Rubatosis

-::-

Sasuke forgot how long he was there. There — meaning back in Konoha. Back where it all started. The only thing he was aware of was the fact that he was in the hospital. He guessed Naruto did a bang up job on bringing him back by the way he was barely able to open his eyes let alone sit up in the bed. All he felt was the pain shooting throughout his whole body.

The only consolation Sasuke got from this whole ordeal was the idea that Naruto was probably in far much more pain than him. He couldn't even smile at the thought of that — just trying to move the corners of his lips upwards in a mocking manner hurt too much. He was in this hell hole for about a rough 2 months. And he hated every single person here, Naruto being an exception — at times.

Straining his eyes by opening them a little, he stared at the blank white ceiling. It was so fucking bland and he despised it. Just about everything in Konoha made him so sick to his stomach. He couldn't even understand why the hell his brother went to such lengths to protect this disgusting village.

His eyesight blurred and the pristine white of the ceiling began to look like a muddled gray. If he could, he would laugh at himself. Sasuke Uchiha. The last Uchiha, confined in a small hospital room — being taken care of by the people he wanted to kill. Just what was he doing here?

Sasuke took a sharp intake of breath as sudden pain shot throughout his body. He could barely lift his arms, or his head for that matter. All his chakra points were sealed and with every breath he took he felt like he was an inch closer to death. Sasuke bitterly thought that death would have been more enjoyable than being stuck in a village where no one trusts him.

He was back because of the fact that he was the last Uchiha. Sasuke, even though it may be minuscule, did have a heart and he felt that if he died without at least having brought in one more Uchiha into the world, he'd be doing a great disservice to Itachi.

The Uchiha knew no one would believe him if he told them, but he wanted to start over again. He knew that nothing will be back as it used to. He, with his own hands, shattered the smiles of his comrades. No one was going to trust him, and if they actually did, it would take time. The only person who Sasuke was sure was looking out for him was that dumbass Naruto. This whole time, he looked for him.

It sickened him.

Slowly, as the time went by and the clock ticked monotonously, Sasuke's eyesight began to revert the ceiling back to its original white state. He silently wondered who was going to come today — if anyone. On Tsunade's orders, the Rookie Nine was supposed to visit him at least once, for the purpose of trying to obtain information.

'And keep me company', Sasuke thought bitterly. He was in no mood for the company of the other ninjas he grew up with. At first, Sakura was a frequent visitor. She'd try to heal minor wounds and bruises that he incurred while tossing and turning in the hospital wound — but other than that there was no interaction. She just watched him with piercing eyes of emerald and he wouldn't even look at her. Perhaps it was to make him feel guilty.

It would work sometimes.

She stopped coming, though. On her last visit, she whispered words that she possibly thought the Uchiha didn't pick up on.

"Welcome home."

He laughed bitterly at that, only for his laugh to die out halfway and cause him to cough. He had no home. His family is dead. His village hated him. What kind of home was this? But, he had to admit, there were times when he would laugh around his teammates. There was a time when he was at peace.

Before the memories of the past flooded his mind, Sasuke thought about the other ninja who came to visit him. Kiba and Shino came once. They didn't say much, but Kiba was angry, that much Sasuke could tell. Before they left, Shino told Sasuke a piece of information he wasn't aware of before.

"All of us were ready to kill you. But we didn't. Why? Because of Naruto, who still considered you as a friend." Sasuke heard the hatred laced into the Aburame's steady words. With that said, Kiba rushed out, not wanted to be in the room with Sasuke another second, as Shino walked calmly in his trail.

Neji and Lee came the following week, with stares of disgust. Sasuke assumed the male Hyuuga was the one who sealed his chakra points. He was right about that, since Lee told him. Lee wasn't able to sit around quietly, unlike Neji who judged Sasuke quietly. He would pace around, and actually talk. He told Sasuke how Naruto would so willingly defy anyone for the sake of finding Sasuke. He compared Naruto's loyalty to a flame that never died out, to which Neji uncharacteristically rolled his eyes.

They left, too. One visit and that's it — that's all they were required to do. All of them, except for Sakura (she visited him about 10 times) never came back to see how he was after that one mandatory visit was done and over with. Sasuke didn't care.

He vaguely remembered the time Shikamaru's team came. Ino tried getting into him — into his mind and retrieve information like Tsunade had ordered. She was able to, of course, with Sasuke in his weakened state and what not. But she quickly stopped the jutsu and went back to her own body, screaming hell and profanities, only after a couple of seconds of being 'Sasuke Uchiha'. And all she could do was scream in response. Sasuke, from what he could remember, saw the look of terror in Ino's eyes right before she ran out the room. Shikamaru and Chouji followed after her obediently, not wanting to question the Uchiha.

Ino must have seen just a glimpse of what he did, what he saw, and what he went through.

Before he could delve into his memories a bit deeper regarded the Ino-Shika-Cho team visit, he suddenly remembered one other idiot who visited him — and kept visiting him. The idiot who was heads over heels for the blonde idiot who brought him back.

Hinata Hyuuga.

Reluctantly, he recollected his memory of her first visit. When she had come and sat in the chair placed near his hospital bed, he was somewhat surprised. Before then, he had a vague memory of Hinata. She was someone who didn't fawn over him, but the idiot Naruto. She was someone so helplessly weak, as to get beaten merciless in front of everyone by her own blood. They never talked, save for once or twice, when she would press her index fingers together, and stutter out an annoying, "H-Have you s-seen Naruto today?"

But that day, he realized that she had grown up and left her embarrassing academy self in the past, growing out her hair and not having to twiddle her thumbs or anything. A light shade of pink still dusted her cheeks, and it seemed that she haven't gotten over her stutter, as she greeted Sasuke shakily.

But there was one huge difference he noticed. She seemed more…stronger — or more confident, to be precise. From what Sasuke could recall, the Hinata he was 'knew' was always wavering. But this one, this one was terribly scared of the male Uchiha, but still sat in the chair, her eyes never leaving him. That, and the fact that she smelled like cinnamon buns was different. Despite hating sweet things, whenever the Hyuuga came to visit, the smell of the treat that filled the usually sickly hospital air comforted him.

On that first day, Sasuke disregarded her completely. She didn't really want to be there, obviously. There was fear in her words, but she was still polite.

He was prepared to ignore any questions that he would be asked, knowing that Tsunade probably came up with it. But he wasn't prepared for the question that Hinata would ask.

When she sat down, her hands were shaking a bit, and the smell of cinnamon buns embracing the air between them, Hinata looked at Sasuke who in turn, looked at the ceiling — avoiding eye contact.

"H-How are you?" It was a whisper. But it was loud enough to make Sasuke turn his head a bit in shock, to face the byakugan-user. What surprised him the most was the genuine concern her eyes contained.

He remembered the way her eyes widened when he gave her a menacing glare, making her cheeks gain color. Sasuke could tell she was trying her best to be polite and not look away by the way she fidgeted slightly in her chair.

He didn't answer her question, and averted his gaze from the nervous Hyuuga to the bland ceiling again.

She didn't stop talking. For the hour she was there, the usually quiet room was filled with stuttered out sentences.

"I-It was very sunny today," She always spoke softly. He didn't answer. Sasuke continued to stare at the ceiling. A second later, Hinata had told him she had plans with Kiba, Akamaru and Shino later on that day — they were going to have a picnic.

"I don't give a shit, Hyuuga." Sasuke bluntly pointed out, watching Hinata out of the corner of his eye. He expected her to cry and leave, and never come back. But instead, she did something he never expected she'd do.

She smiled.

He went back to looking at the ceiling, pondering on why she was such a weird girl.

On the end of her first visit, she left some of her handmade ointment on the desk besides Sasuke's bed, informing him it would help with sore spots and bruises if he'd applied it.

He still wouldn't talk, as she said goodbye and left the room.

Remembering all of that made Sasuke a bit tired, as his eyes drooped. He was surprised he had even remembered the things she had said on her first visit.

Sasuke looked over at the table. On it was the small rounded container which encased the ointment that Hinata had given him. He scoffed. How did she expect him to apply it? He could barely move, and the nurses were all deathly afraid of him. They wouldn't even think of talking to him, let alone applying ointment onto his skin.

He knew she had noticed the unopened container during the next few visits, but said nothing about it. She probably thought Sasuke hated her, which wasn't far from the truth. He just didn't hate her as much as everyone else.

And with the door slightly ajar, the smell of cinnamon buns wafted through the sickly hospital air once more this week, and Sasuke looked towards the door expectantly. She must have been here already.

In a matter of seconds, the door was pushed open slowly, and the Hyuuga female that was invading Sasuke's thoughts only moments before, stepped in. Hinata noticed Sasuke looking at her, which surprised her. Her surprise melted into a small smile directed to the former missing-nin, which gained her an unsettling frown from Sasuke, and she closed the door behind her. Sasuke's eyes followed her every movement obediently; he was desperately trying to figure out why she was such a puzzle to him.

"Good afternoon, Sasuke." She greeted him. She offered a polite bow before finding her way to the seat stationed next to his bed.

Silence quickly found a comfortable place to be in between the two. Sasuke took his eyes off of the female and stared blankly at the ceiling, a scowl settling into his features. He really hated her — she was numbingly polite and quiet. She was too innocent. It made him sick to his stomach. Just thinking about it made his frown even deeper.

The concerned Hyuuga watched with worried eyes.

"I-Is everything alright?" She asked, tilting her head a bit to the side as if to get a better view of Sasuke. Sasuke didn't answer her but he did let his frown recede a bit, with it becoming his usual look of discomfort. Although she didn't receive a reply like she had hoped, Hinata was content enough with this and slipped back into the chair comfortably.

And then her hushed ramblings began. She told Sasuke about how she trained with Kiba and Akamaru earlier that day. He would nod once in a while, to show that he was listening, even though he was thinking most of the time, as her words filled the emptiness.

And as Hinata described how Kiba tried to attack her with a swift swipe, Sasuke caught himself looking at her again. She didn't notice, however, since she was absorbed into telling Sasuke how Kiba had fallen instead, and the way Akamaru toppled over him as well.

After that came a soft laugh, which Hinata covered with a hand.

Sasuke felt a sudden pain while he watched the female laugh happily. No worries, no regrets. Can someone live so foolishly like that? Oh, how long has it been since he was able to laugh like that? Laugh about his comrade making a fool out of himself. How long has it been since someone had even trusted Sasuke?

While being immersed in his thoughts, Sasuke didn't realize Hinata was calling him. When he did, she was already hovering over him, a hesitant hand suspended in the air. Pupil eyes looked at him, concern clashing against fear.

When she found Sasuke looking back at her, Hinata let out a surprised 'eek!' and quickly withdrew her hand. With a blink of an eye, she jumped away from Sasuke as if being near him would cause her to incur an incurable disease. Sasuke wouldn't be surprised if it did.

Sasuke didn't know what he was expecting. For someone like him to expect acceptance and forgiveness was certainly a farfetched thought.

He deemed Hinata's fear of him as appropriate.

With her hands furiously playing with the hem of her sweater, Hinata stuttered out an apology.

"I-I-I'm so sorry," She said quickly, "I thought I hurt you or something and —" Hinata quieted herself. She continued to play with her sweater, as she reprimanded herself mentally for being so rude. Yes, she was frightened of Sasuke. But she knew he wouldn't hurt her. Albeit he may have not made a move to injure her yet, most possibly due to his own injuries, she knew he could have still hurt her. But he didn't.

And yet, she let her childish fear of the big bad wolf get the better of her. The wolf being none other than Sasuke, of course.

She shut her eyes, imagining how furious Sasuke must be. Hinata wasn't prepared to see another glare.

Sasuke watched silently as Hinata stood, her hands still clutching onto the hem of her sweater.

He knew he had this effect on people. For them to suddenly just clam up and look at him in fear. It never bothered him before. But seeing someone he'd only been acquaintances with for about a month made him feel uneasy.

He was about to sit up in bed, but a stinging pain shot throughout his body, causing him to fall back down and let out a pained grunt which did not go unnoticed by Hinata. She quickly opened her eyes, and forgot all about being scared in order to approach Sasuke. Her hands slowly released the fabric of her sweater.

She stopped a step away from his bed, wondering whether or not he needed her help.

Sasuke seemed to read her thoughts as he took in her scent of cinnamon buns. He hated sweet things.

He hated her.

Sasuke looked at Hinata in the eye and let down his cool exterior for a second to request something. It was Sasuke's turn to use a hushed tone as he asked, "Can you apply the ointment on for me?"

Hinata's eyes grew wide as she realized this was the first time he had spoken to her. She felt oddly calm by the sound of his rough voice. He felt oddly at peace by the way she gave him his attention — the way she treated him like a person.

Letting her cheeks heat up, Hinata looked away, embarrassed. She never applied ointment to a male — Sasuke Uchiha no less!

Despite all the warning signs in her head, and all the ways this could go wrong, Hinata couldn't stop herself accepting.

Just as Sasuke couldn't help himself inhale the nauseating smell of cinnamon buns.

-::-

a/n: gasp! It isn't a one shot! thoughts? Reviews on things that I could improve on? Anyways, thank you so much for reading! As for the fic itself, let's assume that during the weeks that Hinata had visited Sasuke they actually became a bit closer? (although it consisted of Hinata talking only ahh) hopefully, i can actually do a good job on this! Thanks again!