Wicked

Author's Note: This is a Sasuke x Hinata story that will be set after the war. One of my regular reviewers requested a darker Sasuke. It will be a fine line between keeping him dark, but not so dark that it makes him a completely loathsome character that everyone wants killed. Reviews are always appreciated and I hope you enjoy this story.

Chapter Notation: Warning this is a dark story. The first chapter was somewhat light, but the story will get darker as it goes on. I only write happy endings for the main characters, but this isn't going to sweet like my normal stories. It is going to diverge radically from cannon.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no profit off of any of my stories.

Chapter One

"Hinata, I don't think that's a very good idea. I know you want to help, but Sasuke is a special case. It's difficult for anyone to adjust to a limb transplant, but I wouldn't feel safe leaving you alone with him." Sakura says.

Hinata knew that Sakura meant well. Her friend was only looking out for her safety, but damn it! She was a ninja. She was a Jonin! Hinata wasn't weak and besides, who else was going to do it?

"Sakura, I know that you are just worried about me. I appreciate it, but I don't think it's a good idea for you or Lady Tsunade to conduct his physical therapy. I know you are professionals, but he's never going to view either of you as a neutral party." The Hyuga Heiress says.

The pink haired woman bit her lower lip. As much as she hated to admit it, Hinata was right. She didn't exactly know what her feelings were for Sasuke anymore, but they definitely weren't neutral.

Sasuke and Hinata had never even spoken to each other. So he wouldn't have a reason to go out of his way to provoke her during therapy. (Well at least no more of a reason than he would for anyone else.)

"You're right. Tsunade and I will be right upstairs. If you need ANYTHING, don't hesitate to call out for help. I'm just not sure you know what you are getting yourself into. He fought with us against Madara, but that doesn't mean he's a good guy. That could have been just self-preservation." Sakura points out.

"I know and I won't hesitate to call out for help, if I need it." Hinata promises as she heads to the very bottom level of the hospital.

It hadn't been used in years. Really, it was impressive how quickly they had made it fully operational. This floor was for Sasuke. Tsunade had decided it wouldn't be a good idea to let the other patients know that Sasuke was seeking treatment.

The ninja war was both in awe and fear of Naruto and Sasuke. While most of the ninja world looked at the boisterous blonde as a savior, they weren't quite sure what to make of Sasuke. He had helped them during the final battle, but no one was exactly sure why. Privately, Hinata didn't think even Sasuke knew why he had.

"Sasuke?" She calls out softly and looks around warily.

The only reason he wasn't restrained is because his chakra supply had been utterly exhausted during the final battle and he had just received the arm transplant only a few days before. So he was on a lot of pain killers. Still, Hinata wasn't stupid. An animal was at their most dangerous when they were wounded.

He might not be ready to fire off a Chidori anytime soon, but he was still a skilled Taijutsu user. His hands alone were perfectly lethal weapons. Well at least one of them was. It would take him awhile to get used to new limb.

"They sent a kitten into the lion's den?" She hears a velvety voice ask from behind her.

Hinata's eyes widen. Oh that was not good. He was aware enough that he was able to sneak up on her. She should have had her Byakugan activated, so he would have had a harder time doing that. She had decided against doing that because Sasuke would take it as a "threat."

"I'm not a kitten and they didn't send me here. I volunteered. Good morning, Sasuke. How are you feeling?" She asks as she turns around to face him.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. He barely knew Hinata. Still from what little he did know of her, she was anything but a liar. If she said that she volunteered to see him, the Hyuga Heiress was likely telling the truth.

He had expected Sakura or Tsunade. They were skilled medics and two of only a handful of people, that might be able to restrain him. As much as he was loathed to admit it, his chakra supply was dangerously low at the moment and the pain killers had slowed his reflexes for the time being. They would have had the advantage. He hadn't expected the Hyuga Princess though.

"Confused." He replies simply and circles her in a way that reminded Hinata of a shark encircling a seal.

His cryptic answer wasn't exactly calming her nerves. Hinata wasn't stupid. She was dealing with a very dangerous ninja. Sasuke was no Naruto. She had no idea how he would behave in any given situation.

"The medication can be a little disorientating, especially at the high dosage that you were given. That will go away." Hinata assures him.

"I'm not confused because of side effects. I'm confused about why you volunteered to come here." Sasuke says.

It was true. Hinata had no reason to seek him out. This was actually the longest conversation that they had ever had. From her perspective, she was likely risking her life. The Hyuga woman had no idea if he was going to snap or not. So her choice baffled him.

"Oh good. I came because you need someone who can administer your treatment without being biased. Tsunade and Sakura are professionals, but it would be almost impossible for all of you to focus purely on the therapy and not on the past." Came Hinata's reply.

She was relieved that she hadn't stuttered so far. Over the years, it had gradually decreased. Now Hinata had almost entirely outgrown it.

That was a very good thing in this case. She imagined Sasuke would react to a stutter like an animal that smelled blood. He'd see it as a weakness and go in for the metaphorical kill. (At least she hoped it was metaphorical.)

"That's very perceptive of you." He admits as he looks her up and down.

He had never really looked at her before. Oh he had certainly seen her sitting in the back of the Academy. Sasuke had just never really spent much time looking at her. He had no reason.

She wasn't going to help him kill Itachi or hinder his ability to do so. Unlike his admirers, she wasn't annoying. Hinata never forced her presence on him. So it was easy to consider her just part of the background. If he noticed her at all, it was an afterthought.

"Thank you. Well you are walking around and coherent. We should probably get started." Hinata says and offers him a shy smile.

Beautiful. As a kid, she had been cute in an awkward way. The Hyuga had definitely grown out of that phrase. Now she was a woman in every respect.

Her hair reminded him of his mother's. It was long and silky. Though her tresses were midnight blue, whereas his mother's had been the color of a raven's feathers. The color and texture gave the impression gave off a cascading effect that reminded Sasuke of a waterfall.

"What did you have in mind?" He asks.

Sasuke had always thought Hyuga eyes were like glaciers. Beautiful, in a cold way. Her eyes were not cold. Lavender orbs showed her every thought on her face with startling clarity and were framed by long lashes. Right now, she was nervous and trying not to show it.

She had classical facial features. Soft and feminine. Utterly unthreatening. That's when he made the mistake of allowing his eyes to wander south. She was wearing a medic uniform. But that did not hide the fact that Hinata's body type was decidedly more voluptuous than the average female ninja's was. Most female ninjas tended to be lean and willowy. There were exceptions like Tsunade, but overall that was the general trend.

"You're going to cooperate?" Hinata asks in a stunned voice.

"For now. I despise this village, but I do need gain full control of my arm. Besides, I'm not going to spit on his sacrifices." Sasuke replies.

Hinata hadn't expected him to cooperate. Well at least not that easy. The Hyuga Heiress was pretty sure sooner or later, his desire to have complete control of his body would win out over his desire to be difficult. So this was a surprise.

The bluenette wanted to ask who he was and what sacrifices, but she resisted the urge. Sasuke was actually going to be a cooperative patient for the moment. She wasn't going to risk unwittingly provoking him into a rage.

"Well first, I'll undo your bandages and have a look." She says.

"It might be easier if you took off your shirt. So I can see how it lined up with your shoulder." Hinata suggests.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. He certainly never would have expected Hinata Hyuga of all people to ask him to undress, even if it was only partially. He tugs off his shirt with his good arm and watches as she slowly undid the bandages.

Hinata felt her face heating up. She knew that sounded more scandalous than it was meant to. Still she was relieved that other than the eyebrow, he hadn't protested and she wasn't entirely certain that counted as a protest.

"Well it is still swollen, but that's expected. Overall, I'd say that the transplant was a success." She informs him as she glances at his arm and more.

Sasuke was a dangerous animal, but there was no denying he was a beautiful one. She knew what kind of carnage that he was capable of. Hinata wasn't an idiot. The fact that he had a well sculpted chest, broad shoulders, and nice biceps didn't change that. It wasn't that she was trying to ogle him, she just wasn't blind.

"Good." He says simply.

"So no pain then?" She asks.

Sasuke shakes his head. He was on too many drugs for that to be a possibility at the moment. Physical pain wasn't the issue.

"No physical pain." He states.

"What about emotional?" Hinata asks as she gives him new bandages.

Sasuke smirks. She was a really brave kitten to ask that. Hinata was still clearly shy, she was flustered over him being shirtless. He could tell that much. But she still managed to ask him questions, that most people would never dare ask.

"I don't think you really want to know what goes on inside my head. If you did, you'd run away screaming." Sasuke informs her.

"Sasuke, don't try to scare me off. If you were going to attack me, you would have done it by n-ow." She stammers.

Ah ha! So the stutter hadn't disappeared. She must have just learned how to control it. For some reason, he felt rather smug at the knowledge that he could make her stutter. Maybe it was some childish subconscious urge to compete with Naruto, he muses to himself.

"How long before I can use this arm fully?" He asks.

What she said was true. He didn't really have any intention of attacking her. His rage was great, but it wasn't a blind rage. Hinata had nothing to do with what happened to Itachi. He didn't have a reason to lash out at the Hyuga Princess. Not yet anyway.

"It's going to take some time. It depends how much effort you put into your therapy." Hinata replies.

"Alright." Sasuke responds.

"Try flexing your arm. Just once. Probably a good idea to go slowly." The bluenette informs him.

Sasuke nods. He tries to flex his arm. His eyes immediately shut tight in pain and he grimaces. Fuck!

"Pain is expected at first. Would you like me to go get you some more pain killers?" She asks.

Sasuke shakes his head. Hell no. He wasn't going to ask for more and look weak. There was no way that was going to happen.

"I'm fine." He lies through his gritted teeth, trying to stubborn through the agony that was currently tormenting him.

"Alright. If you are sure, I'll go inform Lady Tsunade that you are being a good patient." She says with a smile and heads off.

She knew that he was lying. Sasuke was Sasuke though. If he wanted to pretend he wasn't in agony, there wasn't much point in arguing with him about it.

"Lady Tsunade, I just saw Sasuke. He's being unexpectedly cooperative." Hinata tells her as she enters the busty blonde's office a few minutes later.

She blinks when she saw the security cameras. They were positioned to watch the lower floor. Hinata supposed she should have expected it really. Sasuke was dangerous. He had to be monitored constantly.

"Yes, we saw that. Actually it was a rather interesting encounter. I'm going to assign you to be in charge of his therapy." Tsunade says.

Tsunade couldn't believe she was actually going to do this. Putting Hinata Hyuga and Sasuke Uchiha alone in the same room seemed to be almost inviting disaster. Hinata was so kind, sweet, and gentle. Sasuke wasn't.

Normally, the blonde would have assumed that the last Uchiha would traumatized the young woman. That wasn't what happened though. She had watched the clip. His eyes had definitely been wandering while talking to her. Sasuke was attracted to her, at least physically.

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade. I won't let you d-own!" Hinata promises.

"I know that you won't, Hinata. I have complete faith in your abilities as a medic. Just don't let him intimidate you. You have had quite the busy day. Why don't you take the rest of the day off?" Tsunade suggests.

"Alright." Hinata says as she heads off.

The Hokage glances at the footage again. She wondered if Sakura had noticed. She hoped not. That could make things rather awkward between the shy heiress and her apprentice.

"Do you really think it's safe to leave her with him?" Sakura asks.

"I'm not entirely certain. She does have a point though. We aren't exactly neutral parties. Sasuke would likely go out of his way to provoke us. That doesn't seem to be the case with her." Tsunade observes.

Sakura nods. Maybe Hinata was just too nice for even Sasuke to taunt. Then again, it was Sasuke. He might just be playing "nice," while he looked for an opportunity to escape.

Meanwhile Hinata was heading towards the Hyuga Estate. On her way there, she bumped into Naruto. She smiles as she greets him.

"Oh hey, Hinata! How's it going?" Naruto asks cheerfully.

"Strange. Sasuke's acting differently than I expected." She mumbles.

She had mostly outgrown her stuttering habit, even around Naruto. The Hyuga woman had told the blonde of her feelings for him during the war, but the blue eyed ninja hadn't responded right away. It had taken him awhile, but eventually he tried to let her down easy.

"You're a really great person! You're kind, loyal, and an amazing friend. I just…don't love you that way. I mean I love you as a friend, just not like that. I mean it though. You really are amazing and any guy would be lucky to have you!" His words echoed in her ears.

"It's ok-ay, Naruto. I understand." She replied.

That was it. That was what years of admiring him had led to. Naruto had told her that he just wanted to be friends.

It had hurt at first. No one wanted to be rejected, no matter how nicely the other person had done so. She was slowly getting over it. Truthfully, it might have been a blessing in disguise.

The Hyuga Heiress couldn't imagine how the boisterous blonde would have fit in with her family. The Hyuga Clan was one of strict rules and structure. Naruto made his own rules.

The man was completely unpredictable. She giggles as she tries to imagine her father teaching Naruto what the "proper" fork was to eat this or that. It wouldn't have ended well.

"Has he said something to you? Did he try to hurt you? I swear to God Hinata, if that bastard did something to you, he'll regret it!" Naruto promises her.

"Oh no. He didn't do anything to me. Sasuke was actually being a good patient. That's what is so strange. I expected him to be more…stubborn about it." Hinata admits.

Naruto blinks. Sasuke HATED hospitals. Well most people hated hospitals, but especially him. Sasuke had good reasons to hate them, but he would have thought Sasuke would have made his medic's life a living Hell. So he was surprised when Hinata told him that the last Uchiha was actually behaving.

"Really? Well that's great! Maybe I should go see him. I mean if he was being nice to you, maybe he'll actually want to talk." The blonde says.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." The Hyuga woman protests and blinks when she realizes that Naruto had already taken off towards the hospital.

She shakes her head in resignation. Hinata didn't like it, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Besides, if they did get into a fight, Naruto had the advantage at the moment.

"Hey, bastard!" Naruto calls out as he enters the ground floor, where Sasuke was staying.

"Do you have to be so fucking loud?" Sasuke growls in annoyance as he walks over to Naruto.

"Well it got your attention! So Hinata is looking after you, huh? You better be nice to her, bastard!" The blonde orders him.

Sasuke felt himself twitch. He didn't know why it annoyed him so much, but he didn't care for the way Naruto was acting towards Hinata. It was so overprotective, like a lover or something.

He knew that they weren't lovers. Sasuke mentally rolls his eyes and wonders if Naruto even knew what kunais and pouches meant. Ninjas didn't use birds and bees as metaphors. They used a much more accurate description in his mind, kunais and pouches.

"She's going to be my medic while I undergo physical therapy, yes. I better be nice to her or you'll what? Kill me? That would be stupid of you. After all, you were so desperate to get me back to this damn village." Sasuke hisses at him.

Naruto blinks. Sasuke's tone vicious. The blonde couldn't understand what he had said to set the other man off. He had mostly been teasing.

"I'm not going to kill you. You're my friend. I would totally kick your ass if you were a jerk to her though!" The hyper ninja exclaims.

"You don't have to worry about that. Hinata isn't annoying like you." Sasuke says with a smirk.

If all else failed, he knew Naruto. He knew that blonde like the back of his hand. Sasuke knew that he would take that bait.

"You're the annoying one! You are the one that kept running away all the time!" Naruto growls and the two soon were engaged in a good ole fashioned fist fight.

"And another thing, it better not happen again. I know you are going to be Hokage some day. It's your job to prevent it. If I suspect another plot, I will level this village to the ground. I won't let them take my family from me again." Sasuke says as he slams his fist into the blonde's stomach, sending him flying back several feet.

Naruto was used to these types of hits. Anyone else probably would have been knocked unconscious, but not him. He quickly gets back on his feet and charges at Sasuke, sending a harsh kick to the raven haired man's legs.

Sasuke fell over. He fumbles for a moment, trying to use one arm to get back up. He manages though and smirks at Naruto. If nothing else, Sasuke loved a good fight. They both did.

"I won't let that happen again! Granny Tsunade wouldn't either. Wait what do you mean by your family, you're the last one. Wait someone wasn't brought back using THAT jutsu again, were they?!" Naruto asks and looks around frantically.

"No. No one was brought back. Well at least not today." Sasuke mutters.

It was kinda disturbing actually. A lot of dead people had been brought back. He had even talked to the former Hokages once. As much as he longed to see his family again, he knew that the dead should stay dead. It wasn't right to disturb their rest.

"Oh good to know. So what did you mean?" The blonde asks.

"Don't worry about it. Just make sure that it doesn't happen again." Sasuke says and his Sharingan flashes.

The last thing he needed was for Naruto to know what he was really talking about. He had two goals. They were to kill Itachi and restore his Clan.

He had "accomplished" his first goal. The victory had been a hollow one. Itachi wasn't the villain, he was the victim and the martyr all wrapped in one enigma that Sasuke didn't think he would ever truly understand. But still for better or for worse, that chapter in his life was over now.

"Wait…you said your family. But you're the last one. Sasuke did you, you know? Did you take a lover or something? Is she pregnant? When did you have time?! I mean with the war, fighting Itachi, and everything?!" Naruto asks.

"You're pathetic. You can't even say the word. No, I didn't. Not that it is any of your business." Sasuke bites back a snarl.

He didn't know why he felt so defensive. Naruto was Naruto. He'd never attack Sasuke, unless he attacked first. The blonde didn't have a treacherous bone in his body. Well actually, scratch that. He knew. The blonde had a very loud mouth and not everyone in this village was as forgiving as him.

"Well that's a relief. Though I guess it makes sense. You'd probably scare them off before it got that far." Naruto observes and Sasuke twitches.

Yes, he still had his second goal to consider. Unfortunately, he was in the Leaf Village. There had never really been anyone in this village who interested him, not like that.

Well at least there hadn't been. Sasuke hadn't even considered Hinata because she blended so well into the background when they were children. Now that he thought about it though, there could be a lot of advantages…if he chose her.

"At least I would actually know what to do with a woman." Sasuke taunts him.

She was a good choice because of her skills. Hinata was a Jonin. She was strong and had excellent chakra control.

There was also the Byakugan. Idly, he wonders if the two bloodlines would form a new one or if one bloodline would be more dominant than the others. Even if the Sharnigan was recessive, the genes would still be passed on and possibly activated later.

Finally, she came from a wealthy and powerful Clan. While he didn't care about the wealth, it would certainly only benefit his children to have ties to an established Clan. The Leaf would be less likely to repeat their earlier actions, if it meant facing two Noble Clans instead of one.

"Hey! I know what to do. I traveled with Pervy Sage!" Naruto protests.

Sasuke just rolls his eyes as he continues his musings. She was also beautiful. While looks were a secondary consideration, it would be nice to actually be attracted to the mother of his children. That would make Clan Restoration much more enjoyable.

The more he considered it, the more logical it became. There were really only two potential problems. Hinata was so sweet and might not have any interest in someone like him. He pictured her as the type of woman who preferred flowers and sweet nothings whispered in her ear. That and she had a thing for Naruto for years. He obviously wasn't her type. Still compared to killing Itachi, how hard could it be to seduce a kitten?