PASSIONATE KISSES (ITAHINASASU FANFIC)

CHAPTER 2

Chapter 2

Hinata glances at Sasuke as Itachi leaves. For some reason, it was far more intimidating to be alone with him than with him and Itachi at the same time. To be fair though, the Hyuga Heiress was almost certain the reverse was true. Her fiancées were little more than strangers to her.

Very powerful strangers. Strangers who could level entire villages or make graduate the Academy at age seven. In Sasuke's case, a stranger with one Hell of a temper. Not to mention, Itachi was capable of taking out one of the most powerful Clans in the Leaf all by himself when he was only thirteen! (She didn't know about Obito Uchiha).

"Hinata, you don't need to look at me that way." Uh oh. Sasuke had caught her staring. That wasn't good.

"L-Look at you in what way?" She pretends not to know what he was talking about. The last thing that the Hyuga woman wanted to do was make this harder on either of them. Because as hard as this was for her, it had to be even harder for the Uchiha Brothers in some ways. They had both suffered so much and now they were both being denied the chance at a normal marriage.

Not only were they entering into an arranged marriage, but they had to share. They had to share their wife with another man. With their brother. A brother that they had an unhealthy history with and now she was making it worse by staring at Sasuke!

"Like you think that I'm going to bite you. I have no reason to attack you. You've never done anything to me and it's not like you asked for this." That was right. She hadn't! "I know that if you had your way, you'd be planning your wedding with Naruto. If he wasn't blind, you wouldn't be in this situation." She was pathetic, even Sasuke knew about her feelings for Naruto and she barely knew him!

She had started to move on and let go, but Sasuke's words were a painful reminder. A painful reminder of how long she had held onto a dream that was never going to be a reality and now, she was possibly entering a marriage with a man who thought that she was in love with another man!

"He's not blind. His eyesight is fine." Hinata felt the need to defend Naruto. She might no longer be in love with him or only just beginning to let go of her romantic love for him, but he was still a good person. She wasn't going to let anyone insult him.

"We both know that's not the type of eyesight I was referring to. I love him like a brother, but when it comes to women he's completely oblivious." Alright. As much as she wanted to protest otherwise, Sasuke was correct. Naruto Uzumaki wasn't the type of man who noticed when a woman well noticed him! That much was painfully obvious.

To a degree, she was a little embarrassed about how obvious she had made her feelings for Naruto. She had fainted and blushed around him in a manner far more befitting a fairytale princess or damsel in distress than a ninja, but he still hadn't noticed. Not until she actually told him and even then, he hadn't responded.

"Well I only recently told him the truth, but it's alright. There was a war going on and he loves Sakura." Still she was going to try to defend her friend.
"I wouldn't get in the way of that and while this marriage is f-far from conventional, I intend to honor whatever v-vows we all e-exchange." Hinata would at least be faithful to both of them! That much she was sure of!

Damn it. She couldn't believe she was stammering around him. Sasuke probably thought she was pathetic.

"That's not what I'm concerned about. Being unfaithful simply isn't in you. We've never really talked before, but I know you." He did? "It's your eyes. It's not because of the Byakugan though. Your every single thought is reflected in them. You're nervous around me. I terrify you and so does Itachi." Well maybe a little.

Hinata blinks. Sasuke was the last person she had ever thought would want to discuss feelings with her. He might talk to Itachi and Naruto about that type of thing, but with her or anyone else? It just hadn't seemed like that was something that would ever happen.

"I'm not terrified of you and Itachi and are you upset because my face is too honest?" That didn't make any sense!

"You're a bad liar and no. I'm not. Other than your abilities and the fact that you wanted Naruto, your honesty is one of the few things that I know about you." Sasuke smiles at her reassuringly. "I like it. Almost everyone that I've ever cared about, lied to me. Well except for Naruto, but I think we all know that he's in a category all his own." She suddenly felt bad for the younger Uchiha. Sadly, his assessment wasn't far off. Not very many people had been honest with him.

Sasuke was right about something though. Naruto did deserve his own category, but she still didn't know how to respond to this. This unexpected show of openness from the younger Uchiha Brother.

"I'm glad that you like something about me. I-Itachi had good reasons to lie to you though. It's never a good thing to lie, but he did it because he thought that he was protecting you." She was doing a lot of defending today, but it needed to be done.

"Would you really have been able to understand what was going on at that age? By the time you were old enough to understand, you would have wanted to attack the Leaf. He thought it was safer." Hopefully, Sasuke would take her words to heart because she knew that had meant well.

"I understand his reasoning. That doesn't change the fact that he did lie to me. Most of my life was based on lies, but he had it worse." This wasn't good. The last thing they should be doing was comparing who had the more tragic past. "He was reviled. He was known as a Clan Slayer when all he wanted to do was protect people. Now, it's my job to protect him. The only way I know how to do that now is by doing this." And now, her heart was suddenly aching for both of them. In their own way, both brothers were trying to protect one another. She might not agree with their methods, but the love was there.

So that's why he was doing it. He was trying to open up for the sake of Itachi. Sasuke was trying to make the marriage easier on Itachi by getting along with her.

He might not have come out and said all of that directly, but Sasuke had come close enough. Close enough that she could read between the lines. She didn't know whether to feel relieved, touched, or just sad for both of them.

"I'm sorry." She caresses his cheek.

"Sorry for what?" Her future husband seemed more than a little confused by her response to put it mildly.

"Everything. I'm sorry about what happened to you and Itachi. Your family. All the pain that you've both been through. Everything." It was all just so painfully sad. Hinata wished that she could make the hurt go away somehow, but she couldn't. "Neither of you deserved this. No one does."

"Don't be. It's not your fault." Maybe, but that didn't make her feel any better. Both of them deserved so much better than the cards they had been dealt by fate.

Still Sasuke was trying. He had opened up. She could practically see him retreating behind his walls now though. At the moment, that was probably as far as she was likely to get with him.

Maybe, Itachi would be a different. He was quieter, but Hinata supposed that he was also likely the more articulate brother when it came to his feelings. Well on the rare occasions that he talked.

It was hard not to compare the brothers. Once she started, the bluenette just couldn't stop. Sasuke was the one who was more likely to want a bond with her though. If for no other reason than because of Itachi. He had taken the first step towards becoming more than an acquaintance. Itachi had yet to do that.

"I know. Do you think that Itachi will be okay? Speaking with my father?" Her father could be very overprotective and their proposal was rather outrageous. "He's been sick for a long time and father isn't going to be happy about our proposal." In Hinata's mind, there was as very legitimate reason to be worried for the elder Uchiha's safety.

"Itachi is still recovering and your father is formidable, but he should be. It's better that he does it than me. I would lose my temper. Actually, he could stand to lose his temper a little more often." Hinata nods. That was most assuredly true. Itachi could do with a few more temper tantrums.

It was healthier than bottling it up, but she couldn't imagine the elder brother losing his temper over anything. In that way, she supposed the brothers balanced each other out. Sasuke was the Moon and Itachi was the Stars. He was fire and the elder Uchiha was water.

If they didn't look so much alike, she really would have wondered if they did share the same mother and father. The Sharingan didn't lie though. They did. The two brothers just couldn't be more different.