A Marriage of Convenience

Chapter 3

A month passed and Hinata felt no change in her life now that she was married, except that now she lived in the Uchiha Compounds. She rarely saw Sasuke around the house, who had taken to accepting weekly missions with his ANBU squad or even solo.

Anything to get away from the house.

Not that Hinata was complaining. The Hokage had insisted she stay home for at least 2 weeks, getting to know her husband and the house. The husband part...she did not do.

Although she had grown familiar with the house.

The Uchiha compounds were large, magnificent and now clean. Hinata had taken it upon herself to clean every nook and corner of the house. She also took to preparing the meals, leaving them for Sasuke in the fridge.

He never thanked her or said anything except for what they had said to each other on their wedding night. That was fine with her.

She changed into a sleeveless kimono styled shirt and shorts underneath, taking her weapons with her, she left for the training grounds under the Uchiha name.

She did not want to go out in the village, for the fear that she'd run into someone familiar. That part of her life was behind her.

She started throwing shuriken at the wooden posts in front of her. The training grounds were beautiful. She did not know what the Uchiha had wanted more. They'd been driven to a corner in the village, true, but this place was beautiful.

This particular training ground overlooked the river flowing by along with the pier. Hinata liked this training ground. She'd discovered it the day after her marriage.

As she was water elemental, she could train by the river too. It would be good practice. She decided to practice her Hyuga stances after weapon throwing, since she had nothing better to do.

She did not realize how much time she had spent in training. She was shocked when the she realized the sun was setting.

She'd trained the whole day?

She made her way towards her house. The other part of the compounds was rebuilt, but Hinata and Sasuke lived in one part of it only.

The house was empty as usual. Sasuke had been gone for more than a week. She sighed at the quiet environment and set to preparing dinner.

After eating and washing up, she prepared for bed. She took a shower, changed and laid in bed. Strong wind was blowing outside, making trees sway heavily. It was the rainy season and it rained heavily every other day.

Thunder rumbled and Hinata's heart thundered in her chest. She took a deep breath. This was ridiculous.

Suddenly, she saw a shadow moving outside her window. Her heart filled with dread and her instincts took over. She took the kunai on her bedside and was on her feet in an instance.

The person opened her window and stepped inside. A lightning bolt flashed behind him and Hinata could see why people thought of Sasuke as a demon. Right now, he was perfect in the setting.

His red eyes gleamed like rubies as he walked towards her. She lowered her kunai, her heart beating out of her chest.

He looked as nonchalant as ever but his posture was sagging a bit. He was hurt. The realization made her relax a little.

His knees buckled and he sat down on the floor of her room. He looked up at her, a bit irritably. "Bandage me."

She realized with panic he was getting blood all over the floor. She rushed to her bathroom for the healing kit, her healer instincts taking over.

She turned on the light, but the power supply was off. She cursed in her mind and sat down next to him on the floor carefully. Her thin nightgown did nothing for the cold wind.

She activated her Byakugan and even in the dark, she could make out Sasuke's injuries. She carefully cleaned the wounds, with Sasuke's hisses audible in the dark.

"Your Chakra is pretty low. You should rest."

"Hn." He said as she finished bandaging his arm. She did not let go of it, instead looking at his face. His Sharingan was still active and she found he was staring at her too.

"You don't have enough Chakra to activate your bloodline." She told him, narrowing her eyes. He scoffed.

He got up from the floor. "Whatever Hyuga."

"I'll...Do you want some food?" she asked. He looked at her for another moment before nodding his head a fraction.

She nodded. "Come on."

They both walked to the kitchen in the dark. The occasional lightning burst lit up the room. He made it a point not to look at her as they sat across each other. She presented him with food which he accepted without a word.

She sat there, watching him eat in silence. He did not say anything either. The heavy patter outside told Hinata it was raining quite heavily outside.

"What was the mission?" she tried for a conversation.

He said nothing. Hinata got the point. He did not wish for her to keep talking and ruining the peace. She appreciated the silence too.

The rain only got heavier. Sasuke looked out the window. He was tired. He got up from the chair.

"Uchiha-san!" she called after him.

He stopped walking and turned his head a fraction, just enough so she was visible in the lightning that flashed. She looked...restless.

"Why...why did you marry me?" she asked.

Sasuke sucked in a breath before turning around properly and composed a smirk on his face.

"Because Hyuga...misery loves a companion."

She watched his retreating back once again, unable to speak, think or even breathe.

Author notes: Thank you for people who appreciated this concept. Let me know what you think. Until next time.