Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: Hello people! I hope this chapter isn't that late. Hopefully, the length more than makes up for it. It's a Sunday, so I barely made it in the two week mark; I know I promised to update this story once every two weeks. It's the holidays so things have been crazy around the house lately and I haven't the time to just sit quietly in front of the computer and update. Anyway, that said, I hope you folks enjoy this chapter. Happy Holidays!

Tragedy

Chapter 5

It was because she had pinned her hair up in a bun that he noticed it.

Normally, she had her hair braided to the side but it was a muggy day and she was probably feeling the heat so she put it up.

Sasuke was outside, exercising Shiro with a Frisbee, when Hinata came out of the house to sit on the porch with her sketchpad. She sat a little ways away from them and began sketching.

Hinata was still feeling a little embarrassed from the other day but the weather was too pleasant to stay cooped up in her room, even if it was a little hot. Besides, it was a perfect opportunity to draw the lighthouse as the lighting gave her an excellent view. Plus, after she was done, she could sneak a few motion sketches of Sasuke and Shiro. It was worth feeling awkward around him, in her opinion.

He ignored her for the most part, except for a few glances in her general direction now and then. Mostly, he focused his attention on Shiro as the dog chased happily after the disc, his shiny black coat glinting in the sunlight.

Hinata admired the dog's sleek fur as it caught the light. And couldn't help comparing it to Sasuke's own shiny black hair, the similarities between the two's "fur" made her giggle. Like master like dog…?

He couldn't help shooting her a bemused glance when he heard her muffled laughter. Whatever, he thought and continued tossing the disc each time Shiro returned it to him. A sudden gust of sea breeze made the Frisbee careen towards the porch. Shiro followed it with a bark but instead of giving it back to Sasuke, the Labrador dropped it on Hinata's lap.

Startled, Hinata looked at the disc now lying on her pad, then at Shiro's expectant eyes, and finally to Sasuke. "Ano…" She started, a little uncertain. She was looking at the Frisbee as if she had never seen one before.

Hinata had never seen a Frisbee up close before. She tentatively took the disc and looked uncertainly at Sasuke.

"Toss it." He instructed her, a hand on a hip.

How? Hinata wondered but didn't dare say it out loud. She had seen how Sasuke did it earlier. Perhaps she'd just copy it. It didn't look that hard…

The sketchpad was carefully laid down. Gingerly, Hinata stood up and tossed the disc with all her might.

The Frisbee took off. Three pairs of eyes watched as the object soared unsteadily and landed just behind the dog. Shiro barked, turned around, grabbed the disc by his teeth, turned around again and handed it back to a pink faced Hinata.

There was a word to describe that toss. "Pathetic," Sasuke stated, without any real bite. He approached Hinata and took the Frisbee from her. "Didn't you ever play this before?"

She shook her head. "My father disliked for my sister and I to break things so we refrained from playing anything that could do that."

"Hn." He could understand that. Itachi also forbid playing toys that could break irreplaceable objects inside the house. But there was always outside. "The yard then?"

She flushed. "I…didn't have playmates."

For as long as he could remember, Naruto and Sakura had been his friends. Even if Itachi was always away and had no time for him anymore, he had not been lacking in that department. They could be overbearing sometimes, he even wanted a break from them. Sasuke couldn't imagine growing up without having someone to play with.

"Right. You can play with Shiro now." He told her, handing her the disc again. "It's never too late to learn Frisbee."

She smiled tentatively at him, charmed that he hadn't said anything about her nonexistent playmates. Hinata hefted the toy. "D-Do I hold it like th-this?" she demonstrated, angling her arms so that the Frisbee was held at the side of her face.

"No, hold it away from you face."

"L-Like this?"

"A little lower…Don't lean it to your neck. No, move your arm out…Do you want to hurt yourself?" He asked in exasperation.

Finally, the ridiculousness got to him, so he stomped forward and positioned his body behind her. Sasuke grabbed her arm holding the Frisbee with one hand, and her waist in another, and angled her torso.

"There, do you get it now?" he asked, turning his head to face her.

Their bodies where very close in this position, which provided a close up view of her face (that held a look of intense concentration) and her neck. Her very slender and pale neck. Marred only by a purplish bruise. A bruise the suspiciously looks like…

"Is that a hickey?" he blurted out in astonishment, unable to help himself.

She jerked back from him as soon as she heard it but he tightened his hold on her, preventing escape.

"W-Wh-What?" she stuttered, her face growing red. The Frisbee fell down from her slack fingers.

"There's a hickey," he paused, as if searching for a more appropriate terms that she'd understand, "a lovebite, on your neck." He pointed.

Of course she knew what a hickey meant! She was also aware that she had one on her neck. It wasn't impossible to miss since it was her own neck…!

"Who did that?" he demanded in his silent manner. "You didn't have that mark last time." If she had, he would've noticed. It was hard to hide that kind of mark while wearing a white tube gown after all.

"I…it was…" Oh, what would she tell him? He wouldn't have noticed it because she always hid it with her braid. She had forgotten that she had it in the first place, that's why she pinned her hair up (and it was too hot). But how could she tell him he was the one who had given her the hickey that night he had gotten drunk and mistaken her for 'Sakura'?

She blushed even more, if that was possible. Sasuke noted with interest that this made the hickey turn a motley shade. It wasn't any of his business, really, but he couldn't help but be curious. As far as he knew, she hadn't been in contact with anyone, aside from…

"Was it the Dobe?" At her blank look, he amended, "Its Naruto isn't it?"

Hinata gasped in horror. "No!" She denied vehemently.

Sasuke stared at her suspiciously. Who else could it possibly be…? He frowned in thought. Wait a minute…

He touched his cheek, which was already rid of any signs of a handprint. It had just healed. Oh, he was quite sure of the identity of the culprit behind it. So did this mean she had given it to him because…?

Ah…

Hinata saw the dawning of realization in his face and was quite sure he had come to the right conclusion. She averted her eyes, embarrassed for the both of them.

"Right." He rubbed the back of his neck, pink tingeing his cheeks. "I…uh…you don't have to tell me." He cleared his throat, sheepish. "We should…er…go in. It's…getting quite hot."

She nodded; their pink cheeks a matching pair. "Un…"

Shiro regarded at the two humans as they got inside the house, with Hinata stooping for a second to get her discarded sketchpad. The dog looked down at the forgotten Frisbee and whined.

The 'Frisbee Incident', as they both called it in their minds, served as the ice breaker in their tenuous co-existence. It was mortifying and embarrassing, so both resolved to pretend it never happened. And what better way to do that than to act 'normal' around each other? Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how one looked at it) 'normal' in their circumstance was usually avoiding each other. However, doing that would only be acknowledging the incident. So they did the opposite.

They talked, like they didn't always walk on eggshells around one another.

Sasuke didn't always coop himself up in his room and Hinata didn't hide inside hers. They began to watch TV together on the couch and eat meals at the same time.

Sometimes, Hinata would even go with him whenever he took Shiro for walks.

It was awkward and forced at first, like they were only pretending to act 'normal' to pretend that it didn't happen. Eventually, however, they got used to it. It was slow going. But they got used to it.

They were on the beach, watching as Shiro frolicked in the water. The weather was sunny, and the breeze from the ocean was cool to the skin.

"Why is Shiro named Shiro?" She asked out of the blue.

Next to her, he shrugged. "I called him Kakashi at first."

"Scarecrow?" She inquired, intrigued.

"Hn. But it soon got confusing so he's Shiro now."

Confusing? "A-ano…Why not Ku-Kuro instead?"

He looked at her as if she had just said something funny. "What's black about Kakashi?"

She decided then and there that there were things about him she'd never understand, so decided to let the matter drop.

Sasuke was content with living alone in Shima. It wasn't that different from the arrangement he had back in Konoha. He didn't live in the Uchiha mansion with his family so he was accustomed to having a house all to himself.

Arriving at an empty house wasn't new to Sasuke. Neither were darkness and silence greeting him as he went home every day from work, or in this case, from an errand.

Parking his car in the garage, opening his door with jangling keys, toeing his shoes off at the threshold and hanging his coat on the rack, were all things Sasuke was used to and didn't think much on. Even uttering the monotone of "Tadaima" to the emptiness around him was habitual.

So on that particular day, the answering "Okaeri" made Sasuke stop short in his tracks.

He told himself it wasn't that big a deal, but was unable to stop himself from repeating his greeting, convincing himself that he was only doing it to make sure he had heard right. And wasn't hallucinating on hearing things.

Sasuke convinced himself of all these reasons. All the same, he couldn't stop the corners of his lips from tilting up when the feminine reply came again.

"Okaeri, Sasuke-san."

It was faint (coming from another place in the house). But more importantly, it was there.

"Tell me why we're watching this again?" Sasuke asked for the fifth time in the span of one commercial, going to the next.

Hinata kept her eyes glued to the television. "I want to learn how to make z-zenzai."

Sasuke sagged on cushions, his side resting on the armrest. He shot Hinata an irritated glare from the other end of the couch. "Why watch it though? Just search for the recipe on the net."

This time she looked at him, her eyes wide. "I- I c-could borrow y-your laptop?"

Sasuke didn't know what to take of her astonishment. He sighed, cradling his cheek on a fist. "I lent you my clothes. If I could do that, don't you think I could also lend you my laptop?" He said, finally settling on feeling offended.

She shook her head vehemently, her side bangs whipping to and fro. "I d-didn't mean it like that! I just…" her eyes strayed back to the TV, face already starting to flush "…it w-was in your r-room…so…"

"Right." He said, dragging the vowel. "Now you know, so change the channel."

"B-But don't you w-want to learn how to make zenzai?" She protested.

"Tch. No." He griped, as if him making zenzai was the most ludicrous idea. "I hate sweets."

Hinata stared at him. "Y-you do?" She was amazed someone could possibly not like sweets. "Why?"

"I don't need a reason to hate them. I just do."

"W-Well, I love them." She sounded almost petulant.

"I gathered as much."

Hinata bit her lip, her eyebrows furrowed down at the remote. Obviously in a moral dilemma, Sasuke thought wryly. Should she give up control of his own TV? He was proven correct when she reached a hand out to the wide space separating them on the couch and handed him the remote.

Sasuke regarded her from the other side of the couch. And slowly took the object she was offering him. Together they sat as he began to flip through channels.

When a few minutes passed and he still hadn't settled on one, Hinata finally asked, "W-What ch-channel are you looking for?"

"Another cooking show," he answered distractedly, eyes not moving from the screen.

Her eyebrows rose. "I thought you didn't like to watch cooking sh-shows?" she asked curiously.

"You're right. I don't." He said no more and continued flipping through more channels, at last settling on one. Hinata studied the screen; the chef compressing what looked to be rice on both hands, and glanced back at Sasuke.

A crooked grin was aimed at her. "But if it's a cooking show on omusubi, I don't mind."

"Sasuke-san, have you ever been inside a lighthouse?"

"A few times."

"Is it t-true there's a big mirror at the very top?"

"I won't call it a mirror exactly, but yes."

"So there's really a person who has to check that it rotates every second?"

"In the past, yeah. But there are technological improvements now."

"Oh, I see. Is it also true that th-there are sleeping quarters inside?"

He studied her, wondering where this was going. "What's with all these questions all of the sudden?"

She gazed wistfully at the Lighthouse seen in the distance. "I want to visit one s-someday."

He too, directed his gaze at the white stone structure. It was very small from here. "Maybe when they begin opening it for tourists again, we could go sometime."

"I'd like that very much." Hinata smiled at him sweetly. His heart skipped a beat.

He'd like to take her there too.

It was the middle of the night and he was asleep just moments ago. But his bladder was killing him so he had gotten up to go to the bathroom.

His business finished, Sasuke was on his way to back to bed when he heard something from Hinata's door. It wasn't so much the sound itself but the familiarity of it that caught his attention. He was sure he had heard this sound before.

Interest piqued, Sasuke leaned closer, his ears almost touching the wood. And there it was, sniffling and hiccupping, sure signs that she was crying. Just like she had done that first night he had heard her sobbing at his couch.

He listened for a few moments more, standing immobile in front of her door. Short of barging inside her room and commanding her to stop crying, there wasn't much he could do, he thought.

And it wasn't as if he could just go knocking in the middle of the night. They weren't friends.

So he went to bed.

But as Sasuke lay on the mattress, his comforter bundled at his feet, he couldn't stop thinking that perhaps he could have done something.

However, wouldn't that mean that he was condoning what she did? He could only tolerate what she did because she hadn't done it to him. The fact that he was helping her didn't matter so much because that had been his decision before he knew anything about her.

Sasuke rested an arm on his forehead and stared up at his ceiling. Knowing, helping, accepting…what was the difference anyway when just the thought that she was crying robbed him of sleep?

What a man reads is a reflection of who he is. Or so her cousin Neji always disdainfully grumbled whenever he sees Kiba's book collection…or lack thereof.

Hinata had not truly taken her cousin's contempt towards her ex-fiance to heart because Neji was just like that. And she didn't really believe on measuring a person by what's on their bookshelf. Some people just didn't like to read.

However, Sasuke definitely did, judging by the fair amount of tomes neatly arranged on his shelf. It was packed from end to end, top to bottom, by arrays of books from different subjects. Seeing his book collection, Hinata couldn't help but remember Neji's adage…

And couldn't stop herself from perusing the books.

Sasuke had a wide collection of them, especially non-fiction books. They ranged from philosophy, to history, to biographies (Hinata noted these were all of famous businessmen and scientists), and then to guides and manuals. There were also a scattering of textbooks on business management as well as a handful of poetry and fiction books, mostly of Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, and Edgar Allan Poe.

Hinata picked up a particularly worn looking volume; it was a little thicker than the rest, with many creases on its spine. "War and Peace," Hinata read aloud the title emblazoned in gold cursive on the cover.

She remembered having read this book once. It was for a term paper on literature class. She also remembered that she had no taste for it, what with its dark realism. Hinata leafed through the pages, starting from the back. Somehow though, she could see why Sasuke would like a book like this, which has the air of a historical text more than a fiction book.

When she got to the front, Hinata stopped flipping the pages when she saw a written note on the front back cover. It appeared to be a note written for Sasuke. She knew it was wrong to snoop but couldn't help herself anyway, and began to read.

Dear Sasuke,

Happy Birthday! I know you already read this book but I didn't know what to give you. So! I decided I'd buy you the latest translation of your favorite novel! Aren't I great? Anyway, take care of yourself while I'm gone. I wish we could have spent more time together on your birthday, but I'll email you once I get back.

All my love,

Sakura

P.S.
Don't go getting into another fight with Naruto okay? I don't want to return home and find you two sporting bruises again!

Hinata eyebrows furrowed in thought. This 'Sakura' again. And it looked like Naruto also knew her. However, Hinata had known Naruto for two years, and not once had he mentioned a woman named Sakura.

Then again, in those span of two years, he also had not mentioned knowing Sasuke. Which was strange, come to think of it…

Hinata scanned the letter again, determining that the three, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke, were close before. What could have happened, she wondered, to make someone like Naruto neglect to mention these two's existence in his life? Naruto, who was so vocal about everything, Hinata (and everyone who knew him for that matter) knows that his wallet was called Gama-chan and his pet plant was named Mr. Ukki.

Miles away, back in Konoha, Itachi was sitting at his desk when his telephone rang. It was in the direct line so he knew it was an important call.

Plus, the caller id was someone he knew.

"Yes?" He said into the receiver.

Itachi's expression clouded over as he listened to the other side. "Has anyone else been notified? Yes, that's good. I want you to make sure it remains that way."

He listened again. "No. You won't have to do anything. I will handle it."

Itachi put the receiver down and steepled his fingers, his eyes narrowed at nothing in particular. "Sasuke, what are you playing at?" he murmured to himself.

.

.

.

A/N:

Once again, a huge thank you to those who have reviewed the last chapter! justsukiya, UchihaMistress723, Saki-Hime, bunnyboo1612, imatwilightfan, Wannabe-Temari, blablabla, Syd monster12, ProjXPsyClone -psyiNoheart, FallenRaindrops, blackirishawk, AdayOncedawned, and Ayamichan34! Expect a PM from me if you posted any questions in your reviews :)

Thanks for reading!