6.

My sixth fanfic. Third POV. Written for my pal SecretBox, whom I promised a SasuHina that strangely morphed into a NaruHina. Sorry Secret! Well, it's still got bits of NeijiHina and SasuHina sprinkled through out. Is that okay? (:

Oh, and btw this is my very first Naruto ficcie. EVAR. So go easy on will, will ya? xD

NOTE: If ya pay close attention to the very first part, the reference to pink…well, it's kinda referencing Sakura & hinting towards well, ehh, anti-SasuSaku. Heh. –dodges projectile objects; pokes- The title is cute though, ne? -is shot-

ANYWAYS! Onto the fic!

Disclaimer: Be thankful pitiful mortals. :p

Cupcake Love

And all of this because of one garishly pink cupcake.

☆NaruHina

- - -

The ebony-haired boy blinked.

"F-for you S- sasuke-san."

The cupcake was fist-sized, dotted with colorful sprinkles and frosting with the kind of icing that was an exactly identical yet a totally different shade of a sakura pink blossom, and at first Sasuke just stared at it in what Hinata feared was mute horror, until he looked up and said, in a tone of voice much too grave for his meager six years:

"I hate pink."

"Ooooh?" Hinata managed disappointedly, shifting from foot to foot as her porcelain features turned ten different shades of red. Even the tips of her ears had turned pink with her humiliation as she lowered her opaque gaze to stare at her shoes; they were shiny. "Sorry, S-sasuke-san."

The boy merely snorted cynically to himself as he brushed by her, knocking the baked good to the ground purposefully. A faint sneer marred his darkly handsome features as he saw a look of total shock wash across her pale face. Yet he couldn't explain the sudden pang of guilt he felt smart like a sting in his chest, as he noticed the way Hinata eyed the object of her distress lying in the dirt with a pair of watery, pearl-white orbs.

Sasuke shook his head to clear his thoughts. He had absolutely nothing to feel guilty about! Who gave a boy a pink cupcake with pink frosting anyway? The whole thing was delusional, and he tried to convince himself that she had gotten what she had deserved. Sasuke's voice dripped with malice as he spared her one final, scathing onyx-eyed glance over one shoulder.

"Better watch where you're going next time, Hyugga."

- -

Neiji saw everything. "I'm going to rub that Uchila's face in the dirt until he apologizes for what he did to you."

Hinata panicked, arms flailing frantically as she attempted to press her tiny, cherubic hands against her older cousin's chest to stop him in his vicious pursuit. "No! D-don't do that! P-lease! S-sasuke-san is my friend." She looked desperate, peering up into his equally identical pale, pale eyes beseechingly with her own. It unnerved him, seeing her defend someone as ungrateful as the Uchila brat.

Neiji scoffed as he pushed her aside easily. He took his time to assess the younger child, his gaze cool and calculating as he took in the boy's profile from some distance away. He regarded Sasuke as if he were lower than the dirt beneath his feet.

"His hair looks like a chicken butt," Neiji announced rather primly after a few moments of observation. Sasuke's ears seemed to perk up to attention, but it was pure coincidence, obviously. Sasuke glanced about suspiciously then, casting coal eyes to and fro before returning to the rigorous task of shoveling glittering, white grains of sand into his precious beach bucket.

"N-neiji, that's not very nice to say," Hinata whispered quietly. She flinched as her cousin glared at her.

"What he did to you earlier wasn't very nice either. Are you really going to let him get away with that?" he inquired. He hadn't meant to sound so mean, but she was really pushing his buttons. When would she finally learn to stand up for herself?

"I-It's okay, I w-was in the w-way," she mumbled rather lamely, pushing her thumbs together as she avoided his eyes. She was like a snowflake, susceptible and easily broken; crushable. Someone like her needed protection, and he was the one to do it. "It r-really was my fault, Neiji-nii. Don't be mad at Sasuke."

The nine year old smacked his forehead, blatant annoyance flickering brightly across his ivory-hued oculars. He resisted the urge to shake the younger girl by the shoulders and to knock some sense into that pretty – err thick head of hers. The one time she didn't stutter and spoke without hesitation dripping from her every word and it was while she was blabbering on about some idiot boy with chicken butt hair!

Neiji decided then and there that he would obviously have to come to her rescue, even if she didn't realize he was really doing it out of her best interest. And he was. Really. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was secretly jealous that Hinata had offered Sasuke-san a cupcake, undoubtedly made out of the goodness of her longing, little heart, with absolute perfection and love poured into every single bite… whereas she hadn't even so much as offered him a crumb–- hn. Such a foolish thought, it was.

"You'll thank me later for this, Hinata." The genius prodigy patted her on the head, tenderly brushing strands of midnight-hued strands out of her luminescent eyes. Neiji brushed a stray tear from her cheek with his thumb, his touch lingering unnecessarily for a moment. A faint blush bloomed to life in her cheeks. "Okay? Now go over to the swing-set and wait for me while I take care of this. It shouldn't take too long."

Hinata parted her pale-pink lips in obvious confusion as she glanced first at him and then at Sasuke.

"Y-you're not going to h-hurt him, are you?" She sounded genuinely concerned with the Uchila's safety, which irked Neiji to no end.

Not that much, he thought. Hah. Even that was a lie.

"I don't have control over what happens; You know that. I can't control destiny."

Hinata heaved a quiet, little sigh at Neiji's perfectly rehearsed explanation; he seemed to use that whenever he did something he knew she didn't approve of. How convenient, she thought. But she shook off the thought with a forced smile, as if resigning herself to her fate. "Okay, Neiji-nii."

- -

Sasuke didn't even look up as he felt a dark shadow fall over him, smirking arrogantly to himself as he finished patting the top of his sand castle. His masterpiece was complete. "Finally decided to stop standing around and approach me, Neiji-nii?" his tone dripped with sarcasm and he chuckled to himself. The boy's dark gaze locked onto Neiji's white one, and he was surprised to see the anger and frustration glittering in those orbs –- aimed completely at him. It startled him. He hadn't thought the Hyugga would be that mad.

"…you hurt Hinata," Neiji breathed into the air, clenching his fists. His lips had pursed into a thin, angry line as he stared the younger boy down.

Sasuke didn't even flinch as he stated matter-of-factly, "She got what she deserved."

"She was just trying to be nice."

Sasuke scoffed, "She was being annoying."

Something had risen up in the air, and in the next second Neiji grabbed Sasuke by the scruff of the neck and yanked him to his feet. A feeling of dark anger, one that poured into every part of him, filling him up until he thought that he would burst bubbled up behind his eyes. Unlike the random outbursts of anger that overcame him occasionally, this one had a dangerous hint to it, aimed wholly and totally at the boy in front of him. His eyes simmered with barely contained fury as he bit out, "You take that back."

Despite his position, Sasuke barely squirmed as he laughed. "Okay, she's cute. Real cute. How about that?"

Neiji saw red.

- -

Hinata gazed dismally at the ground as she sat perfectly still, fingers clenched around the metallic links of the swing she was currently perched on with all the innocence of a princess. She rocked back and forth whenever the wind willed her to, letting out a despondent sigh every now and then.

She wished Neiji would hurry up already; she wanted to go on the big slide at the very top of the hill. But she knew she couldn't do so without her elder cousin there to catch her. Not to mention all the big kids that would be there. It made her shiver just thinking about it. So lost in her thoughts was she that she failed to notice a certain someone approaching…

Naruto walked over to her slowly, and winced when the crackling of leaves betrayed his boisterous presence.

Hinata lifted her head then, and the smile that spread across her pretty face was enough to make the blonde forget everything.

"Hey Hinata," Naruto managed lamely, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. His sky-blue eyes flickered in an uncharacteristic bout of shyness. Why did this only ever happen whenever he was around her? He thought he had liked Sakura, but Hinata...Hinata was just so nice. He couldn't help but want to be around her. She was the only one who ever treated him like a decent human being.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed happily. "What are you doing here?"

"Ehh." Now it was his turn to blush. "I, uh, wanted to give you this!"

Before the girl could utter out another word the blonde had shoved a poorly made bouquet of yellow roses into her arms. She flushed a fierce scarlet, stammering incomprehensively as she was forced to breathe in the fresh, earthy scent of flora. "I—I-um, N-naruto-kun?" she whispered his name in question, her tiny frame trembling as she lifted her wide-eyed gaze to lock with his.

Naruto grinned deviously. "They're flowers."

"W-what?" she gasped. She looked about ready to faint.

He laughed. Hinata was just so cute. "They're flowers. Flowers for you, Hinata."

Hinata stammered confusedly, "B-but why? I don't understand, Naruto-kun." She felt terrible. She had absolutely nothing to give as a gift in return! She should have made more cupcakes, just as Neiji-nii suggested.

"Aren't there any other people you'd like to give a cupcake to?" Identical lily-white orbs locked onto hers, refusing to allow her to look away as a meaningful smirk spread across his features. His pale eyes glinted mysteriously, betraying no other emotions whatsoever as he wiped the childish arch of white flour from her pink cheek. She blushed. "Like say, someone you care about?"

Hinata wrung her hands anxiously, her entire face turning an even deeper shade of crimson as she felt her cousin's gaze probe and inspect her shaking body. "N-no one t-that I um, can think of, Neiji-nii."

She could have sworn she saw her cousin scowl before pivoting on his feet in that graceful way of his, movements silver-slicked as he stormed off.

"Well," Naruto started candidly, "I asked that Ino-girl at the Yamanaka flower shop. A-and no, I don't go there that often! 'Cause I know that's what you must be thinking! I just happened to be in the neighborhood." He fumbled with his words, frowning at his sudden inability at stringing coherent sentences together. Man, it had sounded so much better when he had rehearsed it out loud to that stray dog… "Anyways, well, she kind of told me -- totally out of the blue at that, that yellow roses were to be given to people you really care about. A lot. So I kinda thought maybe I oughta give them to you, for being all nice to me and stuff." Did she get all that, Naruto wondered idly. He sure hoped she did, because he didn't feel like coming out and having to explain it all, again.

Hinata went silent then, her dark eyelashes fluttering delicately as she realized the true hidden implication behind his words. A smile curled her lips then, and she seemed to bloom like the unfurling petals of a tiny, budding rose.

"I-I think I do, Naruto."

- -

Sasuke smirked, and Neiji promptly blanched outright as he drank in the scene of a beaming Naruto leading Hinata away from the swing set by the hand with a bouquet of sunshine colored roses clasped in other hand. He felt his jaw twitch irritably.

Sasuke laughed as he felt the older boy's grip loosen on his collar. He promptly plopped his bottom down in the sandbox as he smoothed the top of the holy glory that was his sandcastle. "And you were worried about me?"

Neiji turned to stare at him, his entire face having gone an ashen-gray. He parted his lips to bite out a particularly nasty retort, then changed his mind and snapped his mouth shut, making a head-long dash after his cousin.

"HINATA!"

And all of this because of one garishly pink cupcake.

Now he'd have to kick some serious fox-tail ass.