Chapter Text
"How did this even happen?" Sasuke asked, more to himself rather than the person in the office with him.
"Because your father and her father decided to end their long rivalry and partner up. They wanted to make the transition run smoothly so Hinata will be working here for a month." Naruto stated as a matter of fact. He was seated in one of the chairs in Sasuke's big office and watched his best friend peep through the blinds of his office at none other than Hinata Hyuuga, Sasuke's ex.
"Why did we break up?" Sasuke muttered.
Again, Naruto interjected. "Because you both were going to be staying on opposite sides of the world and didn't think the long-distance was going to work."
"Why didn't I get back together with her when I came back?"
"Because you thought that may she wouldn't take you back and she was already dating someone else at the time so you thought you'd cut your losses and try to forget her."
He has got to stop telling that dobe everything. "Why did I let that happen?"
"Because you're an idiot," Naruto said, propping his feet on the desk and leaning back on the chair.
"You're the idiot," Sasuke walked back over to the desk and pushed Naruto's shoes off his clean desk. "And don't you have work to do."
"Don't you?" Naruto said. "Ya know, you can just talk to her right? You still have feelings for her."
Sasuke and Hinata dated each other during their early college days for a year before they broke up because Sasuke was moving to study abroad. Both of them decided that it was best for both of them to break up. There were a lot of tears, mainly from Hinata. It was a hard decision for both of them but their futures, they had to. That doesn't mean that there were still lingering feelings. Sasuke thought that maybe she would be the one that got away.
Fate would have it that they would meet again with their family companies partnering up.
"Shut up." Sasuke moved to sit in his chair. The blond decided to be a dick and bother him when he's supposed to be working.
"Why don't you just ask her out." Naruto reasoned. How can he just say that? Like it was easy to ask your ex out after being apart for years.
"It's not that easy, dobe."
"Uh yeah, it is." "'Hinata, will you go out with me?' and then she'll say 'oh why yes, Sasuke-kun!' and then happily ever after!"
"What if she's dating someone?" Sasuke ignored the pan of hurt in his chest after saying that out loud.
"Just ask her then," Naruto said. "You know what. I'll do it."
Naruto got up quickly from his seat and marched over to the door. Opening it quickly, he called out for the woman they were talking about. "Hinata!"
The workers at the office looked up at the blond man and more importantly, the woman in question popped her head from her desk. "Yes, Naruto-kun." She looked around at the other employees who were also looking at her. "Do you need me?" She was starting to move over to him.
"Are you single?" Naruto asked from the door frame and standing there, he was blocking the view of Sasuke scrambling to reach him and tripping on something.
"Uh…" Hinata felt incredibly uncomfortable having to proclaim her relationship status. "I am."
"Great, you see Sasu—" A hand popped out from behind the blond to covered his mouth and Sasuke pulled Naruto back into the room.
"Dobe!" And shut the door.
Hinata looked at the other employees who were also looked at the door in confusion. She leaned over the small wall that separated employee's desks to ask the employee next to her, Ino. "Is that normal?"
The blonde replied with a shrug before placing the earbud back into her one ear.
.
.
.
After that embarrassment that Naruto displayed the other day, the only good thing that came out of that was the fact that Hinata was currently single. And she better stay single so Sasuke can make his move. Naruto insisted on helping him with his plan to ask her out. "Operation: Get Hinata, the ex, to go out with Sasuke. Again." No one said he was good at naming things.
Sasuke took a deep breath before he made his way to the dark-haired woman sitting at her desk, typing away on her desktop. She was wearing a white blouse and
"Hinata, hi."
Hinata looked up to find Sasuke standing behind her. She turned around and stood up, tucking her loose hair behind her ear. "Hi, Uchiha-san—"
"You don't have to do that. Sasuke is fine." Sasuke said it didn't sound right coming out of her mouth.
"Okay, Sasuke-kun." She said almost testing the name. To him, it sounded just right. "How can I help you?" She looked up at him with her beautiful doe eyes.
Go out with me.
Go out with me.
Go out with me.
"Do you have that report from Tuesday?"
Hinata turned around and he caught a whiff of her floral scent perfume. She sifted through the desk and found a Manila folder that she was looking for.
"Right here!" Hinata pulled it out from the pile and turned over to present it to Sasuke. "Here you go."
"Thanks," Sasuke muttered, taking the file from her. Okay, this is your shot. Take it! "Hinata, do you want to go get some coffee? If you like caffeine...or whatever." Stupid, she probably doesn't even like coffee. She didn't drink it before, what makes him think she'll drink it now.
Hinata looked up at him and looked like she was juggling the idea in her head. "Okay! That would be great, Sasuke-kun."
Great! Sasuke celebrated internally as he gestured for Hinata to walk first. There was a coffee shop almost next to their building so it wasn't a long journey and it wasn't an awkward request. They're just two co-workers getting coffee, absolutely normal, absolutely nothing suspicious.
After ordering their drinks (coffee black for him and green tea for her), Sasuke and Hinata sat close to the pickup spot, making some small talk.
"I hope you' are adjusting well, you know, with the new work." Sasuke asked, trying to fill the void.
"Oh yes! I'm adjusting well, especially with Ino's help." Hinata beamed, tucking her hair behind one ear. "Thank you for asking."
"That's good," Sasuke nodded, avoiding her gaze because he can't handle that right now. "Sorry about the other day. Naruto's...Naruto. I know that this whole thing must weird since we haven't seen each since...college."
"Since college..." Hinata smiled, looking down at her to-go cup of tea in her hands. "It's not weird for me at all. I actually really enjoy working for you." She looked up at him.
Sasuke suddenly felt hopeful, like this is going to go as he planned. Why was he so worried about this in the beginning?
"Oh, is that Gaara?" Hinata asked, not really to anyone, as she pointed at someone behind him.
That's why.
"I'm going to go say hi." Hinata said, getting up from her seat to greet the red-haired man with an odd aesthetic for a businessman.
"Great..."
He looked behind him to see Hinata chatting it up with Gaara, who looked surprised but happy to see her. Sasuke can tell. After all, he was making conversation with Hinata, something he rarely does because he's dedicated to that persona of a living robot with no feelings.
"Why don't you come join Sasuke and me? We're seated over there." Hinata asked.
Of course she would invite him over here. The girl's a saint. So there they were, was sitting in the table with Hinata on his right and Gaara directly across from him. How did he find this place? Out of all the coffee shops and cafes in town, Gaara picks this one.
"What a surprise it is to see you here in Konoha, Gaara," Hinata said. "Right, Sasuke?"
"Right," Sasuke muttered, bringing his coffee cup to take a sip. "What a coincidence." His black coffee tasted a little more bitter that one sip.
.
.
.
Sasuke was afraid of hanging out with Hinata outside of the office because who knows who else they'll meet when they were out. He knows because he invited her for lunch the other day and somehow they ran into Temari. The siblings were in Konoha for business and the kind Hinata invited her over to lunch and she brought Shikamaru so the two men can endure it together. It almost felt like a double date. Except for the fact that he and Hinata were not dating and he hates double dates.
The next time he asked her out to dinner and it was her old teacher, Kurenai, who decided to grace them with her presence. Sasuke wasn't going to be an asshole and not let Hinata invite her. So he sat through dinner, listening to Hinata and Kurenai play catch up and old stories.
Sasuke will admit that he would be happy that he's actually spending time with Hinata if everyone wasn't in his way. Can he ask her to be his girlfriend again without people interrupting?
He thought that hanging out with his ex would be weird. But Hinata hasn't changed much over the years. She was still super sweet and caring. Everything that he liked about her was still there. Like how when she's concentrated, she furrows her brows and purses her lips in thought. Or how when something doesn't go her way, she pouts cutely. She was also super helpful to others, always willing to give a hand to any employees that needed it even though she just started and should probably be the one to ask for help. The other day, he saw her helping another person with the printer.
There were things that he noticed about her that wasn't there though. She was more confident in herself and grew into a great businesswoman. He liked seeing her working and being so headstrong.
Being so close to her had ignited the feelings he didn't acknowledge before. He missed how her hands felt in his and how they could be walking down the street side by side and she would inch closer to him with her hand slipping into his. He missed her cooking. She was a great cook and he remembered wrapping his arms around her while she cooked for them. Oh yeah, he missed hugging her.
Somedays, Sasuke and Hinata would be working on a project and Sasuke would find himself looking at her, deep in a file. His mouth would twitch up in an almost-smile like it has since she's gotten here.
.
.
.
Hinata's one month at the office was officially over. They were able to hang out as often as they could but with work and friends in the way, it was hard for him to get Hinata alone. Let alone, ask her to be his girlfriend (again). Hinata had said all of her goodbyes but they were hopeful ones since they'll still be able to see each other once the partnership was official. It's just that she won't be able to work next to them. Her last goodbyes were to Sasuke but like a coward, he couldn't get the words out so he let her go with her.
"Wow, teme," Naruto, an ever-present figure in his office, came in after Hinata left and made himself comfortable on his couch. "You're just going to let her go? Again?"
"What? I'll still be able to see her. We're...friends." He winced at that word.
"You know, that's not what you want though," Naruto said, looking at him knowingly. "What if some guy gets to her first before you grow some balls to ask her out? Go to her, idiot."
Sasuke thought about it for a moment before getting up. "Thanks, dobe. Actually did something not stupid." He said as he rushed out the door to chase Hinata before she makes it down to the lobby.
"You're welcome!" Naruto called out.
Sasuke speed-walked through the office and got to the elevators to see they had just closed with the dark hair woman he was looking for.
Shit.
He decided to take the stairs and run down the many steps to make it to the lobby. They were on the 15th floor. Lucky for him, he had kept his physique fit and he was tired about three-fourths down. Huffing and legs burning, he managed to speed down the stairs and slam the door open.
With the bam of the stair doors, he could hear a tiny ding of the elevator, signaling that he was lucky enough to get down before the elevator. Maybe he should join that marathon.
His hands on his thighs, he took a few deep breaths. He heard the should of heels clicking against the floors and he looked up to see Hinata walking through the lobby towards the entrance. Here goes nothing.
"Hinata, wait!" He called out to her and almost immediately, Hinata turned around. He could from her face that she was confused. Sasuke gulped and took a deep breath before walking over to her.
"Sasuke-kun," She greeted. In her arms were her handbag and a box full of her items and farewell gifts. "What's wrong?"
He huffed once more. "Dinner. Will you have dinner with me?"
"Of course. Is that all you really wanted to ask me?"
"As a date." Sasuke interrupted her. Hinata's eyes widen and eyes raised, surprised. "I...still have feelings for you," He confessed.
There was a long pause between the two. Did he say it right? He's pretty sure he heard himself say it.
"I know." Hinata finally said, with a smile on her face.
"You what?" Sasuke asked. She knew? How?
Hinata said sheepishly. "I kind of already knew that you...still, you know. Naruto-kun may have told me my second week here."
"That bastard." Sasuke muttered under his breath and made a note to punish him with more work later.
"Don't be mad at him, Sasuke-kun," Hinata said. "I...still have feelings for you...too. I was sort of waiting for you to ask me to be your girlfriend."
"Again." Sasuke interjected.
"Yes, again." Hinata smiled at that. She looked up at him with those beautiful eyes, a hint of lavender in them that was mesmerizing.
Well, this is awkward. So Hinata was basically waiting for Sasuke to, in Naruto's words, 'grow some balls to ask her out.' Sasuke could've sped up the process if he just said the words. He was directly in front of the woman who was waiting for him to do it. He bent down and kissed Hinata on the cheek. It's so soft.
Hinata flinched at the action and he could feel her cheek grow hot before he pulled away, whispering in her ear so she was the only one to hear. "Will you, Hinata, be my girlfriend."
"Again." She whispered. A small smile appearing on her face and she looked at him, his eyes were dark pools that haunt her. "Yes."