Their Attraction

Hanabi was at the living room, under the kotatsu even though it wasn't really that cold outside. A bowl with peeled tangerines on the table, as she read a book on how to improve and polish a mission report. She heard footsteps down the hallway. The footsteps didn't stop, as the person kept running back and forth at, she glanced at the time, 6:45PM. She activated the Byakugan and saw her sister pacing while having some sort of conversation with herself. She wore something nicer than usual, Hanabi noticed, and got up while a smirk formed on her lips.

"Going to see your Naruto, onee-chan?"

"Hanabi go away."

"You go away! You're distracting me from my studies!" Hanabi glared at her older sister. "So if you want to keep pacing around you better tell why I need to put up with this." Hinata took a deep breath, but her face still turned red from anger. She had lashed at her younger sister for no reason at all. What was wrong with her?

"I'm sorry. It's just Naruto said he has a surprise for me, but I'm late because I couldn't decide what to wear, and now I don't want to go."

Hanabi looked her up and down. "Well you look fine to me. Even if you're late, that's better than not showing up at all."

Hinata smiled and thanked Hanabi as she hurried away. Her little sister rolled her eyes and returned to her studies.

Hanata arrived at her destination and activated the Byakugan when she saw that the lights to Naruto's new house were off. To her surprise she couldn't see inside even with her Byakugan. So she dejectedly turned around to leave. But the door opened and Naruto ran and hugged her.

"Hinata-chan! I'm glad you're here!"

"Naruto, I'm so sorry that I'm late."

"It's fine! Come in for your surprise!"

She deactivated her Byakugan and allowed herself to be led by Naruto's hand inside his house. Once inside, he turned on the lights and everyone present yelled surprise.

"Happy birthday Hinata." Naruto kissed her cheek.

The gesture made her tear up, as she remembered that just a day ago she told Naruto she wished everyone would get together again. It wasn't actually her birthday; that day had passed three weeks ago. She refused to celebrate her birthday back then because she was still mourning over Neji's death.

"N-Naruto…everyone, thank you so much!" She looked at each person that was there, and smiled. Sakura, Ino, Lee, Choji, Shikamaru, Tenten, Kiba, Shino, Akamaru, Temari, Sai, and even Karui made it. The only person missing was Sasuke.

Akamaru ran forward and tackled Hinata, but Naruto held her from behind so that she does not lose her balance. They all laughed, and the birthday girl was led away by Kiba and Sakura to the table to serve her some refreshment.

An hour went by, and Hinata was about to blow the candles to her birthday cake, to make a wish when Sakura and Naruto noticed someone's chakra flare right outside the house. Their eyes lit up and they shared a knowing look; Sasuke had arrived.

Everyone cheered, after the candles' light lit off. And Hinata looked around with a smile as she tried to burn the scene into her mind. It was a special moment for her.

While Shino served everyone a piece of cake, Sakura left the room, and minutes later came back hand in hand with none other than Sasuke.

"Sasuke you bastard! You're as bad as Kakashi! Why are you so late?" It was said lightheartedly, and everyone laughed, except for Hinata. Shikamaru took note of this.

"Kakashi kept me late, idiot." Sasuke responded with a grin. He turned to Hinata and presented her a gift. "Happy birthday, Hinata-san."

"It's not actually my birthday, but thank you Sasuke-san." Her unfriendliness did not go unnotice by Naruto. He had spent a lot of time with Hinata and picked up on the subtle ways she showed dislike.

"Hey, what gives? Naruto clearly said no one should bring a present! That we were the present!" Kiba complained.

"So is that why you were late Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked, as he wrapped his arms around Temari's waist. Hinata looked down at the carefully wrapped gift and blushed, which did not go unnoticed by Sakura.

Kauri walked forward and stood between Sasuke and the group with her hand on her hips.

"Come on give the guy a break he probably just forgot."

Naruto scratched his head and laughed. "Hahaha sorry, Kauri-chan, I'm the one that made a mistake! I kind of forgot to tell the bastard not to bring a present!"

The atmosphere shifted back to everyone enjoying themselves and having a good time. Some walked around in rotation, taking the opportunity to catch up with the people they rarely see anymore. The person that remained in one spot was Hinata. She was constantly acknowledging everyone's presence, while Sasuke did the opposite when it came to hers. Shikamaru made a comment to Sasuke about it, and the young man merely glared at the genius with the one eye that was visible.

Sasuke walked away from Shikamaru to have a word with Hinata. He sat at an acceptable distance and engaged her eyes. She didn't run away from his gaze, but still she reached for Naruto's hand while she smiled at Sasuke.

"S-Sasuke-san, are you enjoying yourself?" She asked. Naruto decided to stay quiet because he would like for the two people he care for to be friends.

"This is not really my environment." He preferred to be on a mission.

"Oh, I see. T-Thanks again for the present."

"No problem, although my lateness seemed to cause trouble."

Naruto squeezed Hinata's hand and was interested to hear how his girlfriend was going to respond.

"That's all in the past. Though I did get upset in Naruto's place, since I thought you stood him up." Naruto felt super happy with her response, and admitted he was indeed angry at first especially since Sasuke had brought a gift, while he hadn't. Hinata reassured Naruto that she didn't need material things, and that this event was the best present for her.

Naruto left Hinata's side to socialize with other while Sasuke stayed on the same spot.

"So…is Sakura is your girlfriend now?" Hinata asked after taking a shot of sake.

"No."

"You came in holding hands."

"I held your hand before, haven't I?" She blushed.

"Do you hold everyone's hand?" Sasuke covered his mouth as he chuckled. Then the chuckle turned into a laugh and it left everyone to wonder what kind of joke would make the Uchiha laugh like that. Except for Naruto, he didn't react because Sasuke laughed like that very often with him. So he felt happy that the two were getting along.

Hinata on the other hand kept smiling to keep appearance, but felt pathetic that she showed such flaw. Sasuke suggested that she stop drinking if she didn't want to say something silly again. She looked down at her drink and had to agree. Hinata excused herself and left his company to give Akamaru a hug.

The birthday girl asked Kiba for permission to take Akamaru with her since she was going to the backyard, and her former teammate was okay with the idea. She put on her shoes and stepped outside and felt relaxed. She mounted the big dog and stayed on its back as the dog paced about the backyard while sniffing things.

Naruto came outside and leaned against the wall to watch the scene for a bit. She looked like a princess mounted on a white horse. He felt so lucky to have her. He smiled at his girlfriend before he went back inside. But almost everyone was drunk by then, so when Sasuke walked past Naruto to step outside the house, his best friend didn't give it a second thought because he was going to play a board game with Shikamaru, Shino and Sakura.

Sasuke lay on the porch with his eyes closed while he listened to her hum familiar songs. His thoughts drifted to the memory of what happened a few days ago, when she allowed him to kiss her after the campfire went out. Akamaru had fallen asleep on the grass, and Hinata stayed seated on its back and petted its soft fur. She stopped humming when she noticed that Sasuke was asleep. She walked over and took her shoes off before stepping on the floor. When she stood next to him, he reached to grab her ankle as a simple joke. She yelled in surprised.

He smirked.

She glared as he let go of her ankle. When she was free she sat down while her gaze stared ahead. She then stared at her hands and he inquired about what was on her mind.

"Both of my palm have this funny lines. It's shaped like a letter." Hinata explained.

Out of curiosity, Sasuke moved to have a closer look as she showed him. "I doubt it means anything."

"I know." She smiled then grabbed his hand and inspected it knowing they looked different from hers. At that moment, Naruto stepped out with Shikamaru behind. Sasuke wanted to withdraw his hand but Hinata didn't let go. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and looked between the two, and Naruto just looked confused. Hinata smiled and motioned her boyfriend to come over as Shikamaru remained on his spot to analyze the situation.

"Naruto, come look at this!" Hinata made space so that Naruto may sit between the two. "I was reading Sasuke's palm. Sadly I don't think he's going to live as long as my grandfather." Hinata reached over and grabbed Sasuke's hand again to show Naruto.

"What? That sucks! Here, read mine! I bet I'm going to outlive you bastard!" Hinata took Naruto's hand in hers and pretended to look focused. She traced her fingers down his palms and looked at him. Naruto blushed. "Your life expectancy…is…uncertain." She looked serious as she said this.

"Eh?" Naruto sighed loudly.

"You should ask for your money back, Naruto. I think Hinata is trying to scam you." Shikamaru went along with it.

"N-Not true!" She tried to hide a smile but failed as Naruto leaned and kissed her cheek.

"Let's go back inside!" Naruto got up and pulled the two to their feet and dragged them in.

"O-Okay!"

"Hn."

People started getting tired, and Naruto decided to call it a night. Everyone said their good byes and left in pair. Only Sakura and Sasuke stayed behind with the couple.

"I had a lot of fun today." Sakura said as she hugged Naruto and then Hinata. "Sasuke-kun, would you walk me home?" Hinata's heart skipped as she turned her head to look at him.

"We're walking in the same direction, so might as well." Sakura beamed with happiness and cling to his arm.

"Goodnight you two." Hinata said as she opened the door for them.

"Bye!" Naruto waved at them.

When Hinata closed the door, she quickly turned around when she sensed Naruto's chakra just flared out of nowhere.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

"Haha sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. I just got nervous, since we're alone now. And it's late…and I want you to spend the night."

"I-I can't spend the night…" Maybe she should.

"Aw why?"

"I'm not clear of what you're asking of me, Naruto."

"Hinata-chan, I'm not expecting anything! I just want to hold you." He hugged her close and she eventually wrapped her arms around him and agreed to stay but was hesitant to. "Oh yeah! Why don't you open Sasuke's present?" Naruto left the living room and returned with the present in his hands. He watched her carefully unwrap it. Hinata opened the box and took out a small crystal ornament that had a campfire inside.

"Eh? What the hell is that, a campfire? That's just too random" Hinata quickly shoved the gift back inside the box and set it down.

"Naruto don't laugh, maybe this isn't so random. We sometimes make campfires while on a mission." Her explanation made a lot of sense.

"Yeah, you're right. It's still funny though." It was quiet for a moment, and Naruto thought of something relaxing. "Would you like me to prepare your bath Hinata-chan?" Hinata nodded absentmindedly and watched Naruto disappeared. She plopped down on the sofa and looked at the gift once more. It was evident that this was crafted by Sasuke. Nowhere in the Leaf Village could she find an item such as this.

She closed her eyes, and thought back to that time. It was like she was there again, surrounded in darkness. Her fingers played with his hair as they kissed. She opened her eyes and smiled when she decided on the meaning of Sasuke's gift.

Sasuke didn't want her to ever forget.

The End