((AN: Just a little something I've thought of out of excitement for SasuHina month. A little corny especially towards the end, but whatevs. Always wanted to try writing them Pre-Shippuden :D Posted this on tumblr earlier, so in case you don't check out tumblr or the SasuHina tag...))
…
"SASUKE-KUN! I'LL BE YOUR DANCE PARTNER!"
"NO WAY, BILLBOARD FOREHEAD! I'M GONNA HAVE SASUKE-KUN'S FIRST DANCE!"
"WHAT WAS THAT, INO-PIG?!"
"BOTH YOU BITCHES AREN'T TAKING HIM! I WILL!"
"SASUKE-KUN! PLEASE BE MY DANCE PARTNER!"
"NO! ME!"
"Damn, Sasuke's really popular, isn't he?" Shikamaru yawned, resting his head on the table beside a bitter Naruto and a hungry Chouji, who was as usual munching on a bag of potato chips.
"Well, Sasuke's Sasuke." Choji mumbled with his mouth full.
"Grrrrr! It's not fair!" Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms together. "What's so cool about that teme anyway?!"
"The real question is, why do we even have to take these stupid dance lessons? We're shinobi. Kami, It's so troublesome…"
But Shikamaru's question had already been answered a few minutes ago. Iruka-sensei had stressed out several times during their classes the importance of shinobi being inconspicuous when it comes to completing their missions. Sometimes, they're required to blend in like the rest of the people so as to better hide their real agenda.
And for that to happen, they'll have to discover their other hidden talents like painting, baking, or building things, in order for them to understand which mission works the best for them. Not to mention, this could possibly help hone their ninjutsu skills and maybe invent a new jutsu of their own.
And today, they were tackling dancing.
Not a second after Iruka-sensei required them to choose a dance partner (male to female, of course) did all the girls in class bid exuberantly their wishes to partner with Sasuke Uchiha, the coolest boy in class.
Well, almost all of them.
Hinata Hyūga sat alone on one corner of the classroom with her head bowed low, her bangs shadowing her red cheeks. Her fingers were fiddling with each other nervously as she felt her heart pound louder. Her lavender-white eyes twitched, slowly turning shyly towards the grumbling blonde's direction, who in turn was glaring at the equally irritated Uchiha trying to steer clear from his crazy fangirls.
With everyone else occupied, this was her chance to ask Naruto to be her dance partner. She had harboured a crush on him even way before they started school in the Academy. He once saved her from bullies even though he barely knew her, and since then, she saw the goodness in him and began admiring him from afar despite what everyone said.
She was hoping that he would somehow ask her to be his partner, but by the looks of it, it seems that she'll have to gather her courage and ask him herself. Her face flustered darkly as she imagined herself dancing with the blonde, her hand touching his and his other hand steady on her waist.
If people would care enough to look, they would've seen smoke puffing out of her ears.
"P-Pull yourself together!" Hinata shook her head firmly, balling her fists in shaky determination. "J-Just do it! You wouldn't g-give up now w-when you haven't even tried, right?! Na… Naruto-kun would never…"
She whispered encouragements to herself, thinking back at the times when Naruto would shout out boldly that he'd become Hokage no matter what, ignoring the boisterous laughter from their classmates.
Okay. This is it. This time, she'll-
"Oi, Hyūga."
Huh? Suddenly the whole room turned silent.
Unsure if she heard her name right, she lifted her head slowly until her eyes caught a pair of feet standing before her.
"Hinata Hyūga, you deaf?"
Her eyes widened as she recognised who this voice belonged to. But what in the world-? It can't be.
She shakily lifted her head, until finally, her lavender-white eyes made contact with his dark, steely ones.
"S-S-Sasuke-kun? W-What d-do you need?" she managed to whisper out, which was incredible for her because her mind at the moment was completely muddled in sheer confusion.
The Uchiha, on the other hand, had on an expression of boredom written all over his face. His hands were in his pockets, and his eyes remained firm towards her. His feet however were slightly twitching on the floor, as if he was actually trying to withhold a squirm.
Hinata noticed immediately that everyone's eyes were on her. She could feel the other girls' eyes jealously burning holes on her head, and the boys' watching on in shock. Either way, she didn't dare move her eyes away from Sasuke's, unsure if this was just a trick or not.
Then again, Sasuke was never one to prank around, unlike Naruto and Kiba. The only time he had ever talked to her was during a written exam when he out-of-character-edly forgot to bring his pencil case. With Hinata sitting the closest beside him that day, he conveniently asked her if she had an extra pencil on her (which ended up with his fangirls loudly fighting over offering him their own while the teacher had to punish them, including Sasuke and Hinata, for disturbing the other by assigning them clean-up duty after class).
They never spoke again after that… Until now.
A tiny frown formed on his face at her speechlessness, and before Hinata could mumble out another question, he swiftly turned his face away and opened his mouth.
"You will be my dance partner."
(…*ding*)
"WHAT?!"
…
And that was how she, Hinata Hyūga, had her very first dance with none other than him, Sasuke Uchiha.
As the two moved simultaneously side to side, the Hyūga heiress refused to lift her head up in order to hide her beet-red face, both in embarrassment and disappointment.
Embarrassment because everyone had their eyes on them, and the fact that she wasn't used to being this physically close to a male, or anyone else aside from her mother and Hanabi for the matter.
Disappointment because her dance partner wasn't Naruto, and she didn't have enough courage to refuse the Uchiha. Not with those scary eyes glaring at her as if it would be the end of the world if she humiliates him in front of everybody.
"Ow!"
"Ah, I-I'm so sorry, Sasuke-kun!" Hinata mumbled, bowing her head repeatedly and creating a larger distance between them.
Sasuke gave a frustrated sigh, letting go of his hold of the nervous girl.
"That's the tenth time you stepped on my foot. Stop making me regret for choosing you as my partner."
Hinata bit her lip. She couldn't help but think how arrogant he sounded.
"Th-Then, why did you ch-choose me?"
"Because you aren't annoying." He muttered bluntly. "But now, I'm not so sure."
"Maybe… Maybe you'd like t-to switch partners then?" Hinata half-hoped he would agree, if it meant that there was a tiny miniscule chance of her partnering up with Naruto, who was greatly enjoying being Sakura's partner, of whom, on the other hand, was screaming at him for not watching where he's stepping.
It didn't escape from the Uchiha's sight the way her hopeful eyes directed towards the noisy pair.
"Ah… I see how it is."
"W-What was that, Sasuke-kun?"
"You have a crush on the dobe." He figured out dead-on. The corner of his lips slightly turned up as he watched the flustered Hyūga yelp while looking around to see if anyone heard him.
"P-Please not so loud!" she whispered.
"Still, that's too bad."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, the Uchiha pulled her wrist and dragged her close to him, her chest bumping into his and their faces only inches away from each other. Several people gasped as they watched Sasuke lean towards her, but he paid them no mind.
Hinata stuttered incoherently, feeling the blood rush over her face and neck. What in the world was he thinking? She could feel it now, the dizzying feeling that usually led her to lose consciousness, the same sort when Naruto talks to her.
She could feel his breath as he moved his face towards her, until their noses almost bump and their foreheads in half an inch distance. Her hands were trapped in his tight hold. She closed her eyes, fearing the worst.
"It's too bad that I don't want to settle for second-best. Not with Naruto higher than me."
She snapped her eyes open, settling them towards his dark eyes. His smirking lips gave away that he was trying to tease her. But for some reason, she felt that his eyes were a little too serious for him to be joking.
"I won't let you get away."
He suddenly pulled away, diminishing the trance he had over her. He loosened his hold on her and rested his right hand on the back of her waist. The distance between them, however, was closer than before.
"Well, that is if we don't pass this stupid dancing test. If you keep making mistakes like that, I'm gonna make you suffer, if you know what I mean." He said with a smug look, amusement shone in his eyes.
Shaken out of her stupor, Hinata bit her lip as they began to take light steps from side to side. Her face was still flushed a brilliant red, it reminded Sasuke so much of a tomato.
But at least she got the hint; he's never going to stop teasing her unless by some miracle, she becomes a decent dancer and they get a good grade on this dance lesson.
"Y-You shouldn't tease me like that, S-Sasuke-kun." she whispered, vowing to herself that she'd practice hard not only to fulfill Sasuke's demand, but also to better herself in front of Naruto.
"Then you better get it together." He said, reverting back to his nonchalant expression as if nothing from the past minute happened. But on the inside, he congratulated himself for making her pay full attention towards him instead of the blonde idiot. He had to admit that it was incredibly entertaining to see her flustered because of him.
He had a feeling that things weren't going to be so dull anymore.
"She's definitely annoying."
"I'm definitely not letting her go."
…..
On the other hand, Sasuke's fangirls began wailing at the shocking development…
"No way… Sasuke-kun's interested in a boring wallflower like her?"
"Maybe he likes girls with short hair after all. The rumours are false!"
"There's no way he could like Hinata. Maybe if we show him how great we're at at dancing?"
"I'll show him! I'll choreograph the best dance number in the world and impress him with my grace and poise! Then Sasuke-kun will fall for me!"
"Hmph, yeah right. Grace and poise? Like someone as cool as Sasuke-kun would fall for a ditzy pig like you."
"What did you say?! I'll show you! I'll outdo your dance number AND impress Sasuke-kun!"
"Naruto! Let's get to work!"
"WHAT?! WHY ME?!"
…..
(4 years later)
"That was incredible, Hinata! You've really improved a lot." Kiba hollered as he and Akamaru landed on the ground. They were just on their way back to Konoha when suddenly they were ambushed by a group of rogue ninjas.
But to Kiba's surprise, Hinata single-handedly finished them off with her Eight Trigams Sixty-Four Palms technique before he and Akamaru could do their thing.
"Thank you, Kiba-kun." Hinata gasped lightly, leaning her back on a tree due to exhaustion.
"Y'know, I've always thought your way of fighting's incredible. I've seen Neji and other Hyūga members use similar ninjutsu, but the way you do it, your movements? It's as if you're dancing or something. How'd you make it look easy?"
Hinata's eyes clouded in melancholy, thinking of the Uchiha who defected from Konoha years ago. Even they had fallen apart. Things have changed so much from back then, but one thing's for certain…
"You'll have to thank Sasuke-kun for that." she replied simply with a smile, leaping away from them before Kiba could ask any more questions.
"… Huh?!"
((end))