Adoration

Sasuke's POV.

ANBU members scarcely left the village without the cover of darkness.

Sasuke didn't know if the Hokage purposely waited for night to fall before handing them their missions or if people around the world just collectively thought it would be a good idea to commit the most atrocious acts when people most expected them to—did they think it was cooler? If they were trying to avoid the masses, then that could be done even during the day. They'd probably fare better, too. Most ninjas were night owls.

But this was one of those rare occasions where Sasuke was suddenly assigned a mission in the morning. It was before a respectable time when most ninjas were either busy eating breakfast or doing morning warm-ups. Even rarer, was the fact that he was paired with his older brother. Itachi would be leading the two-week long venture out into snow country. For what, he didn't know. Apparently he and Shikamaru would be briefed along the way.

The Hokage was sending some serious manpower though, so whatever the reason for their departure, it would be big.

He was exactly six minutes early when he arrived at the gate. The Nara had yet to show, but that was only because he didn't have his speed. Though he was unsurprised to find his brother already there, back toward him, packed and ready to go. His ANBU mask was more than likely hidden somewhere inside his pack. It was larger than his usual one. He could just make out the outline of a stack of boxes stuffed inside. Lunchboxes? Or was it something for the mission?

His eyes trailed to his brother's wife, half-hidden over his shoulder, and he got his answer.

When Itachi left for a mission before nightfall, Hinata was always, without fail, there to bid him farewell by Konoha's gates. It wasn't an uncommon sight to see a wife or husband seeing their spouse off or a team of genin waving to their sensei. Even Naruto made sure to at least drop by to see him whenever he was due to leave—it didn't matter the time. But seeing his brother so... openly affectionate made him queasy.

Sasuke had basically emulated his stoic demeanor from Itachi, and even after all this time, he still couldn't stand to see him as anything but apathetic.

But there he was.

There they were.

It was quiet between them. Not that that was anything new. But this time Sasuke found himself staring, as Hinata placed a hand on Itachi's cheek, reaching upwards to brush away his bangs, before tracing the stress lines that were now a permanent fixture on his brother's face. She smiled bashfully at him when Itachi whispered something too low for his ears to catch. His hand rose to cup the woman's pale cheek. She leaned into it, and he massaged her with his thumb in a loving caress.

It was simple, tacit affection.

They weren't giving people a show by making out or screaming loud, gaudy goodbyes—they were bred with more class than that. But they attracted attention regardless. So much so that the two guards by the gate were blushing madly, hands over their faces like the pair were committing an act of public indecency.

Sasuke supposed that fluff just had that effect on people.

Before Sasuke could announce his presence, Itachi looked at him over his shoulder. His face back to the usual equanimity he was used to.

"Sasuke," Itachi acknowledged.

"Sasuke-kun," Hinata was next, her eyes lighting up at the sight of him, even as she moved half a step away from Itachi to bow politely.

As soon as she straightened, Itachi had a hand on the small of her back and his lips by her ear, whispering something that made her blush cutely. The alien softness in his eyes was almost too much to bear. Itachi could kill a dozen men with a finger—and he currently had five of them on her. Sasuke had always wondered if Hinata realized that she was basically chained to a lion.

"Come back to me," she told him with a dopey smile. It was barely a whisper, but Sasuke's trained ears still caught it. She paused, then added, "Safely."

"... I will try."

She nodded, accepting that, before he gently nudged her back in the direction of their home. Hinata went without complaint, smiling and waving a hand to both of them, as she disappeared into the crowd. Itachi watched her go, a wistful look in his eyes. But it was schooled back into neutral as soon as they settled back on Sasuke.

"You're whipped," Sasuke deadpanned. He may have been slightly jealous. Not that he'd ever admit that. Besides, he had a feeling Itachi knew, and was internally laughing at him.

"It's better to be," his brother said wisely. He pointed one black painted fingernail—Sasuke never understood that about him. Was Hinata painting it? Or was Itachi actually into doing his nails?—to his left, where Shikamaru was currently walking with his own wife, Temari. "See?"

Sasuke didn't.

But if his brother said so, then there must be some advantage to being hung up on someone that he wasn't getting. He valued his privacy, and while he never really liked being truly alone, he did have his friends and family around. Perhaps that made him emotionally stunted. If it did, then it was something he'd picked up from his clan. The majority of them were all icy bastards.

"Does she see you off here at night, too?" Sasuke asked, genuinely curious. "Isn't that dangerous for her?"

"No, she doesn't," Itachi answered, then, "And yes, it is."

Sasuke was tempted to ask how Hinata said goodbye to him when he was leaving in the middle of the night. Did he just inform her before she went to bed? What about impromptu assignments? Did he wake her? Or did he let her sleep and just leave a note? Sasuke could imagine Itachi doing both, so maybe it depended on his brother's mood?

"... Do you wake her?" Sasuke asked eventually, knowing it would bother him if he didn't. "Isn't that a bother?"

Itachi smirked. There was a secretive tilt to it that made him squirm.

"It depends," his brother shrugged, "Perhaps you should get a girlfriend and find out."

Not likely.

If he disguised himself as Itachi while he was out on some mission though, then maybe he'd be able to find out... but would it be worth it? His brother might actually kill him when he returned. And there was no guarantee Hinata would fall for it.

As he looked at Shikamaru saying a brief farewell to Temari, however, he thought that, yes, it might be.