Star - Kind of experiencing a slight Naruto slump again, so I felt the dire need to do another (more deliberate) NaruHina deconstruction fanfic. There's nothing for me to read to compensate for the aggravation I'm randomly feeling towards Naruto's character, and so I have to apologize if the quality of this fic isn't great (of course it is fanfiction, though, hurpderps). This fic will not have bashing of any kind, but depending on the direction, the drama may be a form of bashing in of itself, heheh.

Tags: Modern Setting AU, Slice of Life, Friendship, Romantic Friendship, WAFF, Sexual Content, Love Triangle, Drama...

Story title inspired by/taken from Meg & Dia's "Just One Of Those Things"

WARNING: Turn away if you're expecting strictly NH fluff. This is NOT my other new upcoming fic that I did a sketch-dump for. This is my stupid little cartharsis project.


Just One Of Those Things

Ch. 1 - One Of Those 'Friendship' Things

The Shinkansen would have been the most efficient choice. But it wouldn't have been as much fun.

Hinata stretched her hand high over her head, feeling the wind rush against her skin; the friction was fleeting yet constant, sensation tangible and yet so clearly nothing. She was happy to take the family convertible lent to them. Neji had driven up to meet them and was going to make the return with Tenten on the bullet train.

Ino was sprawled out in the back asleep with her feet hanging out over the side, while Sakura calmly drove them down the country back road, a bemused smile on her face.

It was fully summer and it was fully grand. The air hung with slight moisture, the warmth of it all clinging to every pore and breath like a dewy butterfly kiss.

"The exit's coming up," Sakura groaned out, part of her annoyed at how often and plenty Ino pampered herself. She'd been asleep like a cat for the past three hours. Hinata turned around in her seat and gently lifted Ino's ankles off the side and laid her feet flat on the seats. The indulgent blonde shifted with a sleepy moan as if acknowledging the world for just a little bit before settling back into willful ignorance.

The pearly white convertible curved onto a four-lane highway, leaving the leveled rice paddies and rural surroundings behind.

Hinata slumped leisurely in her seat, the summer air a coaxing sort of aphrodisiac. She fondly recalled the scent of sunflowers.

A sign passed them by, and it would be another 25km until the next pit stop.


Hinata sat in the driver's seat with her feet on the hot parking lot, her thumb pressing down on the right arrow button of Sakura's digital camera every second or so. Her lips pulled into a small smile as she revisited the memories displayed on the mini-screen like they were already slide shows of a distant time. There were occasions when she caught herself being so nostalgic that she'd balk a bit more strongly than necessary, simply because it seemed she got sentimental over almost everything.

But she had so many warm memories that she would soon remind herself that there was nothing to regret.

And she'd been looking forward to this vacation for the past six weeks, readily dragging along (polite inviting ahead of time) the two friends she's been with since elementary. They recently became city girls two years ago when they moved to Tokyo for Universities: Ino and she attended the same school while Sakura was doing nursing in West Tokyo.

In these shiny, gilded two years, Hinata had become as close to Ino as Sakura, and to say Ino was a strong influence on her might be putting it mildly - One of the pictures were of Ino giving Hinata a chaste kiss on the lips with a plucked daisy between the blonde's lips, the two of them surrounded by orangey-yellow sunflowers.

Ino had given Hinata a backbone and a spinal injection of 'FUN' to go with it.

A distant bell jingle pulled Hinata's attention away from the camera and she saw Sakura emerge from the convenience store with a tray of coffee and a plastic bag of snacks.


There were times Hinata wished she could express to Ino what she meant to her, in form of sisterly kisses and other spontaneous actions - just so the next time she outstretched her arms, she could really feel the edges of freedom recede from her fingertips as if she were breaking through the stratosphere, so that she could experience the true feeling of liberation and feel assured she was on the same level as the rest of her friends - that she was centered, and to her that was perfection.

But she couldn't work out her shyness entirely and she still found herself politely declining away from several opportunities to mingle, misbehave, and ultimately be more than herself.

Hinata kept her eyes on the road but glanced from the corner of her eye as she took notice of Sakura leaning over to the back from the passenger seat. The sound of crinkling told Hinata that Sakura was unwrapping one of the cupcakes they had bought the day before, which got melted in the sun over the course of their drive.

A tiny gasp escaped Hinata's lips as she watched Sakura lift Ino's sweater dress from the rear-view mirror.

"Sakura-chan..." Hinata tried not to smile and she really tried not to laugh, but that only caused soft little snorts to escape and she tried not to laugh at that as well. She watched Sakura let go of Ino's dress, the cupcake positioned in place, then she 'innocently' closed Ino's legs for her. 'See now, that's something I wouldn't have even considered doing...' She half-smirked to herself, trying to work on the 'I saw nothing' calm she cultivated over the past couple of years.

Sakura slunk back in her seat, snickering madly from beneath the tight lid that was her palm, and Hinata couldn't stop the nasal vibrations herself - it only spurred them both into a maddening giggle fit as they couldn't stop imagining the moment Ino would turn over.

Hinata couldn't help but also smile at the unbecoming photo she had witnessed earlier: Herself asleep in her hotel bed, half of her face decorated with a full-on seaweed beard created from a package of nori and a helping of bottled water.

It was nice not being an exception.


"Aaaaughhh! Why couldn't we have been here when it was Fashion Weeek-!" Ino swung herself to sitting as she exclaimed dramatically, when her eyes narrowed to slits at the innocently expectant looks Hinata and Sakura were giving her, "What. The fuck... SAKURA!"

"Hey! How do you know it was me and not our little lady-in-training?!" Sakura threw back, her face smug while Hinata was curled up in a quivering ball of suppressed laughter.

"Because she loves me too much!" Ino - playfully albeit roughly - shoved her palm into Sakura's face as she stood up from the back seat, the melted cupcake thoroughly squashed between her thighs. You'd have to pay for cleaning if this shit got on Neji's car," Ino then lifted her sweater dress and the two girls burst out into hysterics. It echoed all across the parking lot, causing a family of stragglers to look on in curiosity before pretending they saw nothing and scurried along. "Take a picture," Ino blithely suggested, no longer putting on her prissy pissy act, and Sakura did just that.

Ch-chk!

"Hmm... Maybe if it weren't chocolate, this would be an effective piece of cock-tease," Sakura's eyes twinkled as she hid her mischievous grin coyly behind painted fingertips, "Guys would love to eat frosting off of Ino's fat thighs, wouldn't they?"

Hinata could barely muster a proper reply and she just resigned to discreetly nodding where she crouched.

"Fuck off, baby~" Ino then grabbed the back of Sakura's head and shoved her face into said 'fat thighs', the latter screaming in the usual disgust/shock furor that was characteristically Haruno Sakura.

"LETGOLETGOLETGOINOOOOO!"

This was just scaring away more people from the parking lot.

"Ahhm, h-hey now, let's just go use a restroom already, 'kay?"

Ino wouldn't stop smirking as she forcibly dug Sakura's face into her thighs.


Sakura's face could only be described as a traumatized stroke victim in mid-sneeze.

"Aw'right, get over it already, big brow. You're acting like a homophobe," Ino breezily teased as they filed out of the restroom one by one. Ino switched out of her comfy sweater dress for a pair of low-waist short-shorts of the destroyed persuasion with a faded mauve batwing jersey top that somewhat showcased her flat stomach.

"What makes you think I ever want to get that close to your crotch again?" Sakura exhaled like she were still in shock about it, and it made Hinata worry slightly if this was going to last long. It would be awkward if Sakura and Ino had to argue this well into their 'surprise appearance'.

Hinata hadn't been in Kobe since she was a little girl, but she was stoked in general. There were a lot of friends they hadn't seen since graduation, and she just felt like singing and twirling down the sidewalk thinking about turning their little crowd into a party.

'Three girls and two guys~ It's even more fun when it feels like we're outnumbering them!' She was already getting warm in the face from the pure frivolity of it all.


"AHHH!"

"AHHH?!"

The girls had burst through the apartment door, screaming their heads off like over-caffeinated junior high girls, leaving Naruto to fall unceremoniously on his ass, his heart thudding in his ears like the awkward first time he tried out a local rave.

Sasuke smirked from the sidelines as he welcomed the sudden intrusion and closed the door behind their guests.

"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-kun!" Hinata bouncily cried as she rushed over to the boys, beaming like the sun reflected off of freshly polished chrome. She was antsy as if she wanted to hug them both, but instead she pushed down the urge and grinned that giddily sweet way she was, looking like she were their excited kid-sister the way she stood between them, so happy and so short.

"Haha, you look like you're dating the both of them!" Ino laughed hysterically, immensely enjoying the image they made, "Show us your boy candy, Hina-taaan!"

Hinata paused with an innocent blink before grabbing both Naruto and Sasuke's hands in her own, and she struck a half-sassy, half-dorky little pose, her butt jutting out towards Sasuke while she made a funnily smug pout at the camera. Sakura took the photo right away, capturing Sasuke's calm smile and Naruto's guileless confusion, part of her thinking they all need to take the same photo just so that it'd be fair. But she wasn't going to voice her thoughts, knowing she'd only sound insecure and petty. Still, she hated biting down on such things and had to admit that Hinata did look adorable between the two of them.

"What's the occasion, ladies?" Sasuke inquired, the sultry bass of his voice instilling an instant ease in the three girls.

"Weren't you surprised?" Hinata laughed lightly, noting how only Naruto got on the receiving end of their little joke.

"Yeah, what the fuck was that for?" Naruto scratched wearily at his head, his face resembling very much like a kitsune. Sakura stomped forward and pinched the inside of his elbow with a firm twist, mild irritation on her face. "A-Aa-aaah?! AND WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?!"

Sakura, of course, didn't bother to answer his whining, instead opting to let him in stew in what she perceived was his own ignorance. He always said the most annoying things, in her opinion.

"We just started our break, so why not swing by, right? You guys started yours too, right?" Ino grinned a mix of mirth and secrecy, as if she were plotting to bug them for days to come.

"Mmhm, two days ago," Naruto sheepishly rubbed at the back of his head, still unsure how to react to the three of them being here so suddenly. He could have been in his boxers still. What made them think it was cool to barge in on a guys' apartment?

"Completed our semester finals; You three want something to drink?" Sasuke added, receiving eager nods from the three, and he wandered over to the kitchen.

In their experience with Tokyo apartments, Sasuke and Naruto's apartment was fairly open; still small, but open. Entering the front door, you're immediately greeted by the living room on the right and the kitchen on the left. The genkan was rather wide too and they each worked off their shoes - Sakura's a pair of pink converse, Hinata's a pair of two-tone mary-janes with a two-inch heel, scalloped trim and a classy-cute bow, and lastly Ino's a pair of spartan flats.

The living room had a four seat L-shaped couch up against the window, a crumpled blanket pushed up against the side along with a lone pillow. There was also a small coffee table overcome by textbooks and empty beer cans in front of it, and the single side table held a lamp, tissue box, and several forgotten snack wrappers and an empty cup ramen with chopsticks still leaning inside.

The kitchen however was surprisingly clean - or maybe the apartment itself had been messier and the boys were actually in the middle of cleaning and had gotten this far before they barged in - the kitchen had a tiny island in the center of the linoleum with four bar stools around it (one by furthest width side and three on the length side). The counter was also L-shaped, with sink and cupboards, then a toaster wedged in the corner, the stove/oven combo, another row of cupboards, then wall - where the refrigerator resided.

"Alcohol!" Ino cheered with a girlish thrust of her fist into the air and that distinctly female head tilt that females seem to do.

"Already? Alright," Sasuke smirked as he rummaged through the fridge.

Naruto wandered over to the island and stood opposite of the girls. He was still surprisingly quiet, but no one seemed to mind or address it, calmly attending to their own affairs as well.

It'd been two years since they all saw each other at graduation. It's not like they really bothered to text, call or visit often in that amount of time. They'd all been fairly occupied adapting to their new lives.


Naruto watched Sasuke break off three cans of dry beer and slid them across the island to the girls' waiting hands.

"You sure you want beer too, Hinata-chan?" Sasuke asked the quieter girl curiously, like he were speaking to a kid sister of his. She nodded happily and took a tentative sip of the brew. "What kind of drinker are you?" Sasuke added, and a sheepish smile seemed to spread on her small mouth, like she didn't know what to say for sure.

"A-ahm... Giggly I guess, right?" Hinata leaned over the island to look at Sakura and Ino who nodded appreciatively with smirks and snickers, "A-ah, I-I'm not a heavy drinker or anything, though..."

"You've never gotten drunk, yet?"

"Oi, what kind of question is that now?" Naruto finally spoke up, brows furrowing at the direction of the conversation.

"What do you mean what kind of question, dobe?" Sasuke shrugged him off, as so did Sakura and Ino who were quick to answer for him.

"You think the two of us wanna be responsible for the phone call we'd have to make to Neji if Hinata got completely smashed?" Ino laughed flippantly.

"Neji's got eyes in the back of his head, it's scary. He,He,He- no wait - We went to a club, right? And this dumbass falls into Hinata-chan while we're just sitting at our table, and spills all our drinks, and Hinata's got her whole BACK drenched in this idiot's booze. Then we get back to the apartment, and Neji calls us - not HINATA - He calls US. And asks if a guy hurt Hinata at the club. Now I know, that's a pretty vague assumption, like a fortune teller's suggestion, but it was true!"

"He could have had that worry to begin with,"

"But this wasn't our first club outing; We didn't tell him our night plans or anything. The first time we went out he just explicitly told us to cockblock any guys from dancing with her,"

Sasuke burst out laughing, and Hinata looked mildly embarrassed but maybe mildly amused too.

"And on her twenty-first, he simply stated no more than ten shots," replied Ino.

"The dobe can't even do ten,"

"Wha-? HEY!" WHY TELL THEM THAT?! You unforgiving traitor!

"I did twelve!" Hinata squealed suddenly behind a cupped hand, and whether she had enough beer or not (he had no idea if she had still been nursing the can or what), true to their word she had become very giggly.

Naruto's face was burning to his ears and he couldn't look at this group directly anymore. 'Fuck, great... Even she can drink more than me... Fuckin' teme, eat shit asshole...' Really, why embarrass him so soon? They just got here and he had to take a shot at him like that? Just to impress the three of 'em? With their gleeful eyes and cute looks...

"Oh, Naruto-kun, sit down~" Hinata cooed apologetically as she patted the stool adjacent to her, like she were trying to appeal to a younger sibling. "What've you two been up to?" Her attention swept back to Sasuke though she had asked about the two of them, and Naruto couldn't help but fidget with his fists shoved in his pockets.

"The usual, pretty much,"

"Whatever the usual is," Ino smirked smugly as she leaned her cheek against the back of her hand.

"Whatever your usual is, I'm sure," He replied, sounding smug as well.

"Ah, understood," Ino nodded sagely, bringing out more deep laughter from the teme.

"Were you two cleaning or something?" Hinata inquired innocently as she glanced back at the living room, though she realized that there were no cleaning supplies out to suggest that they were.

"No, that's just the dobe's mess from yesterday,"

Naruto was really beginning to wish they had never did this surprise visit thing. Who knows what they were thinking of him now.

"What're you doing sleeping on the couch?" He felt Hinata's eyes on him this time, and judging from the snickers he could tell Ino and Sakura were sharing a psychic fujoshi thought. Two guys, one apartment, and one of the two guys is sleeping on the couch. Great.

"Eh? Studying, of course," He muttered audibly to the floor, still wishing and wishing and wishing that they'd go to their hotel or something and call them if they could come over or not. Then he heard the screech of the bar stool and the pattering of Hinata's feet across the linoleum into the living room. "I'm-! ... doing an Agricultural major..." He called out for her to hear.

"Eh?"

"What?" Ino and Sakura both broke out into brief confused laughter as they tried to imagine The Number One Knucklehead being in charge of irrigation, crops or rice paddies.

"Why don't you ask what Sasuke's doing?" He opted for them, expecting them to take the bait immediately, but...

"Eh wait, why are you still studying?" Sakura asked in that nosy way of hers. 'And why is Hinata still in the living room?' Naruto briefly mused to himself.

"Cuz... I... have supplementary," He finally admitted at long last, still talking to the floor like it was the most reliable thing to confide in.

"You have to re-take Agricultural classes?" Ino - of course Ino - remarks so incredulously.

"It's the economics portion I have to re-take-!"

"You got a tutor for that sort of thing?" Naruto's eyes instinctively sweep towards Sasuke and he sees the teme casually point a thumb at himself. "Oh." Ino's smile turns smug again at this. "Well," She claps her palms together as if intending to dispel the stressful air, "This is a good time as any to hang out, right?"

"Eh?!" Naruto's head swivels to their direction and he feels his heart drop to the floor and his blood pressure rise at the same time. He understood where this was going. Distraction. Inevitable and unavoidable distraction. Because Sasuke was readily going to hang out with them and spend his ample free time in a wonderful and fulfilling way, surrounding himself in the giggly, blushing admiration of three girls, and Naruto was going to be without his tutor for who knows how many hours and days and he was going to be alone in this place trying to cram while they had a good time without him and, and, and... 'Piece of shit...' Either he forsake his studies and look forward to another F, or he be miserable for the next few weeks (how long were they here for?) and hopefully pass the second time around.

"I think the dobe could use some time off,"

Naruto knew he had caved in then as he bent down to scoop up his heart off the floor like a fresh caught fish flopping on dry land; And with that he was forced to stuff back in his characteristic optimism and hope, along with said heart.

If Sasuke was going to have fun, then Naruto was too.


Star - Okay, so I wrote Naruto as a totally standoffish grump here. OOC? Ehhh... (shrugs shrugs) Aside from this being an AU, I do have explanation for that, but the reveal is in the evidence, therefore y'all judge for ye-selves when I post mo' chapters.

So please review peoples~ There's not much use for me to pursue this project if it's no good. I'd willingly attempt to do something healthier, like finally purchase Super Smash Bros. Brawl and put all my time into beating up, unlocking, and what have you. ("Chk-chk", OK gesture)