Back To The Beginning

The new Tradition

It was somewhere in early February and the snow had hit its peak, however, Sasuke was enjoying the view of the winter wonderland from his spot atop the Hokage mountain.

He won't lie it's a little weird not being able to sit above Naruto's head, but since he looks like Minato he'll stick with that for now.

Sasuke would sit above Naruto's head and rant to it as if the boy himself was there listening, it was his own way of letting out the emotions that he forced into a bottle that was already jam-packed.

Now obviously talking to the real thing is better, but sometimes he just had something on his mind that he didn't feel like bothering anyone with, and it's not like Sakura would have listened if he told her, so the Hokage mountain was the next best thing.

"Hey, Minato... This is a little new to me since I usually talk to your son. But I wanted to ask you something, I don't know if what I'm doing is right or wrong... I'm essentially altering the future... innocent people could die, but... more people may die if I don't. I just wanted to ask, if my parents were with you... I heard that my mum and Kushina were best friends, like you and dad... are they proud of me?... and what I'm doing?... or are they still disappointed from my mistakes the first time around?..." Sasuke ranted he let out all of his worries to the man that could relay it to his parents, he didn't know whether or not they could hear him, but he had hope.

He let out a sigh which allowed the winter air to make his breath visible, he clutched onto his scarf tight.

"You know... you don't need to worry about Naruto, he'll be the Hokage in the future... and my parents don't need to worry about me... especially now I've got Hinata watching my back... I... *sigh* I just want my parents to know... that I love them both... and I promise, I'll bring Itachi home safe and sound" Sasuke finished. He stood up and headed down the mountain.

He wouldn't know for a very long time... that his words reached the dead Hokage, who was relaying the message to his parents.

The ghost of the blond male smiled from above his own head as he watched the Uchiha walk down the mountain before he disappeared.

Soon Sasuke came upon the training ground and spotted Hinata meditating.

"Hey" Sasuke said.

"H-h-hello S-sasuke" Hinata responded.

The two sat in silence enjoying the peaceful snowy atmosphere.

"Um... S-s-Sasuke?" Hinata asked. She was poking her two index fingers together and had her eyes to the ground... almost as if she already expected the guy to say no.

"Hn?" He grunted, his eyes still closed, but he could feel her nervousness.

"I... um... W-well, I w-was wondering I-it you w-w-wanted to... g-get a p-p-picture.... w-with.... me?" She asked. Hinata really wanted a picture, not only because Sasuke is her first friend... but because she wanted something to remember this by if Sasuke ever grew away from her.

Sasuke was silent he didn't respond, not because he didn't want the picture but because she looked cute when flustered... um... I mean she looked funny, when flustered... yeah.

Hinata soon turned bright red.

"Ahh, um... n-n-never m-mi-mind!" She freaked waving her hands back and forth.

"Sure" Sasuke breathed out... it was enough to silence her, and the look on her face made Sasuke chuckle. She looked so confused even though she asked.

"Eh?" She responded.

"I said... sure" He repeated.

Hinata let a soft smile grow on her face, one that reminded Sasuke strongly of his mother.

He didn't notice that his cheeks went red, but he did notice his heartbeat increasing.

"Oh no, I'm 32 this is not ok!" He shouted to himself... but he can't help it, his body reacted on its own.... which somehow makes things sound so much worse.

Shaking away his thoughts the two went to go get their picture taken, Hinata was bouncing around like a rabbit, while Sasuke walked steadily behind her, his eyes glancing elsewhere every now and then... almost like a wolf.

It was a strange but perfect sight.

The picture only took a second, but was well worth the extortionate payment, when Sasuke saw the grin on Hinata's face.

"Tch, if you like it so much we can get a new one each year..." Sasuke said, the words came out before he even thought about them.

Hinata stopped bouncing and looked at Sasuke who had one hand on his head, which was turned to the side and had a blush on his cheeks.

Hinata without thinking hugged the Uchiha.

"I-I'd l-love to, I-it could b-b-be our little t-t-tradition!" Hinata announced, noticeably happier at the idea.

Sasuke unconsciously wrapped his other arm around her now noticeably shivering form.

"Hn, sure. Hey, let's go to my place and have a hot drink" Sasuke stated, changing the subject.

"Oh, a h-hot c-c-chocolate, w-with C-cinnamon?" She asked eyes shining at the thought of the hot drink.

"Hn" Sasuke responded trudging through the snow to get to his place.

Hinata was still standing where he left her, her head tilted as she didn't know what that meant and didn't want to Intrude.

"*sigh* you coming or not, it's getting colder" Sasuke announced.

Hinata smiled and followed after him.

Her picture clutched in her hands, while Sasuke placed his photo in his Wallet.

The pair walked away, unaware of the sad blue eyes of the village knucklehead watching them.

He looked at how close they were and wished he had found someone that would accept him...

He looked around at all the harsh glares before forcing a large grin on his face and trudged off to his lonely apartment.

He was indeed sad, but as he always said... Fake it till you make it.

The blond boy however missed the pair of onyx eyes that looked back right as he walked away.

It would be a cold day in hell before Sasuke let Naruto suffer again.

That was a Fact, everything was going to change and that started today.

"Oi Dobe!" Sasuke called out.

Naruto froze and turned around facing the two.

"You wanna come? It's getting cold and Hinata makes great Hot chocolates" Sasuke offered.

Naruto's eyes widened at Sasuke's offer before revealing a massive grin on his face and running up next to the two.

"Of course. I'm the entertainer of this group believe it!" Naruto yelled with his fist held high.

"That's because you're a clown" Sasuke muttered.

"S-Sasuke be n-nice" Hinata scolded.

Sasuke looked at Naruto and saw Him smiling and for once it wasn't fake.

Yes, this is how it should be. So Sasuke gave a small smile.

______________________________________

Ok.

1: I hope I'm keeping to Sasuke's character, he is a stubborn mule after all.

2: Is Hinata's and Sasuke relationship moving too fast?

3: there will be a few more chapter on the childhood, like 2 - 3 before we skipped straight to the team pairings.

Thanks for reading guys Ja ne!!!

(Edited)