Coconut and Vanilla

. . .

Hinata's parents had high alcohol tolerance. Her father had drunk countless shots of sake in one night before, glasses stacked on the glossy, mahogany tabletop, without showing the slightest hint of being tipsy. Her parents had an argument that time, and Hiashi had chosen to drown himself in alcohol, in vain. Her mother on the other hand hosted parties with friends – if it wasn't a tea ceremony, it was a Western-styled party. Hinata had seen her drink glass after glass and toast after toast without even the slightest blush or urge to regurgitate it all. Therefore, it probably would make sense for Hinata to inherit the trait.

Hanabi, her younger sister, had become the heir. Hinata chose another path, one her parents found disapproving and too humbling to the Hyuuga name. She chose to become a Jonin. Which was why she now faced a dilemma.

It was a fellow Jonin's birthday – Haruno Sakura's, and they decided to celebrate at Ichiraki's. That meant two things. Ramen and sake.

Hinata had never drank alcohol in her life. She had been too young and her parents refused to let her taste until she was of age –ironic. So well okay, she did have a cup of sake under the guidance of her parents once, but that was it. Nothing else.

She couldn't possibly decline; she was simply too polite to do so. She had nothing else to do anyways, so less said an excuse to offer. She knew there would be drinking. They were all over 20; this wasn't a kiddy birthday party. It was a trip to a casual restaurant. That in itself, spelled A-L-C-O-H-O-L.

"So you're coming right?"

A bright and welcoming voice snapped her out of her inner turmoil and back into reality, which took the form of Konohagakure's streets. Naruto was beaming happily at down at her. Sakura blushed and said that he didn't have to do this again. But it was pretty damn obvious that she was pleased.

"Y-yeah."

The only ninja who stammered. The only ninja who kept a schoolgirl hime-cut and fidgeted occasionally before her genin students.

Hyuuga Hinata.

She sighed. Why couldn't she be like Kurenai-sensei? Strong-willed, skilled, and…dare she say, beautiful? It wasn't that Hinata hadn't had people flirt with her, not to mention that she was currently in a mutual relationship with the most sought after man of Konohagakure—Uchiha Sasuke. That by itself should have boosted her ego, but this was Hyuuga Hinata. Shy, humble and…short.

Her cheeks burned up as Naruto gave her a bear hug (stooping as he did so) and a thumbs up, before finding another victim to promise to the party. If there was one thing about Hinata that one should know, it was that she held the world's record for largest personal bubble. Anyone intentionally closer than a meter would cause her cheeks to color and her speech to stutter—sans her dark Avenger. Her fellow ninjas knew of this—of course, with the exception of an enthusiastic blonde Jonin. Either that or he ignored it and was determined to shrink it.

She pressed the back of her cool hands against her cheeks as if in a desperate attempt to brush off the color. Too close. Much too close. Even she had to question herself, how did Uchiha Sasuke ever manage to come within that boundary so comfortably?

She glanced over at the couple to see Sakura with colored cheeks, sighing after the sight of Naruto getting everyone to attend the party. Hinata turned back to her original direction with a smile. Sakura would never admit it (over her dead body would she), but it was clear that she was head over heels into Naruto.

Four hours passed productively in her apartment as she graded some work and planned for future training with her students.

"Hey busy girl, it's seven already."

Hinata looked up to see Inuzuka Kiba on her window sill. She grinned.

"Alright, I'll just sort these papers, change, and I'll be ready to go."

"Righto, Uchiha Hina—!"

Hinata shoved him off the windowsill before he could finish, sending him falling off the third floor, before she resumed to stacking the folders into the drawer orderly and packing up her personal belongings. She tore off the Jonin vest and shirt (not forgetting to pull the curtains shut) and pulled on a cozy tight white sweater, leaving its hood down. Taking a leap off of the windowsill herself, she landed beside Kiba's crouched posture.

"Sorry for making you wait. I'm ready now."

"No problem," Kiba smirked as they joined their colleagues before Ichiraki's.

"Shall we?" Naruto grinned.

Hinata sat at Ichiraki Ramen with fellow teachers, celebrating Sakura's birthday. Apparently, they'd booked the entire restaurant, Naruto being close with the owner. Said blonde was now serenading for the birthday girl with a guitar.

Happy Birthday Sakura,
Happy Birthday to you!

She never knew that he could sing really, less said tweak his own acoustic version of the Birthday song. There was a sense of sunshine and comfort in his soothing voice and she applauded enthusiastically along with the others, some who catcalled and wolf-whistled.

"C'mon Sasuke!" Naruto leapt to his feet. "Play something for us!"

Cheers sounded and sake cups were raised as Sasuke reluctantly left Hinata to sit beside Naruto and took the guitar into his calloused hands. A faint smile crept on her lips. She had heard his talent with a guitar before.

His eyes never left hers the entire time he strummed and plucked the strings, occasionally whispers from his subtly parting lips.

This is for you.

She smiled and allowed herself to enjoy the precious melody.

. . .

Naruto was drunk, as was most of the other Jonins. Not to the extent that he slurred and his eyes glazed over, but enough to look like he had a permanent blush. Still, he could be considered sober in comparison to Sakura, who had accidentally downed one too many shots in exhilaration.

"C'mon Sakura, we're heading home now."

He held onto a stumbling Sakura who clung tightly onto his torso, making it slightly difficult for the two to walk. They teetered gracelessly to the entrance to regroup with the others. Luckily, it was all on the house.

"You gonna be fine, Hinata?" Naruto asked her as he lifted Sakura onto his back.

"N-no w-worries," she stumbled over her words and pointed semi-sluggishly to her unfocused eyes. "Byakugan, right?"

Naruto stared, unblinking. Finally he whistled a low note. "Whoever thought that a Hyuuga could get drunk?" and nodded to Sasuke who stood beside her. "Hey, Sasuke, take her home, will ya?"

"I don't need you to tell me that." Sasuke took her arm.

Naruto grinned. It didn't take a rocket scientist to read between the lines of that smile. Sasuke scowled.

"Right guys, thanks for coming!"

They parted.

Sasuke eyed Hinata as they stood at the entrance, watching the others leave. She seemed to be struggling to even stand straight, looking more like she was sleepy, rather than drunk. Cute. But Naruto had a point. Whoever thought that a Hyuuga could get drunk? As far as history has gone, no Hyuuga had ever been the slightest drunk even with the heaviest of alcohol. Like they were born with it in their blood or something. Total alcohol tolerance. A reason as to why Hyuuga's were never challenged at drinking games.

He sighed and swept the drunken girl into his arms. To even try walking with her drunk would be testing his limits of patience. And he wasn't well-known for a gift of immeasurable patience. Rather, God seemed to have skipped over him while doling it out.

She barely protested; in fact, her head snuggled perfectly into the curve of his collarbone. He liked that.

He had barely passed the streetlight adjacent to the restaurant before she twitched once. He looked down at the sudden furrow between her brow, wondering if she had suddenly remembered she was a Hyuuga and had become sober. But she wasn't waking, so he marched on.

He had a mind to take her to his own apartment, but Neji was probably stalking him with his Byakugan. With a sigh, Sasuke avoided dealing having to search her for the key to the front door and took the shortcut by leaping through her window. Who knows where she hid her keys anyways. Bra, perhaps? Yum.

Sasuke flicked on the lights and set her down on her futon before surveying the room. A discarded Jonin vest and shirt lay on the tatami floor, which he picked up and tossed into her laundry basket. He had never understood why she'd chosen to become a Jonin anyways, as it would result in her leaving the family. He could see the freedom she would gain from it, but for a man who had lost nearly his entire family in one night it was difficult to see the pro outshine the con.

Upon returning, he found Hinata sitting on her bed watching him warily, though he guessed that she was still far from sober by the glazed look in her eyes. Luckily he'd brought in cold water to help ease her state. Taking a seat at her bedside, he solemnly offered the cup.

"S-Sasuke…"

Her hand launched out, striking the cup to the side where it made a dull clunk sound on the floor and water splashed out onto the futon. In an attempt to stand up, she slipped on the wet cloth of the futon and he caught her in his lap, wondering if this was what a drunken Hyuuga was like. Violent and clumsy.

As he felt her breathe against him, he took a whiff of her hair. She hardly smelled like alcohol. Rather…

"Strange. You smell like coconut. Or maybe vanilla. Is this a Hyuuga thing?"

Hinata heaved a breath before she upright herself on his lap to face him with a sweet and dazed expression. She patted his hair idly and giggled, "Silly Sasuke-chan. Can't you tell the difference between a coconut and vanilla?"

He made no comment to the additional "-chan."

"Here, I'll teach you," she offered.

"Vanilla feels like this, strands of them, like grass." She took his hand and brought it to her hair, stroking it roughly.

"And coconut is hard, like this…" Then brought his hand tracing down…down…down, tracing the length of her body, towards her… "Just kidding."

He didn't appreciate the gender-bending joke.

"And to harvest a coconut, you have to knock it down, like this," she whispered huskily beside his ear, sending chills rippling down his spine. She pushed him ruthlessly onto the tatami mat, eyeing like a predator protectively over its fresh kill. She straddled him tightly, and he felt a surge of warmth in his lower area.

Ignoring the feeling, Sasuke took a low breath as she bent over his torso, eyes piercing into his.

"You're sober," he smirked.

Hinata froze. She rolled off of his body and fell back, eyeing him.

"You're not drunk," he continued, lifting himself off of the ground before positioning his hands on both sides of her head against the wall, reversing the previous situation. "You're just turned on."

A blush made itself clear on her pale skin and he lifted a hand to stroke her pink cheeks. Nipping her ear, he murmured, "That was an impressive act. You really had me thinking that you were drunk. But your act faltered once you made your move against me."

It was his turn to become the predator.

"Why don't we continue with that lesson about coconuts and vanilla?" His finger tipped her chin up so her eyes met his. His hand slipped under her shirt and his fingers gently skimmed her spine as she arched her body against his.

"Weren't very satisfied, were you? That I didn't let your hand go all the way," Hinata smiled, cupping his cheek to kiss his jaw line. She sighed. "Looks like my cover's blown."

"Indeed," he whispered. "Now, do tell me you weren't planning to be on top, as I'm not about to let that happen."

"Indeed," she smirked, accepting his challenge.

. . .

A/N: I'm so sorry I blew it! I'm completely not used to writing anything close to smut so when it came down to it, I cringed up _… This story was inspired when I came to school with this lotion that smelled like coconut and this guy thought it was vanilla. LOL.

Earlier in the story, when Sasuke's playing guitar (in a way for her), I had Andy McKee's Rylynn with the acoustic guitar in mind. It's absolutely beautiful :) Check it out along with many of his other videos in his channel!