Title: Hearts Collide
Disclaimer: I lie on the stand.
Rating: G ( K ) – for a slight bit of creepiness, but nothing worth a higher rating.
Spoilers: Maybe your dinner.
Summary: OneShot. "You...," he paused for another laugh. "Are...so...incredible." SasuHina.
Theme: Collision
"I'm...not...late!" Hinata huffed, feet pounding the well-worn forest path as she sprinted toward her intended destination. She pulled back the sleeve overwhelming her hand to check her watch; two minutes left and quite a distance to go. "Not...late...yet!" became the Hyuuga heiress' new mantra.
With a burst of speed granted by an increase of chakra, Hinata was propelled forward at a blurring pace. The foliage around her warped into a thick swirl of greens, browns, and random splashes of brighter color as she moved through it. The dark shadow – often utilized by the genius of team ten in his training – cast by the canopy of branches above Hinata was slowly thinning and flecks of light were beginning to appear on the path before her, indicating that her destination was getting closer by each passing second. The clearing wouldn't be too far ahead, now.
Fumbling with her baggy sleeve again, the Hyuuga heiress noted, "One minute! I'm not late yet!" before all came crashing down.
Well, she came crashing down, at least.
"Augh!"
"Oof – "
Tears of impromptu pain flooded Hinata's alabaster eyes. She lay, flat on her back, staring up into the light-spotted collage of leaves high above her as the scenery came back into focus, blurred by her dizzying speed and hard impact with the ground. "Ow...," Hinata sniffled, silently gathering the strength to get back up.
"You should watch where you're going," a soft voice whispered, only the barest touch of irritation evident in its tone. "You can go ahead and die if you want to, but don't drag others into it."
The Byakugan flickered to life for an instant – instinctively searching for a threat without the call of its mistress – but settled down when Hinata recalled it. With alarm verging on self-defense, the Hyuuga heiress bound upward into a sitting position to face her aggressive victim. She blushed heavily as she addressed him, "Sa-Sasuke-s-s-san!"
The only remaining Uchiha replied with an indifferent grunt, perched in a steady kneeling position.
"I-I-I'm so s-sorry!" Hinata cried, her panic getting the better of the pitch of her voice. With her head bowed in a beg for forgiveness, she didn't notice the flinch on Sasuke's face. "I should h-have b-b-been w-watching where I was g-going!"
The Uchiha snorted, "With the Byakugan, you should have seen me from at least a couple of miles away."
It was Hinata's turn to flinch. Sasuke was right, of course; the Byakugan was designed for infiltration at long distances, giving her little to no excuse for crashing into an innocent bystander. Her cousin – ever so encouraging, as was his nature – would have been appalled that she hadn't been using her blood limit as it was intended. How inept could the future head of the Hyuuga clan be? There were no bounds to her inadequacy, it seemed, despite her strong lineage...
"I'm s-s-sorry, S-Sasuke-s-san...I'm such a k-k-klutz," she repeated, lowering her face until her chin touched her chest. She blinked new tears from her powerful vision.
"It...wasn't your fault."
Hinata dared to peek up at Sasuke through her dark bangs.
His face was averted from her, his dark eyes glaring at something in a totally separate direction from Hinata. There was a slight flush to his cheeks, as if he had been the one running through the woods this morning.
"I'm s-sorry?"
"It wasn't your fault. I should have stepped out of the way." Sasuke's heavy gaze flickered to Hinata for a brief second as he scolded, "And stop apologizing."
"S-sorry!" the Hyuuga heiress hid her face again quickly. After realizing her mistake, however, she sat up straight in a tense position and began waving her hands around in a panic. "Ah! No, I'm sorry for apologizing again! W-wait, oh...I-I'm not sorry! Well, I am, but n-not – "
"Ah...ha ha...ha!" Sasuke gasped between laughs, eyes obscured by the hand holding his head up by his forehead. He leaned heavily on his knee as if unable to hold himself upright, despite his magnificent balance after collision with Hinata, which enabled him to at least remain on his feet.
Hinata bit her lip, effectively silencing her babbling with pain, as she watched the Uchiha enjoy himself at her expense. The experience was rather creepy, the more she thought about it. She hoped that he would stop soon.
"You...," he paused for another laugh. "Are...so...incredible."
"Eh?" the Byakugan twitched, as if detecting a lie. "N-no! I'm not, r-r-really!"
"Yes, you are," he fixed her with a mirthful look. It swirled deep within his onyx orbs, flashing on the surface of his famous composure as he regained his stoic countenance. There was a light smile on his lips as he graced her with his full attention. "Quite incredible."
The deep stain of red embarrassment spread to Hinata's ears as she began pressing her two forefingers together, a nervous habit that not even she realized she had. "I-I'm not incr-cr-credible."
She heard him move, saw him stand out of the corner of her pearly eyes, before a soft puff of warm breath tingled on the shell of her ear. Sasuke's voice was a husky timbre as he asked, "So you're saying I'm wrong?"
Hinata's pulse beat in time with the balmy air breathing against her ear. "N-no, Sasuke-san!"
"Then you're incredible."
"OI!"
Hinata leapt backwards and away from Sasuke as if caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She whipped her attention in the direction she had been going before crashing into self-proclaimed avenger. "Ki-Kiba-kun!" she squeaked.
Framed by sunlight behind him and flanked by an abnormally large dog, Kiba stood further along the path, looking far more than displeased at the scene he had encountered.
"What's going on here, eh?" he asked, attempting to sound aloof, but the growling timbre in his voice gave him away. Akamaru was far more forthcoming with his irritation, barking at the Uchiha in close proximity to the Hyuuga heiress.
"We were having a tryst," Sasuke said dryly, a smirk twitching at the corners of his mouth.
Before her feral teammate could unleash his half-grown dog on Sasuke, Hinata spoke up in their defense, "No! I was...we were just...it was an a-a-accident!" the blood rushing to her normally pale face was making her dizzy. "I c-c-crashed into S-Sasuke-san because I w-wasn't looking where I was g-g-going."
Kiba held his hand out to Akamaru, signaling his pet-turned-weapon to back down. "Hn," he still looked skeptical, eyes roving over the hovering Uchiha, but made no further moves in aggression. "Come on, then. You're so late for training that I had to come looking for you."
"Y-yes, coming, Kiba-kun...," Hinata flashed him a wavering smile. The dog-wielder relaxed his stance and returned the gesture with a set of sharpened teeth.
"Here."
Hinata blinked, returning her attention to Sasuke. He was on his feet and offering a hand to her.
She accepted with a shaking hand of her own, allowing him to pull her up. The transition was effortless on the Uchiha's part, a mere tug of the muscles for her slight weight, and she was soon standing with him, almost flush against his body.
"Th-thank y-y-you," Hinata stammered, taking a large step backwards. Akamaru was barking in the background.
Sasuke's eyes were blank and unmoved again. "You're welcome."
"H-h-have a good d-day," she bowed, glad for a reprieve from his gaze. Hinata rose again. "I hope to see you soon."
Something flickered in the Uchiha's eyes this time. "I look forward to it."
"Um...yes, w-well, goodb-bye."
Hinata dashed away – Byakugan activated, just in case – and didn't glance back. She was more than certain that he was still watching with that odd light of fascination flashing in his eyes, though the Hyuuga heiress was unable to fathom why.
Only when she and Kiba, situated comfortably on the back of Akamaru, were out of Sasuke's line of sight did she chance looking back. She activated her Byakugan, straining to catch a glimpse of what she had left behind, and...
...found a pair of swirling ebony orbs staring right back.
Authors Notes: First SasuHina fic ever. First Naruto fic ever, actually. I hope I was successful with characterization, but I'm never totally confident in it until I've written several things for the same fandom Let me know.
Sorry if Sasuke seemed a little...creepy, but he seems creepy to me, so that's the way I wrote him.
For sunnyday love's May contest (assuming that I turned it in on time).
. ( . Ms. Videl Son . ) .
– Love can be black and white. SasuHina.