Redemption In Your Eyes

Unforeseen Plans

Unforeseen Plans

Smile nearly cracking her face, Sakura dragged a sputtering Hinata along behind her. Somehow she'd gotten Tsunade to give her permission to drag her from her home at sunrise. With the Hokage backing her, family had been useless against her pink-haired tormentor bent on playing match-maker.

"I have it all planned out," Sakura continued, oblivious to the way Hinata swayed in her grip. "But first we need to make sure you can talk to him." The grin thrown over her shoulder made the Hyuuga girl cringe.

Dread twisted through her. "S-sakura, p-please..." Hinata fought to speak, "T-this is u-unneces-ssary..." Her pleas were ignored once again.

"Today," Hinata grimaced as she jerked to a sudden stop and spun to face Sakura. "Today we make you talk- without stuttering." The other's smile was quickly becoming a leer in her silver eyes.

The room was bright in the middle of the day, and Aster was disappointed by their need to be indoors and at a desk with paperwork. At the table, a satisfied smile spread over Itachi's face as she leaned over him. "It's done." He shuffled the papers once more, disbelieving. "Finally... It's done."

Aster tightened her arms around his shoulders. "Now we can give it back to Tsunade-sama." She sighed, resting her face against his neck. He nodded in response, taking hold of her elbow and squeezing it gently.

A yawn escaped him and Sasuke rubbed his eyes. Aster had been stalking the house and Itachi was pouring over forms for the upcoming marriage. Training was near impossible and without aspiration if he didn't have Itachi's help. He frowned. Since when did I depend on him so much? But the thought was cast aside as he again looked for a way to occupy his hours alone.

He had been sleeping far too much, but there seemed no help for it. Although it appeared he had nothing better to, Sasuke crawled out of the bed. Much faster than he liked, he was dressed and ready for the day. Sighing to himself, he trudged down stairs. His wandering led him down to the living room that sprawled over half of the first floor.

To his surprise, Aster and Itachi were there. They turned, catching sight of him almost immediately. Sasuke's earlier frown returned and he took a step back. "You're up," Itachi looked him over from the chair as Aster straightened up.

Sasuke nodded, unsure what to say to such an obvious statement and abashed by Aster's intent stare.

"Well?" Both brothers turned to her in confusion. "What about Naruto? I thought you were going to go and fix things."

Sasuke tensed. That's one way to kill time... "...yeah..." He tried to repress a grimace as he remembered his rushed promise to her earlier. Dammit. "I'll go talk him..." He made to turn away.

There was silence as Aster and Itachi exchanged glances behind him. Suddenly the elder Uchiha broke into a frown and Aster glared in response. Their argument was unspoken, but perfectly understood.

"Sasuke-" Aster called back to him as he reached for the door handle. He gave her his momentary attention, anxiety washing through him again. Her expression was set determinedly as Itachi gave her a warning glower. "Are you coming?"

He stared for a moment, drawing a blank at first as to her reference. Then he realized she meant their wedding, if it could be considered such without family or celebration. Sasuke answered as quickly as he could, "I don't know." The words had lost the satisfaction they carried in the woods and Aster's face fell. Before he could feel the on-coming wave of shame crash over him, Sasuke slipped out the door, trying to find his next disaster in hopes of being able to escape it as well.