Author's Note: Hey there! This is a SasuHina AU one-shot. Part of this little fic of mine takes place in a military camp. I've never been in the army so my description probably won't be very accurate. If I make some mistakes please forgive me - There might be some OOCness (well I hope it's only a little hohoho) and sappiness. I shall stop my rambling now and get on with the fic. Hope you guys like it!!
Summary: Who knew you could find love in the mail?! AU. SasuHina one-shot.
Disclaimer: Me, own Naruto? rolls on the floor laughing I wish!
Corresponding With Strangers
Sasuke Uchiha watched without a trace of interest the magnificent sight that was the sky turn different shades of indigo tinged with orange as the sun sank behind the horizon. Not even a talking elephant wearing roller-skates could have shaken the first lieutenant out of his boredom. He took a quick look around the camp and scowled. It was as dull as ever. Today had been another uneventful and utterly boring day. Since Orochimaru, the tyrannical ruler of the Village of the Sound, had been overthrown things in the small village were rather peaceful save for a few small uprisings here and there. It wasn't like Sasuke enjoyed the fighting but at least it kept his mind occupied and gave him a purpose in life, even if for a brief moment. When he was fighting his one and only goal was victory but once the battles were over his life became the same pointless monotony he lived day after day.
With a nod he relieved the two privates that had gone on patrol with him and then turned to one of the soldiers guarding the gates. "Where's Gaara?"
"The second lieutenant is in the main hall, sir," replied the young soldier.
Sasuke inwardly snorted. What they called the "main hall" was nothing more than a rectangular brick one-story building with a small kitchen attached to it. Six long tables flanked by equally long benches and a few rectangular windows were all that adorned the place where the soldiers would eat their meals and socialize during their free time.
On his way in he bumped into Shikamaru, one of the privates that had gotten stuck with the task of delivering the mail in exchange for not having to patrol the town. "I left yours over there," he said with a wide yawn tilting his head towards one of the corners of the room.
Sasuke rolled his eyes in exasperation. On one of the tables sat a pile of envelopes in all shades of pink and red. One of the cooks handed him a plastic bag as Sasuke walked past him. They all knew the drill by now. Every month, on mail day, Sasuke would receive a ton of letters from all his fan girls. He would stuff them in a garbage bag and then use them to fuel the bonfire that the other soldiers would set up in the middle of the camp.
"Everything was pretty quiet. We only stopped a fight between two drunkards in the northern part of town," said Sasuke as he slumped onto the bench and started sorting through the heap of letters in front of him, just in case the moron had written to him this month.
"Alright," said Gaara with a nod as he sorted through his much smaller pile of letters. He took one of them and curiously examined it. It was a plain white envelope addressed to him in very neat handwriting.
"Hinata Hyuga? Who's that?" he asked nobody in particular raking his brain for answers as to why the name sounded familiar.
"Hey, isn't that the chick from the inn in Konoha?" offered private Kankuro, who was standing next to Gaara.
Gaara turned to look at Kankuro with a frown. He still couldn't place the name. He had met many girls during his brief assignment in Konoha. Kankuro let out a sigh at Gaara's obvious puzzlement and added, "the only one you couldn't take to bed with you."
"Ah, that one. What does she want?"
"Maybe she's asking you for another date so that she can properly demonstrate her love for you," winked Kankuro stifling a laugh.
Gaara smirked as he tore open the envelope. His smirk quickly turned into a sneer as his eyes scanned the letter. Then with a snort he threw the now crumpled letter into Sasuke's "discard" pile.
"Nothing but mushy junk. Just add it to the bonfire," he said before he started walking towards the door. "Let's go, Kankuro. We got a town to patrol."
Sasuke briefly wondered what kind of girl would reject Gaara. It was true that he wasn't as popular as Sasuke but he had no trouble convincing girls to sleep with him. Deciding that he couldn't care less about the matter he continued going through the nauseatingly decorated and perfumed envelopes until he finally found a bright orange one covered in very messy handwriting.
He threw the rest of the letters into the garbage bag and opened the envelope. At first sight it looked like a chicken had dipped its paws in ink and ran around on the piece of paper Sasuke had pulled out of the envelope. Upon closer inspection you could make out some words on the paper. Sasuke was used to Naruto's hieroglyphic-like handwriting by now so he was able to read it without having to squint too much. The letter was mainly about the moron telling him of what was going on back home peppered with some lines from his wife. It wasn't until Sasuke got to the "Guess what Sasuke-bastard?" (bastard and moron had somehow become terms of endearment between the two) that his eyes widened. When he read the following line he couldn't help but to do something he rarely, if ever, did. He smiled.
"You are going to be an uncle!"
"We are not related, you moron. I can't be your kid's uncle," he murmured softly, the traces of a smile still on his lips.
He felt truly happy for his friend and his wife, Sakura, and he felt even happier that the two of them would consider him their child's "uncle." Although Sasuke would never admit that out loud or the fact that the moron was like a brother to him if his life depended on it. As happy as he felt for his two only friends, he couldn't help but feel even lonelier. He felt exactly the same way that he had felt on the day when Naruto told him that he was marrying Sakura. He felt left out.
Sasuke lost his parents at an early age. Since all his father had left behind were debts, he had been thrown out on to the streets by his own relatives. He wandered the streets struggling to survive, out of pure instinct, since consciously he had no desire to keep on living, until someone found him lying on a pile of newspapers burning up with a fever. That is how he ended up in the orphanage where he met Naruto.
At first he couldn't stand the grinning blond boy. Sasuke just couldn't understand what in the world Naruto seemed to be so happy about all the time. They lived in a crowded orphanage ran by nuns that just couldn't find it in their hearts to refuse to take in orphans no matter how scarce their resources were. There were days when all they had to eat was a piece of bread and watered-down milk. Naruto wasn't the brightest bulb and he often got made fun of by the other kids. But instead of getting mad or cry he would just smile brightly and go on with his day like nothing had happened.
Sasuke, who had lost all faith in humanity, kept to himself and his death glares and sharp tongue kept everyone away from him. That is everyone but the stupid blond who loved to parade around the orphanage telling everyone that he was going to be president of the country when he grew up.
Naruto kept at it until he chipped off some of the ice around the scowling child. Slowly he wormed his way into Sasuke's heart and they became friends. Although it was hard to tell since both of them were too proud to admit it and were at each other's throat all the time. They met Sakura when they were both twelve. She was the daughter of one of the women who volunteered at the orphanage. Sakura was just as energetic and loud as Naruto and rather bossy, so when she decided that she wanted to make the two boys her playmates they had no choice but to comply.
From then on Sasuke always got dragged into whatever activities the two loudmouths planned. And so they were inseparable all throughout grade school and high school, but since nothing lasts forever Sakura and Naruto ended up falling in love. Without meaning to, they left Sasuke, who had no other friends or family, behind. Seeing his two friends so happy together sometimes made Sasuke wonder what it would feel like to have a special someone by his side.
Sasuke shook his head as if to clear his mind of his previous thoughts and his eyes landed on the garbage bag sitting next to him on the bench. His curiosity got the best of him and he reached into the bag to pull out the letter Gaara had thrown out. He was rather curious to know what a girl who had refused to sleep with Gaara would tell him on a letter. He smoothed out the piece of crumpled paper and started reading.
He was no graphologist but he could tell that whoever wrote this letter was a very shy person. The small characters written with the utmost care were a clear indication of that. Sasuke was almost sure that the letter he was now holding was the fruit of a few drafts. The letter was nothing spectacular, just the girl thanking Gaara for some flowers and apologizing for not being able to see him off when he left. It seemed that the dad was rather strict.
Sasuke didn't know how he got so engrossed in such a short and simple letter. Maybe it was the innocence and sincerity evident in every word or maybe it was just that this letter was very different from the ones he received from his fan girls. Those letters bordered on blatant sexual harassment. Sasuke had stopped opening them since the fan girls had taken to including very suggestive pictures of themselves and revealing undergarments with their letters.
When Sasuke retired to his tent he found himself once again staring at the crumpled letter that he had "unintentionally" slipped in his pocket. He decided that writing a reply to the moron would rid him of thoughts of the letter that now laid at the bottom of his trashcan. After writing back to Naruto he went to bed and tried to sleep, but the stupid letter kept haunting his thoughts. With a groan he threw his blanket aside and got up from the narrow and rather uncomfortable bed.
"Damn it all to hell," he mumbled as he sat down in front of the small table that served as his desk and took pen to paper once again.
x·o·x·o·x·o·x·o
Another boring month went by and mail day came by once again. Sasuke moodily went through his ever growing pile of letters. His fans just didn't get the hint. Instead of stop writing to him, seeing as how he never replied to any of them, it seemed that they got more encouraged by his indifference.
He was in the process of shoving all the letters into the garbage bag after fishing out Naruto's letter when he felt his blood run cold. He heard Gaara comment next to him, "This Hyuga chick again?"
Sasuke nonchalantly offered his garbage bag to Gaara and to his relief the letter was thrown away unopened. Later, before discarding the bag into the bonfire, Sasuke discreetly pulled out the letter. Once in the safety of his tent he tore open the envelope and soon a small smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Yearning to share his thoughts with someone else and receive normal letters from someone other than Naruto and Sakura, Sasuke had actually replied to Hinata's letter. Not wanting to scare her off by making her think he was some weirdo he had signed his letter using Gaara's name, after all it was he to whom she had written. The apprehension of her having found out that it hadn't been Gaara who had replied to her letter vanished as soon as he read her response to the few lines he had written.
Thus their routine of writing letters back and forth started. Weeks started to become shorter and life less dull since now he had something to look forward to every month.
Sasuke kept all of Hinata's letters hidden in a small box and recurred to them often when he felt bored or frustrated. He felt rather stupid sometimes clinging onto some words sprawled on a piece of paper by someone he had never seen in his life and who thought he was somebody else. But as time went by and the letters went from the most trivial things to more intimate and profound matters of their lives he was sure that he was getting to know the real Hyuga Hinata. Who cared if he didn't know what she looked like? Who cared if she addressed her letters to Gaara Sabaku and not Sasuke Uchiha? She was getting to know the real Sasuke as well, because even if he didn't sign each letter with his name he did pour his heart and soul into each letter he wrote. Sasuke wasn't one to write really long letters but he knew that Hinata understood exactly what he was trying to say even if he used only a couple of words.
Every month Sasuke would make sure he was there to help Shikamaru sort the mail before he delivered it. In truth he just wanted to make sure he snatched Hinata's letter before it reached Gaara's hands. The first couple of times that Sasuke wordlessly started sorting the mail with him he shot Sasuke surprised looks, but Shikamaru wasn't one to refuse help, especially when it was for free. He also wasn't one to ponder much on other people's reasons to behave the way they did, especially when it came to the first lieutenant's rather strange behavior. Life was too troublesome as it was to be worried about other people's actions.
x·o·x·o·x·o·x·o
The sun was just starting to peek out of the mountains and a grayish mist weaved its way through the camp when Sasuke left his tent. He didn't have to go on patrol until noon nor had he any other military duties, but after several months of the same routine his body woke up automatically. Every first Tuesday of the month he would wake up at the crack of dawn to help Shikamaru sort the mail. With a scowl he made his way to the main hall to get a cup of black coffee. He knew the cooks were up already working on making breakfast. He was in an exceptionally bad mood this morning. It had been two months since he had last heard from Hinata. He figured that she had gotten tired of writing to him or she had found out that it wasn't Gaara who had been replying to her letters. After all, Gaara had been reassigned almost three months ago to a village in Wind Country not too far from Konoha.
Sasuke already had a foot on the threshold of the hall when he muttered under his breath, "last time." Then he turned around and went to the "mail room," otherwise known as Shikamaru's tent.
Disappointment clawed at Sasuke's heart when he picked up the last letter he had to sort. The familiar calligraphy on the envelope told him it was Hinata's and his heart soared. He swiftly hid the letter in his jacket before going back to his own tent. Once there he took out the letter and for a moment fear took a hold of him. The sender's address was different this time. On her last letter Hinata had told Sasuke that since her father considered her incompetent to run the family inn he had decided to name Hinata's younger sister as heir of the family business. The Hyuga Inn was the oldest and most prestigious resort in all of Fire Country, the favorite of the royalty and the aristocracy. Since disowning the eldest daughter would be cause of scandal, Hinata's father wanted her to marry some politician of the region to justify why the younger daughter was to be the head of the resort.
He feared that her father had forced Hinata to marry this man and thus the reason why she hadn't written for the past two months. Sasuke was afraid that this was Hinata's letter of good bye telling him that she could no longer write to him because it wasn't proper for a good wife to be corresponding with another man. But to his greatest relief, that wasn't the case.
Hinata apologized for not writing in so long but running away from home and finding a place to live had taken most of her time. Not being one to complain, Hinata spared Sasuke the details of her trials and tribulations and instead focused on more positive things such as the fact that she was now happily working at a tea house in Akibashi, a small village north of Konoha and contemplating the possibility of pursuing her dream of becoming a nurse.
Sasuke laid back on his bed holding Hinata's letter against his chest wishing that it was Hinata he was holding and not a piece of paper. Even if she hadn't complained much Sasuke knew this had been a very painful ordeal for her. He could imagine just how hard it must have been for Hinata to have been thrown into the world like that after living a particularly sheltered life. He knew perfectly well what it was to be thrown out into the streets with nothing but the clothes on his back and by his own relatives no less. He closed his eyes and for the first time he wished for something more than a letter. He wanted someone to spend the rest of his life with.
"I'm screwed," he whispered covering his eyes with his right arm. As impossible and ridiculous as it sounded, he had fallen for someone who he had never even seen in his life.
x·o·x·o·x·o·x·o
Exactly a year had passed since Sasuke had started corresponding with Hinata when he got reassigned back home. Things in the Village of the Sound had finally settled and military presence wasn't needed anymore. When the day to leave came, instead of taking the train home he took the one going to Akibashi. Sasuke had decided that he could no longer lie to Hinata.
When Sasuke got off the train, a gust of cold wind hit his face dissipating all signs of drowsiness and tedium from the long trip. He knew Hinata's address by heart and was able to quickly locate the small house where Hinata lived. He stopped about a block short of the house and called over one of the small boys playing outside the flower shop to his left. He gave him a sealed envelope and a few coins and instructed him to deliver it to Hinata's house. Once he saw the boy knock on Hinata's door he turned on his heel and started walking back towards the station, being careful to stay on the back roads. As usual, he was attracting way too much attention.
Sasuke was positively reckless and one of the bravest soldiers in battle but when it came to feelings he was a coward. He had suffered so much in his life that he shied away from any type of human interactions that could end up in heartache. For an instant he hesitated and thought about going back and facing Hinata, but he immediately desisted of the idea. He didn't think he would be able to stand the look of deception and hatred in her eyes. He had let his guard down and now he had to pay the consequences.
He was so absorbed in his thoughts entranced by the sound of the thin layer of snow crunching under his boots that he failed to hear the small footsteps echoing behind him.
"E-excuse me… wait, p-please," came a voice so tiny that had it not been for Sasuke's expertly trained hearing it would have gotten lost in the cold winter wind that blew by.
The first lieutenant turned to see a slender female with skin of porcelain, midnight blue hair, and pale lavender eyes trying to catch her breath as she clutched a piece of paper to her chest. Even if his face was as impassive as ever, his heart was pounding madly in his chest. It had to be her. He was sure of it. The girl with rosy cheeks standing in front of him was Hinata, his Hinata.
Seeing as how he was just staring at her giving no indication of speaking any time soon, the girl decided to go on. "Um…d-did you write t-this?" she stammered holding with a trembling hand Sasuke's letter. The one he had just written in a nearby café, confessing the truth and apologizing to her. He nodded his head slowly.
"Why?" Hinata asked her eyes fixed on her shoes. "D-did you feel pity for me because you… you knew Gaara-san would never answer my letters?"
Sasuke's eyes widened for a split second before his face regained its stoic expression. Pity? He had never felt pity, well perhaps for Gaara for being stupid enough to let someone like Hinata go.
After a brief pause he replied, "You know my life story. I was curious. I wanted to know what it would feel like to receive letters from someone who I could relate to, someone who cared about me."
He saw her small hands curl into fists. She raised her head for a brief moment and Sasuke saw tears brimming on her pale eyes. He swallowed, "then I guess I just got addicted to your letters."
A couple of minutes that felt like an eternity to the two of them went by without either one moving from their spot. Sasuke was about to leave when he saw her walk the few steps that separated them until she was within arm's reach from him and he suppressed the desire to wrap his arms around her. Slowly she lifted a trembling hand. Sasuke was sure that he was about to get slapped but to his surprise all he felt was a pair of cold fingers softly brush his cheek.
"You're real," he heard Hinata whisper before she pulled her hand back as if she had been burned. "I… I'm sorry."
Another brief moment of silence stretched between the two before Hinata spoke again, her gaze fixed on the snow-covered ground and fidgeting with her index fingers. "I always had a feeling that it wasn't Gaara-san who wrote all those letters. I found out for sure a few months ago when he saw me and didn't even remember my name."
A wistful smile appeared on Hinata's face and her blush deepened. "I-I was… happy when I found out. I didn't say anything… I was afraid you would stop writing," she finished in a tiny voice.
Oh how well Sasuke knew that feeling. A small smile crept across his features as he slowly lowered his face to lightly brush his lips against hers, "you're real too."
Hinata's face turned crimson and a smile adorned her pink lips. "Um would you like some tea? You said you would like to try it some day."
Her eyes landed on Sasuke's backpack and she finally realized that they were standing a mere five feet from the train station. "Sorry, you were leaving."
Sasuke pulled her to his chest before bringing his lips to hers once more, this time to properly kiss her. Then he buried his nose in her hair taking in the sweet scent of jasmines and tea leaves. "I have a week before I have to report back. Lead the way," he whispered into her ear before releasing her.
Hinata's face turned at least another five shades of red before she nodded. He took her hand entwining their fingers as they slowly made their way to the tea house where Hinata worked. After getting a taste of heaven, he was definitely not going back home alone. He did not want to feel the pain of leaving something so precious behind again.
They were walking hand in hand both simply enjoying each other's presence, when something occurred to Hinata.
"What's your name?"
Author's note: well hope you guys liked it! I love reviews so if you have the time please send one my way! Thanks for reading!
Oh yes, for those of you who have read my other SasuHina fic (Omiai), I'll be updating that one pretty soon. Sorry it's taking so long! Please don't hate me!