Enchanting

Author's Note: Plot bunnies can be adorable, vicious little things. I hope you guys enjoy this story. All reviews and other forms of feedback are appreciated.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no profit off this story.

Chapter One

Sasuke Uchiha had been reinstated as a Leaf Ninja. After his journey of redemption, he'd moved back into his Clan's District. He was now a Jonin. He was definitely ANBU level but no mask was going to hide the Sharingan and Rinnegan. So that whole keeping your identity a secret thing, that was out. Which was fine by him. He was perfectly content with the rank of Jonin.

Of course there were still more than a few members of the Leaf who were terrified or repulsed by him. Some of them thought he was the second coming of Madara. (A few of them actually had the guts to say so to his face. Stupid, but brave.)

Overall though, slowly but surely, he was reclaiming his old role in the Leaf. Much to his dismay, some of his fan girls were back. They seem to have realized he wasn't going to kill them after all. (Maybe he should have indulged in the second coming reputation a little more.)

"Hey, bastard," Naruto says when Sasuke walks into his office. (The idiot had achieved his dream of becoming Hokage.)

"Idiot. You said you had a mission for me," Sasuke says.

For a brief period Sasuke had wanted to be Hokage. But it was Naruto's dream. That and most of the village was at best wary of him. Becoming Hokage was part skill and partly a popularity contest. That and Sasuke just had a low tolerance for stupidity. He just wasn't suited to the role. Naruto could indulge the idiots with a smile on his face.

"Yeah this rich Lord wants a couple bodyguards. Guy's a bit of an egotistical prick though. He wants only the best. He decided that means you and Hinata. He has a thing about the Noble Clan's I guess," Naruto says.

"You want me to go on a mission with Hinata," Sasuke asks.

"Yeah. Why bastard, do you have a problem with her," the blonde asks.

"No more so than anyone else in this village. I barely know her. Just kinda surprised he'd ask for the gentlest ninja in this village to be his bodyguard," Sasuke shrugs off.

"I was too. But he wants bragging rights. The whole, Oh look at me! I got an Uchiha and Hyuga as my bodyguards. Don't mess with me bitches, thing," the blue eyed Hokage explains.

"Fine by me. When do we leave," Sasuke asks.

"On Wednesday," Naruto answers.

"Two days, gives me plenty of time to pack. Have you told Hinata yet," he questions.

"Not yet. Figured I'd tell you first. She's at the training grounds with her teammates," he replies.

"Alright. Cya loser," Sasuke walks off.

Sasuke walks back to his District and begins packing. Hinata? Her name barely registered. The last Uchiha wasn't sure if he'd ever spoken even two words to the shy Hyuga heiress. He tried to think what little he knew about her.

"Hinata," he mutters to himself, trying to jog his memory.

The list was short. He knew that she was a Hyuga and Hiashi's oldest daughter. She'd graduated in his year. The bluenette was hopelessly in love with Naruto. (Okay she lost points for that.) But she hadn't been a fan girl. (She regained points for that.)

She was quiet. Hinata was kind. (Actually he thought she was too nice to be a ninja.) As far as he could tell, she was eager to please and tried to avoid conflict at all costs. She'd probably just do what he told her to do and maybe make some attempts at polite conversation. He could live with that for two weeks, which was how long this mission as expected to last.

Meanwhile, Naruto had told Hinata about the mission. Unbeknownst to Sasuke, she was having somewhat similar thoughts. The female ninja heads back to her family's home and starts to pack.

"It'll be alright," she assures herself.

Sasuke had been back in the village for about a year. There hadn't been any major incidents. Sure, he and Naruto trained roughly sometimes and occasionally some public property would get caught in the crossfire. But he hadn't snapped. He seemed to be doing better.

Hinata wasn't afraid of Sasuke. She was afraid of what he could do, yeah. But not of him specifically.

The man possessed a terrifying rage. But it wasn't a blind rage. There had always been a reason behind his actions. Most people wouldn't have agreed with what he'd done, but it wasn't hard to see why he'd done it.

Actually it was amazing he hadn't suffered from a psychotic break. He could go on murderous rages, but he was never insane.

"If Naruto trusts him, that's good enough for me. Maybe he just needs another friend," she mutters to herself.

It was amazing really. She'd never met two people who were so different. Where Naruto was the day, Sasuke was the night. The blonde was filled with endless optimism, was reckless, and would die for his friends. Sasuke lived in a darker world. Everything he'd planned to do, she was sure. He pushed people away on purpose. (She suspected that he was scared to get close to people for obvious reasons. Naruto thus far being the only person to ever have been able to breech those formidable walls.)

Two days later, she meets Sasuke at the assigned location. The Lord was late. She found Sasuke leaning against a tree. There was a perfect stillness to him. It was like walking along in a forest and suddenly, whoops there's a black panther.

"He's not here yet. Nobility loves to keep ninjas waiting," Sasuke says.

Hinata didn't detect any bitterness in his tone. There might have even been an underlying current of slight amusement. With Sasuke, it was hard to tell. Unless he was angry or bickering with Naruto, his tone remained neutral.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon," Hinata says.

Sasuke notes that Hinata didn't have a stutter around him. Well maybe she'd simply outgrown it. Maybe she only had it around Naruto. More importantly, why did he even care?

"Thank you for your faith in me, Miss Hyuga," a masculine voice says.

"So you are here. Let's get going," Sasuke says.

"Ah bossy. That is to be expected. Still you are an even more magnificent beast up close," he states in a way that reminded Sasuke of how a farmer might speak of their prized stallion.

It was a backhanded compliment. Magnificent he could work with. Beast he couldn't argue the accuracy. He was a beast in battle. But in this context he was not pleased with the label. Still he was a client and he'd heard far more offensive things. Sasuke was willing to let that shit slide for the sake of the mission.

The Lord was on the younger side. He had to be under thirty. He had an impressive mane of straight red hair that came to his back. His eyes were green. For a Lord he was in decent physical shape, Sasuke always sized up his opponents.

His clothing, no surprise was elaborate. He wore a formal royal blue dress kimono. That kimono probably cost more than most people's houses.

"Sasuke's not a beast," Hinata says.

Sasuke blinks. Hinata was defending him? Actually scratch that, Hinata was in a very nice way telling a Lord off? What the Hell?

"A Hyuga defending an Uchiha. I was under the impression that your families were rivals," the lord says conversationally. (He seemed more amused than angry Hinata would contradict him, however gently.)

"Our clans largely kept to themselves. But he is a Leaf Ninja. If you insult one of us, you are insulting all of us," she says and straightens her shoulders, in a way that reminded Sasuke vaguely of his mother when she got into an argument with a council member once when he was little. (Wow she was going into Matriarch mode. Dammit. He should have brought a camera.)

"No insult was intended. It was meant as a compliment, My Lady. I assure you," he replies.

"She's not your anything," Sasuke snaps.

He wasn't sure why that had set him off. It was an old expression. It could be used romantically or just as a flourish. It really was none of his business who called Hinata what.

"My further apologies are warranted it seems," the young noble begins.

"Damn right they are," Sasuke replies.

"I did not realize that the two of you were lovers," he finishes cheerfully.

"WAIT WHAT," the last Uchiha was positive he had heard this suicidal lord incorrectly.

"Well the way you defend each other, it is the way only lovers would. If your relationship is supposed to be a secret, do not worry. I would not betray your confidence in such a manner," the red head states.

Hinata blushed redder than a tomato. It was kinda impressive actually. Sasuke found himself wondering if she might faint.

The bluenette had fainted a lot around the blonde, so it wasn't outside the realm of possibility. Gone was the proud Matriarch of the Hyuga Clan, replaced by a bashful kitten. He gets behind her, just in case.

"We defend each other as comrades do. For a civilian, I know it might be hard to recognize the difference. There is a bond on the battlefield that goes deeper than any physical relationship could," Sasuke finds himself saying.

"That was unexpectedly poetic coming from you," the lord observes.

"Are you trying to say you think I'm stupid," Sasuke asks, twitching.

"No. That was just deeply moving. Hmm and here I thought you were just terror on the battlefield. Your lover is a good influence on you," he states.

"Oh that's it," Sasuke yells and was about to charge at this idiot.

"Sasuke," Hinata says softly.

"Yes, Hinata," he steadies his hand for now.

"If you attack him, you'll get in trouble," the Hyuga states with concern.

"Yeah. But it'd be worth it," Sasuke answers.

Alright, Sasuke knew he was being childish. But that dumbass had it coming to him. The Uchiha was about to go postal, but he saw the look on Hinata's face. Those big lavender eyes pleading silently with him, Please don't do it.

He growls and reigns in his temper for now, mentally kicking himself for being such a sucker for a pair of pretty eyes. Wait did he just call her eyes pretty?

What the Hell was wrong with him? Well just from a purely artistic perspective, they were an enchanting mixture of lavender and silver. Fuck he did it again! He hadn't actually thought of the word enchanting, had he?

"Thank you," Hinata says with a smile, seeing that Sasuke wasn't going to attack the Lord. (Which was a miracle. She didn't know Sasuke well, but she knew of his temper.)

It really didn't take much to please her, he noted. All he had to do was not fuck this Lord up. She was smiling, like he had just given her the world. Talk about low maintenance.

They managed to get the Lord to his home there with only one incident of bandits attacking. Honestly, this was the first time Sasuke had ever seen Hinata really fight. The dark haired man, decided that taking Hinata on in close range combat, wasn't advised. She was fast, flexible, and fuck she could lock up chakra points almost faster than he could blink. Her style was designed to disable immediately, not to kill. It was very…Hinata.

"You're good at taking out the trash," Sasuke says as he sends one of the bandits flying with a "light" kick.

"Thanks," Hinata says as she locks up the final bandit's chakra points. (She recognized that was probably Sasuke's version of a compliment.)

"It's late. I shall have a room prepared for you," the Lord says.

"You mean rooms," Sasuke says.

The Lord didn't answer. He just walked off. Hinata was trying very hard not to laugh. Sasuke was twitching. For some reason, him huffing was hysterical to her. But she knew better than to actually laugh at him.

"Hinata, can you do me a favor," Sasuke asks.

"What," the Hyuga asks curiously.

"Don't tell the loser we shared a room. He's an idiot. He traveled with Jirayia for years. He'll assume things and he'll never stop pestering either of us," Sasuke says with a straight face. (Oh he was actually serious about this?)

"I won't," Hinata answers in an amused fashion.

"Thanks," he says and actually offers a small smile.

They are soon escorted to their room. It only head one bed. Figures. Sasuke sighs, well he'd certainly slept on worse than the floor of a palace's room. He decided to be the "gentleman."

"You can take the bed," he says.

"Are you sure? I don't min-d," she responds.

Ah ha! The stutter was back it seemed. He pawned this off more to the discussion having to do with a bed than anything else though.

"It's fine. I'm used to sleeping on the forest floor. This is a step up," Sasuke reasons.

"Okay," Hinata eventually relents and lays down on the bed, throwing him a few blankets and pillows.

Both ninjas eventually drift off into sleep. Sasuke was dreaming. Unlike most other nights, this time it wasn't a nightmare.

Sasuke was a child again. Though he had his adult mind. He saw his mother in the kitchen, cooking something.

Somehow words came out of his mouth, without him meaning to. It was the oddest sensation. He knew that this was him, yet it wasn't. This was a memory of his younger self.

"Mother, why was father sleeping on the couch? Are you mad at him?," Sasuke found himself asking.

"Your father made a silly mistake Sasuke. I'm a little upset with him. But it will be alright. He just needs a few nights on the couch to learn his lesson," she smiles at him and lets Sasuke nom some of the cookie dough. (Sasuke loved cookie dough!)

"What did he do," Sasuke finds himself saying. (In Mini Sasuke's mind his father could do no wrong. He never made mistakes.)

"Oh he took a mission that will keep him away from home on our anniversary," Mikoto says as she continues cooking.

"What's annivers-ary," Sasuke asks, struggling to say the big word.

"It's a very important date. There are many types of anniversary. In this case, it was our wedding anniversary," she states.

"Ohhh," Sasuke says.

It was at that point that Itachi came home. Sasuke bounds over happily to greet him. Mini Sasuke was always happy to see Itachi.

He was also perceptive, Itachi's Sharingan was active. That was weird. He thought that was only used in battle! Was Itachi upset about something?

"Big brother, your eyes," Sasuke looks up at him.

"It's nothing, Sasuke. I see father is on the couch," Itachi notes with some amusement.

"Yeah! He forgot the annivers-ary," the youngest Uchiha says.

"Yes, that would definitely be a couch worthy offense," his older brother chuckles.

"Dinner is ready," Mikoto saunters over.

She noticed Itachi's Sharingan. There was a look in Mikoto's eyes that a young Sasuke couldn't decipher. Now as an adult, he recognized it for what it was, slyness.

"Who is she," Mikoto asks.

"Who is who," Itachi asks, as he steals some cookie dough.

"Whoever activated your Sharingan," she states with a smile.

"Mother! Do we have to discuss this with Sasuke standing right there," Itachi demands.

"He's too young to understand anyway," she assures him.

"Big brother made a friend," Sasuke asks.

"… You could say that," Itachi replies and flicks Sasuke's forehead.

"OWE! I hate when you do dat," Mini Sasuke cries out.

"I was undergoing some undercover training. Seduction tactics," Itachi answers Mikoto.

"Aren't you a little young for such training," she asks in concern.

"Younger than usual. They usually wait until someone is 15 or 16. But they say I look older and I sound older," Itachi says with a shrug.

"I take it the training was successful," Mikoto says with a chuckle.

"…Yes. She is…an attentive teacher," he answers.

"Uh huh. Well I don't mind if you have to use a little flirtation on missions. But your first time is supposed to be special," she states.

"Mikoto, let the boy be. Sometimes it's necessary," Fugaku says.

Mikoto sends a fireball flying at her husband. Hmpf. She gives him THE LOOK. Sasuke knew what that meant. Father was in BIG trouble.

"FUGAKU, YOU ARE NOT HELPING," she scoffs.

"Big brother, why is your Sharingan on," Sasuke answers innocently.

"…You aren't old enough to understand," Itachi says and forehead pokes again.

"I wanna know," Sasuke heard himself protesting.

"When you get older and your Sharingan activates for a woman it means that you find her," Itachi pauses, as he struggles to find a suitably clean explanation for his baby brother.

"Very pretty and want to be good friends with her," he finishes.

"Ohhh. Why doesn't your Sharingan activate in front of mother then? She's very nice and pretty," Sasuke asks innocently.

"It… generally doesn't happen for relatives," Itachi answered.

"Why not," Sasuke asks.

"It just doesn't," Itachi shakes his head at his foolish little brother.

Sasuke awoke from his dream/memory with a grunt of pain. Something sharp had stabbed into his neck. He brings his hand to his neck and notices he was bleeding slightly. That's when he felt it. It couldn't be.

Fuck! These needles were coated in chakra blockers. He had to get Hinata out of here and fast.

He heard her startled cry. Fuck she had been darted. There was no time to wait for he to wake. He rushes over, grabs her bridal style, and makes a mad dash for the door.

Sasuke had always been able to wake up faster than most people. He didn't really wanna find out if Hinata was similar in this regard or not today. If they were smart enough to dart, they were probably smart enough to attack while the blockers were in effect.

"Sasuke, what is going on," Hinata asks dazed.

"We are under attack. Chakra blockers. We got to get out of here," Sasuke explains flitting off with her in his arms. (Sasuke knew she was fast. But he was faster, even carrying her.)

Sure enough, soon they were being chased. Dammit. Sasuke didn't know the layout of this place. Despite his speed, they had that advantage.

"Hinata, use your Byakugan. Tell me which way to go," he said.

"Two lefts, one right, and then there's a system of caves on the side of the mountain we can hide in," she murmurs into his ear, so she wouldn't be overheard.

"Got it," Sasuke says following her instructions, racing off into the cave.

Unfortunately, their mission was in the depths of winter. Sasuke slams his fist onto the side of the mountain. It didn't take much, with as much snow as was on the side to trigger an avalanche.

"Good news, that should take care of them. Bad news… we are stuck here until one of us gets enough chakra to melt our way out," Sasuke says.

"…," Hinata didn't know how to respond to that.

"Hard to tell how long it will take for the drug to burn itself out of our systems," he adds.

"Well at least I always travel with my food rations strapped to my leg," Hinata says.

"That's good. We might be here a few days. Not sure how high the dose was," Sasuke answers.

"Yeah. We can always melt some of the snow if we run out of water," she says.

"True," Sasuke says as he sets Hinata down and sits against the cave wall.

Sasuke idly scans the cave. Hopefully there would be some stones, twigs, or something he could use to start a fire. A few stones. But that was going to take awhile to get going. Damn.

He sighs and grabs them anyway, smacking them together. He just needed one spark and he could get a fire going. Come on.

"Sasuke since we are stuck here for awhile, maybe it'd be a g-ood idea to pass the time by t-alking," Hinata offers.

"Talking about what," Sasuke asks, not dismissing the suggest outright. (Though he probably would have any other time.)

"I don't know anything. What's your favorite color? We've known each other since we were children, but I don't really know anything about you. Well other than what N-aruto tells me," she says.

"Red. Yours," Sasuke decides answering that question was harmless enough. (Not that he particularly cared what her favorite color was. But she was right, they were going to be stuck here awhile.)

"Blue," she answers.

Sasuke had half expected her to say purple. She wore a lot of lavender. But maybe that was just because it matched her eyes. Women thought about stuff like that.

"You stutter less now. Is that because you grew out of it or you are just less nervous around me than Naruto," he asks.

"A little of both," she answers honestly.

That was one thing that he liked about Hinata. He doubted the woman was even capable of lying. Granted she didn't see what she saw in Naruto. Yeah he was strong, he was loyal to the point of being suicidal really, and all too eager to play the role of the hero. Actually scratch that, he understood it. He just couldn't process Naruto being in a romantic relationship. The idiot probably didn't even realize Hinata liked him.

"Fair enough. Though most people would be more nervous around me than Naruto for safety reasons," he replies.

"I'm not afraid of you," she states.

"Why is that," he asks, somewhat amused at how forceful that answer was.

"I'm afraid of what you can do. But not of you. You don't attack without reason," she answers.

"If only the rest of the village was that logical," he mutters half to himself and half to her.

"What was it like at the Sound," she asks.

"…, " Sasuke was surprised by that question and was left momentarily speechless.

No one had ever actually asked him that. There was something of an unspoken rule. Hinata was different though. She wasn't trying to get information out of him that she could use against him later. She sounded like she was curious, like she might actually care what his response was.

"It was intense. Anyone there would kill you as soon as look at you. I learned a lot. But I never felt safe there. Still in a way it was liberating. It wasn't like in the Leaf," he answers.

"What do you mean by it wasn't like in the Leaf and how was it liberating," she asks.

"People don't pretend to be something they aren't there. The Leaf smiles at you, while isolating you. The Leaf likes to pretend that it cares about the people there. They will turn on you like that if you don't do what they want though. The Sound everyone was out for themselves, but at least they were honest about it," Sasuke responds.

"You sound like you hate the Leaf," she states.

"It's complicated. The Leaf took my family from me. They made my brother's life Hell. They made my life Hell. But Itachi died for it. The loser makes the Leaf tolerable. It's home. My Clan is buried there. I can't leave it again," Sasuke says.

"I'm sorry about what happened to you and your family. Something should have been done before it got to that point," Hinata says.

"Thank you. But it doesn't matter now. The past can't be rewritten," he sighs.

"You're right. But the future can be better," she says with a smile.

Despite himself, Sasuke found himself nodding. Hinata was just so damn innocent. She was so hopeful. The Hyuga Heiress he thought, lived in some fairytale. The good guys would always win, the bad guys would always lose, and he was positive there were unicorns in the picture somewhere. He didn't want to shatter that world, even if he would never be part of it. It was an enchanting, though silly notion.