sasuke’s thrashing. Solidly built and covered with ink, he’d gathered a few others around. “What d’you say, lads? Bit scrawny, ain’t he?”

“Put him down, Kisame,” a flame-haired man retorted. “He’s harmless, and we’ve got crates to load if we’re to make it to the meeting point on time.”

“Feisty little bugger, I have to say...seems a waste to let him sit here and starve…”

“We have enough children mucking about,” another man cut in. “We don’t need any more strays, Kisame.”

“What, we were all strays at some point, Sasori! How many of us can you say were conscripted at any sort of ripe old age? Not even you!”

“We’re still getting that blond brat to obey orders, let alone the albino. Last thing we need is another mouthy child to fight with before we get short and toss them overboard for the fish.”

At the threat, Sasuke had quickly settled down.

Kisame’s mouth had settled into a firm line, brow furrowed. “I’ll keep an eye on ‘im if it’s such a hassle, then. I’m not about to squander promising youth.”

“If he can pull his weight despite his being scrawny, then do what you will. Just keep him out of the way and get the supplies loaded.”

“Aye, Yahiko sir.” Setting Sasuke down, the one called Kisame had crouched, looking him over appraisingly. He’d seen his fair share of abandoned children on the docks, and had been one himself once upon a time. “...think you can trade a bunk and some food for manners and obeying orders, laddie?”

Still wary, Sasuke had realized he didn’t have much choice...and nodded.

“...good, then. Now...grab that sack, there. Can’t start too early, eh? Need to bulk you up,” he’d then taunted, ruffling the little Uchiha’s hair and chuckling at his protest. An arm flexed, showing the sizeable muscles. “Someday we’ll have you strong as an ox, but for now...best you start off light.”

And that was how Sasuke ended up on the ship among the group calling themselves the Red Dawn. Though not the only child, he’d been the youngest, close in age to those like Deidara and Hidan. The former detested him on sight, and the latter enjoyed having someone younger to pick on...but at least he was alive.

Now he’s fifteen, and though still far more lithe than Kisame and his bulk, is much stronger than he’d been when first discovered pilfering their supplies. Self assured, and maybe a little cocky, he’s one of the quickest and most agile of the crew, and it’s common to see him climbing about in the rigging like a monkey.

“Oi, boyo!”

Glancing over to his mentor, Sasuke leaps down to let Kisame speak to him face to face. “Aye, sir?”

“Find any frayed lines or slipping knots?”

“No, sir. Everything looks to be top form, sir.”

There’s a snort. “Always with the ‘sir’...I think I know well enough by now you respect me without you spittin’ the word every few words, hm?”

“Aye sir.”

Ignoring Sasuke’s smirk, Kisame gives his shoulder a shove. “Off to bed with you, then. We’ll be landing midday tomorrow, so best you be rested.”

At the notion, Sasuke can’t help but brighten. It’s been several weeks since they last made landfall, and he’s eager to get off the ship for a while and explore a new town. “Will we be moored long?”

“A few days, give or take. Just be sure you don’t get yourself into any trouble,” the elder pirate advises, giving the youth a rather pointed look. “None of your shenanigans from the last time we docked...got it?”

“It was just one brawl -”

“And you had two black eyes. Not to mention we were nearly ousted and thrown out. I’m serious, Sasuke...keep your head down. We can’t afford to muddy the waters.”

“...yes, sir.”

“To bed, then.”

Making his way below deck, Sasuke doesn’t waste much time crawling into the hammock he sleeps in, kicking off his boots and not bothering with anything else. He’ll just change in the morning before they make landfall and at least look somewhat presentable.

Until then...he swiftly falls asleep to the gentle rocking of the ship.

...at least, for a few hours.

“Sasuke...Sasuke!”

Eyelids squinting, they open as he hears his mentor’s voice. “...Kisame…?”

The pirate’s expression is solemn. “We’re coming up on a nasty squall...no avoiding it with the winds as they are. Best you get up and secure yourself before it hits.”

Sasuke’s gut sinks, but not entirely. They’ve faced storms before. Sure, some get lost now and then, but he’s yet to go overboard.

...and yet, Kisame’s face makes him wonder.

Slipping on his boots, he makes his way topside to a terrifying sight. Even as color peeks over the horizon, the rest of the sky is quickly being consumed by a reaching, contorting black. Clouds roll and tear at the ferocity of the winds, and the curtain of pounding rain is quickly approaching.

...this doesn’t look good.

The crew is shouting and running, moving to tie down anything that moves. Sasuke leaps into the fray, helping to check the rigging he only just finished securing the night before. The whipping winds snap the sails like thunderclaps, and he pales as perfectly good lines already show signs of stress.

This really isn’t good.

Waves begin to swell, cresting further and further over the deck. Clothes are quickly soaked, Sasuke moving to mop water from both heaven and sea from his face. He can barely see in the deluge…!

“Sasuke -!”

Squinting and turning to Kisame’s voice, Sasuke pales as a monster wave begins to tilt the ship, rearing up over them like a furious stallion.

He barely has time to take a breath before it hits him like a slap from a god. Turning and spinning as the water tries to pull him apart, he loses all sense of direction before being spat back up upon the surface.

Around him, several other crewmen attempt to grab on to anything nearby and floating. The ship slowly wobbles back the other way, swiftly drifting the other direction at the storm’s mercy.

With it goes any hope of being pulled back onto the deck. The ocean is too angry, too determined to see them drowned.

Managing to find a barrel, Sasuke clings to the bobbing lumber as lightning flashes and rain falls in sheets. Already his body is exhausted from its beating, and he knows it won’t be long until he can’t fight any longer. Curling his fingers as best he can into the ropes around his lifesaver, he holds on for dear life for as long as he’s able. But once his body gives up...it all goes black.

“...nn…”

Eyelids quivering, he rises into consciousness like a struggle against the tide. Where...what…?

Managing to open his eyes, Sasuke finds himself staring at...some kind of thatched roof…? But, he was on the ship, and...and…

...oh no…

Sitting up in a panic, he soon finds himself dizzy, collapsing back upon something soft. Bits and pieces of the morning before (or...whenever it was - how long was he out?) flicker through his mind, lingering exhaustion making the memories difficult to recall. But eventually he finds his feet, staggering out of what turns out to be a small hut.

Squinting against the sun, he finds himself not too far from a sandy beach peppered with stones. Stepping out, he stumbles far enough to get a better view of his surroundings. It looks like he’s one some kind of...island of some sort. What size he can’t know, or if there’s anyone else around.

...but someone had to build this hut.

Slowing panning his eyes, he stares as a figure approaches from one side of the shore. Somehow pale despite the sun, a curtain of dark hair hangs to her hips. Under an arm is a basket, and she comes up short as she spots him.

“Y...you’re awake!”

Feeling more caught in a fever dream than alive, Sasuke can’t manage a reply before his knees decide enough is enough. Crumpling, he sinks into the sand before his vision flickers and his body goes slack.

A gasp sounds from his unexpected companion. Racing over and setting aside her burden, she carefully takes his head in her lap. “...well...maybe you’re not quite r-ready to be on your feet,” she murmurs. With surprising strength, she drags him back inside, settling him atop the odd nest of fabric within that serves as a resting place. Next she fetches her basket, heavy with fruits. Ensuring he’s stable, she trades it for a net, walking back out into the sand and wading into the water.

For a moment she stands and stares before slipping beneath the surface. Just as she submerges, a flick of an amethyst tail sends water flipping into the air before she disappears.

                                                          .oOo.

     Oh golly it's late @~@      ...I wanna say I wrote something kinda like this before, but it's been so long and with SHM on top of it, I can't really recall what all I've done and when and for what, ahaha - forgive me if this sounds too familiar. I'm very tired and couldn't really think of anything else, RIP.      Anyway, I wanna say more but...too tired. I'm gonna go crash :'D Thanks for reading~

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Two Hundred Sixty: Later in the Year ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Best Years of Your Life ] [ AO3 Link ]

Though Hinata would probably call Spring or Summer her favorite season - given the pleasant weather and the bountiful flowers she loves so much - she will admit that Autumn has a certain kind of...charm to it. The slow descent in temperatures from the scorch of Summer is refreshing in its own way. Of course, it also means kids returning to school, so not everyone is happy about the arrival of Fall. But overall...she finds plenty to like about it.

The shifting colors of the foliage are always beautiful. Though Hinata might prefer cooler colors when it comes to things like her wardrobe, or her workspace, there’s something so...cozy about the palette later in the year. It’s a sign the months are dipping back toward the sleep of Winter: harvest is over, the reaped rewards of a long Summer of work gathered up and stored away for the snowy months. It’s a time to celebrate a successful waxing of the seasons to their peak, and to prepare for the waning back into the cold.

Even the air seems to carry a certain...tinge to it. The smell of damp, fallen leaves...the plethora of baked goods and their spices as people look for warmer treats to ward away the chill. The breeze might have a slight nip to it, but that just means shifting to the thicker parts of her closet. Sweaters (and sweater dresses), leggings, boots, hats, scarves...all sorts of cute things to wear!

Yes, Autumn has its charm. Which is why - as Hinata lurks in her favorite haunt, a little coffee shop and bakery hybrid - she holds her cup of coffee in hands grateful for the heat, watching the season sweep through her little city with a soft smile. She’s spent the entire day up until this little break taking photographs of the shifting atmosphere. While she has a day job at a craft store chain, her real passion is photography...which she indulges in on her blog. She always sees a swell of traffic this time of year as others enjoy the season.

One would think her easily tired of it, given that her place of employment has been swamped with Fall decorations and themed wares for weeks before Summer was anywhere close to over. In fact, Autumn has scarcely begun, and she’s already seeing their Winter wares being put up on display. It’s a little disappointing how...overlooked it is between the hype that is Summer, and the end of the year. Beyond pumpkin spiced...everything, there isn’t much regard given to the season before it slips into Winter.

But, now is hardly the time to mull that over. She’s going to warm up, and then make the trek back to her apartment to get started on this week’s blog post. Already her mind slips into a daydream-like state, picturing the layout and how best to arrange her favorite shots.

Her thoughts are interrupted, however, as the door chimes nearby, her seat only a few feet from it along the large window that overlooks the sidewalk. Blinking, she turns to give the newcomer a glance, shy but curious.

She has to do a double take.

Is...is that…?

Her staring thankfully goes unnoticed, the figure too focused on reaching the counter and perusing the menu. Pale eyes try to see his face from this angle, not quite sure he is who she thinks he is. The woman behind the register greets him pleasantly, putting together his order with a hint of smalltalk she can’t hear from this distance. His body language is rather lax, a hip cocked with hands in his jacket pockets. Dark hair brushes the tops of his shoulders, the top half drawn up in a tail behind his head.

Once he gets his drink and snack, he turns to look for a place to sit, and she all but confirms it. That’s Sasuke! Sasuke Uchiha! She hasn’t seen him in...gosh, years. They went to school together nearly all twelve years, except for a stint while he moved away. But he’d returned before graduation, and then just...disappeared. No one had really heard from him after that, not even Naruto. He fell off the map, moved out of the city, and ghosted everyone.

What is he doing here?

Averting her gaze just enough to be subtle, Hinata watches him out of the corner of her eyes. It’s so...strange. He looks quite a bit different. He’d always been a rather lean, almost skinny kid in school, but...he’s bulked up ever so slightly. Still far from someone like Naruto’s build, but no longer a beanpole, either. His hair was never that long in school, always shorter in the back and untamed. His style had been rather...alternative back then, but now he’s just dressed in dark-wash jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket. Seems he’s mellowed out quite a bit.

Curiosity is eating at her. She wants to know where he’s been, and why! But perhaps more importantly, the reason behind his return. No one’s said anything about hearing from him or seeing him, so...clearly he hasn’t contacted anyone. At least not according to anything she’s seen on Facebook. Surely by now, Naruto would have thrown a huge fit all over the site if he knew.

But...she very rarely spoke to Sasuke back then. He’d been so...withdrawn. And while he appears far more laid back now, she’s not sure it would be wise to just...go say hello. He might not want to be seen. But...well...he is in a public place.

...maybe she can get a photo of him.

Digging out her camera, she makes a show of perusing through her memory card, turning to sit sideways in her chair. He’s technically facing the same direction as her table, further back from the window, eyes glued to a phone he scrolls through while sipping his drink. Then carefully, ever so carefully, she starts angling her lens, trying to find him through the screen view. Almost...there…

Like magnets, his dark eyes whip to her lens, startling her so badly as he stares right at her that she jumps. Fumbling not to drop her (rather expensive) hobby device, she feels heat bloom quickly through her face.

He perks a brow at her, stopped mid-chew through a bite of his snack. But after a moment to consider her, recognition bleeds through his confusion.

“...Hinata?”

“I, uh...y-yes?” Caught red-handed and not having the gall to try to fib, she shrinks in her chair, clinging to her camera. “Er...Sasuke, right?”

“Yeah.”

Well, she’s already embarrassed herself this much...might as well go all-out. “What - w-what are you...doing here?”

“Getting some coffee. Same as you, looks like.”

“I - no, I mean...here. In town. No one has seen you in...in ages! You just sort of...disappeared.”

Clearing his teeth behind his lips, Sasuke adjusts his posture a bit. “Took some time to travel. Wanted to get away from it all for a while. Hopped around a few cities, took odd jobs...but thought I’d come back now that it all sort of lost its spark. Didn’t think I’d run into someone I knew so quickly, though.”

Someone he...knew? But...they hadn’t exactly been friends… “I see! Well, it - it’s nice to see you. So...you’re here to...stay?”

“I think so. Still planning things out. Been mostly winging it for the past few years, so...I have to get used to it again. Working on finding a place and a job. Thought I’d lie low and get that figured out before letting anyone know I was back…”

“Oh, I-I won’t tell anyone!”

“Thanks. But...weren’t you trying to take my picture?”

Jolting, her blush returns full force. “I was just, um...I-I wasn’t sure if it was really...you! You look...different.”

“Yeah? You too. No more baggy clothes and curtain hair, huh?”

Hinata blinks. He...remembers that? “N...no. Not so much, at least. I...well, I guess change is h-hard to avoid. Even if you don’t notice it over time. Must be, um...easier for you to notice, since...since you’ve been gone.” Clearly still nervous, she smiles sheepishly, gesturing to the window. “You...you picked a great time to come back! The weather’s been very...very nice. And the Autumn colors are at their peak. That’s what I have the c-camera for. Was out...taking pictures.” And not just looking like a creep sneaking photos of people… she thinks to herself, wilting.

“Photography, huh? Neat hobby. Get any good shots?”

This seems so...strange. To just be...talking to him. They’d been in completely different circles in high school. Now that sort of cliquey nonsense seems so...childish. But still...they’re practically strangers beyond a few overlapping acquaintances. “I...I think so. I need to go...through them. And get them posted. I...I run a little blog, it - it’s nothing fancy. Just...well, just a hobby.”

Sasuke nods. “Hobbies are good. Keep you sane through the other life crap you gotta put up with. I’d like to see it.”

“You -? It...it’s not that -”

“You were always one of those quiet ones in school. That means you know how to observe. Bet you take great photos.”

The compliment catches her off-guard. “...I…? Well, I...I try.”

“What’s the site?”

Pink in embarrassment, Hinata just...writes it on a napkin, handing it over. “Don’t, um...don’t have too high of expectations. I’m still...I’m still learning. A-about a lot of how it all, um...works.”

He waves a hand. “Maybe I oughta make one. Took a lot of photos while I traveled.”

Hinata can’t help a small perk. “Oh, you...you should! I’d love to see them!”

“...I’ll look into it. Maybe yours’ll give me some inspiration.”

She blinks, still rosy.

“Well...I gotta get going. Lot to do tomorrow,” he then announces, rising from his seat. “Nice seeing you, Hinata. Maybe I’ll bump into you again.”

“I-I bet you will. I’m here a lot, so…” She trails off, unsure what else to say. As he offers a farewell, she waves, still not quite...grasping their entire exchange. It felt so alien. Now that he’s gone, she’s not even sure it really happened.

But, either way, she remains true to her word, deciding not to mention the sighting to anyone. Sounds like he’ll be busy enough as it is without anyone pestering him. Looking into her empty coffee cup, Hinata thinks for a moment longer before packing up her things.

...she’s got a blog post to work on.

                                                             .oOo.

     Tired @~@ But I like this one pretty well. I'm a HUGE fan of Autumn myself, so getting to add it to the background of a drabble is nice~ Otherwise...not too much to say about this one. Just a chance encounter between two prior acquaintances. Might continue it at some point. Honestly there's so many of these that could use part twos or full fics...I can't keep track anymore xD But we'll see~      Anywho, I need to get some sleep - I'm still a day behind here, and tomorrow's gonna be another very busy day. The next two weeks or so (at least) are still gonna be very...eventful, so I can't make any promises about catching up. But I'll try, at least, not to fall any further behind lol - anyway, thanks for reading!

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Two Hundred Thirteen: Rake ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: A Light Amongst Shadows ] [ AO3 Link ]

He’s getting awfully tired of all these stupid D-ranks. Kakashi keeps giving excuses about ‘building up experience’ and ‘learning how the mission system works’. But to Sasuke, at least, it’s obvious: they’re genin. New ones. Of course they’re going to get stuck with all the lousy missions. Maybe it’s just something he’s supposed to accept, but Sasuke isn’t your typical genin. He doesn’t have a career in mind, or a rank he wants to reach. There’s only one thing that occupies his thoughts from the moment he wakes up until the finally concedes to sleep every night.

Avenging his clan.

And while this pace might be what your usual genin is meant to go through...for him, it’s nothing but torture. He should be training every spare moment, sparring with powerful people to help improve his technique and power! If he’s ever going to kill Itachi - if he’s ever going to reach the same level as the one who killed the entire Uchiha clan - then he must...must pour everything he has into improving his mind, his body, his arsenal of skills and jutsu.

Catching cats, doing yard work, and running errands is not accomplishing any of that. And it grinds his patience down to the quick.

“All right you three, any guesses what we’ll be doing today?”

Three little genin look up as Kakashi finally arrives. Naruto, as always, blows up into a rant over the Hatake’s tardiness. Hinata, looking a bit pensive as she fiddles nervous fingers, just...remains silent beside Sasuke. He, in turn, simply stares with a deadpan expression. True, Kakashi constantly being late pisses him off, too...but he also knows there’s nothing they can do to change it. They’re stuck with him just as much as he’s stuck with them.

And like they’re stuck with these stupid missions.

Ignoring Naruto’s jumps to try to grab their mission paperwork, Kakashi holds it aloft and offers, “With Autumn now in full swing, we’ve got several requests from a more leafy part of the village to do some raking! We’ll be taking what we pick up to the compost piles so nothing goes to waste.”

“...we’re gonna rake leaves?” Sasuke asks, perking a brow.

“Precisely.”

“And this is a shinobi’s work...why?”

“Well, I don’t know if a few rookie genin are exactly shinobi yet, but you’ll get there! Until then...it’s bottom of the barrel missions. Surely you get that by now,” Kakashi muses.

“But how do we stop having bad missions? When do we actually get to prove we have what it takes to do something...better?”

“When I decide you’re ready! And right now...I’d say you’re still leaf-raking level.”

At the insult, Sasuke bristles, but pauses as Hinata steps up.

“Maybe, um...maybe you’d have a better idea of our...o-of our skills if we would train more with you? Missions are important, of course...but we haven’t had all that much time to work on, um...shinobi drills a-and scenarios. Besides our first exercise...we haven’t had a chance to really work on our t-teamwork. And...and that’s important before we take any larger-scale missions...right?”

Kakashi perks a brow. “Well...you have a point.” He rubs his chin thoughtfully. “...all right. Tomorrow, we’ll have a more...proper training exercise. But for today, we have our assignment. You can conquer the leaves, and think about how fun training will be tomorrow!”

Scowling at their sensei’s dismissive tone, Sasuke nonetheless loses his edge. Hinata makes a good point. Even if Sasuke has pretty good rudimentary skills...that won’t hold up in a mission if the rest of his team is lagging behind, and they aren’t in-tune with each other to better coordinate. Kakashi’s been too busy running them ragged on pointless chores to actually train them much, lately.

...good on her for getting that ball rolling.

The team makes its way to the residential district. Yards with trees of all kinds are speckled with leaves of yellow, orange, and red. In a way, it’s...sort of pretty. It almost reminds him of -

“All right, our assignment is this neighborhood here,” Kakashi cuts in, gesturing. “They all pooled together to ask for our help, so we’ll be doing all of their yards.”

“All of them?!” Naruto hollers. “Are you serious?!”

“Exceedingly serious. We have to have them all done by the end of the day, so...hop to it!”

“What about you?” Sasuke asks. “You’re part of the team, right?”

“I’ll be supervising,” is the rebuke, the Uchiha’s scowl clearly ignored.

Meeting with the organizer of their mission, the team is given rakes and bags to collect the leaves in. Glancing around, they seem to weigh their options.

“So...how should we, um...do this?” Hinata asks. “Should we...each take a yard by ourselves, or...maybe all work together one at a time?”

“I guess it’ll be about the same pace no matter what we do,” Sasuke mutters flatly. “For now, let’s try each taking one. If someone lags behind, we’ll group back up.”

“Man, this sucks,” Naruto gripes. “If only one of us knew some fūton, right? We could just, like...scoop all the leaves up at once, into a big pile!”

“We’d still need to put them in bags, dobe.”

“Well yeah, but! It would still be less raking, right? Right?”

“True,” Hinata offers, smiling shyly and humoring him. “It would be n-nice. But I don’t, um...I don’t have any affiliation with wind style, sadly…”

“Neither do I - look, let’s just...get started, all right? The sooner we do, the sooner we get done.”

With that decided, the trio break up, all moving to one side of the street and tending to a yard each. Bringing the leaves into a neat pile, Sasuke glances to it thoughtfully. Part of him has the urge to just...use a little katon and burn them. No need for a bag then, right? But then, well...he doesn’t really have a way to put the fire out, or make sure it doesn’t spread beyond where he wants it. And he doubts the people living here want to look out their window and see something on fire. So, instead, he gathers them up into some bags, leaving them near the sidewalk and looking to the rest.

Hinata is nearly finished with hers, but...Naruto is having a little trouble.

“Hey, knock it off ya little brats! I’ve got a job to do!”

Perking a brow, Sasuke watches as a few Academy-age kids run around the lawn Naruto’s raking. Every time he gets anything piled up, they jump into it with squeals of merriment, and...the whole mound explodes back along the grass.

For a moment, he just...watches as a memory stirs. He used to do something similar when his mother would rake the yard every Autumn. She’d allow it for a time, but then insist he help her finish as repayment. He used to have so much fun watching the bright colors swirl and fly. And sometimes, Itachi would -

Flinching, he bows his head into a hand. No...that was a long time ago, now. Memories like those are traitorous. Anything tainted with his brother...he can’t…!

“Sasuke-kun?”

Looking up, he sees Hinata step up beside him, expression tinged with worry. Her own bags sit nearby. “Are...are you all right?”

“...fine. Just...a bit of a headache.” He nods to Naruto. “Think we should lend him a hand?

“I...think that might be best. He’s not going to get anywhere with those k-kids in the way,” she agrees sheepishly.

Crossing to the yard in question, Hinata works on distracting the little ones as Naruto and Sasuke rake as quickly as they can. By some miracle, they get the job done, the kids making sounds of disappointment.

“Sorry guys...b-but this is our job, ne? There will be more leaves for you to jump in next year!”

Thankfully, no other households have any children at home, and they manage to finish the entire street by late afternoon. Kakashi, lounging in one of the trees guilty for the mess, glances down as Naruto announces they’ve finished. “Well well, would you look at that? Now all we have to do is cart out the bags, and you’ll be done for the day!”

Naruto, stubborn as ever, takes as many as he can carry...and then some, tossing several atop his bent back. Sasuke just sighs, Hinata giggling as the blond struggles not to drop any.

“If you lose one and it spills, you’re picking it up by yourself,” the Uchiha warns.

“Yeah, yeah!”

Once all is said and done, Kakashi dismisses them for the day, vanishing in a cloud of vapor. Complaining of an empty stomach, Naruto announces his plans to go to Ichiraku’s. “You guys wanna come?”

“S...sure!” Hinata agrees. “Sasuke-kun?”

“Yeah...guess I might as well.”

Naruto marching out at the front, the dark-haired pair follow behind at an easy pace. “Well...that wasn’t so bad,” Hinata muses.

“I guess not...still not really necessary for a shinobi to handle.”

“True…”

“At least you got us some proper training scheduled for tomorrow. Good job on that.”

Hinata’s head ducks shyly, going a bit pink at the praise. “I...I know everyone’s been frustrated, so...I thought - I-I thought some training might be a good break. From the missions, I mean.”

“At least that should take some skill...well, for the few hours Kakashi actually shows up,” Sasuke scowls.

“Well...better than nothing, right?”

“...right.”

                                                         .oOo.

     More team seven!Hinata, woo! I dunno if I'll really make this much of a thing, but...it IS a concept I'd like to explore a bit. And it's a nice way to have them interact as genin, since...well, they don't do that much in canon.      But uh...yeah, not much else to say! It's late, as always...so I'ma go crash. Thanks for reading!