A Marriage of Convenience

Chapter 13

All I am is a man

I want the world in my hands

-Sweater Weather (The Neighborhood)

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Power.

A concept that had driven him for most of his life. Power meant survival. Power meant victory. Power meant success.

Power meant loneliness. It meant driving yourself to your limits everyday just to end up feeling hollow after you achieved your goal.

It meant regret, after realizing you had nothing worth living for.

Until now.

Sasuke felt a smile twitch onto his face at the sight of the midnight blue haired girl, working on dinner with her tongue poking out and her brows furrowed in concentration.

He'd walked in stealthily and she hadn't realized he was home from his mission. His question was...why was she decorating the food, which was undoubtedly rice cakes?

He leaned against the doorway and crossed his arms over his chest before he spoke. "Hello."

Hinata jumped a foot into the air before she turned rapidly, her midnight blue strands whipping her face. "Ouch." She said, rubbing her cheek before she looked at him, continuing her ministrations. "When did you get home?"

"Now." He answered. He noticed she was standing in front of the plate she had been working on, trying to look casual. "What were you doing?"

"Finishing dinner!" she said, too quickly. He raised his eyebrow in a silent question. She smiled, unsure of herself.

"I-I made you dinner." She told him.

"Why is this one special?" he asked, since she cooked dinner everyday.

"You'll see." She smiled. "Go change, I'll lay the dinner."

Sasuke felt curious but complied. He went and showered quickly. He changed into a casual outfit of a long sleeved V-Neck and dark yoga pants. He walked barefooted on the wooden floorboards as he reached the dinner table.

It smelled divine but it was nothing out of the usual. Then, his wife walked in holding a plate-the same plate she'd been working on-triumphantly.

"I made these for you!" she declared, placing the plate in front of him with a proud smile which made her cheeks blush red in anticipation.

Sasuke looked at the plate for a moment. Before he looked up. "Looks nice."

"Really?"

He shrugged. "What is it though?" he asked. Hinata narrowed her eyes as she took a seat next to him.

"They're rice cakes!" she told him, a pout coming over her face.

"I know that. But...is that supposed to be...me?" he asked, an amused look coming over his face as he looked up from the plate, at her with twinkling eyes. Hinata blushed and looked away.

Then she nodded.

"You decorated the rice-cakes to look like me?" he asked, just to see her blush again.

"They're tasty." She told him. He looked up at the ceiling with an amused but exasperated huff before he extended his hand to take one.

A year ago, he'd been wandering on his own, unsure of whether or not he'd ever get repentance for his sins or not. And now...he was eating mini-me rice cakes that his wife had made for him. Karma really is something.

He took a bite and hummed appreciatively. "They are good." He admitted.

"Why the tone of surprise." Hinata said drily, picking up one herself and taking a bite. Sasuke noted his sarcasm was rubbing off on her.

"Is there a story behind this?" he asked, munching distractedly, all the while looking at her. Hinata blushed again. That meant yes.

"Well, when I was a Genin...i went on a mission. With Naruto-kun." Hinata started. Sasuke started on the rest of the dinner items, all the while listening.

"I made him lunch. And uh-decorated the rice cakes to look like him." She admitted, her gaze still downcast. Sasuke smirked. She was embarrassed by her former crush on his teammate.

"Ah, when you had feelings for him." Sasuke remembered all those instances where he'd see her following Naruto around or stuttering in front of the blonde idiot. Hinata blushed harder.

"Well, he told me I'd make an excellent wife for someone." Hinata finished her story. She looked up to meet Sasuke's gaze. He was looking directly at her with a corner of his mouth turned up.

"You hoped it would be him." Sasuke stated, with no maliciousness in his tone. Hinata shrugged.

"At the time."

"Do you still?" He asked, putting his rice-cake down. Hinata looked surprised at his question.

"You tell me." She said, looking at him, challenge evident in her eyes, before he looked down at the Mini-Sasuke rice cake in his hand. A realization dawned upon him and he looked back up.

He was still staring at her, when Hinata felt his hand engulf hers. He squeezed it gently and Hinata clasped hers around his hand tightly.

Sasuke looked away, something gentle coming over his features. She almost didn't hear him when he spoke again.

"For the record, Naruto was right. You did make an amazing wife to a lucky bastard."

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Author notes: So, better than the last chapter or not? I can't really choose, because despite all my angst and slowburn, I love SasuHina fluff. SasuHina finally happy, yay!

And for the people who were saying the last chapter was too short, I'm really sorry but this is all you're going to get. But, if it's any comfort, the next chapter will be slightly longer. Anyways, this is it for now, I finally updated.

Tell me what you think. Love it, hate it.

Until later.