Our Dependence

Chapter Eighteen: Apols

Chapter Eighteen: Apols

She was sitting on the porch when he returned. Her chin was resting comfortably on her knees, her arms crossed as she looked off into the distance. The moment her eyes laid on him, she perked up and smiled widely.

"You're home."

Her voice was just above a whisper, if it hadn't been for the quietness of the evening, he would have missed it. Sasuke walked over to her slowly, dropping his katana and unclasping his cloak just as she ran and jumped into his arms.

"You're awake."

"I think I slept enough." She kissed his cheek and hid her face on the crook of his neck.

"For nearly a month." He chuckled, wrapping her legs around his waist as he opened the door to the house.

He couldn't help but notice that MeiMei was nowhere in sight. Her things were gone as well, all that remained was a warm pot of stew and one of her many rabbit tokens that lay on the counter. He didn't question her absence because he understood her silent departure.

"It didn't feel like that long." Feeling his muscles shift underneath her, Hinata pulled back and looked at him. "You were upset, why?"

She never shared with him that his anger, anxiety and any other negative emotion he tried concealing was very easily detected by the way he moved. Right now, his muscles were tense, poised as if they were ready for approval to strike.

"Where did you go? What happened?" Hinata pouted.

"MeiMei didn't tell you?" He opened the bedroom door and set her down.

She shook her head, "she didn't know either."

"I doubt that." He pulled his shirt off, "she always knows where I am." Grabbing his towel, he was going to inform her of his plans to take a much needed shower, but he found her stripping as well.

"I'll set the bath." She left no room for arguments as she walked quickly to the bathroom and opened the tap.

Sasuke followed behind and leaned against the bathroom wall, watching as she moved around enthusiastically as though she was never sick. He wondered if MeiMei told her what happened since the Hyuga woman in front of him acted as though everything was normal.

She dipped her toe in the warm water, nodding in satisfaction to let him know that it was the perfect temperature. Waiting for him to make himself comfortable first, she sat with her back to his chest and played around with the water.

"I went to Konoha." He finally answered her question.

"What for?" She looked at him over her shoulder, reaching for his hand and holding it. She really did miss him while she was sleeping.

"What did MeiMei tell you?" He began wetting her hair, the dark blue locs turning almost black.

Hinata shrugged, "I've been sick for a while and she healed me. She said that she would leave the specifics to you, so I've been waiting for you to come back." She frowned.

There was one thing Hinata hated quite a bit and it was being kept in the dark. With Sasuke, she never had to worry about that since he told her practically everything and answered her questions [indirectly or directly]. MeiMei was different, the woman hated answering anything to do with herself and what Sasuke was up to. Her responses were always the same; that Sasuke was taking care of important business.

"Hn...Will you get mad?" He stopped bathing her, genuinely curious to see her reaction. Any sensible person would be furious if they were in her shoes, but Hinata wasn't like any other person.