Blossom

Chapter Seven: Child-Like

She moved around the kitchen with ease, her stomach protruding out from under her opened sweater slightly. Hinata's hair was placed in a messy bun, her strands getting longer over the course of two months due to her lack of energy to keep her bob hairstyle. It was extremely early in the morning, the sun was just about rising yet the house remained asleep.

Cracking the eggs in the skillet, she stood there completely silent as she stared at it blankly.

"You're up early."

His voice startled her, making her hit the handle of the skillet. Sasuke reached out quickly, pulling her back as the pan fell to the floor, hot oil covering where she previously stood.

"Sorry." He mumbled, he let her arm go once he steadied her.

"That's okay, I was just deep in thought." Hinata thanked him and carefully walked around the mess to grab something to clean it up. "I wasn't in the mood for eggs anyway." She joked, picking up the pan and the discarded food. "Why are you up this early?"

Sasuke opened the fridge, grabbing the carton of milk. "Couldn't sleep."

They moved around each other with ease, almost as if they were avoiding every single moment where their skin could touch each other's.

"You went to bed a little late last night, didn't you? Shouldn't you be getting more sleep?"

Sasuke took down two bowls from the cupboard and then the box of cereal. "I should be asking you that. Would you like some?" He hesitated to fill the other bowl with the nutritious grains. Heavens knew how picky Hinata was becoming over the last couple of days.

"That's okay, I'll make some oatmeal, so leave the milk out." She shook her head. "And, I don't sleep very well."

"Is that because of the baby?" He sat at the kitchen island and ate silently.

"That would seem like I'm placing blame on them, wouldn't it?" She stirred the pot of hot milk, adding in her oats, cinnamon and sugar. "I've always had difficulty with sleeping, this just makes it a little worse. I'm just getting something to eat before I go back to bed."

"You could have asked."

"Hm?" Hinata poured her oatmeal into the bowl and placed the pot into the sink with plans to wash it much later. Taking a seat right beside him, she stretched and waited for the meal to cool down a little bit.

"If you were hungry, you could have asked me or Sakura to get you something to eat." He dropped his spoon into the empty bowl but remained sitting there.

"You two were asleep, well, I thought you were asleep. These past couple of weeks have been a little..."

"Tense." He finished her sentence, Sasuke glanced at her and back at his empty bowl before sighing.

"It is, isn't it? I didn't want to add anymore pressure on either of you since you're dealing with conflicting issues."

"Your care isn't an issue, we both agreed to help you." He brushed his hair back.

"Be honest, both of you are not helping me. You're silently fighting, avoiding each other, and if it wasn't for Sarada, I highly doubt that you two would even be sleeping in the same room. Your relationship is of great importance to you, everyone knows that, and your daughter is even more important." She took a bite out of her oatmeal.

She kind of looked a little ridiculous at the moment, but in an adorable manner. Her hair was slightly stuck to her face from the sweat that was built up from moving about, and her cheeks were flushed pink. She sat awkwardly because of her belly that she cradled absentmindedly. Hinata was glowing even though it was so early in the morning.