Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Speak Up ❯ Don't Say it Like That! ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Title: Speak Up
Disclaimer: I'm not entirely sure if Sasuke and Hinata have even officially met in the series.
Rating: PG-13 ( T ) – Cause it's about to turn pervy. (NOTE: I upped the ante again.)
Spoilers: Umm...I guess I've given away that Sakura becomes a medic-nin, does that count?
Summary: Naruto shook her off and confronted Sasuke again, "Not until he apologizes and
promises to leave Hinata-chan alone!" SasuHinaNaru.

And the plot thickens...



Chapter 8: Don't Say It Like That!

Slipping past the ANBU a second time had been more difficult than anticipated. Partly
because of Hinata's startled wail, but mostly because the two masked shinobi were well trained
tracking and killing machines of the highest caliber that couldn't be fooled more than once.
Thanks to them, Sasuke wallowed in a reluctant newfound respect for Konoha's finest.

After an abbreviated battle in which all parties took a few nasty blows, Sasuke had
managed to slip past them by the skin of his pearly-white teeth and (by the grace of any gods
watching) escaped with only two cracked ribs, a split lip and a badly limping pride.

‘That taller one had an oddly familiar spin-kick...,' the Uchiha prodigy mused, absently
rubbing at his unmarred neck. He could feel the rough vestiges of the scar that had once plagued
him, but there was no visual taint of Oroochimaru that remained after his death.

Of course, considering the circumstances, Sasuke almost wished for his old curse back
again. Though Oroochimaru's evil hickey had its drawbacks (ie, the attempted theft of his body,
corruption of his moral center, and a shit-load of pain), he still preferred it to his newest
restraints. Damned Hokage.

Deciding to brood about his unfortunate slavery later, the Uchiha avenger turned to his
companion to grouse about current circumstances. "Aren't you cold, dobe?" Sasuke complained,
glaring at Naruto over the high collar of his sweater. He burrowed down into his heavy winter
coat, cursing his poor circulation for failing to keep him warm. "We've been out here for two
hours."

Naruto was crouched a few feet away from him, clothed in an uncharacteristic ensemble
of all black. "Nope!" the kyuubi vessel chirped, his warm breath fogging up the glass he was
leering through. He wiped the stain of condensation from the skylight to clear his view. "I've
gotten so good at surveillance that I've built up a tolerance for cold, heat, rain, wind, sleet, snow,
hail, lightning – "

"...meaning that you peep even in bad weather," Sasuke growled, wrinkling his reddened
nose at his teammate.

Naruto didn't bother to look up from his post or verbally respond, but raised his middle
finger to Sasuke behind his back.

"I thought you were going to...," Sasuke choked on the next word. "help me. Why are we
sitting on the roof of the bathhouse?"

Naruto put his crude gesture away and replied, "Because I heard from the friend of a
sister of a good source that Hinata comes here on Wednesday nights."

Sasuke raised a dubious eyebrow. "What for? I'm sure there's a bath at the Hyuuga
compound." ( 1 )

"I dunno," Naruto shrugged. "The friend of a sister of my source says it's supposed to be
some sort of socialization exercise, or whatever."

"Fine, Hyuuga is probably here," Sasuke allowed. "I still don't understand what we're
doing here."

Naruto finally peeled his face away from the skylight, grinning in a way that made Sasuke
somewhat uneasy. "You're going to ‘save' her from a rampaging pervert."

Sasuke snorted derisively. "The only pervert I see around here is you."

"Exactly."

As it finally occurred to Sasuke what Naruto was about to do, he began to panic. "No! I
don't want any part of this stupid scheme of yours."

"Why not? It'll be so easy," the kyuubi vessel assured him with a genial pat on the
shoulder. "I'll sneak down into the women's baths, go after Hinata-chan, and you'll leap to the
rescue just in the nick of time! She'll start falling all over you about how heroic you are and
everyone goes home happy!"

"I won't let you do – "

"There she is!" Naruto cut him off, once again pressed against the rooftop window that
allowed him a view of the women's side of the bathhouse. "She's wetting her hair. I'd better get
down there before she starts to soap anything up."

As he reached to pull his cap down over his face, Sasuke intercepted. Snarling, he jerked
Naruto backwards and away from the skylight. "I told you no, dobe! Are you deaf as well as
terminally stupid?"

Naruto swatted Sasuke's hand away and scowled at his unwitting partner-in-crime. "I'm
just trying to help! You can't get the girl without actually doing something!"

"I don't need your ‘help,' dobe. I'll figure something out myself," Sasuke countered,
making a swipe for Naruto again.

The kyuubi vessel leapt back and out of range, perched atop the skylight with his tongue
flailing about in daring mockery. "Yeah, right! Now that you actually have to work for a girl's
attention, you don't have the first clue! Scowling at Hinata-chan like you do all the other girls
isn't going to work, you know!"

"Shut up!" Sasuke could feel his irritation raise to the next level of vexation; anger. To
imply that he, Uchiha Sasuke, heartthrob of Konoha, couldn't impress a stupid girl if he so
desired...well, it was outright preposterous! Not to mention insulting.

His neck throbbed painfully as his chakra level rose, but for once Sasuke felt out of
control. Without thinking properly about it first, Sasuke spat, "I don't see hoards of girls stalking
you. What the hell do you know about love?"

Naruto, who had obviously been working up some sort of asinine comeback, froze in his
standoffish position. "‘Love'?" he repeated, the word dribbling from his lips as they went slack.
"You love Hinata-chan?"

Immediately, Sasuke knew he had used the wrong turn of phrase. His face heated up in
spite of the chilly atmosphere. "I didn't say that!"

"Yes you did!" Naruto pointed a finger in Sasuke's direction. It was trembling in
accusation. "You said ‘what the hell do I know about love,' or some shit like that! Which means
that you love Hinata-chan!"

"No, I – "

"Sasuke loves Hinata-chan!" Naruto laughed, doubled over. "Sasuke and Hinata-chan,
sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S – "

Finally allowing his better judgement to be overridden by baser impulses, Sasuke lunged
at his offending foe and tackled him.

They both fell further than anticipated, surrounded by shards of shattered glass, struggling
for dominance in mid-air. Sasuke wasn't about to allow Naruto the upper hand and fought as if
they were still enemies, managing to position himself on top as they finally landed.

Screams immediately erupted around them and the rapid pattering of bare feet was almost
as deafening.

"Peeping Toms!"

"Perverts!"

"Help! Somebody, help!"

"Augh, Sasuke-teme!" Naruto croaked, grasping at the hands clasped around his throat.
"Let go!"

Viciously, Sasuke squeezed harder. "Shut up!"

"Get...the hell...off...!"

"I said shut up!" the Uchiha growled, freeing one of his hands to smack it across Naruto's
face. "I'm not going along with any of your asinine plans! No girl would be dumb enough to – "

"Sasuke-san! Stop!"

Sasuke paused immediately as he felt someone grab the arm that was still firmly attached
to Naruto. With his bicep so comfortably cushioned between two plush mounds of flesh and the
warm, soothing scents of lavender and green tea pervading his olfactory senses, he knew it could
only be one person.

Forcing himself to turn slowly lest he seem too eager, Sasuke found himself granted with
a full view of a very naked Hinata clinging to his arm.

"Please, Sasuke-san," she pleaded in a soft whisper, a pink blush melted across the apples
of her cheeks. "Don't hurt N-Naruto-kun."

Her moony eyes begged him to acquiesce to her wishes, partly shrouded behind the wet
bangs that were clinging to her face. Her long hair was only partially damp and stuck to her skin
by the water dripping down her body. Her smooth...pale...voluptuous body.

Absently, Sasuke wondered why she hid so much of herself underneath all those layers of
clothing. If it were up to him, she wouldn't even be permitted to wear the smallest shreds of
fabric. The au naturel Hinata was, by far, the best version he'd seen yet.

"Ugh, gross!"

Startled, Sasuke returned his attention to Naruto, who had begun to struggle beneath him
with a new vigor.

Wiping a red smear from his cheek, the kyuubi vessel moaned, "Go get a tissue, or
something! You're bleeding like you've never seen a naked girl before!"

With the hand that wasn't weighed down by Hinata, Sasuke touched his upper lip. When
he pulled his fingers away, they were coated in a thick layer of shining blood.

"Then again," Naruto purred, shifting to Sasuke's right to gain a better vantage of the
Hyuuga heiress in all her nude glory. He waggled suggestive eyebrows at her. "I can't really
blame him."

Another flash of sudden rage inspired Sasuke to lift Naruto's head and bash it into the tile
floor, accidentally jarring Hinata backwards and away from his person. "Why the hell are you
looking at her?" he demanded of the dazed kyuubi vessel.

Naruto didn't respond, his eyes swirling with little shuriken.

"I'm s-sorry that I'm n-not p-p-pretty enough f-for you, S-Sasuke-san," a quivering voice
called from behind him.

Abandoning his abuse of the unconscious Naruto, the Uchiha inclined his head to address
Hinata again. She was splayed out a few feet away from him, knees up in the air and drawn
together, and lounging back on her hands. Undoubtedly, she had assumed this position when he
had thrown her off, but Sasuke was willing to imagine that she was intentionally trying to seduce
him.

"Huh?" was all he could think of to say.

Eyes cast to the side, Hinata bit her lip as she gathered words to respond. "P-please, d-
don't hurt N-N-Naruto-kun because of m-me. You d-don't have to l-l-look."

It took another couple of confused moments for Sasuke to grasp the concept of what she
was saying. When it finally occurred to him, his eyes widened a little in horror; ‘She thinks that I
don't...'

Scrambling to climb off Naruto's chest, Sasuke turned fully to Hinata, searching for
bumbling words to explain himself. "That's not what I – "

Interrupted again, Sasuke leapt backwards in the nick of time, barely avoiding the kunai
that had buried itself in the molding tile that he had previously been standing on.

"Step away from Hinata-chan!" a sharp female voice demanded.

After flipping to safety near the doorway to the locker room, Sasuke looked up to face his
newest adversary. He recognized the woman as a former member of Hyuuga Neji's team, despite
her informal attire of bathhouse-issued towel. Her long sienna hair was pulled out of its usual
style and fell around her shoulders in shiny waves, deceptively masking the true danger that she
posed. He knew her as a weapons mistress, but it was hard to picture her as such in their current
setting (and even more difficult to fathom where she might have hidden the kunai she had
attacked him with; Sasuke rather hoped she would keep that information to herself).

Though he didn't remember her name (he had always been horrible with female names),
he knew enough about her fighting style to realize that he shouldn't take her too lightly.

"What are you doing here, Uchiha?" she demanded, twirling a second kunai between her
practiced fingers. "This is the women's bath."

"Whatever he's doing here," another voice interrupted, low and menacing. "I'm sure it's
Naruto's fault."

Sasuke would recognize that tone anywhere; it was Sakura, and she was on the warpath.

Sasuke leapt away from the locker rooms, sensing that his former teammate was directly
behind him. Indeed she was, green-ish flames licking at her barely-clothed body as she glared
into the room.

How many people were going to be privy to his humiliation? Sasuke was beginning to
feel that his situation was comprised of convenient plot devices, like in those girly comics he
caught Sakura reading every so often. He didn't like this notion one bit; some ridiculous excuse
of a fangirl-disguised-as-a-writer manipulating his fate was more than a little disturbing.

Sasuke shivered. He wasn't looking forward to falling asleep in a few hours.

Sakura's suspecting eyes darted from Naruto, to Sasuke, to Hinata, and finally to the
cohort of Hyuuga Neji. She lingered the longest on Sasuke and the naked Hinata, who was
shivering against the cold wall.

"Leave," she commanded Sasuke. Pointing at Naruto, she added, "And take that idiot
with you."

Sasuke did as was told, never one to give up a chance to escape. All those years of being
stalked by fangirls had taught him that much, at least.

Scooping Naruto up and throwing the kyuubi vessel over his shoulder, Sasuke allowed
himself one last glance of Hinata. Now that the novelty of seeing her unclothed had abated (a
little), he could see how earnestly she avoided looking at him.

‘Stupid dobe,' the Uchiha prodigy thought, swallowing to remove the bitter taste from his
mouth. It didn't help.

Leaving the girls behind, Sasuke exited with Naruto the way they'd come.

‘I knew this was a stupid idea...'



Footnotes:

( 1 ) Unlike in America, Japanese houses/apartments don't come standard with private
bathrooms. Sure, you can find a house with such an amenity, but there are a lot of households
that simply use public bathhouses for their hygienic needs, especially in urban areas. Sasuke
assumes that the Hyuuga compound has full bathing capabilities because the family is so rich and
the estate so vast.

I believe that the lack of a private bathroom is most prevalent in apartment buildings. Some of
them are set up like dormitories (ie, one bathroom per hall/floor/building for all the residents to
use) while others simply don't offer a bathroom at all. Hence the use of bathhouses.

Before you go off and assume that the Japanese have to walk down the street or something every
time they have to pee, stop! They have toilets, just not bathtubs/showers. They generally have the
equivalent of an American half-bath instead of the full-bath.

I could still go on about Japanese bathing habits, but I think all the information pertinent to this
story has been covered. For more information, go to Google.

Authors Notes: The chapter is a little longer this time n.n And out a little earlier than expected!
Hooray!

Sorry for the otherwise long wait, guys; multiple factors contributed to my procrastination. I had
the tiniest bit of writers block for this chapter (I'm still a little disappointed with it, to be honest),
had to participate in Thanksgiving festivities last week, and been stressing over school stuff.
Now that I don't work on the weekends anymore, though, I should be able to get more done
faster n.n Good news, yes?

Btw, the first two chapters of the prequel to this fic are now posted in my profile, in case you
weren't aware. It helps explain how/why/when Sasuke fell for Hinata in greater detail than you're
going to get in this story (though it will be mentioned again).

Un-beta'd. Again.

. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) .

– Love can be black and white. SasuHina.