Centigrade.
A SasuHina oneshot.
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. Neither does Dell or Facebook.
This is unbeta'd.
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It was the last week of August before senior year. This was the year that separated the slackers from the hardworkers. Hinata Hyuuga was one hell of a hardworker.
Her plum colored Dell laptop was full of essays and college lists. The entirety of the summer holiday was spent cooped in the family SUV visiting campuses all across the United States with a very devoted father and an excitable younger sister. It was two in the morning on August twenty-third and the young seventeen year old was propped up against her headboard, watching a video on Youtube about the Greek alphabet.
"Zeta eta theta..." she mumbled, looking down at the small notebook she had nestled by her side. Hinata was the kind of person who did things because they sincerely interested her. She had a deep rooted love for learning, and took advantage of any opportunity presented to her to learn something new.
It was while she was mumbling along what she had so far memorized that an open tab began to flash. Someone was messaging her on Facebook. Pausing the video, she opened the flashing tab and was only mildly surprised to realize someone she wouldn't normally talk to was messaging her. Well, it was two in the morning. Stranger things have happened.
Sasuke: Hey.
Sasuke Uchiha wasn't a slacker. He had simply cracked the code; he had solved the equation that allowed someone to be both well-liked and studious at the same time. It was baffling, how someone who spent before school hours at the library reading with horn-rimmed glasses could also be obscenely popular. Hinata didn't think about it for long, though. The thought only came to mind whenever Sasuke demonstrated his ability to multi-task.
Hinata: Hi!
The only reason Hinata was up at two was because she had taken a nap at five in the afternoon and managed to wake up at nine at night. Hanabi, her younger sister, hadn't bothered to wake her. When Hiashi, their father, had come home from work, he was only mildly surprised to find his oldest daughter sprawled on the couch, Charles Dickens' Great Expectations resting open on her chest.
Sasuke: Why are you up so late?
Hinata: Nap gone awry.
The two didn't normally communicate - sure, they had mutual friends - twelve, according the the website - but at best they were acquaintances. Hinata wouldn't be able to tell you why they were speaking as if they had been the best of friends.
Then again. It was two in the morning.
Sasuke: I don't like naps. If I'm going to sleep, it's for seven to eight hours straight. Naps fuck me up.
Hinata found herself smiling.
Hinata: Which might explain why I'm slumped against my headboard trying to learn the Greek alphabet with the help of Youtube videos.
Sasuke: What have you got so far?
Hinata furrowed her eyebrows, trying to remember.
Hinata: Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta... Yeah.
Sasuke: ...iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, xi, omicron, pi, rho, sigma, tau, upsilon, phi, chi, psi, omega.
Hinata: Oh.
Sasuke: Yeah. You're doing great, though.
Hinata: Thanks.
Her eyes were beginning to burn, so she slid further into her bed. There were notebooks, textbooks, and a Roman-themed coloring book that had once belonged to Hanabi cluttering her full sized mattress.
Hinata: Why are you up at two?
She was feeling decidedly mellow, stuck between tired and not tired.
Sasuke: I just got home from this party.
Hinata: And you decided to log onto Facebook?
Sasuke: I only logged in to check a couple of messages since my phone died early on in the night. I got roped into a conversation, though.
Suddenly, Hinata was wide awake. She wasn't stupid. He was totally shaking her off.
Hinata: You talked to me first.
He did, too. Hinata was now scowling, too tired to be truly upset but awake enough to know she shouldn't be happy.
Sasuke: I didn't mean you. There's this other girl pestering me, and she doesn't seem to get the hint.
Hinata: Oh.
Sasuke: Yeah. Then I noticed you were online. You're never online.
Hinata was no longer upset.
Hinata: Yeah, I'm usually somewhere else, learning the alphabet.
He didn't reply right away, so she took the opportunity to close all of her other tabs and get cozier in bed. He was the only reason she was still awake, to be honest.
Sasuke: Managed to get rid of her by telling her I needed sleep.
Hinata frowned.
Hinata: Oh, okay. Goodnight.
Sasuke: 8573550911. That's my number. I don't want to stop talking to you.
Hinata: I might fall asleep on you.
Sasuke: Hopefully not because I'm boring you.
Hinata: Hardly.
She stretched an arm and slid it between her pillows until she felt the warmth of her cellphone. It still didn't register that she was having a conversation with Sasuke Uchiha of all people.
Just as she was typing up a text message that consisted of, 'This is Hinata. Just curious, how do you do it?' he had logged out of Facebook.
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When Hiashi knocked on his daughter's door at eight-oh-five in the morning, he found her sprawled on top of textbooks, notebooks, and her laptop, her cellphone held loosely against her chest. Instead of waking her, he decided to let her sleep. She deserved the rest.
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1 Unread Message
Sasuke 7:02 AM
How about at six? I'm pretty sure Deathly Hallows part two is still playing. I promise not to say anything if you start crying.
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A/N: These are the kinds of things I enjoy writing.
A couple of things -
The Greek alphabet video is legit, guys. It's called Learn the Greek Alphabet in less than 10 minutes and I actually really like it.
The number I used is completely made up, and I'm hoping against hope that you guys have the sense not to try it out.
Also, the area code is from Boston. Holla.
Review if so inclined.
(I've missed you!)