Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“The Uchiha family, one of the richest families, all the way from Tokyo.”

“I hear their sons are single. Oh, to marry into a family like that.”

“My daughter will be dancing with them first.”

“Not if I can help it!”

Sasuke tried to not roll his eyes. Just because his mother didn’t attend the dance didn’t mean he was willing to tempt fate. His mother tended to know whenever he’d been rude to people. Probably why she practically ruled the house despite his father being the head of the family. He stood near the front of the room with his brother and Izumi, who was fidgeting.

“Stop moving,” he whispered.

“You try standing still with 20 layers of silk on you. I’m boiling.”

Their mother had insisted their cousin still dress in Heian fashion while switching the boys over to fit the rest of Konoha. Though from the looks of it, if they arrived in kimonos, no one would bat an eye. Regardless, he felt like he stuck out, which made the target he held even bigger. He watched many females and their female elders fight over who approached first until a different family all together came.

Their eyes made them stand out; white with the faintest hints of blue or purple. Except for one. Her eyes were a pale lavender, her long blue tinted hair and blue dress overlaid with floral lace.

“Welcome to Konoha. I am Hyuuga Hotaru, dowager of the Hyuuga family. Allow me to introduce my grandchildren. Neji,” the only male who’d followed, though clearly not interested if the slight glare on his face was anything to go by. One less person for Izumi to worry about. “Hanabi and her older sister and heiress to our family, Hinata.”

Hinata, with her small smile, different eyes and simple dress compared to her younger sister. She caught his attention more than anyone else in the room.

“Uchiha Itachi. Allow me to introduce my brother Sasuke and our cousin Izumi. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. Perhaps we’d be lucky later to meet your son, Lady Dowager?”

“He doesn’t come to dances. Hasn’t since we lost most of my family within years of each other, but we’d be very happy to invite you over for tea whenever you please.”

Oh, she was good. In a matter of a few sentences, she’d solidified a chance for their families to become close.

“We’d be very honoured. Perhaps I can help open the dance with your granddaughter, if that would please her?” Itachi asked, hand out to Hinata.

Her smile became slightly strained but she still nodded politely and let Itachi led her out. He noticed her sister looking at him and Sasuke decided it was as good a time as any to back out.

He later found Hinata in the library. The house the dance was being held in wasn’t an opulent one, just enough space for the family and to invite the village members to dance. Most other rooms had been opened to allow mingling, but this small library was closed off, the music barely breeching the door. She was sitting on one of the ladders, reading by the moonlight. He couldn’t help but stare at her. 

“Hiding?” She jumped, face turning red when she saw who it was. “Relax, I won’t tell if you don’t.”

“I-I’d be grateful. Obaa-sama expects me to be mingling. A-all anyone wants to t-talk about is how it felt to dance with your brother.”

“I can guarantee he had just as worse a time as you. Not that dancing with you is bad.” he quickly said when he saw her face drop. “What I mean is, Itachi would have felt the same regardless of who he was dancing with, unless it was his intended.”

“Oh, I-I didn't realize he was a-already engaged.”

It was an unspoken fact back in Japan of the type of person Itachi was, but he wasn’t sure how they’d take it in Konoha just yet.

“Not exactly. Let’s just say he has someone who warms his bed and our parents have accepted it.”

“Oh.” her face started to pink again and she focused on her book. “What about you? W-why have you come to hide?”

“I don’t enjoy the politics of female figures trying to marry off their wards. They care about my family’s name more than me and it’s annoying dealing with them acting like they know who I am.”

“Unfortunate product, I'm afraid. Even as the eldest, I-I’m still dragged to meet many suitors based on what they can d-do for our family. N-not my idea of fun either.”

“How about this? Your grandmother already set up a chance for us to meet again. How about whenever we manage to get into parties we didn’t want to attend, we can meet in the library?”

Hinata smiled softly, holding the book in her hand closer. “I like that idea.”

Later when they were leaving, Itachi asked where he’d disappeared to after the first dance.

“I was talking to someone.”

“You? You’d rather hang out by yourself than willingly talk to someone. What was so different this time?”

“They…It was hard to keep my eyes off them.”

He knew his answer surprised his family. He wouldn’t call it love at first sight, but maybe when they were older, he’d talk about seeing her in the moonlight and wondered if he could fall in love then.

Chapter Text

“When the hell is this so called Hokage’s council actually going to get a new Hokage? It’s bad enough that every doctor in this hospital feels like crap for being unable to save the Third’s life, even if it means he ruined Orochimaru, but this same hospital has an influx of patients from the Chunin Exam finals and everything that happened after. I’ve got you doing intake for a ninja who was supposed to be taking it easy after her heart was damaged during the preliminary round but the injury flared up due to nerves watching one of the matches. Not to mention during everything else, she got kidnapped by Cloud ninja. Honestly, it’d be a miracle at this rate if she passes rehab and get cleared for active duty again. And you should still be recovering.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, used to the rambling of Mio. She’d just started as a nurse when his clan was killed, been the only one to find him when he’d go missing, talking and rambling the whole time. It used to be she didn’t know what to say to a kid who’s whole life was falling apart and later to a preteen who didn’t like talking to this, a rising nurse practitioner who could order him around during his shifts and yet still had something completely off topic to say. Most of that was currently complaining on how their entire village was at a standstill with the death of the Third and no one taking any interest in keeping their hospital running until a new Hokage was found.

He'd heard at least 3 different versions of this rant, including the part about him recovering from cracked ribs. Mio had been the one to clear him to come back to help at the hospital.

“File?”

“Huh? Oh, here. Dr. Sugo is her doctor, check in with him when you’re done.”

“Wait, Hyuuga Hinata? Her cousin almost killed her. Naruto kicked his ass during the finals.”

“Oh, another thing. he came with her for her check-up.”

“What?”

Sasuke hated hospitals, more so when it meant his whole family was gone. He’d escape all the time, dragged back by unspeaking ANBU, forced to stay in a room ‘recovering’. Mio had been his jailbreak, even if it was her finding him when he hid in the hospital to avoid being alone in his room. She’d make him watch her do paperwork, do intakes, hell, she even took him to go watch a surgery. In the mess that his life was, the hospital started to become less of a prison and more of a place he didn’t have to think. After training and days at the academy, he’d head to the hospital working as a candy striper while also learning how to give shots, lift patients into wheelchairs, wrap wounds. He had very basic understanding of med-ninja skills but he was working his way to getting the training, even if most of their med-ninjas came from out of Konoha.

It was an open secret that he worked at the hospital. Mio and the other nurses acted as barriers for the insane fangirls who tried getting an appointment just to see him and he’d try not to lose his temper at idiot patients or their family members. Abuse cases were the worse, when the abuser would bring their victim in, acting like they should sew them up and hand them back over. he didn’t know Hyuuga Neji, but he fell into that category. Naruto explained his actions as family issues. Family issues left his whole clan slain. Family issues didn’t excuse nearly killing a family member and then acting like it was all fine.

“Hyuuga Hinata.”

“Ah, Sasuke-san. I didn’t realise you’d be working.”

“Hospital is a mess, so here we are. So, what brought you in?”

“Check up for my heart to check if I’m on track to go to rehab for field duty.”

“Right. The asshole sitting next to you nearly killed you. how’s your breathing been?”

“Excuse me? What did you just say to me?”

He gave his dullest look to the other Hyuuga. He remembered meeting him on their way to the first part of the chunin exams. Got angry quick when disrespected.

“I didn’t stutter. Now, breathing.”

“You don’t get to talk to me that way. Hinata-sama, you need another -”

“Nii-san, can you wait outside. Please?”

“Hinata-sama.”

“Please.”

He bowed to Hinata, glaring at him before storming out.

“I’m sorry about him.” Hinata said.

“It’s fine. breathing?”

“No difficulty since the exam.” She watched him write her response down and pull over the cart that had everything for intake. He wrapped a blood pressure cuff around her arm, fitting in the ears for the stethoscope and keeping it pressed against her arm, the other holding the pump to inflate. “He’s not bad usually.”

“Yeah, because guy’s nearly responsible for killing you are people to be reasoned with. Naruto told me if it wasn’t for his, mine and your senseis, you’d be dead.”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

“You can’t justify wanting to kill family for no reason other than a bad day.” He couldn’t think of any justification for what his brother did. He wanted to ‘test his skills’. Nothing would ever make that ok.

“My family treats those in the Branch family like slaves and Neji-niisan was under the impression that’s why his father died. I was kidnapped by Cloud ninja when I was three but my father killed the kidnapper and saved me. They wanted revenge and said they wanted my father in retaliation. My uncle took his place. According to Neji, his father knocked mine to the floor and told him he’d take his place no matter what to keep him safe. They never told Neji and we never spoke about what happened so it led to a lot of anger. I already deal with a lot of anger from my family just for who I am. Niisan doesn’t hate me and he’s working to make it up to me, so I don’t complain about what happened. I’m just exhausted having to act like all the anger and hate doesn’t bother me.”

He couldn’t find much to say. For one, he’d never heard her speak that much in the first place. For another, the idea the famed heiress had people who hated her made no sense. He didn’t know her and he’d actually admit he didn’t hate her. She didn’t fangirl at him, so bonus there, but still.

She didn’t say much for the rest of the intake, only speaking to answer questions.

“Doctor will be in soon.” He said, pushing the cart back.

“I’m glad you do healing.” She said as he got to the door. At his confused look, she got as red as she normally did, focused on her hands. “You’re nicer than Niisan. After what happened to your family, you could be like him but you’re not and I think that makes you stronger. And if you think about it, knowing about the human body means you’ll know just where to hit your brother to bring him down, better than he could.”

He didn’t think of it that way, let alone how the thing he’d been dragged into as a kid would actually help in his mission to take down his brother. He didn’t know if that’s why he said what he said next.

“Well, I guess if being nice makes me stronger, you’re stronger than I am.”

Everything still felt groggy. Reliving the worst days of his life, over and over again made it impossible to sleep, but he pretended if to only get Sakura out of the room. There was the smallest hint of jealousy that Naruto was fine after an altercation involving the guy who bit him and left the uncontrollable power currently locked in him. It was next to the part that was in awe that the person behind most of the healing programs in the village was the one who woke him up. Mio hadn’t shut up about meeting Lady Tsunade, how she was coming back to the village to be the new Hokage and how the hospital would finally have a chance to run properly, even if they had Tsunade’s assistant in charge of them. Naruto said Shizune was pretty impressive on the battle field. He’d been considering getting proper training to be a med-nin, wondering if it would waste all the time Kakashi-sensei trained him. But once Sakura had pulled herself off of him and let Lady Tsunade check him over, Mio had brought it up.

“Really? How long have you been practising?”

“Since I was 8.”

“He actually works at the hospital, helping with small nursing tasks.”

“With your Sharingan, you’d actually be a lot more advanced than others, if you were interested in it.”

“Wouldn’t that mean he’d have to be village bound?” Naruto asked.

“Not necessarily. I could fit his training in with his normal hours here at the hospital. Let me know if you’re interested though.”

Now he was trying to figure out if he was really interested, if nothing else to keep him distracted. The door to his room slid open and Mio poked her head in.

“Are you up for visitors?” he started to grimace when she continued, the damned annoying ‘I know something you don’t’ on her face. “It’s not Sakura.” She didn’t say anything else, just opened the door more and let Hinata walk in. “I’ll bring lunch soon.”

“Um,” Hinata lifted the thermos in her hand up, “Is it ok if I brought food? I was in a medical coma and I couldn’t handle heavy foods for a while after.”

“Probably be better than what the kitchen cooked. Let me know if you still get hungry.” Mio told him before shutting the door

“Hi.” Hinata said, still standing.

He looked over to the chair Sakura had to of inhabited for the past 2 weeks. “Hi. What kind of soup?” he adjusted the tilt of his own bed, anything to keep him distracted. Out of everyone who was coming to visit, he didn’t expect it to be Hinata. He hadn’t forgotten what she told him when she came in for her check-up, that was only 3 weeks ago. It had been running through his head, half the reason he was really considering taking Lady Tsunade’s offer.

“veggie. The Clan’s garden did rather well and since I’m not cleared for light training just yet, I need to find things to do with my time. This batch has a lot of tomatoes.” She handed him the thermos. “One of the few things I remember your fangirls gushing about. I always pictured you liking spice though.”

“My mother grew tomatoes in her garden and I used to get into it, sit down and eat as much as I could.”

He couldn’t tell you why he said that, why he admitted something about a time in his life he locked away since it became soaked in blood, but it came right out.

“I did the same with blueberries. My uncle called my blueberry for the rest of the time he was alive. Blueberry-sama. Though, I don’t remember liking them after he passed.”

He watched her pulled the sleeves of her jacket down, covering her hands even more, like she was trying to hide away. He didn’t know why the sight mad him upset.

“Other than not being passed for light training, are you ok?”

Hinata nodded. “I am. it was suggested that the stress of my Clan was causing me to heal slower so I’m actually staying with Kurenai-sensei. I think she’s dating Asuma-sensei, Ino-chan’s sensei.”

“Right, the smoker. He kept trying to light a cigarette when I found out about Kakashi. He looked so surprised when I yanked it from his lips.”

Watching her giggle, covered palm curled up and hiding her mouth, the faintest blush on her cheeks, it suddenly hit him like a lightning bolt.

He had feelings for Hinata. And somehow that didn’t scare him as much as he thought.

Naruto stormed away from the Old Hag’s office, still steaming over being put on this mission with Lee’s team. Take care of some family who overtook a village. He did that already with Gato. He had better things to do with his time. If he wanted to get strong enough to drag Orochimaru back or kill him – whichever came first – so all the extra power Sasuke was saddled with thanks to that insane mission could go away, he needed to get stronger. Sasuke was practically barred from missions until he got his Curse Seal under control, not to mention all the hours at the hospital and medical training. He wasn’t complaining once about not getting stronger to defeat his brother, so Naruto had to do it for him.

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be, I guess. Sorry you’re my first patient.”

Naruto looked over and saw Sasuke out on the stairwell with…Hinata? They were looking at something in Sasuke’s hands and Hinata had a hand on the arm closer to her.

“Hey Sasuke!” he yelled, interrupting them, though they only moved enough to see who it was and Hinata didn’t really move her hand. “What’s going on?”

“Sasuke-kun is going to heal his first patient.”

A blue bird, who was balancing themselves in the bowl of Sasuke’s hands had a bandage wrapped around one of its wings.

“I’m going to try and hopefully not fuck it up for life.” Sasuke grumbled, winding the bandage off. Hinata took her hand off Sasuke’s arm to take the bandage and they watched the bird attempt to flap. Sasuke’s chakra was visible, green in colour, hand over the bird’s wing. when it faded, the wing was obviously stronger and in no time, it flew out of Sasuke’s hand and into the sky.

“You did it!” Hinata cheered and Sasuke smiled. It was less of his normal smirk and an actual smile.

“Training’s obviously going well.” He said, if to distract from the scene in front of him.

“It’s a little hard to tell who’s the hardest teacher, Kakashi or Lady Tsunade.”

“Naruto!” Lee suddenly interrupted, stopping when he saw who he was with. “Oh, Hinata-chan. And Sasuke, my eternal love rival!” Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Normally, I’d focus on telling you all the reason’s I’m better for Sakura-chan, but not right now. Naruto, I must speak with you!”

“Lunch?” Hinata asked, turning to Sasuke and putting her hand back on his arm, her free one this time. They barley disappeared inside before Lee yanked him away past the victim of Tsunade’s chair and to Ichiraku’s.

As Lee explained the Kurosuki family’s connection to Itachi, in hopes of finding him so Sasuke had proper information when he was finally allowed on missions again, Naruto couldn’t get what he saw out of his head.

“Has Hinata-chan always hung out with Sasuke?” he asked as Lee started to drink his broth.

“Hmm? Oh, well I noticed they’d always go for lunch, back when the others were recovering from recovery mission and Sasuke was working on them?”

He remembered that. Sasuke had been impossible then, shouldering everything that happened to the others and nearly working himself to an early death picking up nurse duties. He lightened up after a while but he assumed it was Sasuke accepting he couldn’t change what happened.

“How long have they been hanging out for?”

“Neji mentioned he was the intake nurse for Hinata-chan’s first check up after the Third’s death. I think they just kept bumping into each other after.

Naruto didn’t know how right Lee was. They did continue to bump into each other, spending time and getting closer. As much as her family thought her weak because of her kindness, they didn’t know – no one knew actually – just how instrumental she was in keeping Sasuke in the village.

“Your first mission without your sensei. I guess we’ll be doing more of those types of missions now.”

Hinata was in his apartment, watching him pack for the Land of Tea.

“it means I have more time to think. Can’t exactly start training to be a med-nin if the village is stretched thin as it is.” He still hadn’t given Tsunade an answer and he felt like he had to soon. “What about you? you got cleared for training finally. You’ve got a few more sessions before you get cleared for missions again, right?”

Nodding and tucking her legs under her, she leaned forward slightly, looking excited. “Niisan has been trying to teach me how to do Gentle Fist techniques. I’m not nearly as good at them but I got the idea from the Rotation technique about creating a short of shield with chakra, but in a different way. It’d be less releasing chakra from my points and more of moving to catch each attack from around me.”

Sasuke watched her gushing about her new technique, his knowledge over how he felt still hanging in the back of his head.

“What?” she asked, noticing him staring.

“Nothing. You just seemed really excited. Usually, any mention of training has you mentioning how your dad won’t stop asking when you can start again and how Neji has been going a little overboard in trying to right his wrongs.”

Hinata shrugged. “I don’t know if this will change how my thinks of me, but they won’t be able to deny I’m incapable of giving up.”

“I look forward to seeing you prove them all wrong.”

He’d forgotten about what Hinata told him with everything that happened on the mission. As the only person with injuries that landed him in the hospital, all the jealousy he’d been pushing down, watching Naruto get better and stronger while he was usually left with the injuries, built up. Mio kept them from his room, noticing how easily he’d been getting annoyed, only letting Hinata in. he felt bad that he made her sit with his stony silence, probably so reminiscent of her own father. She didn’t say much, only asking once if he was ok and if he wanted anything. Before she left, she put a hand on his arm and told him she was glad he was ok. The apology was right on the tip of his tongue when she left as Sakura tried coming in. it went down hill after that. He snapped at Sakura, fought Naruto and got to see just how powerful he was and was given a lecture by Kakashi-sensei. At the end of it all, the Sound Four made a pretty compelling case.

It would have been so easy to just go. No one had any right to stop him from getting stronger. But Mio, in her fashion of never leaving him alone, stopped by as he was escaping the hospital.

“I don’t know what’s going on with you, but here. Hinata left this for you. says she hopes you feel better.” It was a thermos of tomato veggie soup, as they started calling the it after she brought it whenever she visited him in the hospital.

Instead of going home and packing, he went to Lady Tsunade and told her everything. After it was pointed out that the Sound Four had to of been with Orochimaru during the Chunin Exam finals, the most insane plan was made. Sasuke would go, do what they wanted and allow them to take him to the Sound Village. While a better equipped team was being assembled, a smaller one, first of chunin to weaken and then of genin and one chunin would follow after them, playing trying to get him back. He’d taken the pill, fell into a dead like sleep, the only instruction given to keep going past the Valley of the End if he has to go by himself. He got to the Valley, feeling his body ready to burst with use of the Level 2 Curse Mark when Naruto found him, without a mark as usual. Sasuke couldn’t remember what started the fight, verbal this time, but he and Naruto screamed at each other, venting their jealousies and anger.

He remembered what his brother told him about Mangeko Sharingan and as much as he hated Naruto, he didn’t hate him. Not enough to kill him. Not enough to forget he’d been risking his life to get him back.

It took a while for his body to process the new power he had but the moment he was said to be in the clear, he did what he usually did and escaped his hospital room, instead working on the retrieval team, specifically the one of his classmates. Shikamaru and Kiba were mostly fine, Kiba scoffing at his apology.

“For some reason, Hinata likes hanging out with you. honestly, that’s the only reason I gave a crap about getting you back. I would have said good riddance.”

The petty part of him was tempted to remind him Naruto would have kicked his ass if he tried that, if the semi-finals were anything to go by. But the part that made him return and a good amount of guilt just had him bow his head and send in Kiba’s sister for Akamaru.

Choji had been the first to wake from his surgery, waving off his apology with his normal laid-back attitude.

“Shouldn’t you be resting though? I don’t really know why they had you in that gourd, but it couldn’t have been good.”

“I’m fine.”

“You look kind pale to me.”

“You nearly died from a mix of chakra overuse and lack of nutrients in your body. Trust me, I’m fine.”

He was lucky Choji stopped asking questions. He seemed the least likely to judge but Sasuke didn’t want to break down in front of him.

Neji took the longest to wake up, still in the ICU. Sasuke had been putting on protective gear over his clothes, tucking his hair away when he noticed Neji had a visitor. Unsure Hinata would want to see him, he added a face mask, focused on checking vitals and getting out. But much like her family, he underestimated her. He’d barely reached the bed when she stopped him, pulling his mask down, looking releveled at the sight of him.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“You’re ok.”

“I’m fine. other than my neck killing me and my skin itching, I’m fine.”

They constantly did this, just open up to each other without thinking. It’s probably why when she pulled him into a hug, it didn’t feel weird or sudden.

“I know you were supposed to come back anyway, but I’m really glad you did.”

“Your cousin hates me already. I think he’d hate me more if I made him go through all this for nothing.”

Hinata’s laugh was watery, but it was a laugh none the less. She pulled away, wiping away stray tears, taking him in. “Have you gotten any rest? Mio-san was only able to tell me so much.”

“I’ve been cleared so thought I’d do something useful.”

“Come get something to eat with me.”

Sasuke blinked down at her, confused. Her cousin was in the ICU and she wanted to eat?

“I’ve been here as long as possible and we’re only allowed one visitor at a time. My father has come by a few times and I’m sure he’d like a chance to visit. So, take me somewhere to eat.”

He couldn’t find a reason to say no, so he nodded. He didn’t realise it would be Hinata’s way of checking up on him while he was bared from leaving the village after Naruto and Sakura’s hairbrained idea of going to find Orochimaru themselves set off an unwanted Level 2 transformation. He didn’t regret getting his med-nin training but having Hinata around made him feel less like clawing at the walls.

“Lunch?” it started to become his favourite question.

Naruto followed Sakura to the hospital. Back after 2 years of training and hearing that Sasuke was a full med-nin made him feel just as proud. He didn’t forget what he and Sasuke said to each other and he wasn’t blind to Sasuke upset about being bared from leaving the village.

“How has Sasuke been? Were any restrictions lifted?”

“Not really. Anko and Kakashi helped him train his Level 2 Curse Seal but only under supervision. But…” Sakura stopped turning to Naruto. “He…he’s been different.”

“Bad different?”

“No, just…he’s been hanging out with Hinata a lot.”

“Yeah?” this wasn’t news. Before he left, he almost always found them together. He was usually waiting for her when she came back from missions, had been a worried mess when she came back with a sprained ankle during the buried treasure test mission and had been with him the day, he went to say goodbye.

“I think he’s dating her.”

That…that would make a lot of sense. He could tell the idea upset Sakura, no doubt still holding on to feelings for him but he’d never seen Sasuke actually hang out with people that wasn’t the rest of his team or Mio and the hospital staff and that was if he had no choice.

Hinata was a choice.

“Ok.”

“Ok? That’s all you have to say?” Sakura asked, angry.

“Well, they were always together and she was with him the day the Sound Four came by. If he is, you can’t stop him.”

It was made even more apparent when Mio – who loudly welcomed him back, not changing a bit other than shorter hair and a tattoo – told them Sasuke went for dinner with Hinata since his shift was over. he let Sakura drag him all over the village, waving and talking to villagers, including Iruka-sensei. While distracted by the adult he trusted the most telling him about training Sakura in fuinjutsu when she let out a scream. He found her at the entrance of a restaurant, just getting there as Sasuke pulled away from kissing Hinata.

While that long awaited conversation happened, he leaned against the wall of the entrance with Hinata.

“It’s really good to see you again. Your hair has gotten longer.” Hinata started when the silence was starting to get awkward as Sakura’s voice rose.

“You too. It’s kinda weird to see you in long hair. But you look good. Any more amazing jutsus you’ve been working on?”

“A few.” She replied a mischievous smile on her face.

“You know,” he pointed out, “you’re different from before. it’s not a bad thing but you’re more out there and open. Sasuke to thank for that?”

“More like, I let something go and decided to go for something different. I had feelings for someone and while it helped give me confidence, it sort of had a limit on myself. If I got that person to notice me, I’d be ok. With Sasuke, it felt like I didn’t have to try as hard. Pushing myself felt less like a demand and more of a want. I wanted be this new person, Sasuke to always think I could to it. with each interaction, we got to know each other better and I think it helped us become who we are today.”

He nodded to himself. Hinata seemed way more confident than before and he’d guess Sasuke was probably way less sullen. He’d been worried that anything would send Sasuke leaving straight to Orochimaru but clearly, Sasuke had more important things to worry about. Honestly, the snake and Sasuke’s brother wouldn’t know what hit them once they saw this Sasuke, he was sure of it.

Chapter Text

“Come on!”

Hinata struggled to keep up with Ino’s quick steps, trying to figure out how she could move so quick in heels.

“Ino-chan, I don’t even like coffee.”

“Yeah, because you’re so insanely picky about the flavour.”

She wasn’t wrong. Hinata preferred sweet coffees, but half the time it meant the syrups overpowered any coffee taste at all and just tasted like concentrate. Half the time she stuck to teas but with long days at her family’s company, the one in charge of fundraising and the such, coffee was what she needed to get through the day. Ino was supposed to be helping her finalize floral centre pieces for their company donor dinner and now she was being dragged in the opposite direction.

“This guy, is like a god. Knows just what you like and makes it just how you’d imagine. Doesn’t hurt that he’s hot as hell.”

“I’m sure Sai would love to hear that.” she replied sarcastically.

“Well, they’ve both got pale skin and dark hair, so clearly I have a type.”

Hinata rolled her eyes, giving in. She supposed as long as she got coffee at the end, she shouldn’t complain. 

The coffee shop was called Cat’s Flame. It was a darker than most chain coffee shops but it was cosy with all the faded couches, shelves of books to borrow or buy when reading and little nooks of tables for studying. Behind the register was a guy about their age. He seemed familiar, though she couldn’t tell with his long hair half covered by a slouch beanie. He had snake bites and was more focused on his phone screen than Ino approaching him.

“Sasuke!” Dark eyes looked up, cheek smooshed against his hand and unmoving as Ino skipped over. “My regular please. And this is Hinata! My best friend since middle school. I’m working with her family for their doner dinner. Could you make a cup for her?”

Sasuke dropped his phone on the counter, slouching up much like a cat, though a snake felt more accurate.

“I didn’t tell him what I want.” Hinata whispered, watching him move around the machines, grinding beans and setting milk to be foamed.

“Relax, he knows what he’s doing.” Ino reassured. “Ok, so remind me of colours for the event. Please tell me it’s not the same boring black and white.”

Distracted with event details, she forgot about Sasuke making his mystery drinks, at least until he slid over two to go cups, Ino’s name on one.

“700 yen.” he announced, picking his phone up again and shoving the card reader closer as he slouched down again.

“But what if I don’t like it?” Hinata asked, still not touching her cup, while Ino scooped hers up, taking the top off the blow it cool.

“You gonna drink it before you judge?” Sasuke said, fixing his hand to hold up his head while still fixed on his phone.

Huffing, she took the cup, doing the same as Ino to cool it before taking a small sip. It was sweet, the slight bitterness of the coffee mixing perfectly. For some reason, it reminded her of breakfast.

“Not so bad now huh? 700 yen.”

“I got it. If you start with him, you’ll never stop.” Ino said, tapping her phone on the card reader. “Thanks Sasuke!”

He didn’t reply as Ino dragged them out, still focused on his phone.

“He’s so rude!” Hinata couldn’t help but blurt out once they were a distance away. She looked at Ino like she was crazy when she burst into laughter.

“That’s how he is. I knew him in college and I crushed so hard. He turned me down and called me annoying all in one sentence. He just doesn’t do well with people. He reacts with rudeness rather than just stay silent. But it’s good right?”

As annoyed as she was by his behaviour, Ino was right. It was good.

“Come on. If we take any longer, all the fresh flowers for mock ups will be gone.”

With a week before the dinner, donors throwing their demands at her, not to mention needing to chase her father down to get answers from him, Hinata felt herself crashing. Hanabi was helping, no doubt because of this being their bigger dinner of the year and took her break by ordering coffee for them.

“I think you’ll like it.” she promised, going over to where Hinata stood attempting to fix the seating chart thanks to another petty argument that happened to spark a rivalry between two donors. “Konohamaru suggested the place. Said his cousin goes there all the time.”

“What did you get me?”

“You’ll see. The barista won’t mess up.”

Hearing that reminded her of Sasuke. The coffee had been good, just the right amount of espresso to help her through the day so by the time the crash happened, she was home. She’d be tempted to go back had it not been for his behaviour. He seemed so unenthused to be there, if they fact he was staring more at his phone than anything else was the best proof to go by. He had a comment or a reply for anything, it was insane. It was also insane how much it bothered her. She delt with petty and quick to anger people all the time, not to mention those who looked like doing their job drained them of every ounce of happiness they had. So why did the way he act bother her?

Coffee finally arrived by the time she and Hanabi had figured out how to seat everyone without casualties. She knew her father wouldn’t be happy about some of the groupings, but if he didn’t want a bloodbath on his hands, he’d have to deal with it. A knock on the door had Hanabi sprint for it, no doubt dying for her drink after the amount of thinking they had to do.

“Delivery from Cat’s Flame.” a very familiar bored voice announced.

Sasuke stood at the door, small traveling case in hand. He held it as he unzipped it, handing Hanabi one cup and walked in to hand Hinata the other. He also handed her a mildly heavy paper bag, smelling of pastries. She hadn’t realised just how hungry she was until she smelled the sugar wafting off of it.

“Yum. what is this? It’s amazing.” Hanabi asked, stealing the bag and heading over to the couch in Hinata’s office

“Cortado with vanilla syrup.” Sasuke sounded just as bored as the last time she’d seen him. He wasn’t wearing a beanie this time, his long hair pulled back into a messy half bun. It exposed the earrings that lined his ears.

Hinata took a sip of her coffee, expecting it to be the same sweet drink, which she later realised had been maple syrup. But it was the familiar taste of a London Fog, which while technically coffee, was made with tea. But this had something extra.

“Did you put an extra shot in this?” she felt impressed when Sasuke nodded, focused of pulling something from his pocket. The coffee and tea taste weren’t a weird mix. It was pleasant with the right amount of sweetness. He’d done it again.

“Receipt. Have a nice day.” the minute she took the paper, he turned, pulling his phone out and left without a care.

Seriously, did this guy have any care for anything?

“He was cute.” Hanabi was halfway through a Bear claw.

“He’s so rude. Ino took me to the cafe before. He was focused on his phone pretty much the whole time. And he was so sarcastic and rude.” she still gratefully drank the coffee. The extra shot of espresso was going to be exactly what she needed to get through the day.

“Still cute. Be honest, you’d love to be that uncaring about things.” 

Working for her family would have been fine had it not been for their strictness over everything. The Hyuuga family was perfect to everyone, except those in it. She wasn’t about to admit her sister was right. She wanted to rebel just as much as the younger generation of their family. That didn’t mean she’d want to be like Sasuke. There was a difference between letting go and toeing the line of being let go.

The donor dinner, so far, was a success. She’d managed to get ahead of 3 fights, 2 tantrums from full grown adults and a nitpicky guest. She deserved a drink, even more so after seeing the Otsutsuki family arrive. They’d been trying to get her father to marry her to their only son, Toneri, since the families started working together. She dodged a rather tall guest and headed to the bar when she was stopped.

“Hinata-san! It’s so good to see you.” Uchiha Mikoto, wife to the head of the family kindly greeted her. “You did an amazing job as usual. The flowers look spectacular. Was it the Yamanaka family again?”

“It was. Can I get you another drink?” Hinata asked, noticing her near empty glass.

“Oh, that’s alright. My son is grabbing me one. In fact, I don’t know if you’ve met him.”

“Itachi? He came to the last silent auction we had.” she didn’t forget the kind and quiet heir to the Uchiha family. He and Neji had been running circles around each other talking about whatever had gotten them talking.

“No, no. Not Itachi. My youngest son. Oh, there he is now, Sasuke!”

Turning, Hinata felt her face flush red in embarrassment and shock when Sasuke, the same barista who’d been serving her the exact drink she needed, eased his way through the crowd to them. His hair was styled out of his face, though all his piercings were sitting in place. He handed one of the glasses to his mom, taking her other one and sipping from that. The other glass in his hand was untouched until he handed it to her. Hinata decided to sip it and sure enough, whatever skill he had with coffee translated into alcohol as well. Soda water, grapefruit and some mix of other syrups and gin. Her usual mix of drinks; strong enough to give her a buzz, but diluted enough to help her get through the rest of the party without issue. How was he this good?

“Sasuke works with his older cousin Shisui at his coffee shop. The family business never kept his attention, so between his fencing competitions, he works there. He represents Japan in the Olympics on the team.” she gushed.

“Oh?”

“Though at least we know when he retires, he’ll have a good job. His accuracy in guessing a person’s preferred drink is amazing.”

Sasuke gave Hinata this smug smile, that caused her to pout. He was teasing her, she knew it.

“Maybe you’d be interested in seeing me prove myself on Friday, at the cafe before opening?”

Was…he asking her out? She should have asked what was going on, why he was so suddenly interested but she found herself agreeing. The moment, she had a chance, she found Ino, hoping she’d get sense talked into her to cancel.

“Ooh, he finally asked?” Ino interrupted once she told her that Sasuke was here.

“Finally asked what?”

“Asked you out? He called after I took you to the cafe and was asking quite a number of questions about you. He sounded like Sai.”

Ino’s boyfriend was completely in love with her, even with his lack of understanding emotions. If Sasuke was like him…well, guess she’d have to find out on Friday, before the shop opened.

Chapter Text

Sarada ran through the halls of the castle, looking for Hinata. The human was usually exploring the large castle when she wasn’t in the library. She had done well in her spell classes and she wanted to show her favourite person what she learned. But she wasn’t in any of the usual spots she’d usually find her. She spotted orange hair and darted towards it.

“Jugo!” Orange eyes turned to her, softening slightly at the sight of her. He easily scooped her up, handing the papers in his hand to the councilman and guards he’d been speaking with.

“What can I do for you Princess?”

“Where’s Hinata?”

“Shouldn’t you be in lessons?” he asked instead.

Pouting, Sarada whined. “Where is she? Are they hiding her from me again?”

She didn’t get why some people didn’t trust Hinata. The human woman saved her, became exiled from her village to do so. Sarada had left with her father to go exploring the woods of their kingdom but while he was distracted, she’d gotten off the path and ended up in a human village. Once they noticed her long hair, pointed ears and unusual beauty, they had figured out she was faey. And since she was a child, the men of the village got the idea to capture her. 

Her magic wasn’t skilled but she was known to have an effect when she was stressed. Snakes were her favourite after the animals of her father. While the snakes attacked, she ran and crashed into Hinata. The woman squashed her, taking her apron off and using it to hide her as she picked her up and ran. She was at the edge of the forest when members of the village found her, ready to kill her when her father showed up. Most of the mob didn’t survive and they threw Hinata out in retaliation, to which their home was opened to her.

Which Sarada liked just fine. Hinata was nice, but when she arrived at her father’s invitation, all the servants and staff tried to keep them apart, like they forgot she gave up her life to save her. Thankfully her father stopped that when she complained.

“Sarada,” Jugo started, but she didn’t want to hear it.

“Where is she?” she snapped.

“Sarada.” a stern voice spoke, her father appearing just suddenly as he always did, pulling off his purple cloak and handing it to a servant. Jugo placed her on her feet and she stared up at her father. “Jugo doesn’t deserve to be yelled at like that. What’s wrong?”

“I can’t find Hinata and Jugo won’t tell me where she is.”

Her father sighed. “She wasn’t feeling well this morning, she’s resting in her room. If you apologize to Jugo, I’ll take you to see her.”

Immediately turning to her father’s warrior. “I’m sorry Jugo. I shouldn't have been rude.”

“It’s fine Princess. I didn’t want to worry you. Tell Lady Hinata I say hello.”

Done with her words, she grabbed her father’s hand and let him lead her to Hinata’s rooms, in the same wing as her and her father’s room. The door was covered in sunflower stalks, the yellow heads moving with the sun that fell through the skylights. Sarada pulled from her father and pushed the door open, rushing in. the room was sparsely decorated much like her father’s, the bed in the middle of the room. The front half of the curtains were untied, blocking most of the light from Hinata, who was curled up under the light covers. Her face was slightly red and her hair was stuck to her face.

“Is she ok?”

“She has a fever. She was caught in the downpour last night.”

Sarada had vague memories of her father coming to wish her goodnight, the braids in his hair untangling from the water he was weighed down in.

“Can I wake her?”

“Sarada.” he scolded but was interrupted by a soft voice.

“It’s ok.”

Hinata pushed herself up, smiling down at her. It was all the words she needed, darting over and climbing onto the bed, letting Hinata tug her away from the edge, but her father sat behind her.

“Are you ok?”

“I’m just a little sick. You’ve never been sick, have you?”

“Well, I once ate a whole bowl of sugar berries.” she admitted. “My stomach hurt for a while.”

“Maybe because you shouldn’t be eating that much like I said.” her father scolded.

She pouted when Hinata gestured for her to get closer. “I once got sick eating a whole pan of cinnamon rolls. My father was furious but my mother thought it was pretty impressive.”

“Don’t encourage her.” her father said, turning his scolding to Hinata, who only giggled.

“Hinata, I learned how to make flowers! Look!” with attention back on her, she focused her magic like her teacher told her to. From the palm of her hand, a daisy grew, smaller ones following until she had a small bouquet. “See?”

“That’s amazing! They’re very pretty.”

“Here you go!” she handed them to Hinata, who gently took them before patting her on the head.

“You’re so sweet. Thank Sarada. They make me feel better already.”

Giddy, she tugged on one of the braids in her hair. “You should put them in your hair to keep them close, like you do with me.”

“Can you braid my hair then?”

Sarada pouted. She could do small ones, like the ones she’d put in her father’s hair but she wasn’t good enough to do big ones and Hinata had a lot more hair than her and her dad.

“Can you do it?” turning to her father, pouting. She watched him sigh, moving her to sit in front of Hinata so he could sit behind her without any worry of her falling off the bed. Watching her father tug the piece of leather out of Hinata’s hair, she chattered to the human about her lessons, what she couldn’t wait to do, what the two could do once Hinata was feeling better. She noticed her dad would brush Hinata’s cheek as he gathered strands to twist, first into two smaller separate braids then all together into a bigger one. He took the daisies from her and placed them near the top of the braid, dragging the finished product over her shoulder so she could see.

“It looks beautiful. thank you, your majesty.”

She watched her father smile at Hinata before she tugged on Hinata’s hand for attention again. They stayed there until Hinata started to bob her head. Sarada was so busy telling a story, she didn’t notice until she saw Hinata resting her head on her father’s shoulder. He was twirling the free hair under the leather strap with his finger. When he noticed she was looking at them, he put a finger to his lips to keep her quite as he slid Hinata off his shoulder and onto the pillow.

Amongst fey, braiding hair was sacred and important. To let another touch your hair meant you were vulnerable to them. Braids braided by another meant love. To continue touching hair after a braid meant something deeper. She’d seen couples during balls tugging at their lover’s braids. She’d braid her own father’s hair, him doing the same for her but she’d only ever seen him play with hair like that on Hinata.

She wondered when he’d tell her just how much Hinata meant to him. If it meant she’d stay forever, she didn’t care. She wanted them happy.

Chapter Text

The house was silent. Not that it usually wasn’t. the Uchihas were quite people for the most part but there was always background noise. Be it Mikoto’s humming or the shuffling of Fugaku’s paperwork or the voice of Itachi’s audio books and even Sasuke’s music. Growing up in her house, Hinata learned to keep quiet and when she moved in with the Uchiha’s, the noise – even at its softest – felt so loud. But it became the sound of home. Even when it was interrupted by Fugaku and Sasuke’s arguments, by Itachi protesting his treatment to his parents, by Sasuke’s hissed threats to not tell anyone at school she lived here, it was home. Plus, the threats didn’t last long, so it was an extra bonus.

The sounds reminded Hinata that she had people who cared nearby. She’d seen Mikoto rip into her father after he tried to drag her back to the Hyuuga Mansion after she graduated high school. She finally convinced Fugaku to listen to Sasuke instead of just yelling. She’d taken care of Itachi during one of the worst headaches he had. She started to bond with Sasuke. That one had been a surprise, knowing how much Sasuke avoided females in general. He’d helped her study for the biggest review exam, he’d make moments where she could have confessed to Naruto and even comforted her when the blonde rejected her.

It had been then when it became apparent to her that her feelings for Naruto had faded before she even confessed. Feelings towards Sasuke had grown unexpectedly and continued to grow with each moment. She tried to stop it, not wanting to become another of his fangirls but it seemed almost impossible. First it was extra time spent together in tennis club they both joined entering college. During their retreat, they’d been in charge of food and the domestic task of cooking every night made her excited for each night. when one of his new fangirls had somehow blackmailed him into going on a date, Hinata didn’t want to get involved. It felt like pure coincidence she and Kiba ended up at the same theatre they were at. While she felt bad for abandoning Kiba, the time spent with Sasuke showed him at his most relaxed. The picture she convinced him to take was one she revisited fondly.

It would have been easy to tell him, a part of her ready to just put everything on the line and just tell him. But then it all changed. Sasuke got engaged. It was arranged, between him and the daughter of his father’s old police chief. Fugako’s private detective company was in trouble with getting their licenses reinstated and the old chief offered to help speed them along, if Fugaku let his sons meet his daughter. A week later, Sasuke announced he was going to marry the daughter.

Mikoto protested furiously and even Fugaku – who didn’t get involved in his kids’ love lives – didn’t agree. It was made even worse when Sasuke said he would transfer from medicine into law to take over his father’s company. Sasuke had thought long and hard about his major even when finally agreeing to attend university, so for him to suddenly change it and do the thing that had been the centre of his and his father’s fights didn’t make sense at all. With Sasuke as his father’s company whenever he wasn’t at school and Mikoto’s anger and sadness that her son was doing this, the once noisy house fell silent.

Watching Sasuke do this, even bringing her to campus felt like a stab in the chest. She tried ignoring it, telling herself that Sasuke was allowed to do what he wanted but it wouldn’t go away. It haunted her.

“Hinata?”

Hinata looked away from her textbooks that were only opened for looks and at Itachi who stood in her doorway. His glasses were in place and the hood of his sweatshirt was pulled up making his face dark.

“Could you do me a favour? Sasuke is at the agency and dad was supposed to bring him back but he got called out. Mom refuses to go near the agency since the…” he trailed off, like he still couldn’t believe what he brother was doing. “and it’s too late for me to go out. I’d get Kisame to get him but he’s got work. Would you be able to go and get him?”

“Couldn’t he walk home himself?”

“He could, if he had an umbrella.”

Hinata looked and saw raindrops painting her window. She hadn’t even heard it start to rain.

“oh. Well then, in that case, I can.”

Itachi followed her downstairs and handed her an umbrella once she was properly suited up and waved her off. If the house was quiet, outside felt even quieter. Even with the sound of the rain hitting the umbrella, the water parting under cars’ tires, footsteps of other people rushing home, it all felt so empty. She wondered when she’d finally hear the noise of everything again.

The walk to the agency seemed quick. A figure was waiting on the other side of the door but as she got closer, the door opened and Sasuke came out. Hinata took in the pressed suit he was in, remembering how excited he seemed when he got his doctor’s coat for practical classes.

“Thanks.” He said, ducking under the umbrella. He took it from her hand, grazing over her fingers.

She yanked them away, mad at herself for still feeling this way. “Itachi sent me.”

“right.” How did their conversations get so awkward? “we should head home.”

The walk back felt like stifling silence. Hinata glanced at Sasuke, sometimes catching him glancing at her, but they didn’t say a word. At least until Sasuke spoke.

“How have classes been?”

“Fine. I was finishing homework when Itachi asked me to come get you. Tsunade-sensei did ask how you’ve been.”

She didn’t have to add in that Sasuke’s main teacher had been asking, but a small part of her felt like he needed a reminder what he was choosing.

“Right. Well, I’m sure she’d understand.”

“Understand that your turning away from the thing you thought really hard about to get into?”

“Excuse me?” Sasuke asked stopping and glaring down at her.

Honestly, under all the hurt, she was mad. She knew Sasuke could sometimes be self-centred but it gave him the confidence to do whatever he wanted. This? this wasn’t Sasuke.

“You and your father fought nonstop about taking over the agency. You didn’t want that, you never did. You didn’t know what you wanted, not for a while and then when you finally made your decision, you were happy. Anyone could see it. Your dad asks you to meet this girl and all of a sudden you decide to marry her? You, the guy who can barely stand females? Because this isn’t you. What, did she threaten your dad if you didn’t?”

“Not that it matters to you, but she did actually. All you need was 5 minutes around her to see she has her father wrapped around her finger. She made it very clear what would happen if I didn’t treat our meeting like a match making session, she could pull my dad’s paperwork. I didn’t believe her, until she lied and said the waiter at our restaurant was making sexual comments to her. Her dad had the guy arrested so quickly; he didn’t have a chance to protest. I wasn’t about to take the chance she’d do that to my father. So, I agreed and changed majors so if she did try anything, she’d have to get through me first.”

She was surprised at Sasuke’s admission, but it didn’t stop her from snapping out, “and it never occurred to tell your dad? He cares, he wouldn’t want you to do this!”

“I know that! But as much as Itachi can’t do this and I don’t want to, this agency is important to him. I wasn’t about to let some spoiled little girl ruin that.”

“So, you’re ok with it? Just giving up on being a doctor to please her? I thought you wanted to help people.”

“I can doing this.”

“And make yourself miserable in the process? I can’t believe the Sasuke I fell for is giving up.”

“What?”

Hinata then realised what she said. She hadn’t meant to but to hear that Sasuke decided to do this, though a noble endeavour, it wasn’t helping anyone. she felt lied to. Sasuke didn’t let himself be pushed around. So, she decided to continue. What would be the point in stopping? It wasn’t like he would suddenly return her feelings.

“I like you. I tried not to because I knew you’d hate it but when I confessed to Naruto, as much as it hurt to be rejected, my feelings for him had faded then. And then you kissed me during the graduation party. I don’t know if you were gifting me that after hearing me rant about graduating without being kissed, but between hearing you say you were coming to the same school as me and that kiss, how was I supposed to stop? With each moment we spent together either at school or at home, it got worse and I was going to tell you, but then you choose her. It might be for your family but I always admired that no matter what, you didn’t give in. I just can’t believe the one time you do, it’s for someone like her.”

She was expecting more yelling, maybe a scathing comment about her not understanding family, but instead Sasuke dropped the umbrella and just as suddenly as he’d once done on the steps outside their graduation party, he pulled her in and kissed her. Back then, she’d been too stunned to kiss back. Now, her arms wrapped around his neck like she’d been doing this forever. She felt properly soaked when they pulled away.

“You’re right, I don’t like most females. But I like you. and I won’t marry that girl if I can have this.”

Sasuke decided very early on in life that females were too much to deal with. His mom was the exception for a long time, at least until he met her. He’d been running from his small group of fangirls and hid towards the back of the school. He was catching his breath when he realised someone sitting inside the rabbit cage. At first, he thought it was a boy due to the short hair but he noticed the same soft features most of the girls had, he realised it was a girl. One he knew.

She was in his class and she was quite. Usually poking her fingers together, she hid behind books and tended to disappear during free time. To be with the rabbits it had seemed. She saw him looking and let out a squeak, hiding behind her book. He didn’t stick around after that, using the lack of screaming girls to head back inside. She passed him later that day and he waited for a comment about liking him but all she did was ask him not to tell their teacher she was reading in the rabbit cage.

He later learned her name was Hinata Hyuuga.

She was always around but always off on the side, in a corner. She didn’t make herself known. She didn’t chase after him. It wasn’t hard to see her attention drifted elsewhere. Weirdly, he always felt annoyed when he saw her staring at Naruto. He didn’t like girls chasing him, so why did he feel so bothered by her inattention? He’d get annoyed on her behalf when Naruto didn’t notice her, so focused on Sakura. When she became close with Kiba and Shino, especially Kiba, he felt so mad. It wasn’t until their first year of high school, during that swim class after he jumped in and saved her; everyone thought he was doing what they all wanted to do and yell at the teacher for putting a student’s life in danger. He wanted to hurt the teacher for ever touching her after she said she couldn’t swim. That night, he was sitting in the backyard and his brother didn’t notice him as he dragged Kisame outside. He listened to their love-soaked words and when he started picturing him saying them to Hinata, that’s when he knew.

He liked her.

Then she moved in with them and he was always around her. And the feelings kept growing. It was easy to hide it under his usual personality but with all the time to get to know her better, see what went through with her father, see her resilient strength, see her, it was hard to ignore. He finally admitted to it out loud after that stupid argument with Naruto when he rejected Hinata.

“Why do you care if I rejected her? I’m not going to be with a person I don’t have feelings for.”

“What, you mean like Sakura? She barely pays you any attention and can barely stand you on a good day. But you know what, good. She’s way too good for you anyway.”

“Oh, and she’s good for you?”

“No, but only because she’s better than anyone.”

He remembered how Naruto stared at him with confusion. “It sounds like you like her.”

“That’s because I do.”

He proudly admitted to it, but telling her was a different story. It made it hard when she would suggest he become a doctor or when she convinced his dad to just listen to him instead of yelling. He was sure he didn’t make it easy when he suddenly kissed her at graduation, or the many times in college where he managed to get them alone together. he wanted to tell her, promised himself he would once he got through his first semester in the med school.

Then she appeared. Since accepting he’d be going into med school, his dad kept information about the agency from the rest of the family. He didn’t know about the struggle to get their licences reinstated, at least until his dad mentioned why they were going to have lunch with his old station chief and his daughter. It took only a matter of moments alone with her for him to realise the type of person she was. She made what she wanted very clear, she wanted him and he wasn’t going to get away easy. If he actually thought he did, his father’s business would be in danger. And as much as he to stay away from her, scoff and call her bluff, watching her with the waiter, he realised she wasn’t all talk. he cared about his dad too much to risk this. So, he agreed and by the end of that week, they were engaged. When she started paying visits to his dad’s agency in hopes of seeing him, he knew he had to take it further. Take over and keep her away from them. to be paraded around by her, watching her make a mess of things between his family and what he wanted in life, to bend down so easily; he couldn’t believe he was actually allowing this.

All he wanted was to just get through the semester, actually use some of the courage people seemed to think he had droves of and tell Hinata how he felt and graduate. Now he was stuck doing everything he hated just to protect the people he loved.

“I like you. I tried not to because I knew you’d hate it but when I confessed to Naruto, as much as it hurt to be rejected, my feelings for him had faded then. And then you kissed me during the graduation party. I don’t know if you were gifting me that after hearing me rant about graduating without being kissed, but between hearing you say you were coming to the same school as me and that kiss, how was I supposed to stop? With each moment we spent together either at school or at home, it got worse and I was going to tell you, but then you choose her. It might be for your family but I always admired that no matter what, you didn’t give in. I just can’t believe the one time you do, it’s for someone like her.”

What had been an awkward walk home in the rain turned into yelling and into this. He stared down at Hinata, who yelled at him – she never yelled – and told him she like him.

She liked him. He didn’t even think, he dropped the umbrella and kissed her. Kissed her like he’d been wanting to for ages.

“You’re right, I don’t like most females. But I like you. and I won’t to marry that girl if I can have this.”

She looked like she almost didn’t believe him, so he just kissed her again. He didn’t care that they were soaked or that they clearly had more to talk about. All the mattered was she was kissing him back and not letting go. He almost lost this; he wasn’t going to lose it now.

Chapter Text

“Excuse me Hyata.” Sasuke furrowed his brow as the woman focused on what she was doing, not even turning around. “Hey sunshine!”

That caught her attention, as well as those around them. She turned, a slight smile on her face. “Sunshine?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean, I was just-”

“I’ve had worse nicknames. What can I do for you?”

The Chief Imperial Guard and the Imperial Head Secretary. Both worked under the order of the emperor, King Uzumaki Naruto, keeping him safe and focused. But everyone within the castle knew that there was something brewing between the two.

“The Royal Bazaar will include the annual auction, and the family is asked to have items to sell during then. Princess Karin will arrive on Thursday before the event and will be picked up by security and guards that Chief Uchiha handpicked.”

“Is Suigetsu on the team?”

“He was the only one still standing when that attack happened. Had it not been for him, the Princess may have been killed. The Chief decided that mattered more than the Princess getting slightly insulted by his demeanour.” Hinata reminded.

“Fine by me, I was going to tell you to make sure he was on the team. What about Gaara and the others?”

“King Gaara and the royal family have confirmed they’ll arrive the morning of. Ambassador Nara will be the one to bring them over.”

“And the guest list?”

“Will be finalized by this afternoon when the deadline is up. I’ll have it to you after dinner.”

“Excellent. Is that everything?”

“Yes sir.” 

“Dismissed then.”

Hinata bowed her head and headed to the door, the guards on the other side opening it as she got close. She nodded to them as she headed down the hall, gaze focused on the phone in her hand, her iPad tucked under her arm. Her list was long and growing with each new issue they ran into. She was going to have to redivide the tasks to her assistants and the maids. She wondered if she’d be able to get a few of the guards to help with the heavy items. She didn’t notice someone staring at her through the sugi decorative window that sat in the middle of the wall. Not until they grabbed her arm and tugged her around the corner.

Any noise she made was eaten up by firm lips pressed against hers. They got hold of her hands before she could react, tugging them to pull her closer as her lips were nipped.

“N-not here!” she whispered, pulling away to see if anyone was coming, her eyes fluttering when the lips moved to her cheek and ear. “Sasuke!”

“Relax Sunshine. I’ve got the guards stationed in place for five minutes. We’ve both got to-do lists taller than either of us, so come on. Bet I can get you off in less.”

Flushing at the crude remark, Hinata was tempted to push the Imperial Guard away, but she knew both the schedules were going to be insane.

“You’ve got two minutes, but keep in mind I have a meeting with the kitchen staff. Do not make me kill you later for this.”

Sasuke smirked, kissing her again as he pushed her to the corner where they wouldn’t be seen. He was going to make this time count.

Sunshine. He called her that on her first day because of the sunflower pin she wore in her hair. She learned quick that hair accessories were better left for days off or when you knew you wouldn’t be attacked but it was also the air about her, she had. She’d been focused, working as contact point the first time, they met but she was so approachable and kind to those around her, even with the level of stress during the situation. Everyone gravitated to her, like she was the sun. it felt fitting, after learning her name, Hinata.

They got along well, worked off of each other and kept the staff together when the Emperor was too busy to check on everyone. They became the ones who made sure to keep him safe wherever he left the castle, be it physically or reputation wise. They were lucky, he didn’t do anything that got him into trouble and his own approachableness made the country love him, which usually left the two with time to themselves.

“I didn’t realise the Uchiha family was responsible for protecting the royal family.” Hinata said, the one time they took a break and had drink with the Emperor joining the cast and crew of a play he’d gone to see that evening.

“Not for a few years. We got blamed for an incident which wasn’t even our fault, so all Uchiha were removed from duty and sent out. I applied for the guard exam under a different name and was the last one standing. When people don’t pay attention to you because they think you can’t amount to anything, you get the chance to show them who you are. The last Chief was embezzling funds, among other things and – hey, keep your distance! I can kick your ass so he doesn’t have to!” he called to a rather handsy cast member who back off. “Point his royal annoyingness decided to take a chance and put me in charge. And I haven’t failed him yet. And I don’t plan to. What about you? why did you decide to take the secretary exam?”

“My family was under the impression that I would amount to nothing and in a fit of anger, I sent in my application. When I was told, I’d be allowed take the exam, I decided to just go for it. the worst that could happen was that I would fail, but at least I would have gotten farther than any other family member. I scored within the top 20. I was only one point off at 21.”

“And here you are a year later practically the Emperor’s right hand. Cheers, to proving people wrong.” He said, lifting his glass, smiling at Hinata as she touched his glass to his.

“Cheers to proving we’re better than they ever thought.”

When protecting their charge wasn’t the main priority, he was usually protecting her. The Emperor’s great aunt, Queen Dowager Kaguya was constantly trying to kill her nephew to assume control of the country. With people who would give up their lives for him, it usually resulted in her trying to take them out first. Since Sasuke and Hinata were able to figure her out, they were usually the main targets. It caused them to spend a lot of time together, more so under the King’s orders. Hinata didn’t worry as much, not seeing the danger, at least not until she was accused of causing the death of a well-loved handmaid – which the Emperor knew not to be true, even if it cause a down spike of supporters – and the maid’s son tried attacking her at a book reading. With a brick in hand, he managed to brake past the barriers as the royal family was leaving and head right for Hinata, who was behind them. Sasuke had been farther from her, but he managed to grab her, spinning her away from the son, taking the full brunt force of the brick. He was in the hospital for at least 2 weeks after.

“You can’t do that again.” She ordered once he woke up, passing the mental test. “We’re supposed to work together, so you can’t get hurt for me.”

“Sorry Sunshine, that part I won’t be able to follow. Care about you too much.”

“All the more reason! You think I like seeing you hurt? I care about you too. So don’t you dare leave me alone to deal with her.”

It became obvious to those who watched just how deep their relationship grew after that. If anything, they had the Dowager to thank for the final step. Who knew framing one person for murder would end up gaining that person a lover?

“I thought the shoot was scheduled for later this week. You can’t tell me the photographer was booked solid. This is the Emperor and his kids, you know, the ones who aren’t even in the public eye as much since after the divorce?”

“The king didn’t divorce his wife, she left him.” Hinata reminded as she walked with Sasuke and the rest of the guards on staff for the Royal Bazaar. They were supposed to be escorting the Emperor to Bazaar with the rest of the royal family, including those who flew in, but Hinata just told them different. He was set up to do a photoshoot with his kids, Boruto and Himawari with a magazine photographer. It had been one that Hinata herself had scheduled but somehow the date and time was pushed up. Something was up and the Dowager’s sudden absence didn’t help calm them any.

“Call the guards with the Emperor. Tell them to get him back here in time for the auction. She can’t try something with this many witnesses and guards.” Hinata ordered, Sasuke switching to the different radio channel. Taking a deep breath, she put on a smile as she reached the green room that had been made for the royal family. “Greetings, members of the royal family. The Emperor has a small prior commitment but I’ll escort you to the auction room.”

“Of course, he has to make an entrance.” Princess Karin scoffed, getting up. “Let’s get this over with.”

The doors were opened by the guards, Sasuke on the other side, leading the rest of the group to bow. His usual men were joined by King Gaara’s and the few Princess Karin took around with her. As the royal family left the room, Hinata and Sasuke exchanged glances. Their guard had to be up.

The royal family were greeted by guests, mingling as time grew later.

“We’re going to have to start soon.” Sasuke whispered. “People are starting to get anxious.”

“Did they find anything?” she asked, watching the mix of guards slip back inside the room.

“Nothing. I still don’t trust this. I called the guards, there was confusion about the start time, the Emperor is only now leaving.”

Hinata eyes widened. “How? There’s no way that was mixed up, I left the schedule on his desk.” then it hit her. “Her handmaid has been oddly helpful during set up, hasn’t she?”

“They already have orders to get him down here now. He knows something’s up, sent the kids with their guards to stay at the mall the shoot is happening. With so many witnesses, she can’t risk hurting them there.”

“Get their guards to get them to agree to do a stream.”

“Already done Sunshine. Apparently, you’re not allowed to watch because it’s a present for you.”

With the stress of everything, the knowledge that the heirs of the kingdom followed her like ducklings always made her smile. She squeezed Sasuke’s fingers, sharing a look with him before she moved to stand on the stage.

“Welcome everyone to the annual Royal Bazaar. We welcome the guests to this event and of course the members of the royal family who have joined us today. They’ve very kindly added their own items to the lists, so if you could please take your seats, Ambassador Nara and I will lead the auction.”

“What do you mean she checked herself out?”

Tsunade, who by blood was practically his aunt - cousin? - was also his doctor since birth. If there was anyone the Great Imperial Emperor was scared of and didn’t bow to him, it was her. She’d been dealing with a lot at the moment, so the fact that she hadn’t tried ripping his head off for interrupting her while she was busy meant a lot.

When he finally arrived at the castle after being stuck in traffic, he arrived to chaos. There had been a bomb, in his item to more accurate. He’d donated an antique clock from the family line to the auction, once he was sure none of his family wanted it. He’d given it to the staff Hinata had sent in to collect it, then heard that it went missing during inspection but turned up in the hands of the Dowager’s handmaid. With Hinata and Shikamaru running the auction, the two took turns describing the items for sale and it was just her luck she’d gotten the clock. She put her hand on the item and it radiated heat from the wiring inside. If it wasn’t for Sasuke’s quick mind once he’d seen Hinata’s reaction and his reaction thereafter, she would have been dead from the blast. As far as he currently knew, she had bumps and bruises, though a rather nasty cut on her forehead but no concussion and mild hearing loss, though Tsunade seemed to think that would recover. Sasuke barely got away with any scratches at all. He wasn’t even insulted when he ran in to find Sasuke rushing out with Hinata in his arms, demanding he get out of the way.

“Said she didn’t want to stay where she was easily reached. You gonna do something about that aunt of yours? Her delicate sensibilities are pulling me from actual important work. Besides, your Chief Guard is with her.”

Naruto nodded to himself. That part wasn’t surprising. He could be pretty oblivious but when Sasuke arrived back to work after recovering from the blow to the head, he was able to tell from the looks on their faces the minute they were in the same room.

He turned to his own guards, announcing they were going to check on Hinata before dealing with the rest of everything else. His usual entourage followed, servents bowing as he passed them by until he got to the wing of the castle Hinata lived with other high-level staff. Hinata had won the room lottery and gotten her own suite, similar to the ones the royal families had. One of the servants opened the door and he quietly walked in. the room was dark, glittering lights from the star light Sasuke hung outside her window the main source of light. His eyes adjusted and he opened the door to the bedroom, only to stop at the sight of Sasuke getting up from his seat by the bed. He watched Hinata move, grabbing his fingers, whispering something. Sasuke dropped his trench coat he held on the ground before retaking his place in his seat. Naruto just saw Sasuke press his lips against her hand. He decided that he didn’t need to check on them. Sasuke would protect Hinata from anything that came through her doors. He wondered if Kaguya knew exactly who she was dealing with?

Chapter Text

“Come on!” Sasuke demanded, dragging his brother through the crowd. The Junior Symphony Orchestra - Wind Division had just finished their concert, rounding out the separate divisions before the big final concert with the whole Symphony. The amount of people who came to see the Wind Division should have scared Sasuke with the thought of what the crowd will be coming the final concert, but he didn’t care. Right now, the only that mattered was a certain flute player. He finally spotted the familiar white bow with a strip of black through it he remembered when he saw her earlier. “Hinata! Itachi, hurry up!”

“Stop tugging me.” his older brother scolded, still following his younger brother, bowing his head to the adults with Hinata, the eldest of the Hyuuga daughters. Hanabi seemed to already be over everything, sitting on the floor, ignoring orders to get up.

“Hi Sasuke.” Hinata’s shy smile seemed brighter at the sight of the young Uchiha. She clutched her flute’s case tightly, much like Sasuke would hold onto his violin case in crowds.

“You were really good. I was able to pick you out from the rest of them. You’ll get first chair by next season, I know it.”

Her face got red. “I hope so.”

“I have something for you!” he turned, tugging on his brother’s shirt despite Itachi following the conversation. He was going to need a lecture about not pulling on clothes. He handed the flowers over, watching Sasuke turn and hold them out for Hinata. The boy had made them spend a near hour in the flower shop choosing the perfect bouquet.

“They’re so pretty!” uncharacteristically shoving her case to her father, she accepted the flowers, the size near dwarfing her face, but the smile was pretty much bigger.

“My mom said performers always need flowers after a show. So, I’ll always get you flowers. Promise.”

Itachi sighed. Great, more hours at the flower shop. But Hinata’s excited smile made it worth it.

“Hang on.” Sasuke called to Sakura and Naruto as he spotted a flower shop. He ducked inside, nodding to the shop associate, who stayed behind the desk checking something over on a clipboard. He ignored the sound of the bell ringing as he walked through the store, hoping something would catch his eye.

“Since when were you interested in flowers?” Naruto asked, looking over his shoulder. Sakura was nearby trying not to eavesdrop. It was taking her a while to still get over him romantically but he hoped she’d get over it soon. He hated being so awkward and overly careful with his words towards one of his closest friends.

“I need a bouquet for my performance tomorrow.”

“You’re pre-buying flowers for yourself?”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “They’re not for me. It’s for someone else. I won’t have time to get them tomorrow, we’re in rehearsal for hours before the performance.”

He’d gotten so many flowers over the years for each performance, he felt like he'd given her every flower possible.

“Girls don’t want flowers. They want bread.”

Sakura scoffed as Sasuke glared at him. “Where on earth did you hear that? There aren’t many bread products I’d want more than flowers.”

“Besides, I already got her a box of cinnamon buns in place of flowers one time. She liked them but she also shared them with everyone.”

“Oh,” Naruto said, smirking, “so it’s those type of flowers.”

Sakura shoved him away, shooing him off. “Go somewhere else! Disappear.” she turned to Sasuke, who was already tensing for the uncomfortable questions. His feelings for Hinata existed way before he met Sakura, just because he hadn’t acted on them didn’t mean they weren’t real. “Get that look off your face. I’m over you.”

She wasn’t yet but he wasn’t about to insult her by telling her that.

“You should get her something that says how much she’s on your mind. Be it an obvious sign or something more subtle. I’d actually like it if someone got me something with Sakura branches, since they’re so hard to get out of season.”

Hinata’s name meant sunny place and he always thought she was like sunshine whenever she smiled. He’d avoided sunflowers since they died quickly but it fit her. He spotted lavender and made his decision. He turned to Sakura, who like he thought, looked uncomfortable.

“Thanks.”

“She had better love this.”

At least she still cared about his happiness, even if it wasn’t with her.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?”

“No. I have the tickets to the Red Data Animal exhibit. It’s going on most of the day.  Just…good luck.”

“What was his problem?” Ino wondered, dropping herself onto Hinata’s bed. The girls had invited themself over to Hinata’s after she offered Sakura to borrow a dress for her team dinner date with Naruto. They had arrived just as Hinata’s cousin and near brother Neji was leaving. He had his gaze focused in his book, barely saying a word to Hinata other than asking her to move out of the way.

“It doesn’t matter.” Hinata said, picking up a remote and hitting a button, watching the other’s jaws drop as a set of doors slid open and revelled a walk-in closet. “Choose whichever one you want.”

“Holy crap! This place is bigger than my apartment!” Ino cried, getting up and leading Sakura and TenTen inside. Cinna, her Shiba Inu, slipped inside and followed the noise, causing TenTen to cry in glee and beg for her attention. She watched her friends look at the clothes, Sakura paying attention to the dresses until she pulled a pink Silke dress down.

“Would this be appropriate?”

“I wore that to a restaurant opening. The owner’s wife complimented me on it. As long as it’s not too short, I think it’s fine. Take it with you and try it on. If it’s too big, you can text me and I can bring something else.” Hinata promised.

“Thank you!” Sakura slipped it off the hanger, draping the dress over her arm and putting the hanger back when she spotted something. 

Shadowboxes, full of dried bouquets. There were dates and names on them and it took a moment to realize why the names looked familiar. They were orchestra pieces.

“Did you do these?” everyone gathered at the wall that was nearly completely full of the shadowboxes. “Were these for the performances you did with the Symphony Orchestra?”

“Yeah. I got a bouquet after every performance since Juniors.”

“Damn, your parents love you.” Ino said, staring up at all them.

“Oh, no. My parents didn’t give these to me. My…um, well we’re not dating but only because our families are being picky about it. But we perform together. He plays violin First Chair.”

“Is he cute?” Ino asked.

“He has said he wants to date you right? You know guys who aren’t committed will use any excuse.” TenTen warned.

But she didn’t need to worry, Sakura knew that for sure, staring at a familiar looking bouquet of sunflowers and lavender, the next one after being lavender and burgundy roses. She didn’t know meanings, but she knew roses. Sasuke was very committed and the minute his family stopped digging their heels about it - or in all honesty he stopped waiting for their permission - everyone would know how he felt.