Who Waits For Love

Chapter 1: Set In Stone

The ambiance of the city managed to penetrate through the thin walls of the almost quiet apartment. A thin trail of smoke rose up from the lit cigarette that lay in the ashtray. The sounds of the long forgotten television, stuck on the news channel, played in the background as a body lay on the worn out sofa. Thick, dark locs covered the arm rest, one hand spilling over the edge, loosely holding onto a pair of gold framed glasses. Soft snores filled the apartment, drowned out by the sudden shrill sound of a telephone. As the sounds got too loud to ignore, a groan left the mouth of the couch's occupant, a lazy hand reached to shut off the cursed device.

"It's—" They checked the time on the small watch. The ticking sound was ever so quiet that one would have to strain their ears to hear it. "Three in the morning, what do you want?"

"I think we might have found a lead."

———— ˳༄꠶ ————

Closing the closet door with a soft click, Uchiha Sasuke fixed the jacket of his suit as he gave himself a quick look over in the mirror. Grabbing his satchel and his car keys, he walked out of his room with everything he needed for the day. Stopping in the kitchen, he filled up his work tumbler with steaming hot coffee and grabbed a plain cinnamon bagel. The sound of his phone ringing filled the small bachelors apartment, making him roll his eyes at the familiar ringtone.

Slipping on his shoes and resting against the wall, Sasuke answered the phone and pressed it to his ear as he worked with both hands. "Good morning."

"Someone's awake very early; how uncharacteristic of you." A woman's voice rang in his ear. He could hear as she closed a microwave and got out some plates. "I'm usually the one who has to wake you up every morning."

"Consider it a break for today. I have to be in the office earlier than planned." He locked his apartment and made his way to the elevator. Whilst he waited, he switched on his bluetooth earphone.

"A break?" She laughed, "that's a good one, Uchiha. Anyway, my father was wondering if you'd like to have dinner tonight with the rest of the family."

"What time?"

"Don't make excuses, I know what you're like, Sasuke." She chided before she answered his question.

"I wasn't planning on doing anything, Miss Hyuga." His voice dripped with slight sarcasm and playfulness. "I wouldn't dare miss the dinners your father keeps inviting me to."

"You know you're part of the family now. He thinks of you as the son he never had." She paused, "and it's at eight tonight."

"What about your cousin, technically he's blood related but I barely see him at those dinners." Sasuke opened his car door and placed his satchel on the passenger seat as he buckled his seatbelt.

"Neji has been busy abroad, ya'know, always traveling and taking care of the family business since I didn't want to do it. Neither did Hanabi." She licked the jam off of her finger as she put her sandwich together.

Picking up her plate, Hyuga Hinata sat at the table with her laptop open and a cup of steaming hot tea beside it. She placed her phone on speaker as she filled out some documents and listened to him drive.

"Are you working from home today?"

"Mhm, the shop is closed and I need to take inventory to figure out what we need to order. Lee is going to pick those things up for me at the warehouse."

"Lucky you." Sasuke grumbled as he listened to her eat and talk.

"I told you that we could have opened our own bakery when we were younger but you refused because it was too 'mundane' for you." She stifled a snicker as she heard him groan at the reminder.