KairaKi: This is a slightly Christmas-y holiday one-shot featuring my favorite pairing: SasuHina. This is to everyone who read JSD and FF:MP! Thank you for your time, reviews, favs, and everything else!
P.S. I am not a good fluff writer. I'M SORRY! Even JSD doesn't have a lot of fluff. I'm sad to say that fluff is not me. I can barely even read fluff. I am a sad excuse for a SasuHina lover. But I still hope that you will enjoy my version of SasuHina lurve!
Christmas Hassles: Buy Me
Christmas was a holiday set aside for lovers. Every where you went during the Christmas holiday you would be sure to find an absurd amount of couples strolling the streets, admiring the decoration, or, most likely, gazing deeply into their lover's eyes. And that year, due to the low funding for clubs and school related activities; the student committee had one of the biggest cases of cerebral flatulence in all of mankind's history. They decided to raise funding by auctioning off the most sought out guys in their school as determined by an extensive polling of female students. The highest bidder at the auction would get to spend a night at a semi-romantic restaurant and go to the Christmas carnival with her or his chosen boy. With the amount of fan girls, stalkers, and obsessive freaks attending their school the event would raise enough money for field trips, new equipment, and books with enough left over to spice up their next school festival. The members of the student committee were idiots to the highest degree.
Hinata gulped as she looked at the last name on her list. The first two already had neat check marks beside their names.
Getting Neji-nii-san had been easy. He still owed her a favor from the last time she had saved him from attending another one of her father's stuffy business dinners after he had accidentally gotten drunk off a bottle of liquored cider. Lee, Naruto, and Kiba had done that as sort of a joke on the effeminate Neji. They were sad to find out that Neji was a rather violent drunk and the only thing scarier than an angry Neji was a drunk and angry Neji.
Sabaku Gaara had been an easy task to conquer also. It turned out that the red-haired punk rocker was as nice as nice could get. He didn't say much to Hinata when she requested him to join the auction; he just nodded his head and signed the contract with out a second thought. When she smiled and thanked him he just blinked and continued on his way.
The last name would definitely not be as easy as the first two however. Uchiha Sasuke was a master at scaring away women. He was the most popular male among their school's female population, being smart, athletic, handsome, and, when he tried, having the manners of a perfect gentleman. Despite the amount of suitors, Uchiha Sasuke was still single, the reason being that he rejected all the confessions and girls that came his way. Most of the time his rejections were harsh as the girls were persistent, but some of the time he was capable of gently breaking a confessing girl's heart.
Personally, Hinata found Uchiha Sasuke very scary. She didn't know for certain why, but she was partly sure that it had to do with his overbearing and suffocating attitude and the way he tended to glare at everything. Uchiha Sasuke reminded Hinata, much to her imagination's surprise and fear, of her father who was intimidating, overbearing, and incapable of NOT glaring at anything.
Returning her mind back to the task at hand, Hinata decided to brace her fears and search for the last name on the list. The sooner she did it the less time the fear had to situate itself at the pit of her stomach.
Contrary to popular fan girl belief Sasuke did not spend as much time in the bathroom as they were lead to believe. It took him fifteen minutes in total to do his business, wash his face, brush his teeth, and get dressed. His older brother Itachi, however, spent over an hour primping himself. Sasuke did not understand his beloved brother's fascination with the mirror. He himself did not find his appearance that enchanting, plus, he had better things to do than waking up at five in the morning when school started at seven thirty just to fix a strand of his hair, such as sleeping.
Sasuke was drifting in and out of consciousness when Hinata softly approached him. He heard someone walking towards him and prayed to God it wasn't one of those obsessive freaks that seemed to populate the school as he continued to fake his sleep. He hoped that who ever it was they would leave him alone and not try to engage him in any type of social activity.
"A-ano, Uchiha-kun?"
Her voice was soft and unsure and Sasuke mentally groaned. Not another confession. "Look," he said, "I'm not interested in getting a girlfriend anytime soon, I'm not gay, and no, I will not consider dating you. Just leave me alone." He sat up and squinted at the girl. She was tiny. His first thought was that he could probably stuff her in his bag and there would still be room for all his books and useless crap.
"Oh! Ah ah, no, that's not it! I didn't come to c-confess t-to you! I mean I don't really like-like you in t-that way! It's not that I don't like you it's just that I don't t-think I'm r-ready for a b-b-b-boyfriend!" Hinata squeaked. "I-I just came to ask you i-if you would participate in this years a-auc-auction off!"
Sasuke could only catch the last word of what she said and immediately groaned. So that's why all those girls kept looking at him and following him and whispering behind his back! "No."
Hinata winced. "B-but why not? You'll get a percentage of what you bring in and the date is paid by the student committee, and--"
Sasuke cut her off with a glare. "I said no and that means no."
Hinata bit her lip and fumbled with the hem of her blouse. "I-is it because you're afraid of girls?" She asked with wide eyes.
Sasuke bolted straight up scaring the girl and glared. "Who said I'm afraid of girls?" He demanded.
"W-well you're always r-running away from them a-and, a-and, a-and y-you always go out of y-your way t-to a-avoid them." Hinata said, she was now playing with her pointer fingers and trying hard not to run away in fear.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. Was the girl stupid or something? How in the seven gates of hell would some one come to the conclusion that he, Uchiha Sasuke heir to his mother's company and fortune, would be afraid of girls?
Sasuke was determined to show the girl that he was not afraid of the opposite sex. He was not afraid of anything. "I'll agree to do this stupid auction thing under one condition." He all but growled.
"H-huh?" Hinata was confused. Didn't he say he wanted nothing to do with the auction just a minute ago?
"I said," He gave the girl a pointed look. "I'll do it under one condition."
Hinata was suspicious. "O-okay what's your condition?" She asked knowing full well she might as well start regretting ever having chosen Uchiha Sasuke's name from the damned hat.
"You have to buy me." Sasuke stated with a smirk. The girl blushed and began waving her hands frantically like she was trying to impersonate a windmill.
"W-why?!"
Sasuke sighed. "Because I don't want to waste a whole day of my life with some annoying brat who won't shut up or stop touching me, because despite all the rumors of me being a sex god I still have my virginity and I want to keep it that way, because I value my sanity way too much to end up in an asylum, and oh, did I mention I'm too good looking for life in prison?" Sasuke said ticking off fingers as he named the various reasons as to why he wanted her to buy him.
"B-b-b-b-but why me!" Hinata wailed. "There has to be someone else that you can stand besides me!"
Sasuke smirked. "No, it has to be you. You're Hyuuga Hinata aren't you? You're your father's heir to the Hyuuga companies and stocks. Aren't you the richest girl in school? I know for a fact that your father gives you enough pocket money to buy all the stocks of all the jewelry stores within a five hundred mile radius of this school and still have enough money to buy a home within the rich family district and pay the mortgage off within two years." Sasuke said. He was exaggerating the girl's wealth but at least the tidbit about Hinata being the richest girl in the school was true.
Hinata blushed. Her father was a bit excessive with money but unlike other girls of her status Hinata was prudent with her pocket money. She invested some into stocks of her own and put a portion of it into a saving account. Then, from the money she had left over, some would go to charity, a small portion would go to her personal servants, another portion of her money would be separated according to holidays and birthdays, and finally what was left over she would spend on the various things she liked such as books and music, or posters or tickets to concerts, but buying Uchiha Sasuke was definitely not part of her carefully crafted spending plan.
Sasuke waited semi-patiently as Hinata thought it over. If he was to agree to sell himself off (he winced at the word usage) he had to make sure that it wasn't to the ninety-five percentage of girls who were obsessive about him. The other five percent were usually made up of girls who hated him and his guts and only a very slim number of girls were indifferent to him. Hyuuga Hinata was in that slim percent.
Hinata pursed her lips and cursed the stupid hat again before coming to a conclusion. For the sake of the student committee she would buy Uchiha Sasuke.
"But if it goes over 00000 then I'm withdrawing." Hinata stated shrewdly.
Sasuke shrugged; acting like he didn't care but secretly he hoped that Hinata would be the one to buy him.
Neji twitched as he eyed the detested thing in front of him. Looking around he found that all the guys who were asked to participate mirrored his expression. The only one who didn't care about the absolutely horrifying outfit was Sabaku Gaara who had already donned the disgusting thing and was currently staring off into space. Neji admired the boy's ability to block everything out; Gaara would be the only one who would leave the auditorium unmarred.
"What are you guys doing just standing around?!" The student committee president, Yamanaka Ino, demanded as she breezed into the 'dressing' room. "How come Sabaku-kun is the only one dressed?"
The guys gulped as the murderous aura of their school leader rolled off in heavy suffocating waves from her body.
"You have five minutes to get dressed! Those who aren't will become my personal slave for the rest of the school year and beyond! When you're done reindeer will enter from the left and elves will enter from the right." Her cheery expression was replaced with one of murder. " Any one who messes up will face my wrath!" And suddenly, like summer rain, the dark look was replaced with the smile of an angel. "Good luck and don't worry, all the girls love you guys! Ta!" With that the blond girl went out the same way she came in.
Their student committee president was scary.
Neji held back a sigh as he surveyed his reindeer costume. Only Yamanaka Ino would come up with something like dressing them up in erotic Christmas outfits.
In the audience Hinata sat with her younger sister, Hanabi, and a few of the other girls who had help to round up all the chosen guys.
"I still can't believe you got Uchiha Sasuke to agree to do this." Ten Ten said in amazement. "What did he make you do in order to agree?"
Hinata blushed. "W-well, h-he said I had t-to..." Hinata whispered the last part.
"What was that Onee-sama? We can barely hear you over the screaming. You have to speak up!" Hanabi yelled over the sudden eruption of squeals as the lights dimmed.
"I have to buy him!" Hinata wailed as the memory of the agreement sprung up in her mind's eye.
"Good luck with dealing with him then." Hanabi and Ten Ten said comfortingly. On the inside they were laughing their heads off at Hinata's predicament.
"Uchiha is scary when he's mad so you have to do your best!" Ten Ten cheered.
Hanabi nodded in agreement. "At least he's nice looking and capable of being gentlemanly. Don't worry Onee-sama, if any of his rabid bitches try to fuck you up I'll make it so that they will never see nor hear the object of their fuckin affection again." She cracked her knuckles to emphasize her seriousness.
"Hanabi-chan you've been hanging out with Kiba-kun too much. You've fallen into his speech pattern." Hinata scolded. She didn't bother with trying to correct Hanabi's speech, her younger sister was too far gone in the world of slang and cuss words to be salvageable.
"Shh!" Ten Ten hushed them. "It's starting!" She said excitedly.
On the night of the auction off, Konoha Academy's female population was suddenly halved from its original size. Later, the school would have to fight off massive amounts of lawyers sent by the various families of those lucky girls who had been hospitalized for a severe case of MOE. The unlucky ones would be forever remembered.
It was lucky for Sasuke that Hinata remained unaffected by the glaring hotness of Konoha Academy's male population.
"Ahem! Now that the medics have left we can begin our auction off." Ino started. "We've seen the guys up for sale and boy did it get hot in here! First off we'll start off with the most wanted wares..."
"I hope Ten Ten-chan is okay." Hinata whispered to Hanabi as Ino started challenging the crowd to place higher bets.
"I'm sure she will be fine Onee-sama. She just wasn't expecting Nii-san to come out wearing a collar and spandex." Hanabi said. "I wasn't expecting Nii-san to come out wearing a collar and spandex." The younger girls swayed slightly in her seat at the memory.
"Hanabi-chan! Are you okay! Do you need some water? You did have a major nosebleed... Are you feeling anemic?" Hinata asked worriedly. Hanabi shook her head trying to make the dizziness go away.
"I'm fine Onee-sama. Uchiha's up next, you better get ready." Hanabi answered waving her sister off. There was no way Hanabi was missing Hinata fighting for the highest bid for someone like Uchiha Sasuke. It was a once in the life time opportunity!
Hinata gulped. She suddenly wished that she were in the portion of girls that had been suddenly knocked out upon the entrance of the guys. It would save her so much trouble.
"Next up we have Uchiha Sasuke-kun! The starting bid will be XXX!"
Hinata froze in mortification as the biddings rose substantially over the next few minutes. Ino was really enjoying herself up on stage Hinata thought to herself as a surprisingly large bid went up. Hinata looked around for the bidder; it was Haruno Sakura. She looked eager and self-confident as she held up her number. How was she suppose to compete with Haruno Sakura?!
Sasuke refrained from trying to hang himself when Sakura stood up. Damn, where was Hinata? Did the stupid girl get carried away by the medics at the beginning of the program? He would hunt her down if that were true. He tried searching for her face in the crowds but everything was just a mass of shadows to him. The only reason he recognized Sakura was by her abnormally bright pink hair.
He was starting to feel nervous as Ino called out once again for another higher bid. If Hinata let him down he would make her life a living hell. He'd swear it upon his dead cat's grave.
"XXXX"
Whispers erupted as the amount was called out. Sakura frowned her eyes darted around as she tried to find her opponent. Hyuuga Hinata? Why would that shy girl try to buy Sasuke-kun? Was she one of those girls who kept her crushes a secret? It didn't matter, as Sakura didn't plan on losing the bid.
Ino was getting excited. Sasuke would definitely bring in the highest amount of money. Hinata was an angel to be able to make him agree to the contract.
"XX0X" Sakura smirked. 'Beat that Hyuuga!'
"X0XX" Hinata really didn't want to do this.
"0XXX" Sakura frowned as she raised her bid again.
"0XX0" How did she always end up in these kinds of situations wondered Hinata.
"0000" Sakura felt triumphant. There was no way Hyuuga Hinata would be able to trump that amount of money!
Sasuke could feel the tension in the room. The bids were getting closer and closer the Hinata's cut off point. If Sakura continued the way she was going then he would have to spend all day with a massive migraine and the rest of his life in prison.
Hinata wanted to bang her head against the wall until her brain became a pot of mush. Why did Sasuke have to pick her? Why? She would not give up though. She had promised Sasuke that she would bid until it went over her cut off point. "00000"
The audience gasped. Ino nearly had a heart attack. Sakura gave up; she knew when it was time for her to call it in. There was no way she could beat that amount of money.
"SOLD TO NUMBER 431 FOR 00000!" Ino cheered.
Sasuke sighed in relief. The Hyuuga girl came through after all.
Snow fell in soft freezing white tufts of ice. They gathered eagerly atop of trees and buildings coating the city in a beautiful magical shade of pure white that glared like diamonds in the hazy sunlight. Hinata had just finished visiting Ten Ten at the hospital and was now waiting for Sasuke to arrive at the designated meeting point.
Ten Ten had been angry at herself for missing out on the excitement. She blamed Neji for not warning them about the X-rated outfits and was planning to ignore her friend to the best of her abilities until he apologized. Hinata giggled at that. She knew that Neji, being Neji, would probably care less about Ten Ten ignoring him. Hinata smiled softly. The morning had been more than peaceful and she felt so relaxed and happy. Hanabi had managed to get her mind off her 'date' with Sasuke but now, without her younger sister's loud voice and cheerful demeanor by her side Hinata began to feel a slow tendril of doubt and fear enter her stomach.
The urge to pound her head against something hard resurfaced and it took all of Hinata's will power to stay perfectly still as she waited for Sasuke.
"Yo." Sasuke stooped down eye level to Hinata, who had been sitting down.
Hinata squeaked in surprise causing Sasuke to smirk in amusement. She hadn't expected him to do that to her.
"Are you all right?" Sasuke asked when Hinata didn't answer his greeting.
Hinata nodded her head furiously as she tried to stop her pounding heart. She hated it when people appeared suddenly like that. "I-I'm fine! Let's go?"
Sasuke shrugged. "Lead the way Hime-sama." Sasuke gave a mock bow.
Hinata blushed at the term. She was not going to survive the day.
"Saya what are you doing here?" Neji asked the younger girl. He was suppose to be meeting his date but it seemed like she wasn't going to show.
Saya frowned. Neji was her tutor and the only time she met with him was during their lessons every other day. It felt weird to see him outside of school. "Well, Onee-sama said she bought you and was all excited about it she got so excited that she put herself in a self induced coma. The doctor said she wouldn't wake up until at least next week. So Nii-sama sent me to tell you that Onee-sama wouldn't be able to make it."
Neji gave a sigh of relief. He wouldn't have to spend a day with an annoying girl after all.
"Say, Sensei, how does a person buy someone? Isn't that illegal? I thought it was illegal." Saya asked confused.
Neji twitched. "It was only for today. No refunds. You'll understand when you're in high school." He answered.
"High school is weird." Saya commented.
Neji nodded his head in agreement. "You should go home now. Elementary students shouldn't be running around alone."
"I'm graduating soon! In a few months I'll be in junior high!" Saya pouted. "You're so mean Sensei! I'll see you tomorrow! Ja!"
Neji waved good bye. Once the young girl was out of sight he let out an undignified yawn. He could follow Uchiha and his cousin around now. The bastard better not try anything on Hinata.
Hinata looked around the fair grounds in anticipation. She loved going to the fair even if it was an over priced, health hazardous, and mentally depleting enjoyment. "Uchiha-kun lets go over there! And then over there! Wah~! They have a fish catching game! Can we go play that? Let's go on that ride! Ooh! They have chocolate caramel marshmallow apples! Lets get some! CINNABUNS!" Hinata clasped her hands together trembling in excitement. There was so much to do and eat at fairs. "What would you like to do Uchiha-kun?" Hinata asked politely reining in her excitement.
Sasuke held back his disgust at the mention of the overly sweet teeth rotting foods. "You pick where we go first then I get to choose." He suggested. Just please don't make me eat anything!
Hinata nodded her agreement. "Let's go on that ride first then!" Hinata said pointing in a seemingly random direction.
Sasuke gulped. There was no way that girl was serious. He stared at the ride in disgust. It wasn't that he hated rides like that it was just that the last time he went on a ride similar to the one Hinata was pointing at his older brother had 'accidentally' loosened his seat belt which resulted in several major bruises and a near concussion. Hinata looked eagerly at him. She obviously wanted to go on that twirling horror that they called 'The Hammer' (1). He'd take the sugar coated disgusting mess that was food any day to that ride. "All right, but you better not puke." He half heartedly agreed.
Hinata nodded excitedly. She was practically bouncing out of her shoes as she skipped ahead, pausing occasionally to let Sasuke catch up to her.
Didn't girls like to go on those stupid boat rides? Sasuke wondered.
Hinata let out a big sigh after she and Sasuke exited 'The Hammer'. It was a lot of fun sitting in the cart as the main body swung around in circles. She nearly died when she realized that the carts actually moved on their own too! Hinata snuck a glance at Sasuke. He looked disheveled from the ride but their was a tinge of enjoyment on his face. Hinata smiled widely. Even if she was here with him the utter joy of being at a place like the fair wiped out her worries.
"Want to get something warm to drink before we go on our next ride?" Sasuke asked. He stuffed his freezing hands in his pockets.
"Sure!" Hinata agreed enthusiastically.
A little while later the couple found themselves resting on a dry bench adjacent to a kiddy ride. Hinata was drinking a cup of steaming hot cinnamon mocha with an unhealthy top of whip cream. Sasuke had gotten some sort of tangy smelling tea.
"How can you drink something like that?" Sasuke asked as Hinata sipped her drink happily. She looked like an elementary school student.
"Hmm?" Hinata looked up at him with wide eyes. "You don't like sweet things Uchiha-kun?"
Sasuke shrugged. "Not really." He answered.
Hinata hugged the drink close relishing in its heat. "But you do eat sweets sometimes, right?"
Sasuke shrugged again. He had put off eating sweets ever since the time he and Itachi had the sugar eating contest. Come to think of it... His brother was glutton. Sasuke had never won in a food eating contest against his older brother before. Sasuke glanced down at Hinata who was wearing a look of pure horror on her face. "What?" He asked irritably.
"Do you like cinnamon? Or chocolate? What about cinnamon rolls? I love cinnamon rolls! They're so good! There has to be some kind of sweet food you like!" Hinata said, eyes aglow.
Sasuke rolled her eyes. "I like tomatoes. They're sweet."
Hinata scrunched up her face. How were tomatoes sweet? "Uchiha-kun is such a weird person! Ah!" Her attention turned to something in the distance. "Let's go on that ride next! That ride! Hinata pointed at a giant boat swinging back and forth.
Upon looking at the 'boat' ride Sasuke was reminded of the time his father thought it would be fun to try and stand up with him while a similar attraction reached its highest point. Reluctantly Sasuke stood up and followed Hinata through the mesh of people and food. Why did all the rides she picked come accompanied with physically painful memories of his childhood?
"At least I haven't lost my mind yet." He muttered. "Thank god for that."
Hanabi was at the fair with her visiting cousin, Kain. The two had hit it off pretty well the week before and had been planning the trip for a few days now.
"Hanabi-chan I think I just saw Neji-kun over there." Kain said pointing in the direction of a giant dragon boat.
"Eh? Did he have a girl with him?" Hanabi asked. She tried to peer over the heads of the crowds but with her small ten-year-old stature she could barely see over the shoulder of most of the fair goers.
"No. I think he was following Hinata-chan. I saw her earlier with some guy." Kain answered.
Hanabi sighed. "I bet he's stalking her. Nii-san is a bit weird like that I guess." Hanabi paused. Kain stood patiently as he waited for the familiar 'Hanabi moment' (which was Hanabi suddenly yelling something and running off in a, usually, random direction). "Fuck that! Let's follow them Kain-nii-san!" Hanabi cried in excitement as she hurried off in the direction Kain had spotted Neji.
Kain followed laughing at his cousin's antics. "Isn't it enough that we ran away from our babysitter but we have to follow scary Neji-kun to our deaths?" He asked.
Hanabi looked back and grinned. "Scared Kain-nii-san?" She questioned.
Kain shook his head. "First to find Neji-kun gets to have the loser pay for ice cream!" He yelled over taking Hanabi.
"It's too cold for ice-cream!" Hanabi complained. She increased her pace in order to match Kain's loping gallop.
"It's never too cold for ice-cream!" Was Kain's reply.
Hinata didn't think she would enjoy her day with Uchiha Sasuke. She had believed him to be a Very Scary Person and was rather stunned to find that instead of a VSP, Sasuke was more of a Very Nice Person under all that grumbling and frowning. Yes, Uchiha Sasuke was a VNP. He had even won her a very weird looking stuffed animal; they couldn't tell if it was suppose to a chicken cos-playing as a duck or a duck cos-playing as a chicken.
Sasuke shrugged off the feeling of someone following them for the umpteenth time. He wasn't sure if Hinata had noticed their stalker yet but he for one was beginning to feel irritated.
"Is something wrong Uchiha-kun?" Hinata asked.
Sasuke shook his head. "Nothing. Just some weird stalker following us."
Hinata coked her head to the side her eyes narrowed in concentration. "Oh, it's just Neji-nii-san! I saw him earlier when we were at the cotton candy stand. Ten Ten-chan text me earlier saying that his buyer got hurt and was unable to come today."
Sasuke furrowed his brow in thought. "So now he's stalking you?"
"That's just something Nii-san does. He's just over protective." Hinata said waving off his question. "He won't do anything." Hinata peered up at the taller boy. "Is he bothering you?"
Sasuke shook his head and stuffed his hands deeper into his pockets. "Nah, let's just get to the restaurant. I'm hungry for some real food. No. Cotton candy, caramel apples, chocolate dipped marshmallows, fried bananas on a stick do not count as real food." Sasuke said seeing the look on Hinata's face. "I don't get how you downed all that with out puking." He added as an after thought.
Hinata just grinned happily. "I have a very strong stomach. Or so Hanabi-chan tells me."
"If you can eat all that with out killing yourself you can't be human." Sasuke said in a bored tone.
"T-that's mean!" Hinata cried tears welling at the corners of her eyes.
Sasuke nearly panicked upon seeing the signs of a sobbing girl coming his way. "Geeze don't take it to heart." He muttered tapping Hinata lightly on the head with his knuckles. "I admire your fast metabolism."
"I didn't ask for it! I'm always hungry because of it!" Hinata whined hugging the ducken closer. She still wasn't sure if it was a duck or a chicken and it was annoying her to no end.
Sasuke snorted. He was about to laugh but that would be undignified if he did. Hinata's frowning face was too cute though and Sasuke found himself hard pressed NOT to laugh. Hinata didn't seem to notice that Sasuke was turning blue from effort and that his shoulders were trembling from racks of hidden laughter. She was way too cute.
Sasuke didn't normally call girls cute, nor did he enjoy their company, but Hinata was an exception. She was shy but self-confident in her abilities, she was quiet but could make her voice heard, and she was tuned to his feelings despite having known him for such a short time. He doubted any of the girls obsessed with him knew that he despised sweets. Hinata had caught on to his dislike rather quickly. That girl was unnaturally tuned to other people's feelings. Plus, Hinata didn't mind silence. When their conversations lulled to a stop she didn't chatter on about useless things. She would walk quietly next to him and when something caught her eye she would look up at him and ask in an excited childish fashion if they could go there.
With Hinata Sasuke didn't have to worry about being raped, or kidnapped, or drugged, or being force fed something he didn't like just because the girl wanted a 'romantic scene' with him. And, when Hinata got overly excited or nervous her stutter would appear. For some reason he found it endearing. Plus, she was fun to tease, and her excitement was genuine. She didn't care if was him she was spending the day with, she didn't focus the activities and conversation around him, Hinata enjoyed the time they spent together naturally. She did not worry about making Sasuke fall in love with her and she didn't go out of her way to put them in some sort of romantic shojou scene. Sasuke liked that.
The restaurant the Committee had reserved seats in was located close to the fair grounds. The warm air washed against their faces in heavy currents as they brushed past other couples waiting in line to get seated. Hinata waited patiently against the wall as Sasuke spoke to the waiter about their reservations. Being in such a warm room after spending hours in the cold made her feel sleepy and tired. The day had been fun and enjoyable, something Hinata wasn't really expecting. The rumor that Sasuke could actually be a gentleman was true after all.
Hinata pushed herself off the wall when she noticed Sasuke waving at her to follow. Somewhere deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep down Uchiha Sasuke was really nice.
Itachi had been sneezing all day. He hoped that he wasn't getting sick (he doubted it since he was Uchiha Itachi after all and Uchiha Itachi was too great to catch a measly cold) because his little brother would never let him live it down.
Speaking of his little brother, it seemed that Sasuke finally got himself a girlfriend. Itachi grinned as he followed the two to a rather... cutesy... restaurant. Oh hoh! Sasuke really was growing up! Itachi felt so proud. Now Sasuke would most likely stop bothering him at home!
Yes... That would be heaven! Itachi loved his little brother (he just didn't show it like NORMAL PEOPLE, Uchiha Itachi was too great to be NORMAL) but Sasuke had too much of a big-brother-complex for Itachi to handle. Itachi knew a complex when he saw it and his little brother definitely had a severe case of one. He wouldn't deny that Sasuke had great taste as no one was greater than Uchiha Itachi (except maybe his father but Sasuke and their father never got along that well after that boat ride incident at the fair. Ah, good times), but as a college student he could not have his little brother tagging along with him on EVERY date. He would have to make sure that those two stayed together, for the good of his social life. With that thought in mind Itachi followed his little brother into the restaurant.
Their dinner passed in relative silence. Hinata made no attempts at a conversation and for that Sasuke was glad. Sasuke was feeling tired from the day's excitement. He had never spent a whole day with a girl before; it was a mentally exhausting task. He was glad for the silence as he used it to recuperate his energy.
There were some spectators that were slightly miffed at the couple's lack of interaction, however. Namely Itachi, and Hanabi and Kain (they decided to join Neji in his stalking mission). Neji was happy though. He felt that the slow developments in Sasuke and Hinata's relationship were good. In other words, if Sasuke did anything inappropriate (i.e. hand holding, knee bumping, kissing, or touching) he would kill the other boy. Sakura (who had accidentally spotted Sasuke and Hinata entering the cute couple's restaurant) held similar feelings. She was glad that Hinata didn't seem too interested in Sasuke. In fact, the poor girl looked positively frightened! Sakura glowed with pleasure. There was no way that Sasuke-kun would fall in love with Hinata.
When the tab had been paid Hinata and Sasuke left via a side door. Their seemingly mysterious exit thoroughly confused their obsessive followers. It seemed that Sasuke and Hinata had vanished into thin air after they paid for their food.
Once they had left the restaurant Sasuke felt oddly relieve. When he had been eating it felt as though he were on display. The feeling of eyes drilling into his back haunted him with every bite and no matter how hard he tried to shake of the feeling it felt as though there was more than one pair of eyes watching his every movement. He becoming too paranoid.
"I had a fun day." Hinata said shyly, breaking the ice. She held the ducken closer to her body. "Hanging out with Uchiha-kun was really fun!"
Sasuke smiled gently. He enjoyed the day too, but he wasn't about to tell Hinata that. It would ruin his image. "I'm glad." He answered.
Hinata smiled widely her softly shaded eyes sparkling with happiness. "You know, Uchiha-kun, you're actually a nice person aren't you?"
Him? Nice? Was that girl on something? How could she describe him as nice?
"I didn't think that I would enjoy today. I thought that Uchiha-kun was really scary at first," Sasuke nodded his head that sounded more like him. "But after today I think that Uchiha-kun is a really nice person!" Sasuke twitched. Nice did not define Uchiha Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke was anything but nice.
"Since it was such a wonderful day do I deserve a reward?" Sasuke asked teasingly. He would show her that he wasn't nice at all.
"E-eh? W-what d-do y-you want?" Hinata had a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach as she glanced up at Sasuke who was smiling scarily.
"This."
The frozen expression on her face was one of pure hilarity. Well, at least it would have been if Sasuke weren't surprised himself. His surprise was not about his own action of which was totally spontaneous, but at Hinata's reaction. The girl had bolted in the opposite direction screaming "I'MSORRY!!" Sasuke wasn't sure why she was apologizing, but her obvious embarrassment was entertaining.
It was only a kiss and on the cheek nonetheless! It wasn't as though he had taken her lips (though he could have) so he didn't understand why she would run away like that.
Sasuke was definitely going to enjoy his Christmas this year.
And, on a side note, Itachi, Neji, Kain, Hanabi, and Sakura were never able to find Sasuke and Hinata after they left the restaurant. Itachi wasn't worried about the couple's disappearance he just hoped that his little brother was engaged in some sort of 'social' activity. Hanabi and Kain had grown bored with following Hinata around and dragged Neji along with them back to the fair. Sakura, happy with the lack of interaction between Sasuke and Hinata, returned home to write her report on the days events and post it on her 'I LOVE SASUKE-KUN BLOG'.
Meanwhile, with Hinata...
She had run nearly all the way across town in her embarrassment.
"Oh my god! Oh my god!" Hinata moaned. "I can't believe he just did that!"
Hinata looked around her room. Her eyes landed on the deformed stuffed animal in her arms. "I'm going have to apologize to Uchiha-kun for running away like that!" Hinata wailed. Ducken didn't answer. "Uchiha-kun is Not a Very Nice Person!" She told the stuffed toy. "VNPs don't go around kissing people!"
Hinata blushed deeply. She would apologize to Sasuke for rudeness. It was only correct, right?
Hinata was definitely not going to enjoy her Christmas this year.
(1) The Hammer (this is a made up name of similar ride in real life): I don't know if any of you ever went on a ride like this but what 'The Hammer' is is a ride that has two closed carts on either end of a long metal/steel column that rotates around in circles on an axle like thing-y. The carts are enclosed and padded. The carts are attached to the column on either side and is able to spin freely from the column. So, in other words, if you are in a cart that is at the top and the column starts to rotate your cart will turn upside down as the column moves and the cart is in turn moved to the point closes to the ground. So on and so forth. Depending on the speed of the rotation your cart may make spin in full circles on it's own, or you may be stuck in an upside down position through out the whole ride. It's a lot of fun.
KairaKi: Well, there you have it. Didn't I tell you I was bad at fluff? KairaKi is not a fluffy type of authoress and she thoroughly apologizes for it. For those of you who actually trudged through this One-Shot THANK YOU! Even I can't believe it was this long!
P.S. Saya and Kain are from JSD. Saya is around the same age as Hanabi. Kain is a year or two older than Hanabi.
R&R