Hello everyone! I should explain somethings about summer festivals (natsu matsuri) before you read. If you already know, then skip this!

Festivals are really cool in Japan, from what I hear. There's a dance called Bon-Odori (Bon dance) that people do while circling around a yagura (a scaffolding made for the festival). There are tons of games like Kingyo Sukui (goldfish scooping) and lots of festival foods like Takoyaki (fried dumpling made with octopus), Yakisoba (sweet and salty noodles topped with mayo, seaweed flakes, and pickled ginger) or Taiyaki (fish-shaped pastries with red-bean paste of custard filling in the middle), to name a few.

This isn't about festivals, but a word that Ino says: Yoshi.

She's not talking about the green dinosaur from Mario, haha. It actually means "alright" in Japanese, but I don't think the "I" at the end gets pronounced so it sounds like yosh (much like Yakisoba, I've heard it pronounced as Yaksoba). If I'm wrong, someone correct me yo!

Anyway, that's all I had to say. Hope you enjoy.


August: You're Nicer than you Let on


"Jeez… Every time you go to a summer festival, there's nothing but lovey-dovey couples all around you." Ino practically spat. Tonight, the four girls were out enjoying the festival together. The streets were bustling with festival goers – children running around with sweets in their hands, friends catching up with one another, and even couples who seemed to be head-over-heels in love with each other.

A small smirk played on Tenten's lips. "You sound really bitter."

"I am bitter!" She cried.

"Then why'd you invite us for a girl's night out?" Sakura asked, unimpressed by her best friend's usual antics.

The blond gave a wistful sigh. Her posture had slumped and her eyes looked as jaded as ever. "Well, none of us have boyfriends, right? Why not be lonely together?"

Sakura's eye twitched and she curled her lips up in slight disgust. "You're… kind of scary when you're miserable, you know."

Hinata played with the sleeve of her yukata for a moment before shooting a glance at Ino. "Are you… having boy problems?" She asked in her usual soft voice and Yamanaka pouted.

"I asked Sai to come to the festival with me but he said he was going with someone else!" She whined. "I need to find out who this girl is!"

Her pink haired friend gave her an incredulous look before practically foaming at the mouth in rage. "You invited us here to help you stalk Sai and his date!? Are you out of your mind!?"

Tenten gave a small laugh. "Don't mind Sakura. We can be detectives – I love a good investigation."

"N-no, Tenten, you're kind of missing the point…" She tried reasoning. "Besides, how're we supposed to find him anyway? It's kind of crowded and –"

"There he is; straight ahead!" Hinata informed them.

Sakura was flabbergasted. "Not you too Hinata!"

"He's turning the corner now! You'll have to be quick! It's now or never!" Tenten cried.

"Yoshi! I've gotta run after them!" Ino's face took on a look of determination as she balled up her fists.

"And how are you supposed to run in your yukata!?" Sakura cried.

Suddenly, Ino stretched her arms out to her side, but the look of determination never left her face. "Someone untie my obi!"

"Get a grip!"

(^o^)

"Sheesh," Sakura grumbled. "You are so impulsive. And who would have tied your obi again if you undid it? I don't know how to tie one."

"Oh," Hinata piped up, "I do!"

Ino shot a haughty look towards Sakura who rolled her eyes. "Did your mom teach you or something?" Ino asked.

She shook her head. "No, Neji-niisan did. He even tied mine for me tonight!" She spun around revealing a very intricate and perfectly tied knot. The girls stared in awe until Hinata turned around, looking quite pleased.

"Let me marry Neji!" Ino cried.

"Weren't you just ready to take off your obi for Sai a few moments ago?" Sakura questioned, folding her arms in annoyance. Ino only made a face at her.

"Ah, look! Kingyo Sukui!" Hinata smiled. "Can we play it?"

Sakura smiled. "I think it'll be a good idea. Let's try it."

Ino had whined about losing sight of their mission but Sakura slowly talked her out of it; saying that there would be other chances to talk to Sai, and that they'd never catch up to him in their constricting outfits anyway. The blonde begrudgingly agreed, and watched as the rest of her friends attempted to scoop up goldfish on the flat paper nets they were given.

"Cha! I caught one!" Sakura cried, punching her fist in the air. However, the paper had dissolved and the fish landed back into the water with a "plop". Hinata let out small giggle at her friend's failed attempt to catch her small, slippery companion. "Ah crap… I lost it." She grumbled. Her eyes caught sight of something extremely close to her face and plastic looking.

"Here," Tenten grinned, holding up the plastic bag with her goldfish in it, "you can have it. I'm not too great with keeping pets anyway."

Graciously accepting the bag, Sakura gave a sheepish smile. "I guess I owe you one, huh?"

"Takoyaki would be nice." She winked.

"Yeah… Snacks would be nice. Come on Hina – Hinata?" Ino called out, before peering over her shy friend's shoulder. The Hyuga was crouched down, focused solely on the little fish before her, swimming around in circles. When it stopped, Hinata reached out with her net to pick it up, being mindful not to leave the net in water for too long so it wouldn't dissolve.

When she caught it, Hinata quickly slipped it into the tin bowl next to her. Her free hand balled up into a fist, and her eyes lit up as a small smile graced her lips. "Yatta!" She quietly cheered.

"Ehh, you actually caught it. You need to have so much patience with this game; I can't do it." Ino mumbled. After Hinata receiver her plastic bag with her fish in it, the four of them stopped at a few stands selling food. Tenten got her takoyaki first, then Sakura got a bunch of candies – especially ones coated in syrup. Hinata and Ino were receiving their taiyaki before hearing muffled voices calling out to them.

When they turned to look, three men had been running towards them at top speed in goofy cartoon character masks. Hinata and Ino gave terrified shrieks while Tenten and Sakura stood in front of their friends, taking aggressive stances.

"Woah, woah, woah!" The man who seemed to be the leader of his group cried, slowing his pace just before he reached the girls. "Calm down! It's just us!" He cried, sliding his red Power Ranger mask to the side of his face. Sakura took in all of the features of his face; bright shining blue eyes, a nicely shaped jawline, whisker birthmarks.

"Naruto!?" She cried, relaxing her posture. He grinned. "You can't do creepy stuff like that and expect us to be calm about it you idiot!" Hinata and Ino peered out from behind Sakura and Tenten respectively before a look of relief washed over them. The other two boys finally reached them, pulling off their masks.

"Kiba-kun?" Hinata tilted her head to the side.

"Sai!" Ino cried pointing an accusing finger at him. He only replied with a small "hello" and smiled. "Wait, what're you all doing here?"

Kiba's eyes narrowed at her. "Enjoying the festival, duh! Why else would be here?" The blonde huffed and Kiba's voice took on his normal tone. "Sai wanted to have a guy's night out, and Naruto suggested having one at the festival."

Naruto nodded before placing his arms on the back of his head. "Mhmm. We saw you guys and we thought we'd say hi. Sasuke and Shikamaru are here too, but they didn't wanna run all the way over here so they're on their way."

The girls stared at Naruto before shifting their gaze to Ino who was innocently whistling a tune and failing miserably at it. Slowly, Sakura's hand snaked behind Tenten to slap Ino on the back of the head. The slap had been so hard that Ino barely caught her balance again. "Dumbass." Sakura mumbled under her breath while Hinata and Tenten laughed.

"I don't understand what's going on…" Kiba muttered.

"Yeah, me neither." Naruto shrugged. "Hey, since we're all here, wanna play some games?"

(^o^)

The fox stuffed animal was so adorable. It had cute little whiskers and its eyes were closed. There were pink hues on its cheeks and it had the most mischievous of grins on its face. Hinata wanted it so badly, but she was having trouble shooting it. Yes, it was perched on top of one of the shelves in a booth they all passed by. The man running the booth said that if she was able to use the gun and shoot something down, the prize would be hers. She spent 500 yen so far, and wasn't able to get a thing while the rest of her friends were shooting things left and right.

"Need help?" Naruto grinned. Hinata gave a sheepish smile and nodded. "Which one do you want?"

Her index finger pointed to the orange fox on one of the middle shelves and Naruto grinned. "That's easy! I'll show you how to do it!"

Hinata's heart was practically pounding out of her chest by how close they were. He stood behind her, helping her position the toy rifle properly. Both of his hands were holding hers; one at the bottom of the rifle and the other near the trigger. "Relax your shoulders a little." His voice was low and husky. His breath tickled her ear and she just couldn't fight the blush that made its way onto her cheeks.

He gave a low chuckle. "Am I making you nervous? I'll give you some space if you want."

She didn't want him to give her space. She wanted to stay like this as long as possible and listen to the hushed gruffness of his voice so close to her ear. Hinata bit her glossed lip before shaking her head.

Naruto was a bit surprised to hear that she was okay with him so close to her, and let out the smallest of laughs. "Okay. Are you ready?" She gave him the okay, and he moved her finger on the trigger after aiming for the fox. On their first try, the cork only slightly grazed the stuffed animal on the side of its face. The second; she had gotten a little too anxious with how close they were and involuntarily jerked her arm as they pulled the trigger and the cork shot the ear of the fox.

The third time, they hit the fox right in the middle of its forehead, shooting it down from the shelf it sat on. The prize keeper handed it to her and she held it in her arms before giving it a cuddle. "Ah, it's so cute! Thank you so much, Naruto-kun!"

Her smile was as bright as ever and she did that thing with her hair that he liked so much – she curled it. The blood rushed to his cheeks at the sight of how cute she was; cuddling a stuffed animal, giving him that warm smile that she always gave him. He was able to pass his reaction to her off as sheepishness as she began to compliment his shooting skills. "Ah, don't mention it!" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. "What're you gonna name it?"

Name it? She hadn't thought about that. Hinata looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know actually… Do you have a name for it?"

"Hmm," he hummed in thought, "I think you should name it Kurama!"

Hinata tilted her head to the side in question. "Eh? Whys that?"

"Cuz, there's this show that me and my dad would watch, and this one guy is like human, but he can turn into this demon fox and controls plants – it's really cool!" For a while, Naruto went on about this show, causing Hinata to giggle. He frowned. "What's so funny? Don't laugh at me!"

"I'm not, I'm not!" She laughed. "It's just nice to see you talk about things that you enjoy. Your enthusiasm kind of rubs off on me."

Naruto stared at the Hyuga girl in front of him before he looked away to hide his embarrassment and scratched his cheek with his index finger. "Don't say stuff like that… It's weird."

Hinata's face truly flushed at that point. Was she being a little too bold? "I-I… I didn't mean -!"

"I'm kidding!" He laughed. She pouted.

"Jeez, Naruto-kun!"

Throughout the rest of the night, Naruto teased and chatted mainly with Hinata. If Hinata didn't know any better, she would think that he was flirting with her. His actions didn't go unnoticed by Sakura, who felt just a small twinge in her heart.


"Yes. Please, take care." Hinata waved at the old woman whom she helped cross the street. When the woman was gone, Hinata checked the time on her phone; 12:30. Today had been a slow day. She spent her morning studying, cleaning, and trying on different dresses for the upcoming party in two weeks. Being around the servants while trying to study had been more taxing on her than she thought.

That's why she was on this walk – to finally catch a breather from the stress inhabiting her home.

But, walking alone was kind of boring. Being alone with her thoughts was even worse, since she was kind of stressing herself out with the thought of exams and the upcoming party. Hinata thought that she'd call Ino to see if she was busy, but a familiar figure just across the street caught her attention.

"Ah! Karin!" Hinata cried, waving her down with her right hand. Her redheaded schoolmate looked up from her cellphone and waved back. She looked both ways before jogging across the street to meet with her.

"Yaho!" She greeted. Hinata looked down to see that she was carrying some sort of plastic box with holes in it in her right hand.

"Um, what's that?" Hinata asked.

Karin looked down at the carrying cage before giving a small grin. "Oh, this? Tojo-baachan is in here. I took her to the vet earlier. I just got off the train not too long ago, so I'm heading back home with her."

"Oh, that sounds lovely. I wish I could see her in person." One of Tojo's paws pushed out of a hole in the carrying cage and gave a lazy meow.

Karin snickered. "Lazy old hag. Since you wanna see her, you can come to my place then."

Hinata tilted her head to the side. "Oh, are you sure? I don't want to intrude or anything…"

The glasses-clad teen waved her hand dismissively. "Nah, it's fine. Besides, having company over is a nice change of pace."

Her tone of voice seemed to fall in enthusiasm at that point. Did Karin not have many visitors over? How terrible. Hinata decided that she would visit Karin's home. It was a little strange; they hadn't really spoken much, just a few times here and there in June, so going over to her house felt a bit rushed. But Karin was a very forward person, so maybe it wasn't too weird for her.

"So, I hear Sasuke-kun's going to your house for a party." She spoke suddenly as the two walked to her home. Hinata let out a small gasp.

"H-how did you know about that?" Hinata asked, confused as to how Karin knew that information. I wasn't as if Hinata was keeping it a secret or anything, but she definitely wasn't shouting it out to the entire school.

Karin laughed. "Oh, Sasuke-kun told me himself."

What?

Sasuke actually told Karin? "Uh… Are you two friends or something?"

She nodded. "Mhmm. Me, him and a few other friends hang out at lunch in my classroom or after school sometimes."

So that's where Sasuke took off when he wasn't with Naruto and Sakura. Hinata didn't know they were so close, but she thought that maybe that was the reason why Sasuke didn't run for the hills whenever she came to flirt with him – because they were friends. Well, that and he must've been used to all of the flirting by now.

Karin spoke up again, breaking Hinata away from her thoughts. "You must be an interesting person for him to talk about you."

Sasuke actually talks about her? He hardly talks to anyone unless he's badmouthing someone. Hopefully he wasn't saying terrible things about her. "What does he say?" Hinata asked.

"At first, he only said that you were the daughter of his dad's business partner, so he had to be on his best behavior with you." Well, he certainly didn't act like he was being on his best behavior when she first spoke to him. Hinata nodded as Karin continued on. "Now he thinks you're a total cutie."

Hinata gave a jaded look. "Please don't lie to me…"

Karin chuckled. "Wow, no reaction from you at all. You're really funny. But he did tell me just the other day that you're not so bad to be around."

Not so bad? Hinata guessed that Sasuke's pride wouldn't allow him to admit to anyone that they were friends. Still, she'd take whatever compliment – if you could call it that – she could get from the Uchiha.

"I'm flattered." She spoke in a dull tone.

"Ah, there's my house."

(^o^)

The house was small. When they stepped into the living room, there was a small brown couch that sat up against one of the green walls. A small table was placed in the center of the room and there was a television stand not too far from it. What really made the place lively were the two cats; Kyo and Ryo who scurried up to their owner with loud meows.

"They must be hungry since they don't usually greet me like this." Karin grinned. She set down the carrying cage and opened the small door. Tojo leaped out as soon as she saw her exit and hissed at her owner before trotting off into her usual corner. "Don't hiss at me you old hag! She's still annoyed at me for putting her in the cage."

Hinata gazed down at Karin's arms. Some of the markings looked fresh. "Did she scratch you up today?"

"Yeah. I was fighting to get her in the cage this morning. I was almost late for the appointment, so I didn't get time to clean them." She said, staring at the marks on her arm.

The dark haired teen frowned. "Ah, well at least let me clean them for you! They might get infected!"

The redhead looked at her arm once more before returning her gaze to her guest. "Sure, if you want to."

Now, Karin didn't consider hosting as her forte, but she was sure that she was terrible at it. Hinata not only cleaned and bandaged her cuts, but she also fed the cats and was currently in the kitchen preparing tea for them. Although she tried to protest, the Hyuga was adamant on doing everything because she was "intruding." Now Karin sort of felt useless just sitting in front of the fan, taking up space and letting a guest go all the work for her.

"Karin," the Hyuga called out from the kitchen, causing her to perk up, "where do you keep your bread? I'd like to make some sandwiches."

Was this girl sent from God? "Uh, it's in the shelf closest to the stove." This was a good thing. Karin hadn't eaten lunch yet anyway. A few moments later, Hinata emerged from the kitchen with a tray of tea and sandwiches.

"It isn't much, but I hope you enjoy it." As soon as she placed the tray onto the table, Karin uttered a quick "itadakimasu" before stuffing a part of the sandwich in in her mouth. A sound of muffled delight escaped her lips.

"Ahh, you'll make a good wife someday!" She cried, and I hint of red made its way across her cheeks. It wasn't the first time she had heard that compliment, but she hoped that it would be true in the future. She could just imagine being able to cook warm meals for her husband everyday – maybe they could even cook together. Then the image of a certain blond boy popped into her mind and she lightly shook her head.

Just then, something fuzzy rubbed up against her leg, making her shiver. Hinata looked down to find the cute orange tabby purring as he snuggled up against her. Karin grinned.

"Oh, Kyo. Did you find a girlfriend?" Kyo meowed in response before curling up next to the quiet Hyuga. "It looks like he kinda likes you."

Hinata gave a soft smile. "Oh yeah, there was something I wanted to ask you about."

"And what's that?"

"If you and Sasuke-kun are so close, why do you always fight with Sakura-chan over him?"

Karin took a sip of her tea before shrugging nonchalantly. "Sasuke-kun is really good looking, don't you think?"

Was that a rhetorical question or did Karin really want Hinata to answer that? Well, yes. Sasuke was a good looking young man. So good looking that it was intimidating. Every girl in school thought he was handsome and she wasn't lying when she said every girl; herself included. Reluctantly, she nodded and Karin grinned.

"See? I just can't help flirting with such a good looking man. He's perfect!"

Well, Hinata wouldn't say perfect

"But Haruno seems to really like Sasuke-kun. I can see it in her eyes. She gets so worked up over him too, it's so funny." And then she cackled.

Hinata blinked. "So, you only openly flirt with Sasuke-kun to annoy Sakura-chan…?"

"Well yeah! She looks really interesting when she's angry."

If Hinata didn't know any better, she'd say that Karin wasn't infatuated with Sasuke but rather Sakura. People always bully the people that they like after all.

The redhead stuffed another sandwich into her mouth. "It's just Haruno though. If you liked Sasuke-kun as much as she did, I'd be kind of afraid of making you cry or something."

Well, Karin wasn't wrong. Her heart shattered in two at the sight of Naruto and Sakura sharing an umbrella once. She felt pathetic admitting it to herself, but it was true. Imagine if Sakura flirted with Naruto as much as Karin flirted with Sasuke! And Hinata was so passive aggressive that she couldn't even do anything but start ignoring those around her. She was positive she'd revert to old habits all over again.

"Besides, Sasuke-kun is the one boy I wouldn't ever want to give up on. He's done a lot for me." Hinata looked into Karin's piercing red eyes. She didn't think they'd ever look so somber. Even so, the red head gave a small smile. "He was my first friend, and it was the most anyone has ever done for me. I'll always be grateful to him for that."

Hinata could almost feel the atmosphere thicken with sadness. "You know, I got teased a lot my whole life; for my glasses, my marks, my personality. I didn't have any friends growing up. Well, except for that old hag over there." She jabbed a thumb in the direction where Tojo laid curled up into a ball.

"But she's different. Even after I got accepted into high school, I didn't really have any friends. But then, handsome Sasuke-kun sat next to me in class. I got really nervous around him, so during break, I'd talk his ear off all the time."

Karin gave a small chuckle and even Hinata couldn't hold back a small giggle herself. Maybe all girls just got super nervous around people they liked, no matter how outgoing and flirtatious they were.

"Even though I was noisy and annoying, he never teased me about it like everyone else. He just listened. Then I got to talking about deeper and sadder stuff, and he just listened to me. That was all I ever wanted out of someone; to be heard for once in my life. That's why I really like Sasuke-kun. He's nicer than he lets on."

Listening to her really warmed Hinata's heart. She never in a million years thought that someone would use Sasuke's name and the words "nice" in the same sentence but, wonders never ceased. Later that afternoon Hinata excused herself, saying that she needed to go home.

Today was a good day. Hinata had learned a few more things about two of her new friends. One of which was that they put on such a cold front around everyone else, but they genuinely did care about those around them, even if their methods were a bit out of the ordinary.


"Have you found a suitable dress for the party yet?"

"Yes, Father."

"And have you been brushing up on your studies?"

"Yes, Father."

"Even your conversational English?"

"Yes, Father."

Hiashi gave an approving nod, not even bothering to look up from his work. She was currently standing in his study. Usually, no one was allowed to enter unless it was an emergency because her father did not like to be disturbed while working. Today, however, Hiashi had told one of the servants to bring Hinata into the study so that he could check up on her.

He clicked his tongue before speaking. "Good. There will be attendees coming from America. I want you to dazzle them, and show that you are a very diverse young woman. This event is very important to me, I'll have you know."

Hinata bit her lip. What he meant to add was "so don't mess this up for me." Hinata could just feel it.

"Yes, I understand Father." She absolutely hated when her father got like this about important events. Yes, his career was on the line if things were to go awry, and yes, of course he'd be stressed since he had to worry about every last detail. It was the fact that he didn't seem to notice how stressful this was on her.

Hinata had to play the perfect daughter – one who was graceful, cultured, and beautiful, not to mention knowledgeable on the ins and outs of her father's company. Not only did she have to keep up with the appearance, but she was also studying really hard for exams and trying to keep up with a new social life that she had no intention of parting with – yes, she was stressed to!

"Is there anything else that you wish to tell me, Father?" Hinata asked. Her voice was a bit dry.

Hiashi was silent for a moment as he was very much into the work in front of him. "No, that's all for now. You may leave."

Hinata gave a small bow and turned on her heels to leave, but her father's voice stopped her. "How are you getting along with Uchiha-san's son?"

Of course he would ask that. He had to make sure that she was on good terms with Sasuke so that they didn't ruin the business partnership. Not only that, but Sasuke was also a good connection to have in her future business endeavors.

Those were the only reasons. Not because, you know, they were great friends or anything like that and actually enjoyed hanging out together – of course not!

"Uchiha-san and I get along quite well. We are good friends." She told him. Hinata saw the back of her father's head nod and that was her cue to leave his study.

Once she was in her room, the Hyuga heiress plopped onto her bed, letting out a frustrated groan into her pillow. She was just so tired of everything going on in this house. Between studying, having party planners in and out of the estate and having her father give lectures on how she should carry herself – Hinata was starting to believe that she was going crazy!

"Deep breaths, Hinata… Deep breaths…" Just one more week. Just one more week until the party was over and her life could go back to being less chaotic than it usually was. All she'd have to deal with were… well, everything that was causing her all this stress now minus the party.

She would still be expected to study up on the business, on her English and her regular school work. She still had to fit the image of a classy young lady of course since she was destined to take over the business someday.

It was no use. Hinata would never be able to catch a break. Everything was catching up to her so fast; she barely had time to even breathe. The world seemed to be spinning and no matter how many times she called out to make it stop, it just went by faster. Just thinking about keeping up with everyone made her feel dizzy. Hopefully, a nice long bath would help with calming her nerves.

-x-

The days seem to stretch on forever, but it was finally the day before the party. Everyone was busy and seemed to be a bit on edge about tomorrow night. Her father was especially on edge. She could tell by how harshly he barked orders at the servants or how cold his voice was while talking to her or her sister.

It didn't seem to affect Hanabi as much as it was affecting Hinata, but that was probably because Hanabi wasn't under as much scrutiny and pressure as she was.

The constant yelling and ordering around was giving her a headache. Her migraine appeared when her father sat her down that night to discuss all the most important people she needed to converse with, as well as her talking points. She could barely keep up, and was growing wearier by the second.

"Hinata!" Hiashi snapped, bringing his daughter out of her daze. "Have you been listening to a word I've been saying? This is very important for tomorrow night; you need to pay attention!"

"I'm trying my best, Father…" She mumbled.

"Trying and actually doing it are two different things. We've been going over this for a half an hour now." He gave a long sigh as Hinata bit her lip.

She'd had enough of this. "Then, can we just stop? Please?"

Hiashi was taken aback by this. "Stop? We haven't been making any progress, Hinata."

"Then, that's all the more reason to stop, isn't it?" She questioned.

Hiashi folded his arms, obviously annoyed at his daughter's objection. This child was really trying his patience. "Would you like a five minute break then?"

"I'd like a break forever." She murmured before quickly realizing her error. Her eyes went wide and she slowly shifted her gaze towards her father, who was livid. His posture didn't change, but Hinata could tell that the anger was held inside of his eyes.

"Excuse me?" Hiashi growled. The Hyuga heiress shook her head, but her father wasn't having any of that. "No, I'd like you to repeat yourself. Just where is this bad attitude of yours coming from?"

Now it was Hinata's turn to be surprised. "Bad attitude?" She repeated, aghast that he would even say something like that to her. "I am sorry Father, but I am not the one with the bad attitude." Never had she felt so offended before in her life; and by her own father no less!

"How dare you!?" Hiashi's arms were unfolded now, and Hinata could tell that she had offended him too. "Is this what happens when you run off to play with those classless children out there? You come back disrespecting your father?"

"Don't say such rude things about them!" This was the first time she had ever raised her voice at him. She wanted to just let it go and drop the entire subject but her mouth wouldn't let her, despite her mind's protests. It just hurt so much that he would say something like that about her friends – the ones who accepted her and loved her for who she was. He knew absolutely nothing about her friend and how kind and loving they were to her – he had no place to speak about them like that! "Don't bring them into this; this isn't about them! I didn't ask for any of this!"

"Ask for any of what?"

"This!" She cried, throwing her arms up in the air in frustration. "I didn't ask to be heiress to the company! I didn't ask to know everything and anything about the business! I never asked for any of this!"

Hiashi bit his bottom lip in an attempt to keep himself calm. "It does not matter what you did or did not ask for. It is your responsibility to take over someday – we've already spoken about this Hinata. I do not want to hear another word about it. Please refrain from acting so childish."

"Am I not allowed to think for myself, Father? Am I not allowed to choose my future for myself? This isn't fair to me!"

"I said I do not want to hear another word about it, Hinata."

"And I told you I did not ask for any of this to be brought upon me! I don't want to be in a position where I can never be with my family anymore -!"

"Hinata!" Hiashi cried.

"And I don't want to do this work that I'm not passionate about!"

Hiashi called his daughter's name once more, but she had stopped listening a long time ago.

"You never talk to me! You never ask me about what I want to do in my life! It's always about you! It's always about the company! It's like you care about that company more than you care about me!"

All of a sudden, there was a loud clap that echoed throughout the room. Hinata's eyes went wide in shock, and her vision slowly wavered until it was focused on her father's face, who looked just as astonished, if not more so than she was.

The Hyuga heiress raised a hand to her left cheek. It stung so badly, but that wasn't the reason why the tears had begun to escape her eyes. Silence filled the room for what felt like an eternity before Hiashi raised his voice to speak.

"Hinata, I –"

She raised her hand up in front of him to stop whatever it was that he was going to attempt to say to her. "No." Her voice was shaky, almost hoarse and she hated the sound of it so much. It just sounded so weak. "Don't say anything. Your feelings about myself as well as what you think about my life have already been conveyed to me."

Hinata's hand lowered and she sniffled. Her shoulders began heaving and Hiashi had been so burdened with guilt. The last time he had seen his eldest daughter cry like this was at the funeral of his late wife. He wanted to reach out to her, or say something but she would only recoil from him.

He hadn't meant to go as far as he did, but he just lost it after she had screamed that he didn't care for her as much as he cared for his work. It hurt to hear that from his own daughter, but it must have hurt even more to be given that impression by her own father.

"I will not be attending the party tomorrow night." And with that, Hinata rushed out of the room before her father could get a single word in. On her way to her room, she had bumped into Neji who had heard the entire argument. He noticed the red mark on her cheek, and concern for his cousin washed over his face as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Please Neji-niisan…" She whimpered. "Just let me go. I don't want to talk about it… I just want to be alone right now…"

Although he was reluctant, the grip on his cousin's shoulders slipped and he sighed heavily. "As you wish."

Hinata mumbled a small "thank you" to him before running upstairs and into her bedroom.

Everything had been so painful. Her cheek hurt, her head hurt, and most importantly, her heart ached. Slowly, Hinata trudged into bed. It felt like hours had passed by but she hadn't gone to sleep and her tears were making her pillow soggy. She couldn't bring herself to get up and change it though. Hinata just wanted to lie there and never leave the comfort of her bed ever again.

And for the record, she was absolutely serious about what she told her father. Hinata was going to make sure she was locked up in her room during the entire party tomorrow night.


"Onee-chan…" Hanabi called from outside of her sister's room. It was the night of the party, and she had been dressed in a knee length midnight blue dress for the occasion. She had been trying for most of the day to coax her sister out of her room but was failing miserably. "I know you're hurt but please come out. Everyone wants to see you."

While Hinata was locked away in her room, Hanabi was the one playing Hinata's "perfect daughter" role – welcoming guests and engaging in polite and interesting conversations. When the topic of her elder sister came up, Hanabi would lie, and say that her sister was feeling under the weather.

Now that the younger of the two Hyuga sisters caught a moment away from the party, she tried her hand at getting her sister to come out once more, but when she heard nothing from the other side of the door, she sighed.

"No luck?" Neji asked. Hanabi shook her head. "I guess it can't be helped then…"

Her cousin motioned for someone to come towards them, and Hanabi was sure she'd seen his face before. "Hinata, Sasuke's here."

It was silent for a moment. Soon, the unlocking of the door could be heard and the door cracked open, revealing a very disheveled Hinata. Sasuke took in her features. Her hair was an absolute mess and a few strands were stuck to parts of her face. Her eyes were red, no doubt from excessive crying and her cheeks were stained with tears.

She and Sasuke stared at each other for a little too long if you asked Hanabi, before the Uchiha opened his mouth. "You look terrible."

Hinata's mouth was slightly agape, and there was a look of astonishment across her face before slamming the door shut and locking it once more. "Uchiha!" Neji cried.

Hanabi folded her arms across her chest, shooting him a disapproving look. "If that was your plan to get her out, it didn't work very well."

"I have eyes." He murmured before stepping closer to her door.

The younger sister huffed. "Is he really Onee-chan's friend?" she asked, more to herself than anyone else.

Sasuke wasted no time pounding the door with his fist. "Get out of there, you're being annoying. You wouldn't stop talking about how we'd hang out at this stupid party and now you're ditching me with those people downstairs? I don't think so."

Sheesh! What kind of friend was this Uchiha Sasuke anyway? He certainly made it look like they hated each other. To Hanabi's surprise, the door opened again, and Hinata peeked out, pouting slightly. "Why do you have to be so aggressive…?" She mumbled.

"Hurry up and get changed," Sasuke ordered, "and then go talk to whoever you need to talk to do we can leave. You've got 20 minutes to get downstairs or I'm going without you." And with that, Sasuke was already walking back to the party.

"Wait! Leave and go where, Uchiha?" Neji asked.

"On a walk." He answered plainly before the three of them could see him no more.

When he was gone, Hinata sighed. "I still haven't taken a bath yet."

"Seriously!? C'mon, that Uchiha guy said that you had 20 minutes!" Hanabi cried, pulling on her sister's wrist and guiding her to the bathroom. "Neji-niichan'll specially curl your hair too!"

Neji watched the two Hyuga sisters scurry off to the bathroom and sighed. Thank God for Uchiha, I guess.

-x-

She was late. A whole 10 minutes late. Nevertheless, Sasuke still waited around for her, as he suspected this would happen. Women took forever to dress up and look pretty for events; his mother was the same way. Then he quickly cast that thought aside, preoccupying himself with his phone.

It took another five minutes before the Uchiha looked up from his phone to see the three Hyugas enter from another room. He watched Hinata frantically look around for him, and when her eyes settled on him, she smiled. There was a big improvement in her attire. Her dark hair wasn't strewn about, but rather neatly curled, spilling behind her back and on her chest. Her shoulders were bare and her arms sleeveless. The simple lavender dress she wore had a sweetheart neckline, and wasn't too revealing. He could see her legs right up until her knee.

The pearls that she was wearing looked nice on her too, he added. Overall, Sasuke had to say that Hinata cleaned up quite nicely.

"You didn't leave me behind." She smiled, and he made a face.

"I was just about to. Anyway, go do what you need to do and hurry up."

The Hyuga gave a small laugh. "You know, you're a lot nicer than you let on."

With that, Hinata left him momentarily to spend time mingling with people, some important and some not as important. She had been careful not to run into her father, and came close to running into him only once. The guests didn't really have anything interesting to say and they didn't seem to be interested in her either, only the company – as she suspected.

Once Hinata was finished, she and Sasuke left the manor together, walking aimlessly around the neighborhood. Neither of them had said anything to the other during their walk, although Sasuke really wanted to bring up why she didn't want to attend the party in the first place. Neji had been very vague, saying only that Hinata refused to attend the party because she wasn't feeling well.

At first, the Uchiha thought she had gone and caught a summer cold, but upon seeing her so miserable looking, he assumed that someone had made her feel unwell, rather than a virus.

However, Hinata looked unwilling to speak about what was troubling her, so Sasuke thought he'd get her to focus on something else for a while. "Karin tells me she wants to marry you."

"What?" Hinata responded quickly. She hadn't meant for it to sound as if she were annoyed. She was just a bit thrown off by the Uchiha's choice for a starter topic for their conversation.

"You heard me."

Yes, she did hear him. That didn't change the fact that it totally blindsided her. "I did, but I wasn't expecting you to say that…" She mumbled. "Um, why'd she say that?"

Sasuke shrugged and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his black slacks. "She wouldn't shut up about how you cleaned her cuts and how you made her lunch."

Hinata giggled. "Well, I'm always happy to help a friend out. Speaking of friends, I never knew that you and Karin were such good friends."

He gave a slight nod. Wow. If Uchiha Sasuke acknowledged a friendship, then there had to have been a really good bond between him and the other person. "She told me that you were very kind to her."

Sasuke's mouth curled in disgust. "She better not have told you anything stupid."

"Oh no! She only told me that you were her first true friend." He grunted and Hinata let a soft giggle escape her lips. "What did you mean by 'stupid'? Did you play with her cats or something?"

When Sasuke didn't answer, the smile on her face grew wider and she let out a small squeal as Sasuke groaned in annoyance. "I didn't know you were an animal person! Do you have any animals of your own?"

Sasuke shook his head. "My father is allergic to cats."

"Oh, that's too bad…" She frowned. "Ah, but when you're living on your own, you'd certainly be able to adopt a little cat." Hinata was looking a lot livelier than earlier now that they were out of her home and talking about furry animals.

Still, Sasuke was curious as to what caused her to look so miserable. "Hinata." Sasuke said, taking Hinata by surprise. He had never called her by her first name before. "Are you seriously okay?"

"…Is this… Is this about earlier?"

Her whole demeanor became melancholy and she stopped walking. When Sasuke stopped hearing the clicking of her heals on the concrete floor, he stopped as well and turned to face her.

"Last night, my father and I got into a huge argument about the company." She could feel his gaze intensify on her and she let out a sigh. "I told him everything I felt… Everything that you and I feel… about not feeling as important as the business."

Sasuke's eyes watched as her hand lifted up to touch her left cheek. It was plush looking and a light shade of pink dusted across it. Must have been make-up. "Then he slapped me. My father has never raised his hand at me before that night, so I was shocked. I locked myself in my room for the whole day, because I refused to go to the party."

"If I had known that, I would have just let you stay up there." Sasuke had undoubtedly felt guilty for forcing her to do this after all she had been through the previous night.

"No, it's okay… I'm glad you did. We wouldn't be talking right now if you hadn't gotten me out." She gave him one of her signature, heartwarming smiles. "It's just really difficult living with someone who doesn't care about you enough to even take your wishes into consideration. And it's even harder when that person is your father."

"I know." He said to her. "To be honest, the past year has been hard on me. My parents –"

"Is that Sasuke?" A voice called out suddenly.

Sasuke's face had gone from empathetic to annoyed in two seconds flat. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me." He murmured underneath his breath before turning around to see his exuberant blond best friend running towards him at full speed.

"Oh, Hinata's with you too!" He grinned. Hinata let out a small giggle and nodded. "Oh! You look really pretty tonight, Hinata!"

Sasuke unsuccessfully fought the urge to roll his eyes while Hinata blushed. "Y-you really think so?"

"Mhmm, I do! And you're even wearing the necklace I bought you! It's nice to know that you like it so much. "Naruto chuckled, scratching the back of his head. So that was where Hinata got it from. Sasuke thought that Naruto said he and Hinata weren't a couple. He must've been courting her or something, if he went out of his way to get her an expensive looking necklace.

"What're you two doing out so late anyway?" He questioned. Naruto had already taken in Hinata's appearance, but when he looked over at his best friend, he saw that Sasuke was dressed pretty sharply. The blond narrowed his eyes at them and frowned. "You two on a date or somethin'?"

Hinata was about to answer him but Sasuke beat her to it, with a terrible smirk etched onto his face. "Hinata wishes this was a date."

Her face flushed red and she turned to yell at the Uchiha. "S-Sasuke-kun, don't say things like that!"

Hinata? Sasuke-kun? Since when were they on first name basis? Before he could think about it, Hinata had answered his question, saying that there was a party at her home and they had to attend since their parents were in business together.

"Did you want to walk with us as well, Naruto-kun?" Hinata's honeyed voice always made him smile. But then Sasuke's cold sounding voice cut in and it made Naruto scowl.

"You always do this!" Sasuke scolded her. "You're too nice to him! We were talking about something important. You can take a walk with him some other day. Now let's go." Sasuke took a hold of Hinata's wrist, and she turned her head around and waved goodbye to Naruto, giving him an apologetic smile.

Naruto wasn't sure if it was the scolding, the grabbing of her wrist or the way they had seemed so close. Whatever it was, Naruto did not like it one bit.


And that's all for August! We got to see a little snippet of Hanabi! Hooray!

Did you enjoy it? I sure do hope so! Next chapter is 10: September! I kind of missed writing them in school, so now I get to do that again!

See you in the next one!

Also! Brownie points for any of you who know what anime Naruto was referring to when he helped Hinata get that fox. (You'll all get it. It was a pretty big hint.)