InterventionAuthor: fleacollar999
They had the Perfect Plan. While the rest of the Rookie Nine and Team Gai seemed to be getting married, or at least dating, Sasuke and Hinata remained unattached... But not for long if Sakura, Ino, and Ten Ten had anything to do with it. It was time for an Intervention.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura ran up to the dark-haired boy-- no, man. It was hard to believe that everyone was 21 now... "Do you want to go to lunch with me?"
As she fell into step with him, Sasuke considered the offer. It would be a strictly platonic affair since Sakura had shocked everyone by announcing that Rock Lee was now her boyfriend, and it would be nice to spend time with this teammate who had become his friend. Not that he was going to tell her that. He nodded his consent and she smiled and began to lead him to her favorite barbeque place.
"Thanks for inviting me to lunch, Ino-chan," Hinata said excitedly, though quietly, while stepping into the restaurant with her friend. She had gotten over the stuttering in her mid-teens (though she tended to relapse when she was embarrassed or stressed) but retained her mild nature.
"No problem!" The blond said cheerfully. "I hope you're in the mood for barbeque!" Hinata nodded emphatically and nearly bumped into Ino when the blond stopped short. "Look, Hinata-chan! Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun are here! Would you like to eat with them?"
Hinata was a little surprised because Ino usually did whatever she she wanted to without regard for others, but she bobbed her dark head and smiled brightly at the offer. "Hello Sakura-chan, Sasuke-san," she said as they approached the two ninja. "Do you mind if we eat with you?"
Sasuke simply stared at her, which caused her to shift her weight from foot to foot uncomfortably, but Sakura replied with an enthusiastic greeting and asked them to please sit down.
The conversation was flowing and Ino and Sakura were grinning evilly in their heads while Hinata and Sasuke remained oblivious to the girls' machinations.
"Oh, yum!" The pink haired girl cried as their food was delivered. They had ordered a large platter as a group and it did indeed look delicious.
"It looks delicious," Hinata agreed quietly, putting some food on her plate. Sasuke merely nodded and did the same while Ino piled food on her plate enthusiastically.
It was then that Ten Ten showed up. "Sakura! Ino! Hokage-sama wants to see us right away!"
"Really?" Ino groaned, looking at the food longingly. "Fine." She pulled some money out of her pocket and dropped it on the table. "This should be enough to pay for my share."
Sakura did the same while apologizing, "I'm so sorry you guys! We'll have to do this again later!" She joined the other girls, and Hinata watched as the pink and blond girls exit the restaurant. She sighed; she had really been excited to go out with her friends. Now she was alone with Sasuke-- a man she barely knew.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, muttering, "Women." Hinata glared at him... Well, as much of a glare as she could manage. "What?" He dared her to answer.
"They wouldn't have invited us if they knew they were going to have to leave!" The angry words tumbled out of her mouth. "Not everyone is as rude as you are!" Hinata's pale eyes widened as her face turned pink. "I-- I, um... I -I have to g-go," she spluttered and stood up quickly to leave.
Sasuke quirked an eyebrow and smirked; this was definitely not the Hinata he remembered from the Academy. He hadn't had much contact with her in the three years he'd been back, but now he knew there was much more to this Hyuuga than met the eye. And he was curious.
He grabbed her elbow as she walked by. "Don't worry, I'm used to it. Stay with me," he ordered. "I don't want to eat alone again."
Hinata complied in a daze. Why would he want to have lunch with her? "Um, d-do you like barbeque?" She asked, picking at her food. She didn't want to sit there in eternal awkward silence.
"It's alright,"he said, about to take a bite. "I only came here because Sakura wanted to." He chewed thoughtfully. "Do you like it?"
She nodded, "Yes, but my favorite food is... Well, I like shrimp onigiri." Sasuke wondered if she was going to ask about his. He had a don't ask-don't tell policy; if they don't ask then he don't tell. She asked.
"I like tomatoes," he said. Hinata giggled softly and he glared at her. "What's so funny about tomatoes?" He demanded.
She hid a small smile behind a hand and said, "There's nothing wrong with tomatoes, I just didn't expect an answer like that from you." Sasuke looked at her expectantly, so she continued. "I thought you were going to say something more masculine, like 'Red Meat!'."
He stared at her for a moment but then threw his head back in laughter. Hinata looked ridiculous-- he guessed that she was posing in a manner that was supposed to be what men looked like when they talked about meat. Hinata was slightly confused for a moment, but then realized how silly she looked. She blushed crimson at first, then began to giggle, and then burst into laughter-- it really was funny.
It must have been strange to see these two quiet people, one aloof and one shy, laugh so freely. They laughed so freely that an old woman sitting with her friends a couple of booths away turned to shush them.
As the couple's laughter began to die down Hinata nearly died of embarrassment. Because she snorted. That, of course, sent Sasuke into another fit of laughter. "Um...uh-- ex-excuse me, I h-have to g-go to th-the ladies' room." She practically dove out of her seat for the sanctuary the restroom provided.
"BWAH!!" She screamed, bursting into the bathroom. She had never been so embarrassed in her life. She splashed some water on her burning face and looked into the mirror. Hinata didn't know why she was so upset that she had snorted in front of Sasuke. Maybe it was because he was so handsome-- No, it was because she had snoted in front of everyone in the restarant. Yeah, that was it.
She left the bathroom and headed for the table, but when she saw Sasuke smirking at her she nearly turned right back around-- except somebody grabbed her wrist. She turned around slowly to face Sasuke as she tried to keep another blush at bay. She lost. "Don't worry, Hinata-chan," he said as he led her back to their booth. "I'll just try not to make you laugh." The blush was inevitable, and so was the smirk. "Hinata-chan"? That was an interesting development, but it seemed natural so he decided to with it.
One of the old ladies, a friend of the one who had shushed them, sighed. "Do you remember what it was like to be young and in love?" She asked her companions, and a dreamy look materialized on all of their cute wrinkled faces. (Yay old people!)
Sasuke rolled his eyes as Hinata sighed dejectedly and looked down at the table. "What?" He asked insistently. "What's making you sad? Are you still in love with Naruto?"
"No," she said looking him in the eye even though her face had colored again. "It's just that... I've never experienced young love. What I felt for Naruto-kun was more admiration than anything else."
"Che. I never had time for love," he snorted in derision.
"Yes," Hinata agreed. "You were very dedicated to your cause." He nodded gravely and she felt an intense need to change the subject. "What-- what's your favorite color?"
If you knew Sasuke really well and were sitting very closely to him and squinted you could tell he was blushing. "Um, well... You know at the very beginning of spring, and the sakura trees are beginning to blossom, and the buds are just unfolding? The flowers are white, with the faintest blush of pink... That's my favorite color," he said it very slowly and hesitantly. "I used to... To take cuttings of the branches and give them to my mother." He stared off into the distance and Hinata felt terrible for asking him. He snapped back to reality. "What's your favorite color?"
She smiled; he wasn't mad at her. "When I see my favorite color, it's not just a color to me... It's an entire sensory experience." Sasuke raised his eyebrows in interest. "My favorite color is the green of the grass in the summer, and when I see it I can feel the sun on my face and hear the birds sing and smell the flowers... It's so wonderful."
Sasuke nodded and the ghost of a smile appeared. "I would have thought it'd be purple since you wear it all the time."
Hinata blushed a little (...my favorite color...), and giggled, "I do like purple, but it's not my favorite. I wear it because grass green would look terrible on me." She stuck out her tongue and he smirked.
"Yeah, it would," Sasuke said. She glared at him. "What? You were asking for it." Hinata rolled her eyes and the conversation went on.
Meanwhile, the three little old ladies were spying on the pair. "What's going on?" The one with the brown eyes asked. Her back was to Sasuke and Hinata. "How are they reacting to each other?"
"It's so adorable!" The one with green eyes sighed. "They were nade for-- Hey! He just blushed! Sasuke blushed!" She hissed at the old lady with blue eyes who was scribbling in a notebook.
"What?" Brown-eyes gasped. "They're talking about favorite colors!"
"Shh!" Green-eyes was watching them intently. "Oh, my gosh! He's smiling! She's blushing!" She began to shake Brown-eyes' shoulder. "What are they talking about?"
Brown-eyes turned her head slightly in order to hear better. "She's saying that green would look terrible on her"
"Well, it would-- Ino! We have a smirk from Sasuke and a glare with a stuck out tongue from Hinata!" Green-eyes said to Blue-eyes.
"Sakura, be quiet," Ino hissed at Green-eyes. "They'll hear us and it'll be all over!"
Sakura sulked. "Well, Ten Ten thinks it's exciting, too."
"Yes, it is, now shut up! Do you want me to be able to hear their conversation or not?" She muttered.
Sakura gave up and looked at the pair again. "Just look at them!" She gushed. "Oh, young love is so inspiring. It makes me want to dance with joy or-- what?" Ino was looking at her as if she were insane.
"You really are dating Lee, aren't you?" She whispered.
Sakura's face turned the shade of her hair, and it looked really odd. Eventually the blush died down and she began chattering away about how cute it all was as Ino and Ten Ten glared at her and, sometimes, smacked her upside the head.
It went on like this for what seemed like forever until even Sakura got tired of talking. "Ino, what's the blush/smile ratio for Hinata?"
The blond girl looked down at her notebook and checked her numbers. "We have seventeen smiles to thirteen blushes," she stated.
"Wow," Ten Ten gasped quietly. "That's really good!"
"Just you wait," Ino smirked. "We have nine blush and smile combinations." She looked triumphant as the other two girls cheered silently. "And for Sasuke, we have a smirk/smile ratio of twenty-four to eleven."
Sakura was flabbergasted. "Oh, my God! He's never, ever, smiled so much in one day! In one week! Hell, in a month! There must be something really special about Hinata."
"Well, duh," Ten Ten rolled her eyes. "It's Hinata."
The pink haired girl giggled but then grabbed Ten Ten's shoulder. "Wait! They're getting up! He put money on the table... What's he saying?" She asked excitedly.
Ten Ten closed her eyes and focused on Sasuke's voice. "He's asking her if she wants to go for a walk with him. She's saying something... But... I can barely hear it. She's too quiet."
"Well, it must have been yes because he's escorting her out of the restaurant!" Sakura exclaimed, dashing out of the building and ending the transformation jutsu. Soon the other two girls joined her on the sidewalk.
"Argh!" Ino cried, stamping her foot. "Where'd they go?"
"Oh, gee, Ino, I'll just activate my Byakugan and track their chakra signatures while Sakura searches for them with her bugs," the brown-haired girl growled, equally as frustrated.
"Wait wait wait!" Pinky elbowed between her friends. "Back in my Sasuke days, I found out where his favorite place is."
Ten Ten smirked, "How? By stalking him?"
Sakura glared at her before jumping onto the rooftop. "Oh, shut up! Just come on!"
"Where are we going?" Sasuke asked the small woman in front of him. She turned around to face him while walking backwards.
"We're going to where the grass grows greenest," she smiled and twirled around, her dark hair fanning out behind her. "I'm so glad it's nice out today!" Sasuke smirked at Hinata's antics and caught her hand when she whirled around again. She looked down at their clasped hands and blinked. "Huh?"
He looked down at her, completely non-chalant. "Is something wrong, Hinata-chan?" He asked innocently.
"Erm, no," she stammered, "Sasuke...kun." She blushed and he smiled for the twelfth time that day. Not that you could really tell he was smiling. "There it is!" She cried and half-dragged him up a hill. "Here," she said. "My favorite place."
Wow, Sasuke thought, his eyes taking in the vista of a hill covered with wild flowers and a river flowing below. It was almost as beautiful as Hi-- no, almost as beautiful as... As beautiful as... It was just pretty, damn it!
He scowled and Hinata was upset. "You don't like it?" She was disappointed that he didn't like it; he was the only one she had ever brought there and the only one she'd ever wanted to take there.
"No," he said quietly. "It's great." Hinata smiled and Sasuke suddenly smirked. Grabbing her other hand he spun the two of them around. Hinata laughed brightly, and he loved to know that he had caused it. Unbeknownst to Sasuke, she had formed a devious plot in her head. As their spinning reached hyper-speed, she let go of his hands and giggled as he stumbled backwards and fell.
"Hinata-chan," he growled at her as she stepped over him with her tongue out and flashed a V-for-Victory.
"Quit whining, Sasuke-kun," she said smiling. "You know it was funny!"
He dropped his head onto the ground and sighed. "Whatever, just gimme a hand up." She stuck out her hand and he smirked. He pulled on her hand and she fell forwards-- while he meant to pull her so that she would fall beside him, he misjudged the trajectory and Hinata landed on top of him.
Hinata's face crashed onto his, giving him a bloody nose. The icing on the cake was that her lips smushed his in a gravity-induced kiss.
She jerked her head up, startled, as he asked, "What...just happened?"
"I... I d-don't really kn-know."
The three girls landed on a tree and searched for the pair. They were in a clearing in the forest by Team 7's usual training area. It was quite peaceful, what with a trickling stream and chirping birds-- until Ino screamed at Sakura.
"Yeah, great idea, Billboard-Brow! What do you think we should do know, genius?"
"Well, I don't see you coming up with any ideas, Ino-Pig!" Sakura snarled viciously.
"Oh, you wanna fight then, Pinky?"
"Hell, yeah--"
Ten Ten stepped in between the two girls before the cat fight could escalate. "Shut up, will you? Just shut up!" Sakura and Ino stared at her. "Hinata obviously asked him to go to her favorite place. Do either of you know where her favorite place is?" They shook their heads. "Then why don't we let nature take it's course? We gave them a push in the right direction, and there was definitely something there, so let's leave well enough alone."
"Okay," Sakura shrugged.
"Yeah, I'm tired, and I'm meeting Chouji later," Ino agreed. "Let's go to the hot baths."
"Cool." The three girls bounded away through the forest.
"My nose hurts," Sasuke complained as he tried to stop the flow of blood from his nose.
"Um... Well, I have...um...," Hinata reached into her pocket. "Here." She shoved the tampon up his nose before he could see what it was.
He crossed his eyes and looked down his nose. "What the hell? Hinata-chan!"
"It was all I had!" She said defensively, standing up. "You were getting blood all over your clothes. I'll give you a hand up, but you won't pull me down again, will you?"
Sasuke smirked, "I don't know, Hinata-chan, last time it turned out pretty well."
Her face turned crimson red. "S-sasuke-k-kun! We hardly kn-know each other!" She stammered.
He frowned; he didn't know why, but he wanted her to feel the same way. "So we didn't talk for hours today? You didn't take me to your favorite place?" He got up, pulled the embarrassing tampon out of his nose, and stood in front of her.
Hinata was nervous at the proximity-- she could feel his body heat and there was a strange sensation in her stomach. "Um, y-yes, an-and I had a r-really n-nice time, b-but I n-need to go." When she turned around Sasuke shifted to stand in front of her again.
"Would you like to go on another date sometime?" He asked. He was nervous. Uchiha Sasuke is never nervous. Clearly, there was something wrong with him. At her startled reaction he explained, "You were leaving and I asked you to stay, and you did. We held hands and you took me to your favorite place. Seems like a date to me."
She looked at her feet. "I-- I've never been on a date before," she said quietly and smiled up at Sasuke. "I... I would like to go on another one. With you." Hinata blushed at her moxie and looked at the ground again. "I really enjoyed it."
Sasuke smiled his thirteenth smile, and this time it was visible to the naked eye. She blushed and smiled back. Hinata had made him smile.
"What did you enjoy?" He asked suddenly. "The date or this?" He leaned in and gave Hinata a real kiss.
When he broke the kiss he smirked at her expression. "Um, w-well, I r-really enjoyed b-both a-and... And I th-think th-that we should d-do i-it again s-sometime..." She was blushing like mad.
"Okay," he said simply, and kissed her again.
"I m-meant later!" She spluttered, blushing for the nineteenth time that day.
He smirked at her. "Alright," he said, putting a hand on her cheek. "Hinata-chan, your face is really hot." She nodded. He kissed her for a third time. "It's later," he whispered into her ear.
"Eep!" Hinata began to beat her head on Sasuke's shoulder.
"Stop that, you'll get a bruise. Besides, you know you liked it." Sasuke felt a little bad for being so arrogant, but he smirked at her renewed blush.
"I know!" She cried. "That's why I'm doing this, Sasuke-kun!" He hugged her and laughed, then took her hand and walked her home.
Woo, that was a long one. Took me foreva to type. But I think it was worth it, don't you? So, to answer your question before you ask it, this story also contains the ships of Lee and Sakura, Ino and Chouji (you know it's cute!), and Ten Ten and Neji. That last one wasn't too creative, but who cares? I hoped you enjoyed it, and, as always, drop me a line!
3, Jessy
