A/N: Right, just a little bit of candy goodness about Sasuke and Hinata when he meets her at a restaurant during one of his nightly prowls only to find her having just broken up with Naruto. Who else to offer her solace? Definitely not him! Hope you guys like! :D

Ice Cream and Sake

Sasuke hated nights like these when he had nothing to do which therefore resulted in him walking aimlessly around Konoha. The newly recruited jounin was always ready for a mission, any mission that involved fights, killing and a lot of blood just for kicks. No, he was hardly a sadist but his thirst for adventure often got the better of him.

Of course he had a different sort of thirst as he walked into a nearly empty restaurant and scanned the room. It was dimly lit with paper lanterns at each table, giving it a rather homey glow. Grimacing at the long night ahead, he thought to himself how he could really do with some sake.

He was about to make his way over to a table in the corner when someone caught his eye. He frowned in recognition at the eldest Hyuuga daughter who, upon seeing him, lowered her gaze shyly and spooned something into her mouth.

With a lazy shrug, he made his way over to her table and sat opposite her, languidly relaxing into the seat. He didn't know what compelled him to sit with her, he was hardly the sentimental type, but considering she was a former classmate and fellow nin on many missions before, he labeled her somewhat of an acquaintance. He called for a sake which arrived a few moments later.

Hinata, as he remembered her name, looked up from the carton she was eating from and offered him a small smile. "G-Good evening, Uchiha-k-kun."

The first thing he noticed were that her eyes were rimmed red and her nose and cheeks also flushed with the same colour. Raising a brow, he commented dryly,

"Normally when you're sick, you don't eat cold things." He motioned to the ice cream in front of her; a rather big pint of chocolate flavoured ice cream from what he could tell.

At that, he knew he'd said something wrong as her lip started to tremble and a heavy blush came to her cheeks. Lowering her pearl like gaze, she mumbled something under her breath about not being sick.

Ah, so she'd been crying. Perfect; the one night he looks for something exciting and he gets stuck with a depressed girl. Just perfect.

Out of courtesy – courtesy he really didn't feel at the moment – he asked in boredom, "Why have you been crying?"

Again, the girl flinched and held the spoon to her lips, biting on the tip. "N-Naruto-kun…" she mumbled, not meeting his gaze.

Sasuke frowned but then realization dawned on him. She had been dating Naruto for a few months now. How could he forget? Especially since his dobe of a friend had gone on and on and on about her. He would have smirked had his decorum allowed but settled on a small, "Hn, I see," instead. Now this was interesting. To hell with missions, the gossip side of him was beginning to emerge. "And when did you two…?" The carefully asked question hung in the air and he watched her expression change from sad to utter despair.

"A week ago," she squeaked before spooning another large dollop of ice cream into her mouth.

Girls and their overtly sensitive selves. Well, it was no wonder Naruto himself had been a little down lately. He actually hadn't seen him around very much. When he had asked Sakura where he was when a group of them had been at a bar, the kunoichi had shook her head and told him that he'd come out in his own time. Naturally, the emotionally stunted boy hadn't any idea what she was on about and passed her off as being a philosophical drunk.

Now he understood. Looking at her ice cream, he cocked his head to one side and stated thoughtfully, "I hear that ice cream is supposed to be good during a break-up. Does it really help?"

She blinked at him, wide eyed, the spoon hanging in the air. After a few moments, she actually broke into a shy smile and giggled.

Mildly amused, he looked at her passively and quirked a questioning brow. At this, she answered truthfully, "A-ano, I was just t-trying to test out that theory m-my-myself."

The Uchiha was momentarily caught off guard by the small smile on her lips, the tinge of pink to her cheeks and the shy way she held the spoon to her lips. Blinking a few times, he managed to dismiss the surprise and nod calmly.

"So? Does it work?" he asked expectantly.

Hinata shook her head slowly and deflated. "N-no. I suppose i-it d-doesn't."

He grunted shortly and sipped his sake, savouring the burn. After a moment or two, he said suddenly, "I believe that sake may be a better remedy than ice cream."

She stared at him innocently and in his mind he almost chuckled at her expression. "Helps you forget for a little while at least."

Nodding slowly, the girl spooned herself more ice cream and then looked up abruptly. "G-gomen, how r-rude o-of me. W-would you…like…s-some?" Blushing profusely, she pushed the half empty carton towards him.

"I don't like sweet things," he told her truthfully but upon seeing the dejection on her face, resisted the urge to roll his eyes and took the spoon from her and took a large spoonful.

"Wait! That's…!"

Big mistake.

"…too much…"

Dropping the spoon into the carton, he groaned and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose at the immense brain freeze that was working its way up his forehead, behind his eyes and down his throat Yeah, he definitely still didn't like sweets.

Biting her thumb, the girl reached over and gently pulled his hand off his face, much to his protests, and lifted his sake cup to his lips. He gratefully accepted the drink as it burned its way down his throat and eased some of the pain and cold. Releasing a frustrated grown, he opened his eyes and was met with a pair of pale, amused yet sympathetic orbs.

'How the hell could that dobe dump her?' His eyes went wide at the thought and he shook his head, pulling back from her touch and muttering a short, "Thanks."

Smiling softly, the girl put the cup down and leaned back into her chair, allowing herself another spoonful of ice cream. "You'll feel better in a few moments."

'Hn. She didn't stutter. Interesting.'

He took the time to look over her, the girl who Naruto had dated and then dumped. Well, she wasn't anything special, he'd seen tons more aesthetically pleasing than her. Hm, what else? She was…cute in a way he supposed, from her chin length dark hair, small face and absolutely tiny stature. She didn't look that strong but taking into account that she did manage to deal with the idiot blond for a few months, he guessed she didn't do too badly.

But what he did know about her was that she was extremely compassionate, as previously proved by her earlier actions with the sake. Apparently being the outcast of the Head Family gave her much more room for sympathy; things a shinobi shouldn't have. Yet…she still managed and survived this far. Very interesting indeed.

He actually felt sorry for her, especially because at times he had seen her staring at Naruto when they were still studying. She obviously had it big for him, over what he didn't know. And to be discarded like that must have been painful. But what made him frown wasn't the fact that she had actually been crying over his friend, but more the way that she seemed to be handling it a lot better than most girls would.

He remembered when Sakura had been dumped by Lee of all people and how she'd been depressed for weeks and didn't eat or talk to anyone except for Ino. He remembered actually laughing to himself at Sakura's pining over Lee, when he was by himself in his room. It was just utterly hilarious. Fancy that; Sakura getting dumped by Lee! Their relationship had made him see the Taijutsu expert in a new light; an absolute idiot instead of just an idiot.

Looking up at her casually, he pulled another empty cup from the corner of the table and poured her a bit of the sake from the small jug. Pushing it in front of her, Sasuke deadpanned,

"Drink it."

Lavender eyes widened. "Wh-what? B-but I couldn't…" she trailed off, looking timidly at the cup in front of her.

She wasn't getting out of this that easily. "I had your ice cream, you drink my sake."

The Hyuuga tried to protest but nothing came out of her mouth and so she sat back, resigned and nodded reluctantly, curling her small digits around the cup and bringing it to her lips. Cringing, she pulled the cup away and grimaced at the flavour, putting the hardly touched cup down and looking up at him with incredulity. Her expression seemed to ask "how can you drink that?" and he almost chuckled, his eyes glittering with slight amusement.

He was finding her more and more amusing. Her reactions didn't cease to amaze him. She was like a child stuck in a woman's body. "Consider that payback."

That actually cracked a smile from her as well as that ever-present blush and she turned away from him shyly, trying to hide her face.

'Cute…ah crap!'

Smacking himself mentally, he down the rest of his cup and poured himself some more. Maybe sitting with her wasn't a good idea, especially if sake and ice cream were in the mix. He was hardly attracted to her; he was an Uchiha after all and they had pretty high standards, but she was being just so damn endearing and welcoming that it was hard to ignore her unintentional "come hither" gazes.

Cursing mentally, he reminded himself of how angry Naruto would be if he found out he was spending time with his ex. He'd blow his top off and that damn fox would probably try to kill him. Well, it's not like he had any right to be jealous after dumping her, he though with annoyance and conviction.

Then again, annoying his friend could prove to be very fun indeed. He praised himself at his ability to self-serve. Maybe boredom wasn't in the cards for his future.

"I d-don't suppose…you…w-want m-m-more?" she asked coyly, showing him the carton. With a short sigh, and a very small quirk of the lips, he declined politely.

"No thank you, but I do expect you to finish your sake," he added slyly, raising a dark brow at her.

Shrinking away from him, the girl shook her head. "I-I'd rather not…"

He wanted to laugh but spoke smoothly. "Try downing it all at once. Makes the experience much more tolerable."

"B-but I…" Sighing in resignation, she took her full cup in one hand and pinched her nose with the other, squeezing her eyes shut as she lifted it to her lips and gulped it down at once, wincing at the taste and dropping the cup onto the table with a clatter.

She was all red in the face now and it only had slightly to do with her blushing. This was priceless indeed. Unable to contain it, Sasuke let slip a short chuckle and reached over and patted her on the head. "Impressive for a Hyuuga girl."

When she looked at him, her eyes red, he immediately regretted allowing her to drink. "I-I don't feel…s-s-so…" He closed his eyes and shook his head, a ghost of a smile on his lips. 'Lightweight. I suppose this is my cue to take her home.'

Standing up, he dropped a few coins onto the table and took her arm, pulling her up with him. "I'll take you home."

He frowned when she fell back into her seat and when he looked at her, had to grit his teeth. It was one thing to deal with a depressed woman, but with a crying woman he had no idea how to act. Crap.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she sniffed twice before allowing quiet sobs to take over her. Resisting the urge to sigh in frustration, he sat back down again and patted her head awkwardly which she had lowered to the table.

"I think I need some ice cream," he muttered, taking the carton and spooning some into his mouth – less this time.

'Hm, I wonder what other sort of flavours they have…I think I'd like to try strawberry. That's always a good flavour…'

Hinata continued to sob and he continued to eat, also pouring himself more sake absent mindedly.

'Chocolate isn't too bad I suppose but it's too sweet. I wonder what tomato ice cream would taste like…I don't think there's such thing though…Hm…sake ice cream? That wouldn't be too bad.'

Dark eyes travelled momentarily to her as her sobs increased in volume and without thinking, he lazily uncurled her fingers and placed a tissue into them before continuing to eat her – now his – ice cream.

'I believe there is such thing as sake ice cream. I think it was Chouji who brought some to Ino's birthday party last time. Though I don't think I ate it…no, I wouldn't have.'

"Do you need another tissue?" he asked casually, looking at the wall. The girl didn't seem to mind his lack of interest and compassion to her situation and besides, even if she did mind, it wasn't like he cared enough to try and make her feel better. In his opinion, she and Naruto didn't go well together anyway. Naruto and Sakura seemed much more likely however they were both too oblivious to figure anything out. Upon thinking this, he cringed, cursing at how boredom was having a terrible affect on him. It made him think a little too much.

She cried harder and lifted her head, shaking it and wiping her tears away, sniffling all the while. Watching her blandly as she regained composure he finally realized that he'd finished her ice cream. Whoops.

"Are you done?" he asked distractedly.

She hesitated and frowned. "I-I think so."

He snorted. "So, what was that about?"

Strangely enough, a small smile came to her lips. "I'm…not entirely sure. But…I…f-feel better now."

'Wow, maybe ice cream really does work. With sake of course! I should tell that to Sakura next time…on second thought, I think she's more amusing when she's depressed,' he mused wickedly before turning to the dark haired girl. "Let's go."

He was about to stand but a small hand was placed on his and he was forced to pause and look to the owner of said hand. Hinata looked at him with her lips parted, as if she was struggling to try and say something. He waited for a few seconds before slipping his hand away and folding his arms expectantly.

"A-ano, c-can w-we stay?"

'No,' he wanted to say but rolled his eyes and nodded, sitting down for the third time. "Fine. But you're buying me more sake."

She seemed stunned by his lack of chivalry but her lips twitched and it appeared she was finding it very hard to keep her laughter in check as she nodded silently. "Of course." He ordered another jug of sake, ignored the waitress who gave him a once over and continued to stare blankly at the Hyuuga who appeared uncomfortable under his intense gaze. She fidgeted and then paused blinkingly at her empty carton of ice cream.

"Y-you finished it."

"And?" he was challenging her and her lips twitched in amusement.

"Nothing. I just…thought you didn't like…sweet things?"

His dry demeanour didn't betray the cunning grin he felt. "I suppose then that it doesn't include ice cream or you."

Lavender eyes widened at that and the flush on her cheeks deepened five shades. "M-me?" she squeaked. Oh indeed it was fun to play with her like this.

He snorted and feigned ignorance. "Of course; you and your bubblegum innocence. There's no other word to describe it other than 'sweet.'"

Hinata nodded with a frown, trying to understand though it clearly stated from her expression that she didn't at all. "R-right…uh…"

The quiet grunt he sent her made her stop and stare. "Relax; I was only teasing."

Her expression softened then and a small nervous smile crept onto her lips. "Oh, I-I see."

He sipped his warm sake and stared at the wall. "No, I don't think you do but it doesn't matter, I suppose."

By this point, both shinobi realized that Sasuke wasn't exactly here to offer her words of comfort or compassion, let alone make her feel better about Naruto but oddly enough, Hinata didn't seem to mind for she smiled warmly at the stoic Uchiha, her cheeks red as she held onto a warm cup of tea and looked down at it.

"Thank you," she whispered and he looked at her.

"Hm?"

Quickly shaking her head, she said, slightly flustered, "Nothing."

Letting it go, he downed more sake, this time not offering her any. He'd rather that he take her home sober, lest any Byakugan eyes catch them on their journey back and decide to castrate him for tainting their heiress. That didn't particularly seem very pleasant. Yes indeed; tea was a much better alternative for her though he couldn't quite remember when she had ordered it. Hn, maybe he drank just a little too much. Or perhaps sake and ice cream didn't mix well once consumed.

Ah crap.

Sugar and alcohol. Not good.

Speaking of which, did the lights in here dim? Because Sasuke could swear the shadows on the wall grew darker. Blinking, and not at all bothering to activate his Sharingan, he turned to Hinata and told her in a rather matter-of-factly manner, "I don't think I should drink anymore."

Caught off guard by his sudden change, Hinata finally seemed to understand and nodded gently, pushing her hot tea towards him. "It'll help; it's jasmine."

"Is that so?" he asked, hardly interested as his strong fingers circled the cup and the boy downed it very much in the same manner he'd been drinking his sake.

"Wait, that's very-!"

Another big mistake.

His tongue burned.

"…very hot," she concluded weakly, calling the waitress for some iced water as the boy dropped the cup and fanned his mouth with his hand.

'Crapshitdamnitdobebloodyteaandicecreamsake!'

Taking the glass of cold water from the woman, Hinata thanked her quickly and all but shoved the glass in front of his face. For the second time that evening, he allowed himself to drink from her hands. The water not only seemed to cool his tongue but it also brought him to a much more sober state. Pfft, and he was worried about showing up at the Hyuuga compound with a drunken Hinata. Just think if a drunk walked her home, then he'd definitely be in for it. Though he suspected the punishment would involve a lot of rope, chains and perhaps a kunai or two.

Biting her already red lip, the girl asked softly, "Are you…okay?"

"Better," he muttered, drinking more of the cold water before clearing his throat and looking at her for a long time. Her pale gaze blinked at him innocently and he would have smiled wryly at how things seemed to conspire around them this evening. "Hinata," he said finally, "it's time we took you home."

She stopped and looked at him before her gaze melted and she nodded in agreement. "Y-you must be t-tired t-too."

Actually he found he was rather fatigued but she didn't need to know that. He left more change by the money he'd previously put down and Hinata paid for the rest and stood with him, walking out of the restaurant and onto the nearly empty streets of Konoha.

Sasuke's tongue still felt a little numb from just now but he ignored it and continued to walk with her to the Hyuuga residence. As seen previously, chivalry wasn't exactly his forte but supposing something happened to her and he was the last person seen with her? That would automatically make him a suspect and in conjunction with his prior record, that would bode too well for him when trying to convince the authorities – aka his fellow nin – that he had nothing to do with it. Yes, walking her home would be the best option.

As they walked, he was vaguely aware of the girl's small steps a little behind him and forcefully dampening the annoyance he felt, he grabbed her wrist from behind and pulled her to his side. "We don't live in ancient times, women are allowed to walk alongside men."

She made a small sound as he jerked her forward but nodded quickly and pulled her hand out of his grasp and joined her hands together in front of her. Silently hoping that there was no one around watching them, he inched closer to the girl to her obliviousness and stuck his hands in his pockets, leaning back slightly and rolling his neck from side to side. It always helped him relax after drinking. A cool breeze swept past them and with it, brought a very sweet, flowery scent. Dark brows knotted together slightly and he turned minutely towards her and when the next breeze passed them, it confirmed that the smell was from her.

He could smell the chocolate off her and also a mixture of that flowery scent she was wearing. All in all it was an interesting combination. In the back of his mind he thought it was quite nice. It was calming and soothing and made him feel very nostalgic. It reminded him of something a long time ago.

Images seemed to spring up randomly in his mind. A wooden training house. Birds. A lake surrounded by snow. A warm, summer night. The katana he used to keep on his back. Images with no time or place and yet memories nonetheless. And then the most recent one; sitting and eating ice cream with the girl walking next to him.

He walked her up until they could see the gates of her residence. They both stopped and just looked at it for a while, neither saying anything until the boy told her lazily,

"I'll wait until you walk in."

Not looking at him, with a wistful look on her face, she nodded slowly.

"Next time bring a different flavour, I'm not too fond of chocolate."

That caught her attention and Hinata looked at him with big eyes. "Next time?"

He nodded. "And I'll buy you peach sake instead of the straight stuff. It'll be more to your liking I think." He still didn't look at her.

Wanting so much to snicker at the reaction he caught from the corner of his eye – blinking and the struggle to find something to say – he cleared his throat and looked up at the sky.

"And we'll also see about going somewhere else. I think Hana is a better place for tea and sake."

"H-Hana?"

Again, just a nod. "Tomorrow same time then? I'm sure you know where it is."

The girl confirmed but opened her mouth to speak. "B-but wh-,"

Oh this was hilarious.

He turned to leave, finally allowing the smirk on his face to appear. "Perfect, see you then." He raised his hand in goodbye while walking away. Excellent, now he actually had plans. She'd show up definitely; it was in her nature anyway. He could just see the stunned look on her face, her cheeks burning crimson and her lavender eyes wide and shining. With that, he left a thoroughly confused, flustered, blinking and slightly excited Hinata to walk through the gates to her home, a small smile itching to make its way onto her lips.

'Take that boredom!'


A/N: Wow…this has got to be the longest oneshot I've ever written. NINE PAGES ON WORD! Eep! Well, I had fun writing this and I hope you had fun reading this. I can't seem to get over my SasuHina obsession and I've got a whole bunch of stories planned already. Ugh! Damn you plot bunnies!! Well, please review and tell me what you think! This was originally meant as only a oneshot but I thought about making it into a short story if you readers think so! :D So yeah! PLEASE review! And happy reading! And no flames!

Peace out!
Rex