Forced Paths

Belief/Disbelief

She tried to be quiet on their way back but her foot slipped and she fell on her knees to the ground. A laughter escaped her lips, that she desperately tried to stop. He helped her get up and she was sure that he didn't found it as funny as her, judging from his expression. The steps of the guards heard and they went in barely unnoticed. When the safety of the walls was around them, she laughed again. Her nightgown was completely wet and torn on the height of her knees, her hands covered in dirt. A proper lady. She imagined the expression all these important people in her life would have if they saw her.
"Why are you laughing?" He asked slightly annoyed.
She just took a bow, not stopping the sound coming from her lips.
"Magnificent." He said with a mock.
The excitement she felt could burst her heart out of her chest. She felt free. And even if he appeared to be annoyed, he was the one that let her be.
"It's funny. Admit it." She continued. "Imagine if anyone saw me like this."
"I am seeing you." He answered.
"Not you. Everyone else." She told him as it was obvious what she meant.
"What is the difference?" He raised his eyebrow.
She looked at him with genuine interest as his voice was more serious than the light tone that she kept.
"You are..." Her finger on her lips as she thought how to express it correctly. "You don't mind when I'm been myself."
As she answered her attention drifted to his appearance.
"How can you look decent even when you are all wet?"
"Some people have elegance and others don't." His eyes pointed at her.
She brushed her hands on her clothes to make them worse, as a sign of protest. He took a step closer, inches away from her. His eyes observed her with the same strange look he had before and she thought that she might had angered him without wanting to. He raised his hand and his finger brushed over her lips.
"You have dirt on your mouth." He said before he turned and dissapeared inside the bathroom.
Hinata breathed as her hand covered her lips. She tried to address the feeling that invaded her but the known ones failed the description. She thought embarrassment, then anxiety or happiness and it was not a single one of them, or maybe all of them together.

_____

She barely slept at night. She tried to recall if she ever felt this excitement ever before. She was up on her feet as the first sunlight reflected on the window. She prepared some tea as silent as she could so not to wake Sasuke. He was still asleep despite the fact that if they were back home he would be awake hours before. She let him be. He needed to rest from time to time. A look at the door made her think about the people guarding them. She prepared two more cups for them. It was her fault that they would spent one more day been dragged around, it was the least she could do. She fixed her clothes before opening. Her nightgown was thrown to garbage since it was in an awful state. Sasuke had lent her his since she hadn't found necessary to bring anything more for a day's trip. It was too big for her and she was glad she was the first one to wake. She pulled the silk black belt to keep it in place and she turned the handle. The two men straighten their position upon hearing the crick the wood made. They expected Sasuke, the look in their eyes betrayed as much. They bowed their head slightly when they saw her and waited. She brought them unervouness, it was evident. One was in the group that guarded her yesterday, the other had followed her husband. But she was sure her behaviour on the beach was throughfully discussed judging from their expression.
"Good morning." She said as she bowed in exchange.
That startled them even more. She was the wife of their future leader, no need for such behaviour. But Hinata always believed that politeness was meant for everyone.
"Good morning Uchiha-sama." They said a bit surprised.
"You must be tired. Have you stayed here all night?" She looked at the them with concern that buffled them even more.
"We replaced the other two before an hour." The most composed one spoke. "Is there anything you or master Sasuke need?"
"Oh no, no. He is still sleeping."
Unconsciously they looked at her clothes. Hinata blushed understanding what they were thinking.
"I brought you some tea." She said to shake away the nervousness.
Their surprise glimpsed before their features but passed as quickly as it came. They were trained soldiers nevertheless.
"Thank you for your concern but we are fine." The same man responded.
It was clear that even they were obligated to treat her with respect given her status in the clan they still viewed her with skepticism. It was only natural thought. No matter what formalities dictated, she was a stranger, an enemy until recently. And her hidding inside the walls of the house didn't help to change that image. Maybe she should be more involved when they returned.
"Still, I made it and it will be a waste to throw it away now."
She extended her hands that holded the cups. After a second or two, they reluctantly took them. Maybe they thought it would seem as disrespect if they did otherwise.
She smiled at them as they nodded and closed the door behind her.
As she sat on the window to enjoy her beverage, looking at the calm movement of the sea above, her mind drifted on the her first days in the Uchiha grounds. She has decided then that her life would be a monotonous change of days until the end of her days. She found no need to involve in this new strange clan. She was a means to an end, an object that moved from one place to another and she behaved as such, hiding with the other objects on the new place that hosted her. She also believed she would be pregnant by now. Sasuke had surprised her the very first night but she was sure that eventually he would demand what was needed of her to conclude their marriage and bind them together for the rest of their lives.
Her gaze turned on his sleeping figure. He kept surprising her ever since. When he made it clear that he didn't expect anything for her, she believed that was when she started to relax. He was more than the first view she had of him. More complex, more of a mystery that the fragile image of just a gloomy strict man.
And she realised as her eyes lingered on him, that she wanted to know more about him, to understand and unravel the weird ways his mind worked. Maybe the thought of involvement more in the clan affairs rose from that fact. She wanted to see his life as a whole not just one piece of it.