REVIEW

Lesson One

She shudders, and sneezes loudly.

"Bless you," Sasuke says. It's remarkable how he can make two innocent words sound so accusatory.

Hinata blows her nose on a tissue, and neatly places it in the trash bin next to her bed. "Sorry," she mumbles, cupping her mouth. "I must look terrible."

"No," sighs Sasuke. "That's not it."

She sniffs, and gives him a questioning look. "What, then?"

He leans down and moves his face close to hers, close enough for her to turn red and forget to breathe and start to grow impatient as he does nothing. But then he frowns pointedly and straightens up. Hinata is left feeling very disappointed, understanding before he even explains.

"I can't kiss you," he says darkly, stalking off to the kitchen.

After a while he returns with a tray and a bowl of something on it, and thrusts it at her. "Here."

Hinata looks down at it, and tries not to laugh. It's inedible.

When she looks up, she sees her Uchiha has opened the window and has a leg up out of it already.

"Where are you going?"

Sasuke's shoulders rise and fall in a defeated sigh. "To buy some actual food."

"Okay." Hinata is still staring at the thing in her lap. "But, Sasuke…"

He turns and raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"How…how do you mess up chicken soup?"

"…"

Lesson Two

His injuries aren't terrible. If they were on Naruto, Sakura would shrug and tell him to walk it off. They aren't, though, so she keeps Sasuke in the hospital for a week after the surgery for observation and to make sure he doesn't aggravate his wounds again.

Sasuke is a really annoying patient. After the fourth time she catches him walking around the room when his legs still haven't healed completely, she is forced to tie him down, which just serves to make him crankier. It's almost worse that he never complains. Instead, he eyes her with such passive aggressive resentment for not being capable of healing his (rather serious) injuries quick enough by his impossible standards that Sakura has to restrain herself from clobbering him on multiple occasions. He'll only be around longer if you do that, she reminds herself repeatedly.

And then there's the Hinata thing. Sasuke refuses to make small talk, but he doesn't shy away from forcing Sakura to be his messenger to his girlfriend. He demands that Hinata bring him books, clothing, snacks, meals…not all at once, either. The Hyuuga ends up visiting nearly every day, sometimes twice.

It gets so ridiculous that finally Sakura gets fed up and tells Sasuke irritably, "Why not just admit you miss her and tell her to stay already?"

Sasuke just gives her a look like she's insulting his intelligence, so she throws her hands up in the air and leaves him alone about it.

But the following day, Sakura pokes her head in his room to tell him that she'll start the daily checkup in five minutes. She stops, though, when she sees that Hinata is curled up and asleep on the bed next to her patient, navy-black hair spilling over the pillows.

Sasuke looks up and glares, daring her to comment. Far too pleased with herself, Sakura tries not to grin as she quietly closes the door.

Lesson Three

He has a headache.

"Teacher Uchiha, watch, watch. Itachi showed me a move yesterday and I think I can do it myself."

"Teacher Uchiha, shouldn't the Chidori be easy to dodge because it's a linear attack? Could you show me how you use it, pretty please pretty please?"

"Mnngh…p-pudding…"

Sasuke closes his eyes in exhaustion. Besides the Nara girl, who is currently snoozing on her feet and dreaming about food, the other two girls are crowding far too close to him, eyes moony and expectant. It's…irritating.

"I'm giving you the number one rookie of this year – a Uchiha – along with the student who scored the highest on the written exam, a Hyuuga," Tsunade cooed when assigning the new cells, waving her bottle of sake around. "You've spent so much time training with cute little Hinata that I'm sure teaching a Sharingan user and Byakugan user to work together will be a breeze. 'Course, getting the top two students means you'll be stuck with the dead last student, but she's a Nara. She just wasn't trying. Have fun!"

Sasuke accepted the assignment, assuming that the gender makeup of the team would be the same as usual – one girl, two boys. But the Hokage failed to mention that they were all girls. It was…probably a mistake on his part to not have taken a look at their files beforehand after all.

"Teacher Uchiiiiiha?" they say in unison. Well, not the Nara. She's still asleep.

Sasuke opens his eyes, and pointedly takes a step back. "Akari, stop being a suck-up," he orders. "Fuuka, don't be such a tryhard. And Chihiro, could you please wake the hell up?"

Akari and Fuuka start to pout outrageously, while Chihiro is startled from her doze. "Huh? Oh, sorry, Teacher." She yawns, and gives him an insincere smile.

"But I asked a relevant question," Fuuka whines.

"I'm your cousin, you should be nicer to me," huffs Akari at the same time. "Or else I'll tell on you to your mom, Sa-su-ke."

Chihiro's eyelids are already fluttering. Sasuke wonders if narcolepsy runs in the Nara family. He's about to tell the other two girls off again when they spot someone behind him and their eyes light up. They release his vest from their hands and go running past him.

"Hi Miss Hyuuga!"

"Hey Hinata, guess what? I did the first two strikes of the Eight Trigrams today!"

Even Chihiro has shaken out of her stupor to meander over and cling to Hinata's arm, smiling sleepily.

"That's very good, Fuuka. Has your teacher been being nice to you all today?"

"No," the three girls chorus, eyeing him accusingly. Hinata tries not to laugh as Sasuke's left eye begins to twitch.

"He doesn't deserve you, Miss Hyuuga," Akari says slyly. "This old meanie should make his own lunch instead of making you bring some all the time."

Sasuke pointedly swipes his bento box from Hinata's hand, and gives his annoying little cousin's nose a strong tweak in the process. She yelps.

"Hey, hey, are you going to stay and eat lunch with us, Hinata?" Fuuka pipes up. "We like it when you're around."

Hinata stumbles a little and has to regain her footing, because Chihiro is slowly leaning more and more of her weight on her side. "Oh, but you should really be spending time alone bonding with your teacher, girls."

"He's mean!" Akari states. "All he does is say we talk too much and we're annoying."

Hinata gives Sasuke a disapproving look. "It's true," he says blankly in response.

Fuuka, a legendary tantrum thrower among the Hyuuga, lets her lip begin to tremble and tears brim at her white eyes. Akari puts a finger in Sasuke's face. "That's it, I am so telling on you!"

Sasuke looks hopelessly at Hinata for help. But his girlfriend glances at the sun's position in the sky instead and gives him a sweet, damning smile, disentangling Chihiro from her arm and directing her to lean on her teacher.

"Ah, look at the time. I've got to get to a mission briefing. See you tonight, Sasuke."

The Uchiha feels the weight of his fate settle on his shoulders as his genin girls surround him again.

"Teacher, can I have some of your lunch?"

"Teacherrrr…"

It's going to be a long year.

"You owe me," he mutters, as she lays a kiss above his navel. "They were even more annoying than usual after you left."

Hinata laughs against his skin. "Sasuke, they're your students. You'll have to learn to get along with them eventually."

Sasuke frowns at that difficult prospect. He tugs at a lock of her hair. "Hurry up and take off your clothes."

Well, he still has no idea how to talk to girls. Hinata pushes herself up and squeezes his hips threateningly with her legs when he tries to move from beneath her. She takes her time.

"You have to ask nicely," she admonishes, slowly drawing off her top.

Lesson Four

It's not the first time she's found Hanabi treating Itachi to a meal in a café, a defeated look on her face. It certainly won't be the last time, either.

"Morning, Hinata," Itachi greets her as she slides into the seat next to her sister. He offers her a riceball.

"Hello," Hinata responds politely, placing her grocery bags on the floor and accepting the food. "I see you two have been sparring again."

"I'll never be rid of him," says Hanabi wearily. "He's a leech."

Hinata glances at the porcelain masks lying on the table next to Hanabi's empty bowl of miso soup. The weasel looks rather mild-mannered next to the snarling tiger. Neither Itachi nor Hanabi bother hiding their identities as members of Konoha's black ops from the rest of the village, much to Tsunade's irritation. Seeing as they are the future leaders of elite clans with no real obligation to take on missions anyway, though, she wisely has decided it is too much trouble to reprimand them. "How's ANBU?"

Apparently this is a subject that her sister harbors many strong feelings about, because Hanabi immediately unleashes a diatribe on some of the members that do not measure up to her standards, including that lazy chess guy and the masked old man who reads too much smut. Hinata watches as Itachi hides his amused smile and nods in an appeasing manner when Hanabi spiritedly prompts him for agreement.

Training under the Uchiha and now, working alongside him in ANBU, has been good for her little sister. He has honed her volatile nature and given it direction, deadly control – not just on the battlefield, either. These days Hanabi knows what she wants and gets it, with confidence. It astonishes and pleases Hinata to see some of the Hyuuga elders begin to bow to Hanabi's sheer force of personality more and more these days. She'll make a fearsomely good clan head, and Itachi will always have a loyal ally (so long as he doesn't piss her off).

"I hear you're drinking tea with my mother today," Itachi innocently says to Hinata, once Hanabi takes a break from her rant to gulp down some tea.

Hinata nods, stomach instantly queasy at the reminder. Itachi gives her a reassuring smile and reaches for a pod of edamame from the plate.

"She already likes you. Hanabi and Sasuke talk about you all the time, you know."

Hinata eyes them suspiciously. The grin on Hanabi's face cannot mean anything good.

"You don't have to worry. My mother is…not anyone to be afraid of," Itachi says, thoughtfully chewing on his edamame. "In fact, you and she are actually very similar…"

At this, Hinata decides it is time to leave, because she really does not want to dwell on the implications of that statement in regards to Sasuke's psyche. Itachi settles back into his seat, pleased with the prospect of a new future member of the family to tease, as Hanabi reaches over the table to steal some of his seaweed.

Uchiha Mikoto is slight, and does not command instant attention. She's a master of the little things. Details. Hinata notices them all; the pristine arrangement of utensils on the table, the exact way she scoops powder tea into the bowl to whisk, the very tilt of the kettle as she pours the tea, the perfect amount of respect she accords when inclining her head to her guest. Her ability to make small talk is legendary even among the repressed matrons of the Hyuuga family, and Hinata at last experiences it firsthand. The Uchiha matriarch seems to know a little bit about everyone, from Hinata's mother to Hanabi to Kurenai, making the conversation easy.

Having entered the room feeling so high-strung, Hinata is glad to find herself relaxing as Sasuke's mother listens to her explain the strength in reconnaissance of her old four man cell. There is just something about Mikoto that speaks to absolute serenity, to nothing going wrong.

"He chose well," she tells Hinata, after they've been speaking for a while.

Hinata smiles shyly at her approval. "I did all the work, though."

Mikoto nods, completely understanding. For a moment she gazes at the edge of her teacup, before looking past it to the girl in front of her. More seriously she says, "But remember, Hinata, my son is not worth giving up the title of clan leader for. Nor is he something to be used to avoid that responsibility."

Hinata colors at the gentle accusation, but it was something she was expecting. She draws herself up. "I understand that," she responds. "He was coincidental. I have my own reasons for refusing the title."

Mikoto lowers her eyes in assent, but something about her demeanor tells Hinata she is not entirely convinced. She doesn't blame her. It's something she herself has only come to terms with after so much thought.

"Hanabi will work with Itachi, and the rest of the village, better than I ever could," she explains gently. "Her personality is suited to lead and inspire. I…could never be as strong as my sister is, but I will never stop supporting her. For my clan, my work is better done behind the scenes."

This she knows Mikoto can understand, and it seems she does by the approving tilt of her mouth. She is quiet for a while, and the sudden tiredness that reveals itself in her dark eyes as she contemplates the liquid in her cup looks out of place on her beautiful face. Hinata is perfectly aware that it is human nature for people to be quick to laud those who enact great changes and make showy accomplishments. They fail to acknowledge those who prevent mistakes and maintain the peace, because the results are not so flashy. And at that moment Hinata is sure that Mikoto is one of the latter – that the contentedness of the powerful Uchiha clan with their place in Konoha must be due to her quiet will of flame. There can be no other reason the Uchiha curse that so many whisper about has never come to fruition after all these years, without clear explanation.

"Ambition is bad for the Uchiha," Mikoto says quietly, affirming Hinata's thoughts. "I'm…fortunate enough that my husband heeds my words. If he were ever to put his goals over his family – my family…" She trails off and shakes her head, knowing she has said too much. Hinata says nothing, perfectly courteous, and Mikoto looks up and smiles at her.

"I'm glad. I can see Sasuke will listen to you, as well."

Miscellaneous Conclusions, and a Revision to Lesson Five

"You're dating the younger Uchiha, right? One of Fugaku's kids?"

Hinata looks at the red-haired jounin leaning against the wall, and blushes. "Y-yes. I am."

She tilts her head, puzzled. "Isn't his brother just as gorgeous, though? To me they may as well be the same person. So how are they different?"

The same person? Laughable. Itachi and Sasuke are as different as two close siblings can be. One is teasing, polite, maybe too perfect. The other is intense, hard to please, and single-minded in his pursuits. Hinata doesn't even know where to begin to explain their dissimilarities to this woman. "Itachi is…nicer," she explains finally, wrinkling her nose.

The jounin gives her a strange look. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"I'm not sure I'm into that anymore," Hinata remarks, more in realization to herself than to the other jounin, as the Hokage finally cracks her door open and gestures them inside.

"I'll miss you," he mutters against her forehead.

"I'll miss you, too," she breathes, threading her fingers through his. "Be careful."

Itachi watches Sasuke reluctantly separate from Hinata and stare as she walks back towards the gates. He can't help himself once the young lady is out of earshot.

"You're cute when you smile, little brother."

"Itachi," Sasuke says between gritted teeth, "I'm going to kill you."

"Oh, but where's that smile gone, now?" Itachi reaches over to poke him, grinning.

Black on crimson irises begins to spin before finger can meet forehead and Tenten can only look on resignedly as one of her mission teammates attempts to commit fratricide. So this is why sending both Uchiha brothers on the same assignment has always, historically, been a bad idea.

This time it's Hanabi with the meal in front of her and triumph on her slim aristocratic face, and Itachi across from her looking woeful.

"This is different," Hinata remarks.

Hanabi sticks a dumpling in her mouth, and smiles smugly at the Uchiha as she chews on it. "You're getting old, Teacher," she purrs.

Itachi sighs. "Well, a promise is a promise."

"I see. Congratulations, Hana." Hinata gingerly sits down next to her and grimaces at the ache in her side that flares up in protest.

"It was the most gratifying poke to the forehead I'd ever given in my life." Hanabi sighs blissfully. After she is done glowing with self-satisfaction, she turns to eye her sister. Hinata must have just returned to the village, because she is still in her ANBU black. While Hanabi has always been too skinny to make the uniform look anything near sexy, Hinata fills it out almost…too…well. Jiraiya and many other fellow perverts look back fondly on a time before Sasuke made Hinata ask Tenten for some chest binding tape.

"Did you just get back from a mission? Shouldn't you go take a nap or something?"

Hinata rubs her temples. "Yes, well, I saw you two and thought I'd say hello…" Her eyes open suddenly and she looks at Itachi. "Wait, if you're here…?"

"Sasuke's back," Itachi confirms with a nod. "He's eating at Naruto's place, I think."

Hinata stands up abruptly, various aches and pains forgotten. "I have to go."

Itachi watches her fix on her porcelain mask and hurry off, before looking back at Hanabi. His former student is fluttering her eyelashes at him in a nauseating matter. "What?"

"I'd like another plate of Kobe beef, please," she says sweetly.

Itachi sighs and raises his hand for a waiter.

Naruto rubs his hands together in enthusiasm as Ayame deposits his ramen in front of him. He rips his chopsticks apart and starts digging in at his usual breakneck pace, but what makes it even more impressive is that he continues talking while he eats. Neji wishes this was not the case.

"So, what type of girl are you into, Neji?" the blond asks cheerfully around a mouthful of noodles.

"I don't have a type." His voice may as well be dripping with acid. Sadly, Naruto is not deterred.

"It's boys, then? That's okay, I don't judge."

Ino slaps her forehead. Neji turns to Naruto and says flatly, "I'm straight."

Naruto stops eating for a moment to lean over, obnoxious blue eyes shining. "Then whoooo? Who are you into?"

Neji is spared from having to answer when Ayame emerges from the curtains with his bowl of ramen. Surprisingly, though, once he splits his wooden chopsticks and poises them to pick up some noodles, he actually decides to answer Naruto's question.

"If I had to choose?" he says, speaking each syllable like it pains him. "Tenten. I…enjoy Tenten's company."

Naruto splutters and chokes on his mouthful. Ino, who is sitting in the stool next to him, completely ignores him. "Oh, Neji. Honey." She shakes her head sympathetically at Neji as Naruto gurgles. "Tenten is so out of your league."

The Hyuuga's mouth drops open in both outrage and shock. Naruto gains control of his faculties in time to give some intellectual commentary on the matter.

"Hey, well, if a pretty faced, emotionally stunted bastard like Sasuke can land a babe like Hinata, anything is possible, right?"

"What did you call me, Naruto?" comes a cold voice from behind them.

"Eh? Uwaaah, Sasuke, nothing I swear – "

As their mission teammate is dragged off in a stranglehold away from the ramen stand, Neji turns to Ino. "What do you mean, 'out of my league'?" he repeats in disbelief.

The younger Hyuuga is a lightweight. Sasuke eyes her over the edge of his raised sake cup and smirks at her facedown form.

Then again, she is sort of small. And eleven cups was sort of a lot.

Itachi pours himself another drink. "Are you thinking of joining ANBU?"

"What's the point?" Sasuke says, uninterested. "I'll never surpass you anyway." He gives his brother an ironic toast.

"Not with that attitude." Itachi knocks back his drink and sighs at the resulting sensation. "Besides," he adds, "I'm still single. You've got that over me."

"By choice." Sasuke discovers that the sake bottle is now empty and wanders away to check for more alcohol in his father's cabinet.

"I've considered some girls…" Itachi explains vaguely. "No one's my age, though. And everyone else is taken. Or not worth the trouble."

Sasuke comes back with a bottle of shochu and pot of oolong tea to chase it with. His brother is right, more or less. Sakura, besides her occasional flings with Naruto that result in much destruction of furniture and property, may as well be married to her job. Ino is a lot pickier than one would think. And beyond her own high standards, potential suitors are also forced to run the gauntlet of seeking the approval of her former teammates, teacher, and father before they can really be with her. Tenten is probably the best bet, but groping her would probably be like sticking your hand into a pile of porcupines. Besides, isn't Neji into her, or something?

"You've always got Hanabi."

Apparently the Hyuuga isn't totally unconscious, because a pale hand emerges from under her head to flip him the bird.

Itachi pours his brother some tea, trying not to laugh. "No way. Hanabi bites."

The hand moves over to display the offending sign in his direction.

After several more drinks, Sasuke is feeling much more generous with his conversation. "I think I want to be Hokage," he announces.

Itachi props up his head with his hand and gives him a quizzical look. "What about Naruto?"

"Hm. He can be my cute secretary." Sasuke yawns dismissively and cracks his jaw.

His older brother snorts at the mental image and eases his eyes closed. Sasuke leans back and stares up at the ceiling, his drunken mind imagining the brilliant future as he sees it.

"But first," he mutters, "I'm going to marry Hinata."

Itachi's eyes fly open. "About time," Hanabi mumbles sleepily.

Hinata fumbles for the light switch and pulls off her shoes, stumbling over the ones already on the floor. She tugs off her vest and makes her way to the living room, pulling various weaponry off her person and laying it all on the coffee table along with her mask.

Nobody's there. Hinata pulls up her hair in a bun and sighs, heading off to the bathroom.

Sasuke returns home to the muffled sound of the shower running. He kicks off his shoes and disrobes his upper body as he walks, throwing things on the couch as he passes through the living room to the bedroom. The quiet is nice. He lies down on the bed and closes his overtaxed eyes.

The shower shuts off. Sasuke doesn't move in response.

After a while Hinata exits the bathroom in a flume of warm air and sweet smelling soap, and shambles over to collapse on top of him. Sasuke coughs and moves her hair out of his face.

For a while they don't say anything, too tired to do much but lie there. In the silence, Hinata feels exhaustion finally settle in her bones. She wonders if maybe she should quit ANBU.

"Hello," Sasuke says at last. She likes the way she can feel his voice rumble in his chest. Or maybe she just likes being close to him.

He's not overly affectionate, but calling him passionless would be ridiculous. As usual, Hinata fixates on the little details.

The high points of his cheeks tint red when he's turned on. Sometimes he pulls her towards him so fast she loses her breath. He can convey more with a half-lidded gaze than Naruto can say in a century. And he can speak her name in just a certain way that makes her want to tear his clothes off and do dirty, dirty things to him.

For now, though, she's just sleepy. She curls her hand absently around his bare forearm. "We're exciting, aren't we?"

"I don't care," he mutters. Then: "I love you."

Hinata blinks, finds her breath catching in her throat. Then she laughs. They've been together for three years already and only now can he work up the courage to admit it. That's…so exactly Sasuke, and she loves him. In spite of his imperfections. Because of them. Whichever. Someone as pretty as he is shouldn't be perfect, anyway.

"I know," she tells him, and kisses his nose when he frowns down at her.

That's it. The end. I hope you enjoyed it.

Fun fact: this chapter was written in the following order: 4, 2, 3, parts of 5, 1, the rest of 5. This is the sort of silliness that happens when you don't have a plot.

Side note - one thing that has always bothered me about the story of Naruto is the handling of the Curse of Hatred. Certain people seem to be able to overcome it really easily – Shisui, Itachi, maybe Sasuke now – but the explanation we're given about Fugaku is that although he loved and cared for his family, the curse still simply overcame him when it all came down to it. It's sort of like saying love failed in the end, to me. So this is my take on how things might have gone differently. Mikoto keeps him on the straight and narrow, love wins at the end of the day, far less interesting things happen. Of course it's a copout, but…I don't know, I just place way too much stake in making fictional characters happy.

Anyway, now that this is over, I don't have anything more to give you – for the time being. There is something new in the works, (!) but it will probably be a long time coming. In the meantime, let me know what you think of this. The possibility of getting a wonderful review in my e-mail has me dashing to my iTouch every time it jingles. I love you all.