A/N: Hello my darlings! Would you look at that there, another beautiful chapter! You see, I now have time (and let's not forget energy) to write these stories. Why? you ask. She has a job, and friends, and too many things to do in a short amount of time. Ah, but that job part - I have been fired. It was a combination of me not being a very good employee and my boss being somewhat difficult to please. I don't wish to get into it, because the circumstances are far too strange, but the sad truth is I am no longer employed. I don't hate my boss, in fact, she's a wonderful person - at least I think so - but I couldn't hold up to her standards and was therefore let go. The bright side to all of this - I can now play Skyrim freely without feeling as if I should be running around.

Anyway, another chapter of The Reward of Hard Work! What is the acronym for that, ROHW? Sounds to me like ROW. The "H" is silent, hahaha. We've got a chapter of Hinata exploring her feelings, and perhaps a Sasuke that's a little too far out of character. With this story, Sasuke doesn't have a need to avenge anybody because he's fulfilled his revenge. He isn't angry (okay, not AS angry) anymore, just determined to live his life in peace - though the peace part might not come for a long time. I'm kind of upset that I probably didn't convey that as well as I was hoping.

Somehow, it spread all over town that Hinata was going to the Uchiha compound after work, and staying there for hours on end - which, of course, could only mean one thing. In just under a week, she was the center of everyone's gossip. Perhaps she had herself to blame for this one. She had done a very public walk to the Uchiha compound with her large pot of stew, and those who hadn't noticed, would have surely heard from their friends.

Annoyance flitted through her as she noticed a team of young Academy children stalking her. Perhaps they thought they were being sneaky, but their footsteps were heavy, their concealing jutsus weak, and their stealth terrible. Once upon a time, that had been her, learning the way of shinobi, and she had been just as terrible. But she had never used her powers for evil.

Walking through the compound, she came up to the house, and was once again greeted by the Uchiha. He was seated on the porch, his chin propped in his hand, staring blatantly at where the children had hidden themselves. Of course he would notice a group of them coming towards his home – how could any self-respecting shinobi not? – but when his gaze flicked to hers, she was grateful to see there were no questions she had to answer. He understood her plight, perhaps better than she did, and would ask no questions of what her plan was to fix it. Because she had no plan. What was done was done, and while it was terrible to hear some of the rumors, dutifully reported to her by an infuriated Kiba and Shino, she couldn't do much to stop it.

And she wasn't going to stop visiting Sasuke.

She seated herself beside him, her back straight, her hands resting lightly on her knees, her ankle tucked behind the other, like she had been taught to sit. Sasuke stood slowly, and then suddenly was standing before the children. There was a girlish shriek and the scrambling of little legs as they rushed to get away from the man who had nearly killed the Hokage Candidate. Sasuke watched them go with indifference, before turning to look at Hinata sitting on his porch. She smiled amiably and he returned it, though his own was small, a slight crook of his lips.

"Who was your entourage?" he questioned, coming to sit beside her.

She shrugged lightly, her pale eyes studying their surroundings. "Some students of mine. I didn't catch their faces, but I'd know that scream anywhere." When she turned to face him, he crocked an eyebrow for her to go on and she sighed softly. "Rumors have spread about me coming here. It's... nothing to worry about really."

"They think I'm fucking you." Her face flushed and he turned forward with a slight scowl. "Hmph."

She looked to her lap, feeling somewhat disappointed, and foolish at the same time. "I-I'm sure it will come to its climax faster than we expect and be over soon."

He paused, before saying smoothly, "No pun intended?"

"N-no! O-of c-c-course not!" She shoved him lightly, like she had done to Kiba so many times before.

He cocked his head to the side, his eyes glinting with his humor. "I can't believe you've been taking advantage of me this entire time."

Her mouth twisted with the effort not to laugh, but her face grew warmer. She shoved him harder. "I-if anything, you're taking advantage of me! I'm not some rag doll!"

"It's all an act. So people don't see you for the evil monster you are." She tried to shove him again, and he caught her wrists, delicious sparks of electricity shooting through her entire body. "How conniving."

She tried to shake him off, but she was laughing too hard to do much of anything. "You aren't one to talk!"

"I was only a boy then. Young and stupid. You're a grown woman. How terrible." His hold was light, a touch of playfulness lingering in his tone as he spoke, shaking his head. "I can't believe you, Hyuuga Hinata. What would your otou-sama say?"

"I would never!" she squeaked, but she didn't sound very convincing while laughing as hard as she was.

"Hinata-chan?" The sound of Naruto's voice abruptly shut her up. Sasuke immediately released her from his hold, and she slowly drew her hands to her chest, her heart thumbing soundly beneath her rib cage They stared at the blond, Hinata with trepidation. Suddenly, the rumors came roaring through her head, reminding her that perhaps Naruto thought her tarnished now, for being so wanton. It took all her courage not to move, to stay seated by Sasuke, who in the past month had become her friend, even if they didn't talk much.

He narrowed his eyes at the Uchiha, coming to stand before them. "What is going on here?"

"What does it look like?" was Sasuke's immediate reply, his eyebrow arching, but his eyes were dull once more. There was no laughter in them, no humor to lighten the inky black. Hinata didn't know where to rest her gaze.

"Looks to me like you were flirting with Hinata-chan." Naruto tapped a finger against his chin, looking innocent as Hinata's face flushed with embarrassment. "Now why would that be? Because if I remember correctly, Hinata-chan and you aren't really friends." His hands fell to his hips, staring the Uchiha down. "Right?"

When Sasuke said nothing, Naruto turned on Hinata. His cerulean eyes drilled into her, burning her face and her heart. He still hadn't responded to her confession, and she was beginning to think it would never happen. She bowed her head, pushing her fingertips together in nervous habit. "I-It's – Ah, w-well, y-you s-see... Ano..."

"You've been seeing each other secretly!" Naruto finally accused, waving his finger in their faces, and she sagged, nodding silently. For some reason, she could not look Sasuke in the face. Naruto dropped to his haunches before them, pouting. "For how long? Did you approach him, Hinata-chan? What for? How come you guys didn't tell me?" He asked a flood of questions rapidly and suddenly, leaving hardly any time for them to answer, not that they would.

She fiddled with a loose string, finding that her throat had closed in on itself. Where had all her courage and pride gone? Where had that laughing, giggling woman playfully shoving her friend run off to? It was as if Naruto's presence had sucked all of that out of her. She didn't want it to go, she didn't want it to leave, not when she was having so much fun. It had felt … right to sit here and laugh with Sasuke, to crack jokes about his years of madness, which he seemed to accept with great maturity and respectability, to laugh over how horrible of a person she was, when they both knew she could barely talk to strangers.

"Piss off," Sasuke finally said, standing. "What are you here for anyway?"

Naruto's pout become more pronounced as he came to his feet. "I was gonna ask if you wanted to come eat out with me and Sakura-chan."

Sasuke sighed and Hinata peeked at him beneath her lashes, caught between wanting him to say no so she could cook him dinner, and saying yes, so she could flee from this scene. "She put you up to this?"

"Contrary to popular belief," Naruto said dryly, lowering his eyelids, "I don't need Sakura-chan's permission to do every little thing. We've been so damn busy, and you've been stuck in this place for days. It's time you got out and showed your face already!" His gaze landed on Hinata, before a sly smile touched his lips. "Oh, but I guess you'd rather hang with Hinata-chan, huh."

She flushed once more, her stomach flip-flopping excitedly, as Sasuke's hand reached out and cuffed Naruto hard in the ear. He hissed and cupped the side of his head, his eyes clamping shut as he fell to his bottom and bent forward at the waist. He was quick to recover though, his eyes watering as he glared his best friend down. "What was that for?! I was just saying!"

"I'd prefer her over you any day," Sasuke shot back. "At least she knows when to keep her mouth shut."

"Hey, jackass, I have you know I can keep a secret just as well as the next guy!"

"You couldn't be quiet to save your life."

"I can too! I've done it before!"

"That must have been excruciating for you. I'm sorry."

Naruto launched himself at Sasuke with a growl and Hinata scrambled out of the way, slapping a hand over her mouth to hold her laughter back. They rolled off the porch and into the grass, evenly matched as they tousled and wrestled, trying to pin the other down. It only lasted thirty seconds or so, before Sasuke brought a knee up, catching Naruto just below his ribs, knocking the wind from the blond. He gasped sharply, and was immediately rolled onto his stomach, where Sasuke quickly yanked his arm behind his back in a pin and shoved his face into the grass.

Sasuke let him up after a few moments of fruitless struggling and Naruto immediately looked to her, pointing a finger at Sasuke, "That was unfair! Tell him, Hinata-chan! He cheated, I know he did! I totally won that round, by default!"

Sasuke brushed grass from his clothes as Hinata laughed hard enough to hiccup. "It's obvious that I am better than you by far, Naruto. Just accept the facts as they are."

"Hey, kiss my ass! You totally cheated." He was back on his feet, pouting as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Anyway, back to what I was saying. Do you not want to go?"

"No, I don't."

He frowned, then sighed softly, accepting that he had done what he could to bring the Uchiha out, looking to Hinata. "Since Sasuke is about at efficient at cooking as I am, feed him well, Hinata-chan." He turned on his heel and waved nonchalantly over his shoulder, leaving Hinata blushing in his wake.

Sasuke looked to her. "What are you cooking today?"

Her eyes were wide as she looked back to him. "A-anything you'd like. I haven't checked out any new recipes yet."

He stood from the porch and extended a hand to her, helping her stand. "I want stir-fry."

"Alright. But after we spar."

A/N: I'm pretty sure that's the shortest chapter I've written for this story so far. Which is a shame, because I think it's the coolest. Please, tell me what you think about it! (Review, darlings, reviews! I want them, please!) Also, next chapter, we'll be getting into the relationship part. I'm still having some trouble on how to broach it. Usually I'm great with romance, but this slowly falling in love stuff is hard, you know? Anyway, I am working diligently on, especially now that I have the free time to do so. In fact, next week, we'll be going on Winter Break! Come Friday, I'll be a free woman!

Keep your dreams close ~ A Dreamer Always