A Meeting
Sasuke stared and a pair of blank eyes stared back at him.
The girl seemed to be around his age. She was dressed in a pale blue shirt from what he could see before the white blanket covered her waist down. Practically everything about her was pale save for her midnight blue hair that stopped right on her shoulders. An oxygen tube was inserted through her nose. The only splash of color in her room was a bouquet of flowers on the table next to her bed, which were starting to droop.
Something about her seemed familiar to him.
She started fidgeting under his gaze, a blush appeared on her cheeks. This caused Sasuke to snap out of his thoughts. He realized he had not only barged into her room, but was now scrutinizing her and making her uncomfortable.
"D-did you get the wrong room?" She managed to stutter out.
"No. Sorry, I was actually avoiding someone," He said, mentally cringing at how idiotic he sounded.
Behind him, he could still hear Ino and Sakura's muffled voices caught up in another one of their petty arguments.
"Sorry for my intrusion," He said curtly and turned to leave already dreading what was to come.
"W-wait, you could stay here while they're done," Her sudden outburst surprised him and he couldn't help but give her an incredulous look.
"I mean, that is i-if you'd like to" She lowered her gaze to her fidgeting hands, her confidence leaving her.
Sasuke weighed his options. It was either stay here with the weird girl, or get caught up in between two hormonal teenage girls in the middle of a fight which had been technically sparked by him.
He didn't have to think too hard about it.
"Sure,"
The girl's head snapped up in surprise, "O-oh. Then, um, then please take a seat"
Sasuke went towards the armchair next to her bed, "You're pretty welcoming towards the guy who barged into you room"
"I don't mind the company," She said softly, "Besides, I know how Sakura-san and Ino-san can be."
"WHAT WAS THAT, PORKY PIG?"
She smiled and giggled hearing said people beyond the door.
"You know Sakura and Ino?" Sasuke asked, surprised.
"I know everyone in the hospital," she replied vaguely.
Before Sasuke could ask her to elaborate, she turned to him, "Are you visiting someone?" Sasuke doesn't like sharing things about his personal life, least of all to a stranger. So he gave a curt, short reply, "My brother. So you know everyone in the hospital, huh?' Sasuke's curiosity had been piqued. And when his curiosity has been piqued he wouldn't let go of it that easily.
"Um, yes…" She lowered her gaze again.
"I guess that means you've been here for a while" He kept going
"I suppose you could say that…"
"So then what's your deal?" He asked, leaning back on the armchair.
Finally she looked at him again, brows furrowed, "I'm sorry?"
"What's your story? What are you here for?" He repeated
"You're being awfully rude towards the person whose room you barged into." She replied stiffly.
Damn. He had her there.
"Fair enough," He said, "My brother had a tumor in his eye and had to get it removed."
"O-oh," She blushed in embarrassment, " I'm sorry to hear that. At least the tumor has been removed now, right?"
"They had to remove his eyeball." Sasuke smirked, finding it amusing how easily flustered she'd get.
"Oh! Um, that's… S-sorry." As he expected, her face got even more red. One of her hands went towards her mouth as she coughed a few times into it.
He shrugged, "Don't be. He's fine with it. Now it's your turn Weird Girl."
"Weird Girl?" She asked, once she'd managed to calm her coughing fit.
"Let's see, a stranger barges into your room and your way of dealing with it is to invite him to sit down and talk? I think that counts as weird," Sasuke said.
"It's just nice to have someone to talk to," She said
"Yeah, well didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk to strangers?"
"She passed away a long time ago"
Now it was Sasuke's turn to be caught off guard, "Oh, uh… fuck"
He was contemplating whether he should apologize when he heard her laughing. That's when he realized she had been getting back at him for earlier.
"Sorry, I don't mean to laugh," She said between giggles, "Your reaction was just funny." And continued to laugh.
He scowled. Now Sasuke was getting annoyed.
She finally managed to calm down, "Sorry. My mother passed away a long time ago but I don't mind talking about it. To answer your question though, I have a heart disease and need constant care." She smiled at him, "My name's Hinata by the way. Hinata Hyuuga"
"Hn, so how long have y-" Sasuke was interrupted halfway through his question by the door opening. A nurse with dark hair came in.
"Excuse me Hinata-san, it's time for your-oh!" The nurse paused when she saw that there was more than one person in the room, surprise clearly etched on her face, "Sorry, I didn't know you were having company."
"No, it's alright Shizune-san," Hinata said.
"I could come back later," The nurse, Shizune, said unsure
"Don't bother," Sasuke stood up, "I should get going anyways"
"Um, wait!" Sasuke glanced back at her, "T-thank you for your company Uchiha-san, I really appreciate it."
He nodded curtly at her and left her room. As he left, he looked a the room number.
Room 103.
It wasn't until he was finally at home much later that he realized one thing.
He never told her his name.
The following day, Sasuke woke up in a mixture of annoyance, anger, and confusion. Pretty much how he woke up every morning sans the confusion.
How did she know who he was? Sure, his parents ran a pretty famous corporation, now owned by his brother. But he had always managed to stay away from the limelight. Could it be that they met before? Probably, it would also explain why she seemed familiar to him. Sasuke never liked not knowing something.
As he made his way out of their house, he already knew he'd have to pay a visit to room 103 before the end of the day.
The autumn air was crisp and refreshing outside. Sasuke was just about to go into his brother's car when his phone started ringing. When he looked to see who was calling him, he barely suppressed a groan.
"What?" He answered it.
"HEY ASSHOLE," Naruto's voice blared through the cell phone, "I sent you like a billion messages yesterday! How'd your bro's surgery go? Also Sakura-chan said she thought she saw you at the hospital yesterday but you ran off. WHAT GIVES."
"Naruto, did it occur to you that the reason I didn't reply is cause you're annoying? Also there's no way in hell I was going to listen to Sakura's constant babbling, you can tell her I said that."
"Sasuke you're so mean, I'd love to hear Sakura-chan talking to me about anything other than you" He whined.
"Be my guest" Sasuke replied
"Anyways, what are you doing right now?"
"About to go to the hospital to see Itachi."
"Cool cause I'm at your front gate." Sasuke's eye twitched. "You're what?"
"I'm at your front gate," With that, Naruto hung up. Sasuke sighed in frustration, knowing he'd have to deal with Naruto so early in the day.
As he opened up the front gate with the button in Itachi's car, Naruto walked up to the passenger side and got in.
"Yo! God I know I've said it before, but your house is HUGE."
"Naruto, what the hell are you doing here?" Sasuke asked the blond idiot.
"Oh that! I'm going with you to the hospital today." Naruto grinned.
Sasuke unlocked the passenger door, "Hell no. Get out."
"Whaaaat, Sasuke come oooon! I wanna see Sakura-chan in a cute nurse's outfit."
"She wears scrubs you moron. God, you're starting to sound as perverted as your godfather."
"There's no way I'm like that pervy old man!" Naruto frowned,
"Whatever, if you're coming with you're paying for my gas. Also you stay out of my way."
"Yeah, sure, whatever. God, you're such a tightass."
Halfway through the ride, an idea popped into Sasuke's head.
"Hey, Naruto, you ever heard of a Hinata Hyuuga?"
"Huh? Why?"
"Just answer the question." Sasuke said.
"Well yeah, we all went to the same school together." Naruto replied, "It was, like, kindergarten or something. She was in our class, don't you remember?"
Sasuke was starting to recall a small girl who sat quietly in the back of the class, but other than that nothing else. So that's how she knew who he was then.
"Not really," He answered.
"Well she kept to herself and was super quiet. I tried to talk to her a few times but she'd always run off." Naruto glanced at him, "Why the sudden interest?"
"No particular reason."
"Woah, Tsunade-oba-chan!" Naruto called at the blonde woman ahead of them, surprising Sasuke. Tsunade turned around, an equally surprised look on her face.
"Naruto-kun?" She then looked at Sasuke, "Are you here visiting with Sasuke-kun?"
"Actually, I'm here to see Sakura-chan, do you know where she is?" Tsunade smiled at Naruto knowingly. "She's on her break. Guests aren't allowed in the break area but I'll make an exception for you." Naruto grinned at her.
Then she turned her attention to Sasuke, "Your brother is doing well. He's having some pain, but that's normal. He's going to have to take painkillers for the next few days but that's about it."
"Is he awake?" Sasuke asked her.
"Yes, he's been awake for a bit." Sasuke nodded at her "If you'll excuse me though, I have to get back to work. You know where my office is"
"Thanks Tsunade-oba-chan!" Naruto called after her
"How do you know her?" Sasuke asked.
"Who? Granny? Her and the perv are childhood friends," Naruto smiled, "They see each other now and then for drinks and catching up." Suddenly, Naruto turned around, "I'll see ya later Sasuke, I've got a Sakura to find. Say hi to Itachi for me."
"If I text you that we're leaving and you're not in the car in five minutes, then you're walking home."
"Yeah, yeah." Naruto dismissed him.
"Yo." Sasuke entered Itachi's room
"Hello, Sasuke. Did you finish your homework and school assignments?"
Sasuke gave him a look, "Seriously?"
"Yes." Itachi stared at him blankly.
"Jesus Christ, I'll do them tomorrow after I pick you up."
"You know I'd rather you not miss classes" Sasuke was suddenly reminded of his mom, and just as quickly he pushed the thought out of his mind.
"Yeah, well who else is gonna come pick you up? And besides, Kakashi is always late to class"
Itachi smiled, "So I see he hasn't changed"
"Please, he's too distracted by his porn books. Seriously, how the hell did they ever let him be a teacher?" He asked, "anyways, I brought you this" Sasuke set down the bag he had been carrying on the floor and pulled out a squared, wooden board.
"You up for a game of shogi?" He asked Itachi. It has been a sort of tradition for them to play shogi against each other regularly. However, Sasuke had never won against his older brother.
Itachi smirked, "Prepare to lose again."
"Alright, I'll pick you up tomorrow morning" Sasuke told Itachi as he left.
As always, he lost against Itachi. Sasuke had always lost to Itachi in nearly everything all his life. He used to resent Itachi for it, feeling that their father neglected Sasuke. But after their parent's deaths, Sasuke had to grow up and put all that aside for Itachi's sake. There wasn't any more sibling rivalry. That didn't mean he still didn't want to beat Itachi at something though, even if it was shogi.
Sasuke turned the corner to where Hinata's room would be. And, once in front of her door, he knocked. There was a pause before he heard a soft "Come in"
Hinata looked surprised when she saw him, "You're here again?"
"Looks that way. So we used to go to the same school? That explains how you knew my name when I never gave it to you." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her.
Hinata blushed, "Um, yes. We used to go to the same school.. But we met before then."
Sasuke furrowed his brows in confusion. Just when he thought he had the advantage. "When did we meet, exactly."
Hinata started fidgeting with her fingers while she looked away from him. Sasuke only kept staring at her with narrowed eyes, knowing that eventually she'd cave in. And just as he predicted, she started speaking, "D-do you know Byakugan Corporation?"
Of course Sasuke knew. They were his parent's company's rivals for years. Even now that Itachi took over Uchiha Corp.
"Yes." Sasuke replied, uncertain to where this was going.
"Then, you know the head of the corporation"
Sasuke thought hard, trying to pictured the man. Finally his face came into his mind. The guy with long hair and the freaky blank eyes- It hit Sasuke like a train. He stared at Hinata, specifically her eyes, "You're his daughter." Sasuke stated.
"Yes,"
"And we met how?" Sasuke kept pressing, wanting more answers.
"Our fathers had a meeting together. Otou-sama brought me along and Uchiha-sama brought you and your brother with him. It was only once though. Otou-sama didn't take me to meetings very often. And not long after I came here."
Sasuke nodded as it started to make sense, no wonder he-
Wait a minute
"And not long after I came here"
Sasuke looked at her, "Hinata."
"Y-yes?" She asked, nervous at his sudden seriousness
"How long have you been here?"
Hinata smiled at him, but it wasn't a happy one.
"About ten years."
A/N: Hello again! Sorry it took forever to update. I work full time and can't update as often as I want to . I saw some comments saying that they hope I won't leave the story unfinished. Don't worry! I have many plans for this story and I definitely won't abandon it! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it made me so happy to see people enjoying it! And yes I know it's a little slow paced but I like building relationships a lot lol. Thanks again and I'll see you next time!