Written in the Stars - SasuHina Winter Week 2021
Hi dudes! Here's a little something for SH Winter Week, based on the prompts from @shweekly. This will be a short series, hopefully. I haven't finished writing out everything yet. I hope you enjoy :) Please see the author's note at the end for any additional notes.
Written in the Stars | SasuHina | Summary: Modern AU - Sasuke never got the chance to tell Hinata his feelings towards her before he left to study abroad. Now he's back. AKA: Sasuke is too busy being butthurt from being abroad and everyone acts as his wingman to help finish what he started before he left... if he can stop being butthurt.
Part 1: Winter Constellations
Hinata huffed, slowly climbing the ladder leading up to the rooftop of the onsen-ji her family owned. On days when she needed to feel peace, she often laid on the rooftop tiles and looked for the night’s constellations.
Today was one of those days.
Hinata shivered and brought her jacket closer around her. It was forecasted to snow soon, and the onsen-ji would be busy in the next coming days. Winter was always their peak season. Exhaling a long sigh, Hinata settled herself on the clay tiles and laid down with her long hair fanned out under her, staring at the clear night sky.
Silently, she began mapping the night sky’s constellations.
‘There’s Orion’s Belt and if that’s there, then Orion is right…there!’ Hinata smiled to herself, proud, even though she’s mapped the constellations hundreds of times before. Ignoring her buzzing phone, her eyes searched for Rigel, the brightest star in the constellation.
‘What was the trick to finding Rigel?’ she thought as she squinted her eyes at the night sky. Hinata tightly closed her eyes and blinked a couple times to refocus her vision. ‘Orion’s Belt goes up like that…’ Hinata’s eyes followed the slight curve of the stars and her mind drifted to a memory she kept to herself.
It was the eve of her birthday that year.
Traditionally, she celebrated her birthday the day before with friends since her family celebrated her birthday by staying in the temple all day. Rubbing her gloved hands together, Hinata followed a boy with dark hair to the ladder steps leading to the temple’s rooftop. They had left their group of friends in one of the rooms, fast asleep and warm, having karaoked themselves out during their festivities.
‘Sasuke-kun? What are we doing up here?’ she asked as she followed him up the ladder.
He looked down at her between the ladder steps. ‘You’ll see.’
Hinata softly chuckled. ‘O-okay, Sasuke-kun.’
Sasuke grunted as he hefted himself over the last step and offered his hand to help pull Hinata up as she got closer to the top of the ladder. He pulled her in close, sharing his warmth. ‘Keep your eyes closed,’ he whispered in her ear.
Hinata felt her heart skip a beat - in anticipation, nervousness, having Sasuke so close; she doesn’t know. Obediently she closed her eyes and allowed Sasuke to lead.
He kept his arm wrapped around her, as he held her hand with his free hand. His voice was gentle as he guided her away objects she could trip on.
‘You really need Neji to come back from college and clean up the roof,’ he muttered. Hinata smiled, hearing the smirk in his voice.
‘Or you could come, and I’ll help you clean up,’ she answered. Sasuke didn’t respond back but she felt him pull her closer to him, squeezing her hand.
He brought them to a stop and Hinata felt the warmth of his arm leave her shoulder as his hold on her hand.
‘Okay, open your eyes.’
Hinata opened her eyes and softly gasped at the sight in front of her. Sasuke had cleaned up a small portion of the roof, and what greeted her was a thick blanket laying on the tiles, a quaint picnic basket was placed upon the rooftop ledge. String lights were strewn up providing a soft glow to the scenery.
‘Sasuke-kun,’ Hinata breathed out.
Sasuke gave her a small smile. ‘Come on, hopefully your cinnamon rolls will still be warm.’
Hinata smiled at the memory. Remembering that night well, after enjoying the cinnamon rolls, Sasuke taught her how to identify the constellations. She could still remember his voice guiding her through the process. ‘Now remember to find Rigel, you just need to find his belt and then follow the line to his foot. And…there it is.’
Hinata’s eyes traced Orion’s Belt once again and, true to his word, when she followed the imaginary line to where Orion’s foot would be, Rigel shone brightly.
Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone started buzzing in a consecutive pattern. Fumbling with her phone, she squinted as her eyes adjusted to the brightly lit screen.
She bit her lip as she scrolled through her missed text messages.
I’m so excited~ I can’t wait to see everyone! 💞- Ino
The hot springs are gonna do wonders on my aching muscles~ 💆 - Sakura
I could help with that… 👀 - Naruto
Gross! Keep that shit to yourselves!! - Kiba
No one needs to know! - Ino
Agreed. - Shino
Is Sasuke even in this group chat? - Shikamaru
Naruto, I’m going to kill you. 💢 - Sakura
-Naruto added Sasuke to the chat-
Heya, bastard! We’ll pick you up at the airport! - Naruto
See you all at the famous Konohagakure Onsen-ji! 💖- Ino
That was nearly an hour ago. The airport is one hour away from the onsen-ji. They would probably be here in the next thirty minutes or so. Gulping down her sudden nervousness, Hinata figured it was time to get herself ready for her friends’ arrival.
Hinata dusted herself off and made her way towards the ladder to go back down when she felt her phone vibrate.
‘The hawk has landed and has been retrieved! 👍 ETA: soon-ish…’ - Naruto
Despite her nervousness, Hinata couldn’t help but smile. She quickly sent a reply and made her way down the ladder to enter the warm temple.
“Good evening, Hinata-sama,” a voice greeted her. “I take it you had a refreshing time up on the roof?”
Hinata gently nodded her head. “Yes, thank you, Ko-san. Has the Presidential Suite been prepared for our guests?”
Ko bowed his head. “Everything has been prepared to your requests, Hinata-sama.”
-
Familiar scenery whizzed past him as he sat in the backseat of Naruto’s car. Sasuke perched his chin in the palm of his hand, as he looked out the window. Nothing much had changed since the last time he was in the country, but at the same time, he felt everything had changed.
“Dude, seriously?! You’re going to get another traffic ticket if you run one more red light!” Kiba yelled from the passenger seat to the blonde who was driving.
Naruto shrugged his shoulders. “What’s one more traffic violation? Besides, I wanna make sure we get there before the girls and Shino, so we get the best view!”
Sasuke heard Shikamaru let out a small sigh as he felt the small car speed up.
“You know Hinata secured the Presidential Suite, right? There’s no need to speed up. We’ll all have the same view.” Shikamaru rolled his eyes, stopping at Sasuke next to him. His hair, grown out a little longer since the last time he saw him, covered his face but he could tell the mention of Hinata’s name had unnerved him a bit.
“Isn’t she great?” Naruto dreamily sighed. “Being the heiress of an onsen-ji must be amazing! Having people at your beck and call, the great food, and the sweet, sweet hot springs,” Naruto shimmied his shoulders in delight.
Kiba and Shikamaru kept silent, aware of Hinata’s real situation with being the heiress, and watched Sasuke’s reaction from the corner of their eyes.
Sasuke, unaware of their eyes on him, turned outwards to the window and stared up at the clear night sky.
“Idiot,” he whispered.
Shikamaru cleared his throat and caught Naruto’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Did you tell Hinata we’re on our way?”
Naruto slowed to a stop, arriving at a red light. “Oh, shoot! Let me do that right now,” Naruto took his phone out from his pocket.
Kiba’s eyes widened as motorcycle police pulled up next to them. Promptly, he snatched Naruto’s phone from his hand.
“Hey!”
“Not in front of the cops!” Kiba’s head jerked towards the passenger window.
Naruto sheepishly smiled as he made eye contact with the officer. He nervously gripped the steering wheel.
"Why don't you tell Hinata-chan this…"
Sasuke tuned out Naruto’s voice. The scenery outside soon changed from a cityscape with tall buildings and bright lights to Japanese pine trees illuminated by the stars.
A stark contrast to the life he was living for the past four years. Sasuke’s lips pressed into a thin line. Living abroad was an absolute nightmare for him. He couldn’t find a way to fit in at university, not to mention the language barrier made it difficult for him to express himself in the first year.
And if he was caught up with the wrong people, well… Sasuke looked down at his hand and closed it in a fist. He knew how to take care of them nonverbally.
He broke out of his quiet musings as he heard Kiba, and Naruto loudly laugh and mention Hinata’s name and the onsen.
Sasuke looked down dejectedly. His thoughts moved to the girl he left behind. He couldn’t blame anyone but himself for not keeping in contact. Though they had tried to keep in touch in the beginning, it began to fizzle as the months abroad turned into years. And daily texts had slowly turned into sporadic messages sent at odd hours due to their time difference. But still, she found ways to surprise him and even sent him a care package through his brother Itachi ‘It seemed like she was really busy, but she took the time to make this for you. The least you could do is say thank you.’ Sasuke could hear his voice clear in his mind.
Sasuke responded by sending her beautifully woven cloth of deep purple with silver thread sewn in intricate patterns for her to use when her family’s announcement of becoming the temple heir became public.
“Hey.” Shikamaru’s low voice broke his reverie. “Hinata hasn’t changed that much.”
Though Shikamaru wasn’t looking at him, Sasuke turned to stare at him.
“She’s still the same, sweet Hinata from high school. Just a little bit older and more responsibilities.” Shikamaru glanced at him from the corner of his eye. “She hasn’t tried dating since you left.”
Sasuke let this information sink in.
“We’re here!” Naruto announced. “Damn, the girls and Shino beat us to it.”
Naruto parked his car right behind Sakura’s car and waved at the trio. Sasuke got out of the car and shivered. Snow would fall soon, he mused. He grabbed his things and slammed the door shut. Kiba noisily ran towards his best friend while Shikamaru and Naruto followed to greet the rest of their friends.
Sasuke looked around, noticing that not much had changed at the temple. The trees may have gotten taller. The stone steps may have gotten a little smoother. He looked up and immediately spotted the constellation he was looking for earlier. The corner of his mouth lifted up in a small smile.
“Good evening, everyone,” a soft voice called out.
Sasuke sharply turned around. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for this moment. He noticed their friends surrounded her as she stood at the entrance of the temple. Slowly, he took her in with slightly widened eyes. She was a little taller than he remembered, her violet hair a little longer, but her face still held the same smile and gentle eyes he remembered.
“Welcome back,” Hinata smiled at him with a soft blush on her face - probably from the cold, he decided.
“I-” Sasuke instantly became aware of their friends' expectant eyes on him. Heart beating wildly in his chest, he schooled his features into a blank expression.
“Hnn,” he nodded and made his way towards his friends. He couldn’t help but notice Hinata wore a brighter smile than Rigel shining in the sky.
---
Mini Author's Note: honestly, I'm not very good at summaries. So, I'm keeping that as is.
Also, an onsen-ji is a hot spring temple - so, in this AU Hinata's family is running a hot spring inn with a temple on the side - or a temple with a hot spring inn on the side.
