At a quarter to nine on Saturday morning, Sasuke yawned as he turned his mirror-black Jaguar XK convertible into the underground employee parking garage. Unlike the previous weekday afternoons he had worked, there were plenty of spaces available. He briefly debated whether the parking convenience was worth waking up so early before the sudden change from natural morning sunlight to glaring orange fluorescents blinded him.

Walking to the elevator, he scanned the other cars as he passed. An old Jeep, an older VW Beetle, an early model sedan that looked borrowed from parents judging by the peeling "Honor Roll" bumper stickers on it. All typical, none particularly extraordinary, like their owners, he guessed. Until he came upon the Mercedes Benz E Class Coupe with an odd butterfly sticker in the corner of rear window parked next to the elevator. Was this particular model even on the market yet? And who puts stickers on elite barely-out-of-the-factory cars? Maybe a corporate owner of the mall?

It was his first opening shift as well as his first weekend shift. Juugo wanted him to experience a busy weekend but was kind enough to let him start during the slower morning. Not like he had to do much to sell anything. He had already reached and passed his sales goal for the week using Suigetsu's personalized selling tips. This retail job was a breeze, if he did say so himself.

Not bothered at all by the indignant stares, the boy cut right through the circle of morning mall-walkers doing their stretches to get to the escalator leading down to the food court. Sasuke considered leaving a note on that Mercedes demanding a door leading from the garage directly to the food court so he wouldn't have to go up an elevator then down an escalator just for a cup of coffee. He got in line with the other tired-looking mall employees in front of the coffee stand.

In front of him, two boys purchasing their breakfast brews were talking to a girl in a large grey sweatshirt with her hood pulled up.

"I'd recommend you talk to Ino at Victoria's Secret. Let her know you work at Hot Dog on a Stick," the young man with dark glasses said to the girl.

"R-really?" she responded, "She'd know how to help me?"

The other man barked out a laugh, "Oh yeah! She used to work there herself, but she'll never admit it. Tell her Kiba and Shino sent you."

As Kiba and Shino walked off with their breakfasts, Gai greeted the girl with his usual enthusiasm. "A beauteous morning brings the beautiful Hinata to my counter! How may I help you, young miss?" Now that he was able to compare, Sasuke found Gai far more annoying in the mornings.

The young woman replied in a small and sweet voice, "Just two small green teas and a large caramel latte, thank you." As Gai rang her order up, Hinata pulled items out of her sweater pockets until she reached her wallet. It was only after she paid and was stuffing her cell phone and keys back in her pocket that Sasuke noticed the Mercedes Benz key with a funny little butterfly sticker on it. Despite his incredulity, he chose to keep quiet – he didn't want to cause a big fuss when the girl realized that Uchiha Sasuke had been standing behind her in the coffee line the whole time.

As he distractedly placed his drink order, the Uchiha curiously watched the girl walk back to Hot Dog on a Stick with her cardboard tray of drinks, whereupon she handed a green tea to a counter-lounging Shikamaru and the latte to Shikamaru's large friend who managed the corndog eatery. Both boys tried to pay Hinata back for their beverages, but she waved them off with a smile before heading into the back room to clock in. It was only after she emerged with her midnight blue-black hair pinned into her cap and a bucket of lemons did Sasuke recognize the girl who couldn't care less who he was.

At least now he knew where to go for lunch today.

At ten o'clock on the dot, every store in the mall opened their doors for business. While arranging the heavy bags of dry dog food, Kiba looked at the calendar just behind the counter and mumbled a curse. Shino didn't look up from his book but needlessly confirmed what both knew would happen.

"First Saturday of the month. He'll be in shortly."

It wasn't long at all. As if summoned, a tall, sickly pale man with long black hair and yellowing eyes walked into the pet and supply store, smooth as a snake. He approached the counter and greeted the two employees.

"Good morning, gentlemen. How is your morning?" he asked with a wide, saccharin grin.

Ever-stoic Shino was always the one who responded, "We're doing well. And you, sir?"

Kiba, repulsed by their regular customer even after years of working at the store, automatically went to work filling the usual order for the creepy man – mice, and lots of them. Half the batch alive, the other half dead and flash frozen. As disgusting as it was to scoop dead frozen mice in a bucket, he'd pick it over making small talk with the pasty-skinned man any day. And every month he thanked whatever higher being that Shino was willing to do it.

Avoiding eye contact, Kiba quickly put the live and dead mice on the counter as Shino finished ringing up the purchase with record-breaking speed and efficiency.

"Thank you so much, gentlemen," the man said with a slight bow of his head, then looked at his bounty. "Mm, delicious," he muttered as he exited the store.

Kiba walked to the store's threshold to watch the customer leave the mall and visibly shivered in horror. "Jesus, how many snakes do you think he has if he needs that many mice?"

Shino joined his co-worker at the door and answered, "I generally try not to dwell on things that nauseate me."

Kiba grunted his agreement as his breakfast roiled uncomfortably in his stomach.

Sasuke was busy feigning productivity, rearranging the studded belt rack, when the soft-spoken assistant manager Juugo approached to inform him of his mandatory lunch break. Not needing to be told twice, he thanked him and headed out of the store. On his way out, he heard Juugo veto Suigetsu's indie thrash punk music choice, replacing it with his favorite head-banging death metal band. Sasuke concluded he would never understand how someone as docile as Juugo could listen to something so violent and heavy.

Stepping out into the throng of weekend shoppers, he cut an imposing form in the stream of people. Already aware of a group of young teenaged girls making a beeline for him from across the way, he deliberately went against the flow of traffic towards the food court. A short distance ahead, he saw his spiky-haired classmate, strolling easily against the tide of people, hands leisurely in his pockets. Barely increasing his stride, he was walking in tandem with the Nara within seconds.

"Hey."

If someone told Shikamaru that the most antisocial person on the planet was going to go out of his way to greet someone, he would not have guessed that honor would be bestowed upon himself. But he wasn't so rude as to ignore him.

"Hi. You on your lunch break?"

Sasuke gave a small nod. Shikamaru noticed his eyes darting to the right every so often in carefully controlled paranoia, then realized five or six girls were following them. He chuckled lightly, "Are you trying to get rid of them?"

Sasuke pouted his frustration. "I just want to get some fucking lunch in peace."

The pony-tailed boy observed his classmate, walking stiffly, shoulders braced as though expecting some girl of prey to pounce on him at any second. Though most guys would kill to have girls chasing after them, he could see how someone could get tired, if not completely turned off, by it. He wouldn't call what they had a friendship, but Shikamaru knew a call for help when he saw one.

"So you don't care about your reputation?" he asked.

"If I did, I'd be nice to them," Sasuke moodily answered.

Without preamble, Shikamaru smoothly took Sasuke's hand in his own and interlocked their fingers. The pony-tailed boy could feel the other's jolt of surprise, and horrified anxiety judging by how quickly the usually cool-headed Uchiha's hand got sweaty. Before Sasuke could whip his hand away, a flurry of gasps and sad wailing erupted behind him. A glance over his shoulder revealed his mall stalkers were reduced to weepy blubbering, watching Sasuke walk away hand-in-hand with his male companion. Within seconds, the girls and their cries of despair were swept away with the crowd. Shikamaru let go of Sasuke's hand as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, putting his hand back in his pocket.

Whether it was out of gratitude or a simple desire to remain as inconspicuous as possible, Sasuke remained silent. Perhaps he was feeling appreciation for the sacrifice another man was willing to make for someone he hardly knew and could barely call an acquaintance, let alone a friend. Some newly-forged, unspoken bond formed between the two young men, a connection that could not be ignored after the performance of a truly selfless act. At the very least, the perpetually aloof Uchiha found someone with whom he could tolerate sitting through his lunch break.

As for Shikamaru, he was just glad the guy didn't clock him.

"She's on her lunch," Chouji smilingly informed his customer, who had already been served not twenty minutes earlier and was now ordering a dozen lemonades.

The boy, embarrassed to have been called out, blushed furiously and quickly walked away. The customer behind him, though, had no qualms. "When will she be back?"

The assistant manager sighed, "Forty-five minutes or so." Really, these people were shameless. But business was business, and if it took a cute girl bouncing on lemons to compete with the other food court dining options, then capitalism thrived on delicious fresh-squeezed lemonade. The majority of the line dispersed, leaving mostly tired moms succumbing to their kids' demands for corndogs and mall employees who wanted a cheap lunch.

Or a free lunch, like his next customer.

"Oi, Shikamaru, corndog and fries?" Chouji greeted his best friend.

The addressed ran a hand over his ponytail. "As usual." He turned around, and it was only then that Chouji noticed he brought someone else along. "You want anything, Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked.

Sasuke, somewhat taken aback, politely declined, "No, thanks, I can get my own lunch–"

But the ever-friendly assistant manager wouldn't have it. "Don't worry about it! A friend of Shikamaru's is a friend of mine!"

The poor boy looked absolutely puzzled at the notion, but accepted, "Sure, corndog and lemonade, please." Chouji handed them a tray of food without ringing them up, then went back to the comparative handful of customers waiting to be served. Shikamaru sat on the counter, toward the end where he'd be out of the way of transactions but still within communicative distance of Chouji. He wordlessly invited Sasuke to join him, but the other declined, choosing to lean on the counter instead.

"So," Shikamaru began while biting into his corndog, "What's up with Hinata?" Sasuke's attention was piqued, but he retained his indifferent expression.

Chouji, continuing to help customers, laughed, "Oh, not you too. She's got enough of a fan congregation already!"

Shikamaru quickly looked away and cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Uh no, I mean, what's she doing working in a mall?"

With no line of customers remaining, Chouji was free to entertain his lunching friend. "She's like us, just working through her summer vacation," he shrugged off.

Silent up till now, Sasuke gulped his lemonade and uttered, "Bullshit." The other two looked at him questioningly, so he explained, "She has a pre-market Benz parked in the garage." If she drove a car like that, one would think her whole life was a summer vacation, but that went unsaid.

Shikamaru smirked, "Well, then I think it's confirmed."

Chouji frowned, "What's confirmed?"

"She really is a Hyuuga," Shikamaru explained. "She bought a gift for her cousin at my store on her first day and I saw her name on the receipt."

The assistant manager pretended to be distracted by wiping down the counter and merely grunted a neutral response. Years of friendship told Shikamaru that Chouji knew more. "Just tell us," the boy drawled. "It's not like some corporate spy conspiracy. She's just hawking corndogs for minimum wage. I doubt Hyuuga Enterprises is planning a hostile corndog takeover and monopolization."

The larger man sighed, knowing it was futile to hide anything from the nosy Nara, "She's the daughter of the President and CEO of Hyuuga Enterprises. She's going into her second year studying business and political science. She has no prior work experience whatsoever and was entirely home-schooled before college. She just wants to anonymously get a sense of the real world to better prepare herself for running the family business. Alright?" he recited in a single breath.

Shikamaru blinked. She was not just any Hyuuga. She was the daughter of Hyuuga Hiashi. The sweet, soft-spoken and polite girl who bought a birthday present for her cousin was the offspring of one of the wealthiest men in the country, if not the world. For someone so outrageously rich, Hinata was remarkably friendly. Especially for someone so excessively sheltered. He would have expected an attitude like Sasuke's, but that was digressing. Speaking of which, Sasuke had suddenly stood up straighter and unconsciously ran his hand through his hair. Following the broody young man's eyes, Shikamaru noted that Hinata was approaching the corndog stand hauling a large Victoria's Secret bag, followed by a blond boy dressed all in black carrying two Cheesecake Factory doggie bags. They were still at least shouting distance from Hot Dog on a Stick, which was the only explanation why the blond would greet in that manner.

"CHOUJI! I got your girl and your lunch– HEY BASTARD ARE YOU ON YOUR BREAK?"

Hinata gasped in alarm, but didn't scold her boisterous companion since it looked like neither Shikamaru nor his black-clad friend did anything to acknowledge the young man's insult.

Instead, she saw that the nameless friend stood up from his counter-leaning when the two newcomers reached them and responded with a cool though not entirely unfriendly, "What's up, Dumbass?"

Hinata swiftly though not ungently nicked the doggie bags from her friend before he could toss them onto the counter from where he stood and risk spillage. "Chouji, I picked up lunch for you while I was getting mine – I hope you like your steak medium-rare..." but that was all she managed to get out since her supervisor had already torn into the bag as soon as he heard "steak." Sasuke and Shikamaru looked at their own lunches in disappointment.

"Aw, thanks, Hinata! You really didn't have to go to the trouble," he said, though he looked thoroughly appreciative that she did.

"Oh no, don't thank me. It's really from Naruto," she motioned toward her companion, who brushed off her gratitude.

"You should actually thank Itachi," he replied. "He was the one who told me to comp your lunches."

Sasuke, who had been content standing at the counter with his corndog, for the most part ignored, perked up at the mention of his older brother and his unusual generosity. Naruto could have spotted his old friend's subtle reaction a mile away and answered the Uchiha's unsaid question, "Yes, your brother actually pulled the stick out of his ass long enough to be nice to someone."

It was only at that moment that Hinata realized her social faux pas. Though to be fair, it was Naruto's duty to make introductions, but she understood that such formalities weren't very common outside her years of finishing school courses and etiquette training. Embarrassed that she didn't remember to introduce herself to the stranger, she took the opportunity to include the dark-haired boy in the conversation. "I'm s-sorry, I should have greeted you earlier. I'm Hinata," she said with a shy tilt of the lips and her small hand positioned for a handshake.

For a brief moment, it looked as if the boy was actually wary of her offered hand, but good manners won out and he brushed the crumbs off his hands before gingerly accepting hers. "Sasuke," he introduced himself flatly and rather stone-faced.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," the girl replied automatically, followed by a quick three-pump shake of hands as she had been properly taught. Hinata could hear Naruto snickering behind her and ignored Sasuke's glare over her shoulder. She wouldn't question the strange animosity of their apparent friendship. Either way, he was announcing his departure.

"Alright, I'm outta here. My shift starts in a few minutes." The blond young man clapped his friend roughly on the back and laughed, "And be a good boy, Sasuke. Not all girls want to jump your jock." He jumped out of the way before the Uchiha could react and sprinted for the escalator with a jovial wave and yelled goodbye.

Oh my, I guess the rumors are true, Hinata thought to herself.

While shopping for an extra supportive bra at Victoria's Secret, a pink-haired girl practically threw herself into the store and wailed at her salesperson, Ino, that the word around the Claire's/Limited Too junction was that their shared crush was not only decidedly spoken for, but that the significant other was most definitely male. A pony-tailed male, as the rumor mill had pegged him. In the middle of showing Hinata the remarkable tensile strength of a turquoise bra's band, Ino knocked over a pile of thongs off a table in her explosive denial that their precious Sasuke could be gay. At that point, Hinata quickly nipped the bra out of Ino's hand, paid for her new back-saving garment, and skittered out of the store before something else could happen. She never expected to be introduced to that very same Sasuke not five minutes later, nor did she expect that the sleepy-eyed boy she met in the gift shop was Sasuke's boyfriend.

Suddenly, Shikamaru's standing offer of a quiet place to take a break seemed much less nerve-wracking. She wondered when she would be able to take advantage of the invitation as she headed to the back room to change into her new bra in anticipation of some heavy-duty lemon-squashing.

Author's Note:

...Hi. It's been awhile, eh?