What A Way To Start The Summer

by Midnight's Violet Haze

Naruto wants to end the school year with a bang! Unsurprisingly his plan goes a bit awry. But things don't turn out too badly, especially for Sasuke and Hinata. One thing's for sure: the tone is definitely set for the rest of the summer. SasuHina ::Ninth in the Happy Holidays Series:: Modern AU. R&R please. Rated for language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Candy Crush Saga or anything else really. I'm just a broke university student.

To fans of the series, if there are any of you left, I hope you enjoy this latest installment. There are still three to go before I finally finish. And I will finish. It'll happen. Somehow, someway, I'll make it happen.

To new readers: I highly encourage you to read the previous installments. The story is meant to still be enjoyable whether or not you've read the rest - or at least, that's what I aim for, I don't know if I actually accomplish this - but it'll definitely be more meaningful if you know what these characters have been through so far.

---

What A Way To Start The Summer

Sasuke Uchiha was not a happy camper.

"Do you not like your omelet?" Itachi asked, his hold on his fork and knife poised enough to make Miss Manners weep with joy. Sasuke slouched further into his seat in silent retaliation.

"It's fine," Sasuke said, taking another bite of his breakfast as if to prove the veracity of his words.

Itachi sipped slowly from his glass of orange juice – not before placing his cutlery down gently, of course. "Indeed? The look on your face would suggest otherwise…"

His scowl deepening, Sasuke cut into his omelet with excessive force. "Nothing's wrong."

'Actually, I was planning on sleeping in today. Basketball season ended, along with the early morning practices, and my exams are finally done, so I thought I was going to be able to rest for the first time in what feels like forever. Instead you decide to take me out for a "morning celebration".'

Taking a small bite from his syrup-doused waffles – 'Ugh, too sweet.' – Itachi leveled a dispassionate look at Sasuke. "I understand that you had no desire for an early morning today, but it is custom for a student to be taken out on their last day of school in order to celebrate a year well completed and any awards they may have received. Normally, of course, this would take place after the Award Ceremony, but I will unfortunately be leaving for Amegakure once more." He patted at his perfectly clean mouth with his napkin. "I apologize for the inconvenience. I simply did not want to leave without letting you know that I am proud of your hard work this year."

Sasuke ducked his head down, unable to fight the blush that bloomed across his cheeks at Itachi's declaration of pride. Still, he frowned in disappointment at the news that Itachi would be leaving, again. He really should have been used to it by now. Even before Itachi had left home, he had always been too busy to spend much time with Sasuke. Being a certified genius, Itachi had been pushed into every activity under the sun by their overinvolved father, if only to give Fugaku one more thing to brag about. Sasuke had felt envious at the time, but looking across the table at Itachi's tired face and hearing the genuine sadness Itachi felt at having to leave, Sasuke finally let go of some of his childhood resentment.

"It's okay," Sasuke said gruffly, eyes focused on his barely touched omelet, "I'm…glad."

They returned to eating in a comfortable silence. After devouring the last bit of his omelet and gulping down the rest of his orange juice, Sasuke chanced a glance at his older brother. Itachi was still cutting into his own breakfast, a peaceful smile lighting his face with contentment. The rare sight brought a smile to Sasuke's own face.

By the time Itachi had finished his meal and was draining his own glass of juice at a more sedate pace, ten more minutes had passed. Meanwhile, Sasuke was nibbling absentmindedly at a piece of toast when his phone rang. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the loud, head-banging music that had replaced his usual generic ringtone. He didn't bother to check the caller ID before answering the phone.

"I need to stop leaving you alone with my phone," Sasuke said into the receiver in lieu of a 'hello'.

"Dude, you haven't left me alone with your phone or laptop since the seventh grade. I stole it," came Naruto's booming voice.

"Your godfather has the weirdest idea of 'life lessons' to teach you."

"Well his pocket-picking lesson was definitely better than that time he pushed me off a cliff to teach me how to swan dive. Anyways, I need you to meet me at the school library in half an hour."

Sasuke raised a brow. "You do realize that the Awards Ceremony isn't till one o'clock. Why would I show up at school three hours earlier than necessary? " He paused. "Also, you know where the library is?"

"It's the room with all the books, right? And you'll do it because I'm your best friend ever and I asked."

"That's not a good enough reason," Sasuke deadpanned.

"You're gonna want in on this, man. Believe it. See you in exactly twenty-nine minutes!"

The dial tone sounded in Sasuke's ear. "The idiot hung up on me…" he muttered, partly to himself and partly to an amused looking Itachi.

"I take it you would appreciate a ride to school?" Itachi asked with a faint smirk. At Sasuke's reluctant nod, Itachi brought their waitress over with a regal wave of his hand. "Cheque, please."

---

It was 10:15 AM. This meant Naruto was fifteen minutes late.

Sasuke sat in a corner on a plush armchair reading a random book that he had grabbed from the nearest shelf. From his position he had a clear view of the library entrance, that is, if his nose wasn't buried in the pages of his novel, engrossed – Jiraiya's non-pornographic novels, as rare as they were, were actually quite good. As such, he startled slightly when the doors opened.

He glanced up, expecting Naruto, and did a double-take. There was Hinata, clad in her Konoha uniform and holding a thick, hardcover book. Sasuke saw her walk over to the unoccupied main desk and then turn her head from side to side, presumably looking for the missing librarian – Sasuke hadn't seen the librarian since his arrival either.

Having realized that Shiho-san was not simply hiding under the desk, Hinata shrugged to herself and slipped her book into the 'Returns' slot.

Sasuke watched this surreptitiously from his spot, hidden from view. Their relationship had definitely gotten a lot warmer recently. They sat together – or at least near each other – in the classes they shared and had short exchanges when they crossed paths in the hallways. They were…friendly. However, they hadn't eaten lunch together since their break up.

'It seemed that our two groups had just managed to become comfortable sharing a table before it was no longer necessary anymore…' Sasuke thought wistfully.

Debating on whether to draw her attention or not, the choice was taken out of Sasuke's hands when Hinata turned around and locked eyes with him, as if she had been aware of his presence the entire time.

'Damn Hyuuga eyes…'

"Sasuke-kun, hi," she said brightly, walking towards him.

He stood up and met her halfway. "Hinata, what are you doing here so early?"

She smiled, tucking a lock of dark hair behind her ear. "Nii-san has o-one last exam this morning – it's an AP, so that's why the timing is strange – and I d-decided to tag along to return my book," she explained.

Sasuke nodded thoughtfully. "Yea, Sakura has an AP exam today during the closing ceremony – some kind of medicine class. I'm surprised you aren't taking it, unless…?" he trailed off inquiringly and Hinata shook her head in response.

"No, I'm not in that one. It conflicted with a different class I was taking, so I'll try and fit it into my schedule next year." She didn't seem too hopeful about this, though, and Sasuke wondered if it had to do with her strict father. As much as he wanted to know, he didn't feel that his delving into her personal life would be welcomed. At least, not anymore.

After a quick moment Hinata seemed to re-charge her smile. "What about you, Sasuke-kun? A-Aren't you here too early for the ceremony?"

"Well, the reason I'm here is-"Sasuke paused abruptly at the sound of the library doors slamming open. A Naruto-sized blur charged over to where they were standing, nearly bowling over Hinata. "This guy," Sasuke finished irately, pointing a finger at his wayward best friend who was currently holding Hinata in a steadying embrace.

"Whoa! Sorry 'bout that Hina-chan! I wasn't watching where I was going," Naruto chuckled, letting go of Hinata to rub sheepishly at his tousled hair.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed in breathy surprise, hand clenched atop her undoubtedly racing heart.

"Heh, that's me!" Naruto said with a friendly pat to Hinata's shoulder, his hand lingering even after the action. "Ne, you're here pretty early. How come?"

"A-Ah, well, y-you see, N-Nii-san was…" Hinata's repeated explanation came in quiet, stuttered bursts as she smiled shyly at Naruto's feet. Sasuke scowled.

"You're late," he declared curtly, interrupting their little chat. When Naruto's blue gaze slid from Hinata to Sasuke, his obsidian eyes glared back.

Unaffected, Naruto clapped his hands together in unbridled excitement. "I had some last minute stuff to take care of. It'll be totally worth it, you'll see!"

Sasuke scoffed. "Whatever, stop being so evasive and just spit it out already. I'm starting to feel irritated."

"Irritated is your natural state of being!" Naruto shot back.

Hinata giggled at this and Sasuke could feel his temple throbbing with anger.

The library doors then swung open again and Sakura entered looking frazzled with her hair pulled up in a messy bun and her uniform terribly wrinkled. She stopped when she saw the other three teens and planted her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes.

"I see you two are getting along as usual," she said sarcastically, eyes darting between the two boys who had leaned towards each other during their exchange. "Normally this is where I would play mediator, but I don't have time for that. I have a final in precisely two hours and forty minutes and I am nowhere near prepared for it." Sakura raked her hands through her hair, disheveling it further.

Letting out a sound of worry, Hinata hurried over to grasp Sakura's fidgeting hands. "Is there a-anything at all I can d-do to help?" Hinata asked, looking up at Sakura, pale eyes shining with complete sincerity.

Sakura let out a slow breath and then smiled, looking considerably calmer. "There's nothing that you could really do. I just wish I had someone who knew the material to quiz me. Normally there would be at least one other person with that same studying style to pair up with, but with such a small class size as an AP course…" Sakura shrugged.

Looking at the two of them, Sasuke felt a bit out of the loop. He glanced over at Naruto, but didn't see that same confusion reflected. Instead, Naruto was busy fiddling with the straps of his neon orange backpack.

His attention was drawn back to the two girls when Hinata exclaimed, "Oh! If that's what you need then…isn't Shikamaru-kun in the same course? I'm sure he would be willing to review with you."

Three confused gazes were subsequently aimed at Hinata.

"Damn Hyuuga eyes. Should have known you'd spot me…"

And then the attention was turned from Hinata to the figure emerging from under the table they had all been standing next to.

"Shikamaru! Whatcha doin' hiding under a table, man?" Naruto asked in his exaggeratedly loud way.

"Naruto this is a library! You're not supposed to go around yelling!" Sakura yelled.

"BUT NOW YOU'RE YELLING!"

"ONLY TO TELL YOU NOT TO!"

Shikamaru groaned. "This is usually such a good napping spot."

"Oh, I'm sorry Shikamaru-kun, I didn't mean to disturb you…" Hinata apologized contritely.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Don't worry about it Hinata-chan."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the friendly honourific. 'Just how many guys is she friendly with? It's like they started lining up the moment I was out of the picture…but no! This is none of my business. Don't be an asshole. Don't be an asshole."

"Well, when these two get together it inevitably ends in a shouting match, so it's not like your lazy ass could have slept through that anyway," Sasuke blurted out. 'God dammit.'

While Hinata turned a rather disapproving gaze on him that made Sasuke feel sufficiently chastised Shikamaru just leveled a sedate look at him before smirking ever so slightly.

Meanwhile it seemed that Naruto and Sakura had finally stopped volleying shouts back and forth – Sasuke assumed that Sakura had gotten the last word as usual.

Sakura stomped over to them and yanked Shikamaru towards her. Keeping an unforgiving hold on the genius' arm, Sakura turned to survey both Naruto and Sasuke with a suspicious gaze. "Considering how early you two are, I get the feeling that you're up to something. But, like I said, I don't have time to deal with it. Hinata," she turned to look at the other girl who stood at attention, "Keep an eye on them for me."

"I'll do my b-best!" Hinata promised with a salute.

"You don't have to say it so seriously," Naruto and Sasuke told her simultaneously.

"Now Shikamaru," Sakura addressed the boy that she still hadn't let go of, "You're coming with me and we are going to study until I know this material backwards and forwards and maybe even sideways!"

"That sounds troublesome. And it also doesn't make much sense…" Shikamaru muttered, clearly reluctant to go along with this plan but also unwilling to argue against a fired up Sakura.

"Let's go!" Sakura exclaimed, dragging Shikamaru out of the library. Just before he was pulled through the entrance, Shikamaru's eyes caught Sasuke's and edges of his lips twitched up into a smirk once more. "See you guys later, Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata-chan," he drawled.

Sasuke twitched. He knew that Shikamaru had placed the heavy emphasis on Hinata's name to annoy him, but damn if it hadn't worked anyway.

Naruto turned to face away from the now empty entrance. "Well that was fun!" he said, grinning. "Who knew the library could be so exciting! I should totally come here more often!"

Hinata giggled and Sasuke wondered if she was going to laugh at everything that came out of Naruto's stupid mouth. He had a sudden, vivid recollection of the past Christmas when Hinata had told him about Naruto helping her out in elementary school. He realized that having had more important things on his mind while they were dating – such as actually enjoying her company as well as his subsequent melt down– he had never asked her about that. Now Sasuke found that his curiosity was rekindled.

"Um, n-now that y-you mention it, N-Naruto-kun, you don't usually c-come to the library. W-Were you looking for a book?" Hinata asked.

Naruto laughed, shaking his head. "Nah. I live with a world famous author; there're plenty of books lying around at home. I came to grab Sasuke but…" he trailed off, eyeing Hinata speculatively, "Maybe you could help me out Hinata-chan."

"O-Of course!" Hinata agreed.

"I heard from Kiba that you just became President of the Art club," Naruto said.

Hinata blushed and Sasuke felt a wave of fondness wash over him. 'She still doesn't know how to acknowledge her accomplishments.'

"Yes, the members elected m-me at our last meeting. I'll be heading the club next year," Hinata confirmed, "I h-hope that I affirm their trust in me, e-especially since I still have r-responsibilities in the gardening club..."

"Awesome! I'm sure you'll do a great job Hinata-chan. Since you don't start till next year, does that mean you won't get access to the club room till then too?" Naruto asked faux-casually and Sasuke wanted to face-palm at how indelicate Naruto continued to be.

Hinata seemed a bit hesitant to answer. "Ah…well…Kurenai-sensei did give me my o-wwn set of keys the other d-day…"

Naruto grinned. "Cool! Do ya think you could let me in?" he asked immediately.

"U-Um," Hinata hedged.

Sasuke refrained from stepping in. On the one hand, he was curious about where Naruto was going with this, but on the other hand he had no desire to make Hinata do anything she was uncomfortable with. He'd leave it up to Naruto to convince her.

Naruto didn't disappoint. "You see, Kakashi-sensei asked me to get him some paint, but when I went by the art room it was locked and Kurenai-sensei wasn't around."

"W-Why would the history t-teacher want paint? E-Especially w-when classes have already e-ended…"

Naruto ruffled his hair, smiling guilelessly. "Heh, who knows? Kakashi-sensei can be a weirdo sometimes. He has some crazy teaching ideas. When he first got assigned to me, Sakura-chan and Sasuke as our guidance counselor he made us roleplay a hostage situation to prove our 'problem-solving skills' and 'ability to think on our feet.' Not to mention that bell thing," Naruto said, making liberal use of air quotes and showing off his terrible Kakashi imitation.

"Hmm." Hinata didn't appear fully convinced. She played with the pleats on her school skirt, a move that Sasuke recognized as a nervous gesture.

Clearly sensing that Hinata was at her tipping point, Naruto leaned forward with his hands clasped together in a begging pose. "Pleeease, Hinata-chan. You'd really be helpin' me out here," Naruto pleaded.

Sasuke could see the moment Hinata broke. Her shoulders dropped and her face softened.

"If it will h-help you o-out," she said, a small quirk of a smile playing at her pink lips.

"AWESOME!" Naruto cheered, hugging her quick and hard. Hinata's small smile widened to fill her face.

Naruto then grabbed ahold of both Sasuke and Hinata and started to pull them along. "To the Art Room!" he cried.

Sasuke turned to Hinata behind Naruto's back and gave her a look that said 'Look at what I have to put up with on a daily basis.'

She laughed and shook her head and then the both of them allowed Naruto to guide them away.

---

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the sight of Naruto bouncing from foot to foot impatiently as they waited for Hinata to open the door of the Art room.

'Though to be fair, she is taking an unnecessarily long time…' Sasuke thought, turning his gaze to the girl in question.

"Um, no. Not this one," she whispered to herself as she sorted through the ring of keys attached to her appropriately cute keychain. Sasuke took a closer look at the keychain and realized that it consisted of what looked to be a chibi-doll of her younger sister choking a chibi-doll of Neji.

"Hey, where did you get your key-chain?" he asked. 'Because I find myself really wanting one…'

Hinata startled, the newest key in her hand falling to join the rest with a jingle.

'I really hope that she won't have to start over because of that.'

"Hanabi-chan gave it to me last Christmas. I think you met her then…" Just the thought of her sister brought a smile to Hinata's face.

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, she was a bit of a fireball. And artistic too, apparently," he said, referring to the keychain. 'She really managed to capture the look of rage and pain on Neji's face.'

Hinata beamed and seemed ready to gush about Hanabi's artistic abilities, but Naruto wasn't up for that.

"ART ROOM!" he blurted out, a touch incoherently.

Hinata blinked. "Right," she said, returning to the keys. Finally she picked out a rather small, silver one and proceeded to open the door. "Here you go," she said, stepping out of the way to allow Naruto entrance.

Naruto didn't need telling twice. He bounded into the room. When Hinata and Sasuke made to follow him, he turned around and pouted. "I'm not an idiot, ya know. I know how to sign out paints. This is a super-important mission and Kakashi-sensei gave to me, so I can do it by myself!" he told them, before shutting the door in their faces.

Speechless, Hinata turned to Sasuke who could only shake his head.

Hinata slumped against the wall beside the Art room door. Sasuke copied her pose on the other side of the door.

"I don't think Naruto-kun is an idiot," she told him, staring straight ahead at the opposite wall of the hallway.

Glancing at her creased brows expressing her concern from the corner of his eyes, Sasuke sighed. "Don't tell anybody but…neither do I. Well at least not a complete idiot," he confessed with faux-severity.

"Sasuke-kun,"she scolded.

He pretended not to see the smile she tried to hide.

Glancing back and forth between his feet and Hinata, Sasuke decided to finally ask what had been on his mind for the past few minutes, and even longer really. "What is it with you and him anyway? Naruto, I mean," he asked, stumbling over the words in his attempt to phrase the question casually.

There was a long pause and it took all of Sasuke's restraint not to look over at Hinata and try to read her expression. For some reason he was afraid of what he might see.

"For the l-longest time…I thought I was in l-love with him."

Sasuke's head whipped around, eyes wide. Hinata's face was flushed with colour, but the sight didn't hold the appeal that it normally did. He waited a few beats, as if expecting the meaning of the words to change to something less nonsensical. Latching onto a word that gave him hope, he asked, voice filled with trepidation, "Thought?"

"Yes. Um. A-As it turns out, it was just a-admiration. H-Hero worship," she elaborated, turning to smile at him self-deprecatingly.

"What did he do?" Sasuke asked. 'What did he do to earn your admiration?'

"He was nice to me," Hinata said. At Sasuke's disbelieving look, she shrugged a bit sheepishly. "Maybe to y-you it sounds p-pathetic…but a-at the time, to me, it was like a m-miracle." She shook out her indigo hair and looked up, pale eyes lost in past. "I grew up in a lonely existence. F-Father did not like to have o-other children around, so the o-only person m-my age that I was allowed to interact w-with was my cousin. And he h-hated me. I-I'm sure you've heard of the k-kidnapping attempt ten years ago."

Sasuke's eyebrows rose. Of course he had heard about the botched kidnapping, but Neji hating Hinata was news to him. As far as he knew, the older Hyuuga worshipped the ground that Hinata walked on and Hinata clearly idolized him in return. 'When it comes to Hinata, the guy uses the –sama honourific, that kind of respect is pretty rare in this day and age.'

"M-My uncle, Neji-niisan's father, gave his life to p-protect me. For this, niisan b-blamed me, as he should h-have."

'Ah, so that's why.' Though he was tempted to protest, seeing that the death of her uncle still seemed to weigh over Hinata, Sasuke chose to remain silent. He understood that right now he should listen and not interrupt.

"H-He was t-terrible to me!" Hinata laughed a bit. "Tripping me in the h-hallways, g-gum in my hair; I was m-miserable. It wasn't very g-good for my s-self-esteem. When I entered preschool and w-was finally able to m-meet other people my age, because of my e-experience with niisan, my o-opinion of myself was too low to a-approach people with c-confidence. T-That kind of low self-worth is noticeable, even to k-kids, so I was a-avoided in return. In turned out t-that, even s-surrounded by other children, I r-remained lonely."

Sasuke tried to remember this younger Hinata – after all, he was certain they had gone to the same preschool. The Hinata he knew now had a comfortable, if small, group of friends who adored her. However, if he searched far enough back in his memories he could remember a tiny girl with a weird haircut sitting isolated from the other rowdy children. Sasuke himself had been popular even then and had never wanted for company. Of course, he'd also been a lot more cheerful in his youth, at least before the death of his parents.

Looking at the girl beside him now, it wasn't too hard to imagine that, with the cruelty of children, she could have been excluded. The qualities that endeared her to most of the population, such as her shy and gentle manner, might not have been appreciated at that age. He realized that he knew someone else who had grown popular with age despite being disliked as a child.

'Suddenly I think I know where this story is going…'

"Seeing as I had n-no one to p-play with, I mostly just w-watched everyone else. T-That sounds c-creepy doesn't it?" Hinata giggled again. "W-Well I n-noticed someone else who c-couldn't seem to make any f-friends..."

"Naruto," Sasuke mouthed along with Hinata's declaration.

"I d-didn't understand it: N-Naruto-kun was so f-funny and p-playful. He should have had t-tons of friends! Then m-my au pair warned me a-against N-Naruto-kun because of the c-circumstance b-behind his p-parents a-a-assassination, saying it was d-dangerous to befriend him, that there were r-rumours that the original p-perpetrator had f-failed and that someone would come to f-f-finish the job." Hinata sounded angry as she recalled this and Sasuke shared the sentiment.

Now that he was old enough to understand, it disgusted Sasuke how paranoid and callous adults could be. Even if it had been a time of high tension, it was ridiculous behaviour. He was glad that his own parents had been more sensible than that.

Hinata sighed. "I w-wish that I had been s-strong enough to reach out to N-Naruto-kun back then. B-But I w-was too scared to make contact with a-anyone. Still, I-I continued to watch him. And as I d-did, I saw that instead of b-becoming closed off after e-every failure like I had, he s-somehow managed to keep his h-heart open. It took a while, b-but eventually he managed to w-win over some of the children despite their parents' warnings. I was amazed! It g-gave me hope that m-maybe I could d-do the same. E-Especially since u-unlike Naruto-kun, my isolation was mostly s-self-inflicted. Truthfully, it made me feel a bit g-guilty. So I f-forced myself to approach someone a-and that's how I made my f-first friend, Shino-kun. If it w-wasn't for Naruto-kun, I never would have h-had the courage. And I w-would probably still be a-alone."

Sasuke tilted his head, taking in Hinata's expression. "That's not all, is it?" he asked. He was familiar enough with her posture and way of speaking to be able to tell that her story wasn't done yet.

"No, it isn't," Hinata agreed. "E-Entering elementary school, I was much happier b-because of my friends. By then I h-had Kiba-kun as well and along w-with Shino-kun, they were a-all the friends I needed. N-Neji-niisan saw this and it u-upset him. He c-couldn't stand m-my happiness, so he resolved to t-tear it away. He w-would t-throw away my lunch and h-hide my homework. He also got a lot more ph-physical. I had to wear a big sweater and long pants every day to hide all the s-scrapes and b-bruises." Her fingers were worrying the ends of her uniform skirt while her pink lips curled into a small frown.

Sasuke was shocked. 'I had no idea' he thought, eyes caught on Hinata's fidgeting fingers. Of course he'd taken note of the sweater and pants combo Hinata had worn every day in elementary school. Everyone had. All the girls, and even some boys, had made fun of her for it. 'Even I thought it was weird. If I had known…' But realistically what would he have done? He hadn't known Hinata then. In all likelihood, he wouldn't have cared. He certainly hadn't stood up for her even when he saw people making fun of her clothes. Knowing the reason behind her clothing choice probably wouldn't have motivated him to do something other than stand idly by.

Sasuke wasn't a nice person

'I'm no Naruto.'

Taking a deep breath, Hinata seemed to center herself enough to continue. "One day, Neji took it to the n-next level. It was the anniversary of t-that day, so he was a-angrier than usual. He c-cornered me during recess and took me to the top of the school b-building. I r-remember it was one of the c-colder days of winter, the k-kind of day where we weren't allowed outside and instead the t-teachers w-would g-gather everyone in the gymnasium to play games. We were a-alone, niisan and I. He was t-taunting me at the e-edge of the r-rooftop. I was s-so s-s-scared. Then suddenly Naruto-kun was there. I don't know why h-he wasn't in the gym with e-everyone else – maybe he was playing a-another practical joke. He stood up f-for me. C-Called N-Neji-niisan a bully. They f-fought and somehow I…f-fell."

"Off the roof?!" Sasuke hissed in surprise.

Hinata nodded. "Mm."

"How come I've never heard of that? Something like that would have been front page news. And Neji should have been expelled!"

"F-Father kept it quiet. He also f-felt guilty about what happened to H-Hizashi-ojisan. N-Naruto-kun, he had come to the h-hospital with me. A-Apparently he made quite the f-fuss, since no one r-really wanted to let him come. He was f-furious that Neji-niisan wasn't b-being punished. S-Seeing him stand up t-to my f-father was…" Hinata trailed off, eyes wide with wonder. "In the e-end Naruto-kun agreed to s-stay quiet because I asked him to. But because he knew n-nothing w-was being done, he t-took it upon himself to guard me during school. H-He wouldn't let niisan get close at all."

Sasuke watched an almost giddy smile spread across Hinata's face. It was the kind of smile that took years off of her. He could almost see that young girl she had once been.

"He d-didn't even know me, not r-really. I was just that d-dark, w-weird girl. And yet…It was the f-first time someone did something s-so selflessly kind for me. I had been f-frightened for so long, but u-under Naruto-kun's protection, I felt s-safe again. That's when I d-decided I was in l-love."

At those final words from Hinata, Sasuke let himself slump against the wall. He'd never known that about Hinata. 'Hell, I never knew that about Naruto.' His and Naruto's friendship felt so rock solid that Sasuke often forgot that they hadn't actually been friends that long. 'In fact, we only became friends during that sixth grade weekend camping trip when the two of us were put in a "survival group" with Sakura. That's barely five years.' It seemed ridiculous to Sasuke that Naruto could have had a whole other life before he knew him, a life that seemed to have crossed paths with Hinata's in a very crucial way.

It also was difficult to believe that Naruto could have kept such a secret to himself. 'I guess he's just that kind of person.' Sasuke glanced over at Hinata's shining, grateful face. 'He really did something like that for her…'

"There's one thing I don't understand," Sasuke started, waiting until he had Hinata's full attention. "After all of that, how can you be so close to Neji? It didn't even happen to me and I'm so pissed I want to kick his ass. So how can you carpool with him in such an enclosed place and go to all of his kendo matches to cheer him on?" Sasuke could feel himself getting exasperated at Hinata's lack of self-preservation.

"To tell you the t-truth, to this day I still don't know if on that day Neji-niisan had meant for me to f-fall off the r-rooftop, or if it was an accident c-caused by the commotion with Naruto-kun…" Hinata shrugged. "Honestly, I w-would rather not know."

Sasuke's jaw just about dropped. "Idiot! He might have tried to kill you! Does that not matter to you at all? Try to care a little more about your life, at least so that the people who care about you don't have to worry so much!" Immediately after saying all of this, Sasuke felt guilty. Yelling at someone as gentle as Hinata was comparable to kicking kittens. It just shouldn't be done. Sasuke remembered the many times he had seen Hinata shrink into herself when being shouted at. He knew she hated it. It reminded her of her father.

To his surprise, Hinata only giggled. "Maybe you're r-right, Sasuke-kun. B-But it seems that I'm j-just unable to hold a grudge like that. After all, how can I h-hold the actions of an a-angry little boy against the wise and honourable person Neji-niisan has become? That would be t-too petty."

And yet again Hinata managed to blow Sasuke away. Whether he agreed with her overly forgiving nature or not, he could still admire how compassionate her heart was. Hinata was not the type to hold grudges and Sasuke believed that she was happier because of it. 'If she could forgive Neji something like that, it's no wonder she keeps giving me second and third chances. Unlike Neji, though, I still haven't managed to truly earn the forgiveness she gives so freely.'

Sasuke shook his head, smirking softly. "Somehow you're always surprising me," he told her. When he looked at her he noticed she was staring back with expectant eyes. "What?"

She looked away quickly, biting her lip. "Y-You…don't think it's s-silly?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "About Neji? I already said-"

"Not that," Hinata interrupted hesitantly.

Sasuke frowned, puzzled. 'Not that? Then what?' He recalled the conversation thus far and realized: "Do you mean your crush on Naruto? Or that you mistook it for love?"

Hinata jerked her head in a minute nod, face covered in a fierce blush.

Wanting to answer her properly, Sasuke thought carefully about his answer. "Well, developing a crush on someone doesn't necessarily need any kind of deep reasoning behind it. It probably sounds strange coming from me, but that is a very individualistic thing, I think. Who knows why anyone develops a crush? I certainly don't, otherwise I might actually understand my fangirls. So being attracted to someone's confidence is as good a reason as any to develop a crush, probably. Especially in kindergarten," he said simply with a careless shrug. "As for thinking it was love…"

Here he paused, choosing his words in a slow and deliberate manner. "In a purely objective view…Naruto saved you. Not from falling, but from the fear that had invaded your life. He gave you the strength to change yourself…honestly that sounds like an action worthy of love. Especially when that's such a complex emotion that not even people twice our age have really got it figured out. In fact, it's surprising that you came to the conclusion that it wasn't love. Differentiating between real love and infatuation must be difficult…" Sasuke mused. "I don't think I'm the right person to ask about this sort of thing, but if you want my opinion then: no, I don't think there's anything silly about what you told me."

Hinata looked a bit taken aback, as if she had been expecting him to condemn her for being childish and stupid. Sasuke supposed he couldn't fault her for that. He wasn't known for his patience for romance. He found it cumbersome and annoying, but there wasn't really anything annoying about Hinata's romantic feelings. After all, unlike other people she hadn't imposed herself upon Naruto and tried to force any unwanted feelings on him. Besides, having finally acquired some experience with romance, Sasuke finally understood that it wasn't something that could be controlled and the best you could hope for was to not act like too much of a pathetic imbecile.

Seeming to recover from her shock, Hinata smiled timidly. "Ne, Sasuke-kun, y-you're always surprising me too."

Sasuke started at that before slowly returning the smile.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun," Hinata began, ducking her head to look at her feet, "D-Do you want to know how I r-realized that it w-wasn't love?"

Sasuke grunted ambiguously. Regardless of the fact that Hinata herself had concluded she never had any real romantic designs on Naruto, hearing her talk about her past crush wasn't fun for Sasuke. 'But if it's something she needs to get off her chest, then I'm willing to be an open ear.'

"W-With Naruto-kun, I looked up to him. I p-put him on a p-pedestal and felt incredibly grateful any time that he would d-deign to n-notice me. I felt u-unworthy of him, lesser. The o-only reason I realized this w-wasn't how romance should w-work is that I found someone who, rather than making me f-feel grateful to be in their c-company, m-made me feel d-deserving of it. Someone who I c-could think of as an equal – who had q-qualities I liked as well as s-some that I d-didn't, but that I could recognize this and still think that the c-combination w-was what made him w-wonderful. Someone who made m-me feel like maybe my own less than d-desirable q-qualities were still a p-precious part of me. Th-That person made me feel, for the first time in m-my life, like something s-s-special." A proud smile quirked its way on the corner of Hinata's lips and she straightened up with new confidence. Turning to look Sasuke straight in the eyes, she declared, "I wouldn't call it love, but what I f-feel for this person is…pretty close. And it's very d-different than what I felt for Naruto-kun."

Drawing in a noisy breath, Sasuke could feel his heart thumping heavily in his chest. It was an almost painful feeling. "W-Who…?"

Before he could properly articulate that question, the door between them swung open and Naruto charged out, blocking Sasuke and Hinata's view of each other.

"Man, who knew there were so many different shades of colours?" Naruto exclaimed, "And they have the weirdest names too!" Picking out a random bottle of paint out of the cardboard box he was carrying, Naruto read out the label in a snooty voice, "Viridian, why not call it what it is? Plain old green." He plopped the bottle back into the box before smiling bright at his two friends. "Sorry for the wait! Geez, Sasuke, I didn't take that long. No need to try and take my head off with your crazy Uchiha laser glare."

Sasuke continued to glare.

"Heh," Naruto turned to Hinata, stage-whispering out of the corner of his mouth, "I have this theory that all the Uchihas were born with lasers instead of eyes and the secret to glaring someone into submission was passed on from generation to generation. You'd get it, if you ever met Itachi. His glare blows Sasuke's out of the water!"

"Why don't you tell Hinata about your theory that the Hyuugas see dead people and the reason they're so uptight, as you called it, is that they're trying not to react to ghosts so they don't get sent to the 'loony bin'," Sasuke quoted.

Juggling the box of paints he was holding, Naruto tried to make a waving gesture with his hands. "A-Ah, about that – well…I didn't…SASUKE-TEME!" Naruto whirled around to glare back at Sasuke.

Coughing lightly, Hinata changed the subject. "I g-guess I should lock up now. You didn't leave a-anything inside, d-did you Naruto-kun?"

Naruto shook his head so vigorously that his entire body shook as well. "Nope!" he denied.

"A-And you r-remembered to sign out the paints properly?"

Naruto nodded his head just as zealously. "You betcha!"

Nodding once, Hinata proceeded to lock the door. Tucking her keys away, she pulled out her cellphone. Sasuke found himself slightly disappointed by her flower cellphone charm that was decidedly not another chibi-depiction of Neji in pain. "I need to m-meet Gaara-kun, T-Temari-chan and K-Kankuro-kun now," she said after checking the digital clock display on her phone. "As exchange students from Suna, they're being honoured at the c-ceremony today a-and they have to give some sort of s-speech about their time here, so I p-promised to help them practice." She smiled apologetically. "Sorry to leave a-all of a sudden."

While Sasuke was gritting his teeth in annoyance, Naruto answered for both of them. "No prob, Hina-chan! Thanks for your help!"

"You're w-welcome. I'll see you b-both at the ceremony, then? Naruto-kun. Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke looked up at the sound of Hinata calling his name. He nodded once. That meager action was still able to inspire a smile from Hinata, though.

She waved a final goodbye before taking off down the hallway.

Both boys watched her in relative silence until she disappeared around a corner.

"So how much of that did you hear?"

Naruto's wide eyes locked onto Sasuke. The Uchiha, however, kept his gaze at where they'd last seen Hinata.

Naruto shut his eyes and huffed out a breath. "Enough."

"But you pretended you hadn't."

"I…I never realized. She always thought so highly of me, but in the end I'm no better than any of the other people that ignored her. I never saw her. And then I couldn't even face her. I'm the worst, aren't I?" Naruto said, shoulders drooping.

Eyes sliding along to gaze at Naruto, Sasuke heaved a sigh. "You heard her, didn't you? Did she sound upset? Don't make problems when none exist. It's probably for the best that you didn't say anything; it would only have embarrassed her. And then, knowing Hinata, she would have felt bad for inconveniencing you with her feelings."

Naruto chuckled weakly at Sasuke's most likely correct surmising. "Ah, you're probably right."

Sasuke knocked his shoulder against Naruto's. "Aren't I always?" he asked, the teasing lilt to his voice only noticeable to those who knew him best.

Laughing properly now, Naruto knocked Sasuke back playfully. "Me and Sakura-chan have a list called 'Times Sasuke Fucked Up' that would prove you wrong!" he said.

Sasuke frowned. "Wait, really?"

Naruto averted his eyes, whistling cheerily.

"No wonder Hinata got over you. Her taste finally improved," Sasuke groused, punching Naruto in the arm.

Dodging away from Sasuke's follow-up punch, box carefully balanced, Naruto laughed again. "I thought it was because she met a mystery guy who showed her the true meaning of luuurve," he joked.

Sasuke's expression immediately closed off. "Don't talk to me about that red-headed bastard," he said, stalking off.

"Hey wait up, man!" Naruto called, running after his best friend. He rammed into Sasuke's back, box-first, forcing the Uchiha to a halt. "Seriously?" Naruto asked incredulously.

Pushing the blond away, Sasuke scowled. "What?"

Naruto shook his head wonderingly. "As happy as I am that you're finally realizing you're not Kami's gift to the world, you might be taking it too far in the opposite direction."

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Rolling his eyes heavenwards, Naruto swayed back onto his heels. "I spent a lot of time with Hina-chan, trying to watch out for her until Neji stopped being a prick and I've gotta say, I'd never seen her as happy as she was when she was with you."

Sasuke took a step back from Naruto, eyes widening. 'Huh?' A slight blush filled his pale cheeks.

"Dude, as much as I'm enjoying this heart-to-heart, we've only got like two-ish hours left before the awards ceremony!" Naruto said, turning to look at the hallway clock.

Feeling a mixture of impressed and skeptical, Sasuke arched a brow. "You really planned a prank so intricate that it's going to take two hours to implement?"

Naruto shook the box in his arms, causing the bottles of paint to knock together loudly. "Nah. I mean, don't get me wrong, the prank's hella intricate, but I just wanna make sure we get done with enough time to grab something to eat. I'm thinking ramen."

Sasuke scoffed. "When aren't you? So you've got paint, for whatever reason. Now what?" he asked.

"Now we go to the basement! I ran into the librarian earlier – literally – outside the basement and she spilled her coffee everywhere and the janitor happened to be coming out of the basement at the same time, so obviously he helped her out. By the time the floor was cleaned up he was distracted enough to forget to lock the door behind him, so it's totally unlocked now – I checked! That's why I was late meeting you. Too busy being a boss," Naruto bragged.

"So what you mean is that due to your incredibly good luck things managed to work out for you," Sasuke summarized. He then proceeded to walk past Naruto down the hallway in the direction of the basement.

Naruto froze for second before shaking it off and chasing after Sasuke. "Hey, it's not my fault I've stored up a ton of good karma. You should try not being a jerk for once! Might have something good happen to you!"

Sasuke scoffed. "Idiot."

---

The door to the basement shut quietly enclosing the two boys in darkness.

"I told you not to close the door before we hit the lights!"

No answer.

"Naruto?"

"WHOA!"

There was quite a ruckus followed by a few seconds of shuffling before a click sounded and white lights flickered on.

Sasuke stared impassively from his place by the light switch at the sight of his best friend sprawled at the foot of the stairs, paint bottles scattered about him and an empty cardboard box perched amusingly over his head.

"…Idiot."

Naruto groaned softly. "A little help?" he asked pitifully.

Once he had helped sort Naruto out, Sasuke looked around the basement curiously. "Are you going to tell me why we're here?"

"You know how Jiraiya's an author?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke arched a brow at the non-sequitur but decided to play along. "Yes. And?"

"You know how he's really into doing proper research for his books?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, his visits to bathhouses and brothels are pretty well chronicled in the media. Exactly how many places has he been banned from?"

"Hey, it's not all bathhouses!" Naruto rebutted indignantly, "That's just the stuff that gets attention. When he wrote a book with a Buddhist monk main character he spent four months living in a monastery!"

Sasuke crossed his arms. "Isn't that the book where a monk gets kidnapped by some sexy ninjas and eventually breaks his vow of celibacy?" he asked drolly.

"Everybody always forgets that in the end of that book the monk is disgraced and runs away to live out the rest of his days in shame and isolation!" Naruto grumbled, "It's totally an exploration of the relevancy of those vows and the toll they take on those whose lives are restricted by them."

"Also porn."

Naruto ignored this except for giving Sasuke the stink-eye. "Anyways, he's been working on this new novel where a plumber comes to fix this lady's…" Feeling the weight of Sasuke's unimpressed stare, Naruto trailed off before steamrolling past that part of his sentence, "Whatever, the plot's not important. What matters is that we hung out with some plumbers for a few days and I learned a trick or two." Reaching into his neon orange backpack, Naruto pulled out a wrench which he then expertly twirled around with nimble fingers.

Sasuke eyed the movement consideringly. "Think you can fix the water pressure in the locker room showers?" he asked seriously, "It'd be nice not to have to go home covered in sweat so I can use my own shower."

"Dude, your shower is ballin'. Even with better water pressure I'd rather make the twenty minute walk sticky and gross to get to your house."

Sasuke conceded the point with a shrug. "Then what exactly are you going to do with the water system?"

With a wide, mischievous grin Naruto waved his index finger pointedly at Sasuke. "The sprinklers! Principle Danzo was being a homophobic asshat to Sai again, harassing him about his uniform accessories – even though the girls are allowed to do the same thing! So during his opening speech at the ceremony I'm gonna make a rainbow rain down on him."

"I don't give a fuck about Sai, but Danzo is a grade-A douche. When our parents died, he kept trying to convince Itachi to sell him their stuff. He didn't even wait more than an hour after they were buried to start bothering us about that," Sasuke said with a scowl. It was well-known that their principle was as corrupt and creepy as could be, but no one did anything about it. 'If he didn't insist on hating Orochimaru's guts, the two of them would probably be BFF, creepy SOBs'

"Dude, I seriously don't understand why they let him be in charge here! I keep complainin' to Tsunade-obaa-san, but she says that there's nothing she can do about it."

"Well, it would be strange for the President to care about who is principle of a school, no matter how privileged it is."

"I guess. But it sucks! Well anyway, I better get to work on this if I want it done." Naruto pulled out a few more tools and crouched down to one of a series of long pipes. "See this here pipe," he said, pointing to a specific one, "it connects here to this water tank which acts as the supply for when the sprinklers get turned on. All I have to do is disconnect it and connect it to the paint instead. Of course, I brought a hose along; can you get it from my backpack?" Naruto had already started working on the pipe, his back to Sasuke, so he didn't see the other boy roll his eyes.

Nonetheless, Sasuke opened Naruto's much too brightly coloured backpack and pulled out the messily stored hose, studiously ignoring the used chopsticks and empty instant ramen packages at the bottom of the bag. He then rolled the hose into a neat coil before ruining the effort by tossing it carelessly at Naruto's unprotected back.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled, turning to glare at Sasuke. Seeing what had hit him, Naruto let out a reluctant thanks before tilting his head in contemplation. "Now I just need something to hold the paint. I think I saw one of those huge janitor buckets by the stairs, mind grabbing it?"

Sasuke's hand twitched a few times until he clenched it. Huffing out an annoyed breath, Sasuke went over to the stairs and retrieved the desired bucket.

Hearing the clang of the metal bucket hitting the floor, Naruto turned back again and grinned easily. "Awesome. Now if you could grab the paints and pour – WHOA!" Hands thrown out in front of him, Naruto just barely managed to save his face from the impact of a flying bucket.

"You better not have dragged me a long so I could play your handy assistant, Narutard," Sasuke growled.

"O-Of course not!" Naruto stammered. "I'll handle the paints and stuff. You can just…hang out and keep me company so I'm not all alone in this basement making me a prime target for a serial killer ghost haunting the school."

Sasuke sighed, anger fleeing his body just as quickly as it had come. "You're an idiot, so you'd probably manage to get yourself killed even with me here. Besides, the only type of ghost haunting this school is the kind that messes with the clocks so that classes last longer than they should. Less evil than murder, yet in some ways worse…" Sasuke shook himself out of his musings, "In any case, there isn't actually any kind of ghost haunting the school. But I guess I don't have anything better to do around here since you made me come earlier than necessary.

Walking to a sturdy looking crate, Sasuke sat down and pulled out his phone. A few seconds later the familiar chime of Candy Crush Saga started up, which Sasuke quickly muted.

Naruto laughed. "Hey, wanna bet that I'll finish this up before you beat the level you're on?"

There was no reply, but a glimmer of determination entered Sasuke's eyes as his finger slid across the screen of his phone.

"Hah! I totally won the bet!"

"Whatever. Those bombs are fucking hard and the having only five lives is limiting. And you're in no position to talk: you said you'd finish in time for us to get food, but instead you ended up taking the whole two hours."

Naruto moaned dramatically. "I knoooow! I can't believe it took so long! I thought for sure I'd get it done sooner!" He glanced at Sasuke out of the corner of his eyes. "Still, that just makes it so much sadder that you didn't win the bet!" he laughed.

"Says the guy who hasn't even made it to chocolate," Sasuke scoffed, finally managing to tear himself away from the game and store his phone back in his pocket. 'I have to admit though, for only having seen someone else do this plumbing stuff just once, it's impressive that he was able to do it at all. Then again Naruto's always been smarter than people realize; his problem is a lack of effort as well as boredom and a short attention span. When he's properly motivated he can be surprisingly intelligent. Of course, until we try it out, there's no way to tell if he even fixed the sprinklers properly.'

"That game is a mindless waste of time," Naruto said in a way that suggested these were not his own words.

Sasuke smirked. "So what you're saying is that Sakura threatened to throw out your ramen unless you stopped playing."

Staring mournfully into the distance Naruto quietly said, "Life is full of difficult decisions." Blinking a few times, he turned to Sasuke while simultaneously heaving his orange backpack around one shoulder. "Well, if we want those two hours to not have been a complete waste of time, we'd better hurry up to the ceremony. It's definitely started by now."

Sasuke simply nodded and the two exited the basement. The hallways were as deserted as when they had entered the basement, but even from their position they could hear an echoing murmur coming from the direction of the auditorium. Once they had gotten to the entrance, Sasuke nudged open the double doors ever so slightly and both boys peeked through the sliver of open space to see a full house facing an elderly man at the podium.

Despite being unable to make out the exact words, the droning voice was unmistakable. Sharing a look with Naruto, Sasuke closed the door.

"Alright!" Naruto whisper-shouted, barely able to contain his excitement. Reaching his arm out towards the fire alarm beside the door he stopped short when Sasuke grabbed hold of his outstretched limb.

Suspiciously perusing the alarm, Sasuke asked Naruto, "Hey, is this one of the ones with the built-in detection against false alarms?"

"Huh?" Naruto shook of Sasuke's hand. "You mean the kind that shoots out ink at you so they can tell who pulled it? No way!"

"Itachi mentioned it once in a story from when he went here."

"But he graduated high school when he was, like, six! They must have changed from then!"

"Don't exaggerate; he was twelve. And if they've upgraded, that just means that the alarms are even more likely to get you caught."

"Oh! Maybe if we get something long, like a stick, we can pull it without being in the way of the ink," Naruto said, miming out the action to Sasuke's amusement.

"Well if you're confident that you won't get sprayed, go ahead," Sasuke said, waving his hand out towards the awaiting alarm.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, gaze darting warily between the alarm and Sasuke. Suddenly his blue eyes brightened. "The sprinklers!"

Sasuke sighed in exasperation. "Yes, that's why you dragged me out here so early and made me wait around while you screwed with some pipes. You want to set the sprinklers off to-"

"No, teme, the sprinklers," Naruto said earnestly, grabbing Sasuke by the shoulders. "Most sprinklers get set off if they get hot!" And then Naruto was ducking down to reach into the back of his shoe. Standing up again he proudly displayed a dented orange metal lighter with a depiction of a grotesquely obese frog on it. "Say hello to Gamabunta!" Naruto exclaimed.

'He has a backpack and several pockets, yet that's where he chooses to store his things…' Sasuke grimaced, leaning away from the blond. "Don't hold that thing near my face; I've seen where it's been. Also, don't give ridiculous names to your inanimate possessions. Or don't give them names period."

Naruto let out a carefree laugh, tossing the lighter into the air and catching it expertly. "Lighten up Sasuke – heh, get it? We just gotta sneak into the auditorium and heat up those sprinklers!"

Sasuke stared at Naruto straight-faced. "There's no way we'd be able to reach sprinklers. The auditorium ceiling is too high."

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, there's only the illusion of a high ceiling. Actually, because the seats are on different levels, the area by the stage has a very high ceiling, but when it comes to the seats in the very back the ceiling isn't really that high. If you give me a boost we'll definitely be able to reach!"

Sasuke's blank expression didn't falter. "Danzo may be old, but his vision is unnervingly good. Do you really think he wouldn't notice something like that happening, even if it was at the back?"

"We can just hide behind one of those weird and unnecessary curtain decorations. It'll be fine!"

"Fine, dobe, let's just do this while Danzo's still on stage," Sasuke muttered, opening the door and stepping quietly into the auditorium.

"Hah! There's no way Danzo would have such a short speech. Dude loves the sound of his own voice," Naruto muttered back to him while following him through the doorway.

Following Naruto's lead, Sasuke let the blond guide them towards one end of the auditorium where large red decorative curtains were draped, ducking between where one set ended and another began. Aiming a dubious look at the far off ceiling, Sasuke doubted this plan for what felt like the hundredth time in the past five minutes, but Naruto didn't seem to have the same qualms.

"Give me a boost," the blond whispered to Sasuke, already trying to hoist himself up by his grip on the back of the Uchiha's shoulders.

"Alright – geez – wait a minute," Sasuke grumbled, hefting Naruto up by the back of his calves.

Once the blond was situated on his shoulders, Sasuke took the time to glance around the full auditorium. As had become his new norm, Sasuke's eyes immediately sought out dark indigo hair and lavender eyes – lavender eyes that caught his own through the space between two sets of curtains. "Fucking Hyuuga eyes," he muttered, seeing Hinata give him a curious look and stand up from her seat to make her way over.

And suddenly he was met with the sight of Naruto's upside down face.

"Whoa!" Sasuke gasped, stumbling a little but managing to steady the both of them.

"Watch it!" Naruto whisper-shouted. He then made what Sasuke guessed was a sheepish face – it was hard to tell upside-down. "We may have a problem."

"We definitely have a problem. Hinata is – Hinata is here." Sasuke tried to look as inconspicuous as he possible could while peering around Naruto's head to see said girl. "Hi," he greeted.

"What's g-going on h-here?" Hinata questioned as Naruto straightened back up. There was a frown lining her face, but her eyes looked apprehensive.

Sasuke was really tempted to say "Nothing. Nothing at all" but he didn't think he'd get away with it.

Naruto, however, did. "Nothing, Hina-chan! Just playin' around!"

Hinata turned a mild glare at the blond. It wasn't in the least bit intimidating; most would call it cute. Yet Sasuke still felt a nervous and guilty pang in his stomach. "It's a prank to make a rainbow rain down on Danzo," he confessed freely.

At this Hinata glanced at him, brows furrowed, but quickly glanced back at Naruto. "I-Is that what you r-really did with the p-paints you said were f-for Kakashi-senshi?" she asked, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Ah, well, you see…" Sasuke couldn't see Naruto's face, but he could imagine the abashed expression well enough.

"H-How m-mean, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, voice coloured with disappointment, "To make me an unknowing a-accomplice in your t-trick."

"I didn't mean to – I just – I thought that if I told you the truth you still wouldn't be able to say no even if it was something you disagreed with, so I just wanted you to not have to go through that," Naruto explained.

Hinata looked up at him with such sad eyes that Sasuke could feel the power of them even when the gaze wasn't aimed at him. 'Or maybe it's because I'm pretty powerless when it comes to her…'

"So y-you lied to me? I'll always be g-grateful for what you did for me w-with Neji-niisan, b-but I think you still see me as I was back then," Hinata said, quirking her lips in a kind of doleful humour. "I'm not that w-weak little girl a-anymore, Naruto-kun. You no longer n-need to lie to me to protect me. I c-can handle the truth. A-And I can stand up for myself; s-say 'no' if I want to. S-So please, Naruto-kun, be honest with me f-from now on. I'm stronger now."

"I…I know you are, Hina-chan," Naruto said, his voice sounding choked up. Hinata's answering smile was small but brilliant. "I want a Hina-chan-hug! Let me just get down from here and-" Naruto was fumbling around and Sasuke struggled not to drop him.

Tilting her head to the side in a display of mild confusion, Hinata said, "A-Aren't you going to finish f-first?"

"Huh?"

"Sai-kun is my f-friend too; even I h-hate seeing D-Danzo-sensei say such t-terrible things to him without getting r-reprimanded," Hinata said. She paused to shoot a mischievous smile at Sasuke before continuing, "Before, you d-didn't give me a choice, but n-now that I have one…this is something that I w-wouldn't mind seeing."

"Eh?" Sasuke was sure that Naruto's face was mirroring his own in mutual astonishment.

Hinata simply stared back expectantly.

"W-Well, it turns out that I still can't reach the sprinklers," Naruto professed, sounding glum.

Looking dissatisfied at this statement, Hinata's mouth twisted in grim determination. "M-Maybe I c-can help then."

When she walked around to Sasuke's back both boys balked, but she would not be dissuaded. Sasuke reluctantly helped her climb up, though not without first saying, "This is dangerous; you could fall and hurt yourself."

Hinata simply patted him consolingly on the shoulder and declared, "I stopped being a-afraid of f-falling a long time ago. Besides, I trust you."

Overwhelmed with a pleasurable warmth, Sasuke blushed. "Careful," he warned, feeling Hinata's unsteady knee dig into his shoulder – he was more concerned with her stability than any discomfort the action caused him. Chancing a glance up he saw that Hinata was now set upon Naruto's shoulders.

"You're so awesome Hina-chan! Now you just gotta take my lighter and light it up as close as you can manage to the sprinkler head and then bam! You'll be making it rain all over this place," Naruto told her.

There was the sound of rustling and movement.

"I-It's still t-too far," Hinata lamented.

"Well, we tried our best," Sasuke said quickly, anxious to get Hinata back down on solid ground in one piece.

"L-let me j-just-"

Sasuke looked up again and caught an eyeful, Hinata having stood up, feet wobbled precariously on Naruto's shoulders.

"Whoa!" Naruto shouted in surprise, tan hands shooting up quickly to curl around Hinata's slim ankles. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea…"

"I-I've got it!"

And she did.

Suddenly a loud, jarring alarm filled the room and one by one sprinklers set off, jetting out liquid. Startled screams rose up among the crowd and students began to jump to their feet in bewilderment.

Sasuke didn't get long to appreciate the sight because suddenly he felt incredibly unbalanced. He let out a shout as he tipped back and heard Naruto and Hinata's answering screams. Barely in control of his flailing limbs, Sasuke managed to right himself at the last minute and leaned against the nearby wall face-first for added support.

The weight on his back lessened and then disappeared when Hinata and Naruto had both returned to the ground. Naruto was whooping loudly, fist raised to the air, though the sound was mostly lost to the chaos around them.

Sasuke felt a grin stretch his lips as he allowed the exhilaration to wash over him much like the paint that was falling from the ceiling. A small and familiar hand slipped into his own and he squeezed it instinctively. He turned to see Hinata aiming a bright smile at him, hair already a matted mess. "I knew you wouldn't let me fall," she whispered and he could do nothing but duck his head a little in response, grin still full across his face.

They were interrupted when Naruto threw his arms around the both of them, grasping them tightly to his body and tugging them out from behind the large red curtains. "H-His face!" the blond managed to choke out between his riotous laughter, "The look on his face!"

Sasuke and Hinata both looked at their principle and couldn't help but laugh as well at the furious look on the man's paint-splattered face.

'Wait a minute…'

"Naruto," Sasuke started, voice dispassionate despite his previous mirth, "When you said you were going to make a rainbow rain down on Danzo…did you just pour all the colours of the rainbow into that one bucket?"

"Hell yea! ROY G. BIV – I didn't miss a single one," Naruto crowed, still jubilant with the success of his prank.

Before Sasuke could say anything else he was stopped by an unnaturally loud cough. The three of them glanced at each other in confusion and then turned as one entity.

"G-Genma-sensei!" they gasped.

The teacher's ever-present toothpick moved from one side of his mouth to the other as he stared them down looking cool as ever despite the paint that continued to rain down over them. Leaning forward just slightly, Genma snatched up Hinata's right hand and turned it to see the orange lighter lying open in her palm. "You three wouldn't have anything to do with this, would you," he asked dully, addressing them all but focusing on Hinata specifically.

"Hey! That's my lighter! Hinata-chan wasn't involved at all!" Naruto asserted, stepping forward.

Sasuke realized that he himself had stepped in front of Hinata as if to shield her. "Hinata's completely innocent," Sasuke said, glaring defiantly up at the teacher.

Genma's expression didn't change at all. "Yeah, I'm sure," he said in an uncaring voice, though it was clear he didn't believe them. "In any case, if Danzo-san finds out you three will be expelled without question."

Sasuke heard both Hinata and Naruto let out sounds of dismay, but he was more preoccupied with Genma's choice of words. "If?" Sasuke asked, "Not when?"

There wasn't so much as a twitch of his lips to betray Genma's mood. "If," the teacher repeated tonelessly, chewing on his toothpick. The three students watched transfixed as the wooden stick bobbed up and down. "But," Genma intoned sharply, "If you three were to volunteer to clean up – out of the goodness of your hearts and your incredible sense of school spirit, I'm sure – then the little mess you caused would be dealt with and you would be punished without overkill. Think about that."

"I volunteer!" Naruto yelled immediately, throwing his right arm up.

"I-I v-volunteer as well," Hinata said more quietly, bowing at the waist.

When Genma turned to him, Sasuke held back a groan. "I volunteer," he said robotically.

Genma gave a short and decisive nod. "Good, that's settled," he said. "I'll let Danzo-san know about your generority as well as the fact that I have no idea what could have caused this." The teacher turned to leave and all three of them heaved a sigh of relief, Naruto's overly dramatic and loud.

"Hey," Genma called, head tilted back to look at them blankly over his shoulder, "Uzumaki-chan, you do realize that mixing all of the colours of the rainbow together results in a disgusting brown, ne? Or perhaps Kurenai-san wasn't exaggerating when she said you were the most hopeless art student she had ever encountered." Then without giving Naruto any time to react, Genma walked away.

A moment passed, silent except for the continued pandemonium going on in the rest of the room.

Then Sasuke slowly reached up and slapped Naruto on the back of his blond head.

"Idiot."

---

"Aww, man, this is gonna take FOREVER to clean up!" Naruto whined, staring at the armful of mops Genma-sensei had dumped on him before abandoning the three of them.

"Just be grateful we didn't get expelled," Sasuke grunted, snatching a mop from Naruto.

"Hah, maybe you actually did manage to earn some good karma, Sasuke-teme! Who have you been being nice to? Cuz it's definitely not me!"

"As far as I'm concerned, I earn good karma every second that I refrain from slapping you in the head."

"I-I'm sure that if we w-work hard, we'll finish in no time," Hinata cut into their usual bickering from her position kneeling on the ground, inspecting one of the ten bottles of turpentine Genma-sensei had also provided. The statement was clearly supposed to sound optimistic, but fell short due to Hinata's wobbling, unsure tone of voice.

"NARUTO! TELL ME YOU'RE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FIRE ALARM THAT INTERRUPTED MY LAST EXAM!"

All three of them winced at the enraged shriek, turning to face the furious pink-haired girl storming towards them, followed closely by the rest of their freshman class as well as three older students.

"It was just a joke!" Naruto tried to say, his words muffled due to the iron grip Sakura had around his throat.

"WELL BECAUSE OF THAT JOKE, I HAVE TO RETAKE MY EXAM TOMORROW!"

Shikamaru drifted over, face set in despondent frown. "It's a total drag," he agreed.

Chouji, who was by his side as always, smiled pleasantly. "Perhaps it was a little inconsiderate, but I thought it was pretty funny," he told them.

"Yeah! Damn, Hinata-chan, who knew you were such a badass," Kiba laughed, grabbing Hinata to give her a noogie.

Wriggling ineffectively in her friend's hold, Hinata pouted. "Kiba-kun!"

"Pulling a practical joke on the last day of school? How incredibly youthful of you, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, Hinata-chan!" Lee exclaimed. Sasuke eyed the older boy's spandex suit and wondered when he'd had the time to change, seeing as the uniform was mandatory during the awards ceremony.

'Maybe he was wearing it underneath? Ah! Gross! Why did I even go there?' Sasuke shuddered.

Arms crossed against his chest, Neji aimed a stern look at Hinata once she escaped Kiba's grasp. "Hinata-sama, please do not associate yourself with troublemaking delinquents like Naruto and the Uchiha."

"Is that true, Hinata-chan!" Sakura paused in her attempt at strangling Naruto. "I told you to watch over them to make sure they didn't pull something like this. Not to join in!" she said. Sasuke noted Sakura's self-restraint in not yelling with appreciation.

"A-Ah, sorry, Sakura-chan. Somehow it ended up like this," Hinata said rather sheepishly, "B-But thinking a-about how Danzo-sensei treats Sai-kun…well, I c-couldn't resist helping out."

"It was for me? Then I suppose it would be proper to say thank you, Flat-Chest," Sai said with his usual creepily unfeeling smile.

"Don't call her that!" Five people simultaneously yelled. Sasuke met the eyes of Neji, Kiba and Shino shortly in grudging respect before averting his eyes to Sakura.

Turning to Naruto who was busy tenderly massaging his bruised throat, Sasuke asked, "When did those two become such close friends?"

"Who do ya think Sakura-chan was eating lunch with while she was pissed at you?" Naruto responded absent-mindedly.

'Huh.' Sasuke looked back to see Sakura lecturing Sai about manners while still keeping a protective stance over Hinata. For some reason the sight made him happy.

Stepping past the fuming Sakura, Tenten guided Hinata away from the spat, grinning. "If that's the reason behind it, then that was actually pretty cool of you guys. I'm proud of you, Hinata-chan, for standing up for what you believe in," the older girl praised and Hinata ate it up, turning to regard the girl like a flower to the sun.

"No way. Hinata-chan had a part in this?" The loud call came from the auditorium entrance and the group turned to see the sand siblings entering the room, led by Temari. "Cheer up, lazy, it was for a good cause. And it's not like you won't ace your exam anyway," the blonde continued, walking up beside Shikamaru to nudge the younger student in the ribs. Shikamaru winced and turned an unimpressed look to her.

"I'm just glad we ended up not having to give that stupid speech," Kankuro said as he joined the group. Following closely behind him, the youngest Subaku remained silent. Watching them closely Sasuke saw Gaara walk up beside Hinata and hesitate just a little before touching his pale hand to her arm briefly. Looking away abruptly Sasuke still managed to catch the sweet smile Hinata aimed at the redhead.

Biting his lip hard, Sasuke was interrupted from his depressing thoughts by a sharp pinch at his side with sharp fingernails. Jolting away from the contact he turned to see Ino smirking at him slyly.

"That's what you get for ruining a girl's outfit with this disgusting brown sludge!" she said authoritatively, pointing an accusing long-nailed finger at him.

"You hate the school uniform, Ino-pig," Sakura reminded her while Naruto yelled out "IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE RAINBOW PAINT!". Ino just stuck her tongue out at the two of them in response.

"So is your punishment to clean up the place?" Kiba said wonderingly, "That's going to take forever!"

Naruto nodded his head in agreement. "That's what I said!"

"Well it serves you right!" Ino told him, causing Naruto to make a rude face at her.

"Hinata-sama, such menial work is not meant for your delicate hands. I am certain that the Uchiha and Naruto were mainly at fault, so let us leave. Hiashi-sama gave me permission to take you on the traditional congratulatory dinner as he is away on business," Neji said to Hinata.

A flicker of disappointment crossed Hinata's face. "F-Father had another business trip? Oh, well…I r-refuse, Neji-niisan. I have to take r-responsibility for my actions."

Immediately Neji rolled up the sleeves of his uniform dutifully. "Very well, then I shall help as well, Hinata-sama."

"YOSH! I TOO VOLUNTEER TO HELP YOU OUT IN THE NAME OF OUR BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP!" came Lee's impassioned voice.

Tenten rolled her eyes at her friend's theatrics. "Mah, I'll help too. Don't worry Hinata-chan, I'll try and keep Lee's springtime-blossoming-whatever in check," she said with a cheerful wink aimed at the indigo-haired girl.

"You don't have to!" Hinata said quickly, "You should go and enjoy your own congratulatory dinners."

Tenten shrugged, "You know Gai-sensei usually takes Lee and me out. I'm sure he'll understand. I'll just text him to let him know."

"GAI-SENSEI WOULD DEFINITELY APPROVE OF OUR YOUTHFUL BEHAVIOUR!" Lee agreed.

"And on that note, the three of us don't really have anything to do if both you and Neji are staying here," Temari pointed out, "Seeing as we're still being hosted by your family, Hinata-chan."

Hinata gasped, horrified. "O-Of course! How inconsiderate of m-me! I'll call the driver right a-away!" She went to pull out her cellphone but was stopped by Gaara's hand on her own.

The red-head blinked impassively at Hinata. "Don't. We will help you clean up."

Once again Sasuke was forced to witness this moment as a burning pain rose up inside of him. Thankfully he was distracted by a loud groan coming from the oldest Subaku sibling.

"Damn! If Gaara says it, then I guess we're helping out," Kankuro whined good-naturedly.

"Shikamaru-kun will help out too, of course," Temari volunteered for the boy in question. Shikamaru simply rolled his eyes and muttered, "What a drag."

Hands on her hips, it was clear that Sakura was still annoyed by what had happened. Then she sighed in defeat and dropped her arms. "You two don't deserve it, but for Hinata-chan's sake I'll help you clean as well - Sai will help too of course. Besides, I think if I studied anymore it would actually make me do worse tomorrow."

"Hah, have fun with that billboard brow. I'll be relaxing and starting out the first night of my amazing summer break," Ino gloated.

"Kiba and I will help. Why? Because we are friends and friends support each other. A weight split between two becomes a lighter load for both parties," Shino said in his usual quiet manner.

Kiba grinned, folding his arms behind his head. "What he said. Splitting a weight or whatever in two is cool, but splitting it one…two…three…sixteen – SIXTEEN ways must be way better!"

Ino wilted. "Ugh. Whatever. I guess I'll help too. Just let me text my dad to let him know I'll need a raincheck on that dinner. I didn't feel like hearing him complain about me eating only a salad anyway," she muttered.

Everybody murmured in agreement, pulling out their cellphones to contact their respective parents and guardians.

"You guys…YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!" Naruto cried. If the grateful tears pouring down his face were any indication, he was obviously touched by the everyone deciding to help out.

Sasuke sighed, leaning forward to open up a bottle of turpentine and pour it into one of the janitorial buckets they had been given. "We'd better actually start cleaning soon if we don't want to spend the entire summer trapped in here," he said.

---

One hour and a lot of cleaning later, Naruto suddenly dropped his mop and announced, "I'm starving and we're nowhere near done!" He collapsed into a paint-covered heap on the auditorium stage beside the sparkling clean podium. "Jiraiya was gonna take me out to a steakhouse," the blond said mournfully.

Similar complaints echoed across the room as the other students took a break from their hard work scrubbing fitfully at every surface in the auditorium.

"I have a box of popsicles I was keeping in the fridge in the teacher's lounge for Shikamaru, Ino and I," Chouji offered generously.

Excited cheers filled the room at Chouji's words.

"Hey how come a freshman like you can use the teacher's lounge," Tenten called out to Chouji from across the room.

Ino, who was closer to Tenten, answered smugly, "Asuma-sensei loves us, that's why."

As the fastest in the group, Lee was nominated to go grab the treats after getting instructions as to its precise location from Chouji. The bushy-browed sophomore was back in no time and they all gathered on the stage as Chouji distributed the popsicles, trying to accommodate people's preferred flavours as best he could.

Sasuke slumped down, nibbling carefully at the tip of his blue popsicle, mindful of his cold-sensitive teeth. Hearing someone else sit down next to him, he turned to find Hinata sitting daintily: legs tucked to the side and back ruler-straight. Fully concentrated on opening up the plastic package containing her popsicle, Hinata only looked up once she'd managed to free her red coloured treat. She crinkled her eyes at him in a triumphant smile as she popped the popsicle into her mouth.

Blushing, Sasuke averted his eyes and they people-watched in companionable silence. The two of them simply sat beside each other appreciating the relaxed atmosphere that had fallen over their group as everyone sprawled out on the stage in various positions while enjoying their snack.

"It's nice to see e-everyone getting along, isn't it?" Hinata asked.

Sasuke shrugged, looking over in time to see Hinata puff out her cheeks in a silly face aimed across the stage at Kiba and Shino causing the former to bark out a laugh while the latter's reaction was hidden by his school blazer's custom high collar as usual. Stifling a chuckle, Sasuke just hummed in placid agreement.

Shifting a little, Sasuke felt his knee brush Hinata's skirt-covered thigh. When Hinata made no attempt to move away, he let his body stay that way. Sasuke could feel the tension that had been lingering in his muscles for the past couple of months as he trained hard in basketball and studied for long hours for school finally bleed out of his body.

"Hey!"

"Whoa!"

"Watch it Uzumaki!"

Sasuke shook his head when he looked up to see his ridiculous best friend rolling himself across the stage, disturbing quite a few people along the way.

Coming to a stop in the very center of the stage, Naruto stretched out his limbs until he resembled a starfish. "Maaan, I almost regret that awesome prank. I mean, whatta way to start the summer, huh?"

Later, if ever teased about the sentimentality of his reply, Sasuke would blame it on being trapped in a room filled with paint fumes and the strong stench of turpentine. "It could be worst. At least, we get to start the summer all together," he said, glancing to the side to lock eyes meaningfully with Hinata.

And even as everyone laughed and chimed in with their own two cents, Sasuke's world narrowed down to two people: himself and a beaming Hinata.

'What a way to start the summer, indeed.'

Fin

---

Holy Effing Hell. This is long!

Please drop me a review to let me know how this went. It was so freaking long that I'm unsure if I managed to keep the tone pretty consistent the entire way through or if it reads like 10 completely different stories sloppily mashed together. Also it would be nice to know if anyone is still reading this.

Also, as this series went on I've been trying to expand the universe and include more characters, but I was doing it more gradually up until now when I suddenly lumped EVERY CHARACTER EVER into the end. I have a feeling that it ended up overwhelming the story, but at the same time I didn't want to leave anyone out because it was really important for me to show that these people are actually becoming friends and not just casual acquaintances and I wanted that feeling of togetherness and...please let me know if it worked at all? Or if it didn't. Maybe you have some suggestions as to how to make it more natural?

Even if it's just to complain, as long as there's some genuinely constructive sentiment behind it then I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading if you actually got this far.

Midnight's Violet Haze

HS