Title: Bridging Love
Author: Fatcat648
Rating: PG ( K+ )
Challenge: Showered with Love
Pairing: SasuHina

--- --- ---

The myth had been true.

The love glowed in Hinata’s lilac eyes like a quiet flame, flickering in its strength and magnitude as the ringing of the distant church bells propelled her from her seat to lean forward into a nervous and tense Sasuke. The gondola rocked softly at their shifting movements as he attempted to keep distance from the love-struck girl.

However Sasuke couldn’t control his dark eyes from smoldering at the water plastering itself to her curvy form from today’s earlier showers. He quickly slapped himself mentally though when he felt Hinata manage to grab a hold of his ankle and slowly crawl toward his face.

His eyes widely stared at her soft smiling one as she inched closer, her peach dusted lips breathing heavily on his own labored mouth when the world finally came crashing down.

-
‘A few hours earlier….’
-

Her livid moon-shaped eyes quickly scanned the old, fading colorful houses sleeping quietly by the lapping river before softly sketching its image onto her sketch pad.  The rapid scratches of her pencil and the rhythmic crashing of the river filled her ears with a central calmness as Hinata finally finished her quick sketch. She smiled, closing the sketch pad while keeping her eyes solely on the beauty of Venice, Italy.

Spring break had just begun at Konoha University and with nothing else to do, Hinata had hopped on a plane with her friends to sunbathe in the Tuscan sun of Italy. They had seen the Sistine Chapels of Rome and the dusty museums of Florence and had now just arrived in Venice, “City of Water.”

She pulled her jacket closer as a breeze brushed the ends of her long ebony hair whispering, “So beautiful…”

“Are you done?”

The deep baritone voice shattered the tranquil moment, causing Hinata to jump a little in surprise. Clutching her chest and sketch pad, she timidly turned to the voice behind her and immediately tensed. Uchiha Sasuke, decked in a black jacket, leaned casually against the wall watching her with such an intense gaze that sent shivers through her spine.

“S-Sasuke-san, w-what are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you.”

She blinked in surprise and couldn’t help but ask, “Why?”

He only responded with a “Hn..” and pushed himself off the wall as he approached her. She froze like a deer in the headlights and felt her breath shortened the closer he came to her.

Something about the younger Uchiha – or all Uchihas in fact – sent her mind into overload. His cool composure always made her stuttering and bent head seem glaringly shameful than normal. Hinata was perpetually avoiding the Uchiha in fear of the sharp gaze and cold attitude that could be directed to her fragile heart – qualities every girl at the University adored. She couldn’t understand what his fan girls saw in him and really didn’t want to find out.

And now she was completely alone with the Uchiha Sasuke.

For awhile Hinata and Sasuke continued to stare at one another, Hinata with a look of fear and anxiety and Sasuke with a look of boredom that tittered on the edge of something different.

When the silence grew too thick for Hinata to breathe, she tried to break the spell with a casual, “Where are the others?” but ended up wincing at the squeak that came out instead. Her embarrassment grew to a full-blown blush when she witnessed the Uchiha smirk at her shame.  

She felt her cheeks burn hotly and buried her head into her hands, accidentally dropping her sketch pad open. She watched in horror as Sasuke bent down to pick up her sketch pad and stare at the drawing on the splayed out page.

A contented Naruto was happily napping on the bar stool at a restaurant with multiple empty ramen bowls surrounding the man. The detail was done carefully and considerately down to the very whiskers on the blonde’s face.

Hinata stuttered in panic, “No! D-don’t look! G-G-Give it b-back!”

The Uchiha ignored her words, staring at her sketch pad with flat and critical eyes. Hinata could only hover in hair-tearing patience before he would be done. When he did finally close the page, she snatched the sketch pad uncharacteristically rough, holding it close to her heart. Her thudding heart slowly quieted in her ears and with a blush still on her face she turned to the Uchiha.

“You’re quite a good artist.”

She blinked a few times before the impact of the words actually started to sink in. Her blush lightened to something of pleased embarrassment as she whispered, “Thank you.”

Sasuke only turned his head to the sky with a “Hn,” before saying “We should go now. The others are waiting for us at the café.”

She nodded complacently and followed his languid form through the twisting and turning streets of Venice. The skies above rumbled with the warning of rain causing Hinata to worry. She hadn’t thought to bring an umbrella. Her worries were confirmed when the sky opened to cascade a rain shower upon them.

Hurriedly she tried to hide her sketch pad under her jacket when Sasuke suddenly caught her hand, pulling her into the dry confines of a small convenient store. Both panted from the exertion and chill the rain had brought. Hinata however smiled gratefully at a silent Sasuke who quickly turned away.

She frowned slightly at his odd behavior before she felt her cell phone vibrate in her coat pocket. Quickly she fumbled to hold onto her sketch pad while fishing out the slippery cell phone. Sasuke finally intervened and took hold of the sketch pad, idly flipping through her art as she breathlessly answered the phone.

“Hey Hinata-chan! It’s me! Naruto speaking!”

“N-N-Naruto-kun!”

“Yep! That’s my name alright. Hehehe. Anyways where are you and Sasuke-teme? Sakura-chan and me are still here waiting at the café.”

“Oh… W-Well it started to rain so we’re just w-waiting out the rain.”

Crashing noises and shouting filtered through the cell phone. Hinata winced at the chaos on the other line and anxiously called out Naruto through the speaker. When the blonde finally came back, he spoke with a strained voice, “Eh-er I think we have a problem Hinata-chan. Please! Come quick – ‘NARUTO! YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO!!’ No! Sakura-chan! N-Not the chair! Not the chair!! Hinata! Help! Save meee!!!!!”

The line strangely went dead.

“That dobe. He got himself into trouble again, didn’t he?” asked Sasuke still flipping through her sketch pad. She vaguely nodded and Sasuke sighed in annoyance.

“We’ll have to buy umbrellas then. Come on.”

He held the convenient store’s door opened for her. The spotted a pair of umbrellas right away hiding near the candy section. Hinata thoughtfully selected the purple floral umbrella compared to Sasuke’s choice of a simple black design. With their umbrellas in hand, they both headed to the cashier only to realize the long queue waiting behind an elderly woman rummaging through her suitcase of a purse for her money.

Sighing, Hinata drudgingly stepped into the end of the line with Sasuke right behind her. For awhile neither spoke, content to listen to the rain splatter and the murmurs and groans of other customers.

What did break the comfortable silence though opened up a new door of problems for Hinata.

“You like Naruto, don’t you?”   

It wasn’t a question really, but a statement. Yet it was the utter bluntness and straight-forwardness of the whole issue that knocked the breath out of her.

“H-How can you t-tell?”

He shrugged, turning his gaze out to the rain.

“You’re always so nervous around him – even when just talking to him on a cell phone. The picture you drew of him was in much better detail than any of your other sketches but the blush was the first thing to give you away.”

The growing blush on her cheeks only further proved his point.

“Why him?”

Hinata’s mind spun dizzily at the turn of events. She would have never guessed she’d be having this kind of conversation with a boy – let alone Uchiha Sasuke!

Silently she prayed for the rain to let up or the line to speed up. Anything to avoid answering Sasuke’s questions!

When his intense gaze did not falter, Hinata stuttered, “I-I-I don’t really h-have a particular re-reason. I-I guess it’s because he’s always so cheerful an-and confident. He never gives up and I-I want to be l-like him. Strong.”

She kept quiet when Sasuke didn’t immediately respond after her confession.

Trying to keep her mind off the man beside her, she watched as the elderly woman at the cashier carefully counted her money to the annoyance of the cashier. When all the coins had been counted at least twice, the elderly woman pushed it to the cashier who, quick as lightning, bagged her goods, printed her receipt, and tiredly waved the old woman off.

The queue finally crept forward and it wasn’t long before Hinata stood in front with her floral umbrella.

“That’ll be 12 euros Miss.”

She smiled politely and reached into her coat pocket for her wallet. Her smile dropped when all her hand found was lint. Panicking she searched all over herself for the elusive wallet and bit her lip when she heard the queue behind her groan.

“Miss? Is everything alright?”

“I-I’m sorry. I can’t seem to f-find my wallet – I”

The clang of coins and cash interrupted her incoherent words as Sasuke placed the money down to pay for her umbrella.

Hinata dumfounded, watched agape as the cashier politely thanked them both for their patronage and Sasuke escort her outside with only one umbrella.

‘Wait. Only one umbrella?’

“S-Sasuke-san, thank you b-but we only have one umbrella!”

He grunted opening the umbrella and stepping out into the rain, still clutching her sketch pad.

“Didn’t have enough money to buy the other umbrella. We’re just going to have to share this one.”

Hinata gulped and slowly stepped underneath the umbrella with Sasuke. Standing so close to the Uchiha made her heart pound and head spin. She’d never noticed how tall he was compared to her petite form and tried not to brush too close to him. As a result of her attempts, the water from the edge of the umbrella continuously pattered on her shoulders, soaking her hair and coat till she couldn’t stop shivering from the cold.

Sasuke only sighed and pulled her closer towards his form under the umbrella muttering, “Stay close and don’t get wet.”

Hinata nodded nervously the blush on her face glowing. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts that she almost didn’t hear Sasuke’s soft voice speaking.

“It doesn’t sound like love. At least to me it doesn’t.”

“W-What do you mean b-by that?”

“Your feelings for Naruto. It’s not love.”

“Oh…”

“More like admiration, respect even.”

“I… I don’t understand Sasuke-san.”

Sasuke stopped in mid-step causing Hinata to freeze too. She looked at Sasuke’s indecipherable face and his hands tightening the umbrella’s handle. They were only a block away from the café.

“Sasuke-san? Are you not feeling well?”

“No I.. Hinata, I…”

She took a step forward and pulled his forehead to bump into hers.

“Hmm… Sasuke-san your face is warm.”

Her hands smoothed his wet bangs to rest more firmly on his face all the while wondering why the Uchiha’s face seemed to turn suddenly pink. When she pulled back she shook her finger like a reprimanding mother, “Sasuke-san I think you may have caught a cold – probably the same one from Kiba-kun and Shino-kun.”

The Uchiha was too baffled with her proximity to say much but didn’t have to when smoke exploded from around the block. Women’s screams shrilled through the streets air. Sasuke immediately regained his cool composure and ran with Hinata to the café.

Disaster reigned destruction in what was the Caffè di Litte.

Chairs and tables were broken to splinters littering the outdoor plaza while the café’s windows and door opened to release the billow of a smoke most foul and thick.

Smelling something akin to burnt ramen.

“NAAAAAARUUUTOOOOOOO!!! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!”

“No! No! Sakura-chan! P-Put the knife down! P-Please!!”

Hinata looked questioningly at Sasuke who only shook his head.

Suddenly a blonde body was thrown from the window of the café, bleeding and bruised. Naruto groaned as he rolled along the hard pavement and whimpered at the sight of Sakura in a frilly apron with the splatter of blood on the peach cloth.

“NARUTO!”

The boy cried out when he spotted a bewildered Hinata and an irritated Sasuke standing in the street. He ran towards them and grabbed Hinata in tears, trying to shield himself from Sakura’s wrath.

“Save me Hinata-chan!!!”

“Get off her dobe!”

“NARUTO!!”

Hinata felt herself being pulled from all three directions. Her head was spinning out of control and her arms were going to be ripped from their sockets if they didn’t stop soon.

Frustrated she yelled, “STOP IT!! ALL OF YOU! STOP!”

Hinata breathed hard trying to glare at the stunned group, but couldn’t hold her eyes into anger for long. She took a long breath to gather her nerves and mind.

“Alright. Please tell me what happened, Naruto and Sakura.”

“Well you see here Hinata-chan, me and Sakura were waiting for you guys to finish up at this café – ”

“When this moron here,” Sakura said bonking Naruto on the head, “decides he wants to eat only to discover they don’t have ramen in Italy. Somehow – only Kami knows – he manages to convince the owner to let him try and cook ramen in the kitchen.”

“Yeah and things were going so well until the.. er.. ehehehe kitchen exploded.”

Sakura slapped her hand to her forehead in unbelief of Naruto’s utter stupidity. Sasuke and Hinata only stared at the blonde sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

“The kitchen exploded, dobe?”

“Ehehehe uh yes. It was an er… accident – but I – ”

The shrill of a police whistle interrupted Naruto’s excuse as a group of policemen appeared at the end of the street chasing after them.

“Oh crap! Not the police!” yelled Naruto.

“Oh my Kami! Naruto if I go to jail I swear I will murder you!” threatened Sakura.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no,” squeaked Hinata looking around the streets.

“Damn! We’ll have to split up. Keep your cell phone on and we’ll meet up at the hotel later,” ordered Sasuke.

With that, Sasuke dropped the umbrella and grabbed Hinata’s hand pulling her down through the twisting streets of Venice. Sakura and Naruto headed in the other direction scampering as the policemen panted towards the café.

Hinata struggled to keep up with Sasuke’s wind-breaking pace, praying she wouldn’t slip and ruin their chances of escape. They turned so many corners that Hinata soon lost all sense of direction until they came upon the river.

Sasuke soon spotted an empty gondola boat and jumped in holding his hand out for Hinata. She shakily grabbed his hand and leapt onto the soggy cushions. Sasuke worked fast to untie the boat and pushed them out into the current to lazily drift through the city and hopefully out of pursuit.

Hinata dropped her head miserably into her hands.

“We’re f-fugitives now. They might even deport us out of Italy.”

Sasuke only chuckled.

“At least it stopped raining.”

She peeked from her hands and smiled at the sun shyly breaking through the clouds.

“Yeah. It did stop.”

She watched the river and the old houses pass them by as Sasuke rowed the boat forward. Her eyes continuously spotted bridges overhanging the river and the urge to sketch overwhelmed Hinata.

“Sasuke-san, do you happen to still have m-my sketch pad?”

He nodded bringing the sketch pad unharmed and completely dry from the inside of his jacket to hand to her. She nodded gratefully and pulled out a pencil from her pocket to start sketching the bridges.

“Sasuke-san, have you ever heard of the myths about the b-bridges in Venice?”

“No, nothing about bridges.”

Still sketching the bridge, Hinata continued to chatter softly.

“There’s a myth about a bridge in Venice that promises true love that will last forever. You have to travel under it by gondola and sometime in the afternoon when the church bells are ringing, a spell is cast and you’ll fall in love with whoever you’re with. Forever.”

Sasuke snorted unconvinced.

Hinata a little peeved, placed her sketch pad down to eye the Uchiha.

“You don’t believe so?”

“No. Too corny.”

Hinata frowned and slipped off her coat since the sun was fully shining down upon them.

“It’s not corny. It’s romantic.”

“Bridges, bells, and myths can’t guarantee true love. Love is only a feeling that people have to work at.”

Hinata stayed silent at that, staring intently at the Uchiha. He ignored her stares and continued to row slowly.  

“You are quite a surprise, Sasuke-san.”

He smirked at that and opened his mouth to retort when the distant church bells began to sing out. His eyes blinked in confusion as the gondola passed under a particularly wide bridge. A feeling tugged at Sasuke that didn’t seem particularly right.

The bridge had snuffed out the sunlight and Sasuke could feel the anxiety build up to escape from the dankness. He withheld the sigh when the gondola finally broke back into the open air and sunlight.

“Oh Sasuke, it’s beautiful. Relax and sit down beside me.”

Sasuke raised his eyebrows at the request but rested the paddle against the side and took a seat next to Hinata. His eyes roamed the surroundings and he almost smiled at the tranquility of it all when he felt Hinata slowly rest her head against his shoulder.

He tensed at her next words.

“Sasuke-koi, I’m so happy to be here with you.”

Her hand searched to intertwine her fingers with his own. Sasuke however shook himself from her grip to look confusedly at her.

Her lilac-eyes looked dazed and drunk as she whispered, “Kiss me, Sasuke-koi. I love you.”

The myth had been true.

-
‘Currently…’
-

The world finally came crashing down on Sasuke as he hit the water. What made things twice as worse was the belly-cracking laughter coming from Hinata as she tried to hold the tears from her eyes.

He had been played.

Sputtering in the water, he glared at the woman who was trying to apologize in between wheezes.

“I-I – wheeze – am so sorry Sasuke-san! I-ahahaha I didn’t mean for you to f-hehehe-fall out of the boat!”

Tired of her laughter Sasuke decided to fight fire with fire. Taking a deep breathe, Sasuke sunk below the surface of the water.

Hinata finally caught her breath when she noticed Sasuke was no longer on the surface. Worried she called out his name, apologizing again and again.

She leaned over the side of the gondola looking for him when something reached out to pull her into the water. Hinata fell into the river with a shriek.

She sputtered and splashed in the water and glared at a laughing Sasuke.

It was a rare sound to hear.

And eventually the anger disappeared and she couldn’t help but smile and laugh along with him too. They treaded water splashing each other until the cold finally seeped into their bones. Shivering Sasuke and Hinata swam toward the drifting gondola, Sasuke jumping on first.

He held out a hand to Hinata and brought her straight up so fast she had to lean into him to avoid splashing back into the freezing water. For awhile neither moved and still shivering from something besides the cold, Hinata slowly looked up into Sasuke’s face.

Huskily he whispered into her ear, “You know, I never got that kiss.”

And before she could protest, he pressed his lips gently on her own. Vaguely Hinata heard the church bells ring and the rain drizzle on them despite the clear skies.

-
End
-


AN: Well this was a very cutesey and romantic story! I actually have another version that uses the same basic beginning but with a totally different plot! I'll post it up later but I think I'll use this fanfict for my submission for DateMe. I hoped you enjoyed it! ^^