Chapter Text
Back To You
A romantic weekend getaway seems like a fresh start—until Hinata runs into Sasuke again… with someone else on his arm.
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Chapter 1: The Break Up
He was acting weird. There was no mistaking it. She could see the signs from the tenseness of his shoulders, the strict jaw, and the sharpness of his eyes. Whatever it was, it was tormenting him. However, before asking, she decided to wait and see if there was a moment to approach him correctly. Even though she loved him, he was volatile, mostly because he did not know how to cope with his feelings, and when he didn’t understand something, he tended to lash out.
They were at the movies, an out-of-the-blue date on a slow Tuesday night in their current setting. She was finishing her latest project on decorating a woman-owned business when she received his text about the outing. Deciding to leave everything for tomorrow, she complied, very surprised by his suggestion. He was wearing his work clothes, a black office suit. She knew he worked in a company for intelligent cars. She deduced he had a very important role in such a demanding job. Hinata thought that was stressful in itself. The headquarters was actually in the town of Konoha, and Sasuke was in charge of the branch in Tokyo, where she currently worked and studied at the same time.
“Can we get some candied popcorn, please?” she looked up at him; she could never resist a sweet treat.
Nodding once, he complied, going to the stand to get her snack of choice, where she ordered with a smile. “Do you want anything, Sasuke?” she looked at him, knowing that his boyfriend wasn’t as fond of sweets as she was.
“No”
She frowned.
‘He usually gets a soda,’ she thought. ‘Maybe we’ll eat afterward, and he’s saving his appetite.’
Her thoughts were interrupted when he grabbed her hand and gently pulled her toward the section of the movie she chose. It wasn’t a romantic comedy, although it would’ve been great since she loved those, but knowing she was spending time with him, she decided to go for a drama; it was a common genre between them.
Once seated, she noticed that he didn’t leave her hand, but also didn’t talk much to her. To be fair, they were quiet people; she was shy by nature, and Sasuke was reserved, so expressing themselves or making small talk was not something they excelled at. Alas, they were together, and she was content with that.
“You sure you don’t want anything?” she tried again. His shoulders were tense, his jaw locked, but when he looked at her, the sharpness in his eyes wasn’t as pronounced as before.
“I’m fine.”
Maybe she was overthinking it, but as she focused on the first scenes of the movie, she could not shake the feeling that something was amiss. Her boyfriend of eight months wasn’t much to share easily after all. As if sensing her mental wandering, he quickly kissed her cheek, which helped to dissipate her doubts, and for a while, it worked.
Sasuke took her to her favorite Thai restaurant, where there was this dessert with sweet rice and a side of mango that she could not get enough of. She was thankful that this quiet man was currently looking at her while she indulged in those last bites.
“Is everything ok?” she couldn’t help but ask, a little self-conscious.
He stayed quiet while analyzing her; she could feel her cheeks warm, but she maintained the stare, waiting for a fragment of what was on his mind.
“You’re beautiful.”
She couldn’t help but smile. Sasuke never gave compliments just like that; his love language was actions. He would show her what he thought, whether it was taking her to her favorite restaurant, doing an activity that was on her list of hobbies, or just noticing when she needed anything and later on providing it for her.
“Thank you…” she said quietly, savoring the moment.
“You're welcome,” he said in a caring tone. He then grabbed her hand and with his thumb caressed her small and dainty knuckles. Just like that, she forgot about how he’d been prior and was happy that whatever had been bothering him was washed away by them spending time together. She caressed his palm in return in a loving manner.
They left the place and silently decided to take a walk, enjoying the autumn breeze. Sasuke found serenity in walking. Whenever he needed to clear his head, or just because he felt like stretching his tall frame, he would often take her with him to enjoy a pace around before taking her to her apartment, or his.
The date had been so sweet, so random, but at the same time, it was quality time, and that was something she understood completely. She loved him. Maybe this could be the time she should say it to him. Of course, she was afraid; it was a big compromise of her feelings, and Sasuke put his spin on romance, which was not as traditional, so it was unexpected how he was going to react. She gave a squeeze to his hand while they briefly met eyes.
However, true to her feelings, she was waiting for the time to tell him exactly what she felt towards him. Being in love gave her courage, she noticed. The ringing in her ears, the tickling in her stomach, and the thump in her heart confirmed it.
She smiled at him.
“I had fun today, thank you,” she said.
He nodded while looking ahead.
“Maybe we can go mini-golfing this Saturday.”
The tenseness of his shoulders became apparent. “I can’t…” he said.
“Oh…” she let out slowly, trying not to think of the fact that his answer was a little too sharp. “...right, you probably have a dinner meeting,” she said. She looked ahead. “Maybe Sunday?” she brightened at the possibility of waiting for his approval.
The sharpness returned to his eyes. “Hina…”
“Oh wait! I almost forgot, I can’t. I have to look at some furniture for my client. Maybe you can join me for a bit?” There was a gray cloud over them, but she chose to ignore it unsuccessfully.
He gulped while his jaw tightened on a strict lock.
Hinata did not like to pry, but the feeling in her gut was itching her once again. “Are you ok?” she almost murmured.
“Yes.” It was swift, as if he were expecting that question. “Let’s get you back,” he let her hand go while walking in the direction of his car.
She stayed back. “Sasuke…” she called. He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder as if saying ‘what’.
In that moment, Hinata wanted to ask him many questions, but did not know what to ask; and even if she did, she knew he was going to evade her. So for each of their sakes, she tried to let it go.
“Nothing.”... for now.
The ringing in her eyes intensified, but not in a comforting way. Hinata kept wondering what was amiss; they had a great evening from her point of view. This wasn’t the first time she had seen her boyfriend in that state, so by the time they went on a walk, Sasuke was at ease, which told her it was not that big of a deal.
Even though he didn’t share the details of his work with her, he probably didn't want to mix whatever issues he had in his workplace with their relationship. She knew for a fact that he sought her out whenever things were bad at his office. He never shared what was exactly wrong, and she honestly never asked. She was not one to pry into anyone’s business. Sasuke did not do so either. That was what relationships were for, to meet one another and, with time, know minor details about the other; learning and building each other. That is one of the reasons she knew she was in love, because she could see herself building something durable with him.
But this time, she felt she was completely ignoring a bigger picture, and not knowing what it was, kept eating with anxiety. She looked at him while driving.
‘Something is wrong…’ her mind whispered.
She looked at the road ahead.
‘But how can I approach this?’
Looking around, she saw both of his hands on the steering wheel. Eight months of dating were enough for her to know that Sasuke drove with one hand, the other always holding her hand or her thigh.
However, by reading his posture, he seemed to be so impersonal with her, with something so intimate. Not even when they had their disagreement, he closed up in his touches. The painful jab in her chest, combined with her confusion, was slowly brewing, dangerously bubbling in her stomach like a bad omen. Sasuke held her hand during the movies and kissed her a couple of times, even though he was not one for public displays of affection; he seemed eager to kiss her, and what was that candid moment they shared at the restaurant?
It was not in her head, although at first glance it seemed so. She bit her index finger, thinking a mile per second on all of these past details, her memories, and what logic and observations were telling her. The questions were permanent in her mind as he saw Sasuke push the button to turn off the car. She did not meet his gaze right away, even though his black eyes were almost unblinkingly staring at her.
“Hinata…” he called.
She clutched her purse closer. Hinata had been wondering what was going on, and apparently, this was the moment to know. She did not want to hear it now, though. Her shoulders were tense, her eyes were itching, and her stomach was full of anxiety.
She felt like throwing up.
“Hinata…” he called again. Sasuke sighed, doing a mental countdown, because his girlfriend was a kind individual, and he was getting impatient.
“Are you finally telling me what is going on?” She was still staring straight at him. Her voice was not worried, nor sad. It was bland and unemotional. Deep down finally asking the main question.
“We need to go our ways…” he said, seeing her freeze for a moment.
“Why?” she exhales, controlling the shake in her voice.
“I do not see this going for much longer,” he said. It sounded precise and rehearsed, and that is what caught her attention the way it did. Because she knew him, he’d been wanting to break up with her at the same time she was planning on telling him she loved him? One thing was true: she’d never thought this was the way the evening was going to end.
Very unladylike, she opened her mouth and let out a scoff, showing a clue of what was a raw reaction to what was going on in her mind.
“Why…” she stopped canalizing her thoughts. “...did you do all of this then?”
He didn’t feel like answering that because whatever he could say would end up with him sounding like an asshole. “Hinata…”
“The truth, please,” she said, looking at him. Her white eyes were hard like ice. His façade broke a little by the way his Adam’s apple was nervously gulping.
“Why does it matter?” he argued.
“Because to me it does.” Never in her life had she given a meaning to feeling livid as she did now.
“I don’t need the drama now.”
“And I just did not need to have my time wasted like that,” she said, her body facing him. “You could’ve just told me to meet and break up, no misled me like that.”
“I did not mislead you.” his tone was hard.
“Wow…” She looked to the side for a moment, her emotions were getting the best of her. She was surprised she was not crying even though her eyes were trickling with tears; she was angry, hurt, and confused.
However, she was not one to cause a scene; she took a deep breath, and she was going to leave with her dignity intact and the pieces of her broken heart.
“Fine.” Hinata took his phone from the car console.
“What are you doing?” She saw that she had gone into his contacts. “ I did not cheat on you…”
“Honestly, I don’t care if you were intimate with others,” she found her contact number and deleted all traces of her.
“Goodnight.” She left his phone where it was and got out of the vehicle as soon as possible.
If the ends of her hair disappearing through her building door had eyes, they would have noticed the explosion of feelings coming up from the black haired man.