A/N: Hola! Gracias to all those who left their reviews last time, and here is the last Interlude before I continue to Chapter 7… uhh… as always, sorry for the typos, errors and lacking words… I'm just too, nostalgic and overwhelmed from BIGBANG's concert XD

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one :D

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING.

HEARTBEAT

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Interlude 3

It was in the midst of March which means that in a few days the graduating students would march down the stage to take their diploma and have their final bow for their beloved high school but before the graduation ceremony took place a local event is held in celebration of Konoha's anniversary, the Fire Festival. Each year, every school within the village would have their own way of celebrating Fire Festival but for one of Konoha's private high school they celebrate it as a day for the senior students.

Sasuke and the whole student council had planned for this event for the past week. The festival would be a day filled with food stands, booths, other activities and the traditional huge bon fire dance and fireworks at night would be dedicated for the graduating batch.

The raven-haired Uchiha and with the whole student body had been busy preparing for the festival, when he came home from the exhausting work his ecstatic mother had greeted him.

"Sasuuukeee~ why are you home late?" The Uchiha matriarch asked her son. "Were you on a date with Hinata-chan?" she wiggled her eyebrow playfully while she tried to restrain a wicked grin. Sasuke had his cheeks painted with a light pink color with his mother's question.

"No," the young man looked away to hide his blush. "I was busy with the preparation for the school's Fire Festival for the graduating students." Sasuke replied while he took a sit on the long couch.

"Are outsiders allowed for the festival this time?" Mikoto questioned while she took the seat beside him.

"No, but there will be limited passes to be sold for those wanted to attend our festival." The onyx-eyed teen told his mother as he laid his head on her shoulder.

"You must be tired..." Mikoto ruffled his dark spiky hair. "Will you invite Hinata-chan? I'm sure she hasn't been into any school festival since she has been home schooled when she was eight." She informed her son.

Sasuke looked at Mikoto. "I'll try to call her later."

"If that's it then, bring her to the shop so I can give her the kimono she should wear for your school festival." The Uchiha matriarch smiled to her son.

The young man nodded in agreement and gathered his things. He went to his room and took a shower. When he was dressed, Sasuke took his phone and dialed the Hyuuga heiress' number. After three rings she finally picked up.

"...H-hello?..." groaned the person on the other line.

"Hime, it's Sasuke." The Uchiha said in a low, deep voice.

"S-sasuke, what made you call?" Hinata croaked it was obvious that she was awakened from her slumber.

"I'm sorry if I had awakened you," Apologized the onyx-eyed teen. "I just want to invite you in our school's Fire Festival this Saturday. Will you come for me?" Sasuke said with worry evident in his voice. He was afraid that Hinata will reject him.

"Yes! I'd love to come." Hinata squealed, suddenly awakened by Sasuke's invite.

"I'll meet you on Friday afternoon then. Mom wants to get you a kimono for the festival." He told her casually.

"That won't be necessary..." The heiress replied.

"I insist. My mother will be sad if you refuse her." Sasuke claimed to her.

"O-okay then... See you…" Hinata smiled widely over the phone.

"Good night...hime." The Uchiha said before her ended their conversation.

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Friday has arrived and the next day would be the Fire Festival. This afternoon after all of the past days he spent for the preparation of tomorrow's event, Sasuke would take Hinata to his mother's favorite boutique to get her the kimono that Uchiha Mikoto had requested from the shop. The dark-haired teen had been on a walk all the way to the Hyuuga manor and upon reaching the gates, a lady clad in black capri pants, white tees and gray hooded cardigan greeted him ethusiastically.

"Sasuke!" Hinata ran to him. "Are you alright? You look tired." The smile the heiress had immediately dissipated when she saw the Uchiha's weary look.

"I'm fine, hime... Just a bit exhausted from all the work in school." The Uchiha replied as he leant his head on the shoulder of the lady before him. "Come on now let's take a bus to the shopping district." Sasuke smiled to Hinata and had lead her to the bus stop while he lightly grasp the heiress' hand.

"Will you be alright if we take the bus? You really look tired." Pearl eyes looked to the Uchiha's droopy onyx eyes. "I can ask our chauffeur to take us there." She tugged on Sasuke's hand as they entered the bus.

"Don't worry I'll be fine. You know the way there right?" The young man motioned for her to take the seat beside the window.

"Yes, I know. Why?" Hinata raised a brow to her partner's question.

"Watch out until we're near to our stop. I'll just take a nap." Sasuke leant back on the seat and closed his eyes, in a matter of seconds the Uchiha was fast asleep.

Hinata watched the young man beside her sleep peacefully and when she noticed his head kept bobbing sideways. She laid Sasuke's head on her shoulder and the raven-haired only leant closer to her.

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It took the dark-haired teens fifteen minutes before they reached their stop on the central shopping district and upon seeing they were almost there, Hinata had decided to awaken her sleeping companion.

"Sasuke..." The heiress gently shook his arm. "Wake up we're almost there." She whispered.

The Uchiha groaned and nuzzled his face on Hinata's shoulder which caused the pearl-eyed beauty to blush before he finally opened his eyes. He looked up around him then to the window beside the Hyuuga heiress.

"We're here." He croaked, his voice cracked from the short nap that the Uchiha had all the way to the shopping district. "Come on." Sasuke took the lady's hand in his and alighted the bus they were in. Hinata felt her heartbeat leap at the feeling of Sasuke's warm hand that held hers.

The two were rushing past the sea of people and the onyx eyed teen tightened his hold on the heiress' hand, afraid that he might lose her from the huge crowd. Hinata bumped on his back when he abruptly stopped in front of a huge boutique.

"Here it is." Sasuke smiled to her and the heiress felt another blush creep her face. The Uchiha pushed the open and entered the boutique with Hinata close behind him.

"Oh, Sasuke-kuuun! You've come at last!" chimed the lady with long auburn hair. "Please take a seat." The woman lead them to the leather couch in her shop.

"Thank you, Terumi-san." Sasuke bowed to the woman and took the seat with Hinata.

"Is she the one Mikoto-san's talking about?" Terumi Mei eyed the Hyuuga heiress carefully then she glanced at Sasuke then to Hinata. "You two look good together!" Her statement made the two teens blush.

The Uchiha and the Hyuuga remained silent and turned their head the other way to hide their flustered face.

"Come now, little heiress, I'll show you the kimono Mikoto-san has chosen for you." Mei smiled while taking the pearl-eyed lady with her.

"Terumi-san, is my mother not coming?" Sasuke asked while he followed them.

Mei suddenly turned and glared at him. "Stop right there, Uchiha," she warned and Sasuke immediately stopped on his track with a confused look. "The fitting room goes this way and you are not allowed here unless you want to see-"

Sasuke instantly blushed at what Terumi Mei was trying to imply. "I get it. I'll wait here." He returned to the couch and looked away from the direction the ladies disappeared into.

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Mei Terumi was helping Hinata with the kimono's obi when the older lady suddenly spoke to the heiress.

"You really look like your mother." The auburn-haired lady smiled.

Hinata froze and turned to Mei with widened eyes. "Y-you know my m-mother?" She asked with a trembling voice.

Mei nodded with a smile. "Hiashi-san used to get kimono here for his family with your mother. I also recall my father making small kimono for Hiashi-san he said they were for his daughters." The Hyuuga heiress smiled at Mei. "You look beautiful, Hime-chan." Mei patted the young lady's shoulder.

Hinata's eyes widened in realization when she heard the older lady's name for her, "It's you! You were that girl that used to play with me when otou-san buys me kimono."

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A three-year old girl sat beside her mother while waiting for the old man to get their measurements for their kimono.

"Hello, what's your name?" a teenage girl with shoulder length auburn hair sat beside the young girl.

"M-my name is Hinata." the girl spoke shyly.

"Hello, Hinata-chan, I'm Mei." she reached out her hand to the little girl and Hinata shook it. "Hyuuga-san, she really looks like you." Mei turned her gaze to the woman beside the girl.

"Thank you, Mei-chan." the Hyuuga woman smiled warmly.

"Hime-chan, do you want to play with me?" The auburn-haired teen asked the little girl who nodded in answer. "Come on, I've got my teddy over there." She lead the little girl to a corner with her collection of teddy bears and played with her.

"M-mei-san, these a-are cute." The little Hinata stuttered.

"They are." Mei took a purple teddy and gave it to the heiress. "You can have this, Hime-chan." The little girl squealed in glee.

"T-thank you, onee-chan!" The young Hinata hugged the teenage Mei.

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"You remember me at last!" The woman laughed heartily. "Do you still have that teddy I gave you?" Mei quirked a brow.

"Yes, I still have it." Hinata nodded. "May I just ask, why did you suddenly disappear? From what I remember, this is not the boutique we usually get our kimono." The heiress tilted her head while looking at the owner of the shop.

"After Hiashi-san had ordered a kimono for your younger sister my father suddenly went ill and died a few months after..." Mei tried to hold the tears forming in her eyes. "We were forced to close the shop because it brings back many memories of my deceased father and I decided to stay abroad for a while before I thought of opening a new boutique three years ago." The woman breathed deeply and smiled sadly to Hinata.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to-" the heiress felt guilty and tried to apologize but Mei stopped her.

"It's alright, Hime-chan. Now, get out and show your boyfriend the kimono his mother had chosen for you." The heiress blushed as the Terumi lady shooed her.

"H-he's not my boyfriend..." Hinata muttered.

"He's not your boyfriend yet." Mei smirked at the flustered Hyuuga.

Sasuke had heard the ladies muffled voice behind the fitting area and turned to look at the curtains to question the auburn-haired woman.

"Terumi-san, you haven't answered my question is my-" Sasuke was stunned when he saw Hinata emerge behind the curtains. The heiress was in a pinkish-red kimono with cherry blossom designs lined with gold thread and deep purple obi.

"What is it you were saying, Sasuke-kun?" Mei smirked at the stunned look of Sasuke. The older woman walked to the Uchiha and flicked his forehead.

"What was that for?" The onyx-eyed teen rubbed his forehead.

"It's rude to stare, you know." Mei grinned at Sasuke's flustered face.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..." He apologized. "You're beautiful, hime." The Uchiha looked Hinata in the eye but the heiress turned away when she felt her face went hot.

"T-thank you... S-sasuke..." The heiress ducked her tomato-red face.

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The two teens stood in front of the boutique and bowed to the auburn-haired lady.

"Thank you, Terumi-san." Sasuke said while holding a huge rectangular box where the kimono was carefully placed.

"It's my pleasure to serve the Uchiha and Hyuuga family." Mei bowed to them. "I hope to see you again, Hime-chan." She smiled to Hinata.

The Hyuuga heiress returned the gesture to the long-haired woman.

"Hime-chan?" Sasuke looked at the two females curiously. "You know each other?" he asked them both.

The ladies giggled. "It's been a long time the last time we met. Hime-chan was still a child then." Mei informed the wondering Uchiha. "The Hyuuga were my father's regular customers before I opened my own boutique. And I was Hime-chan's playmate whenever they come to our old shop." The woman smiled in thought as she remembered the old days.

"Ahh... I see..." Sasuke stated. "We're going now, Terumi-san." The Uchiha bowed for the last time.

"Bye, Mei-chan." Hinata called before she hooked her free arm, her other hand carrying Sasuke's school bag, on the Uchiha's arm.

"Never let go of me there are lots of people at this time." The raven-haired teen told the lady close to him.

"H-hai..." The heiress stuttered and held his arm tightly. She suddenly felt her heart increase its pace.

..lub dub lub dub...

The moment they met and every time they were together her heart was like in a race, beating fast and erratic.

...lub dub lub dub...

If not, it skipped a beat when the Uchiha does something that makes her blush deeply.

...lub dub...lub dub lub dub...

'Why is he making me feel this way...' Hinata thought unconsciously tightening her grasp on him.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke glanced to her with worried expression.

"I'm fine." She smiled to him. "Are we taking a cab?" Hinata asked him not letting go of his arm as they walked past a huge crowd.

"No." He said sternly. "I'd rather walk than to ride a car." The heiress tried to keep a smile at the Uchiha's pouty face.

"O-okay, we'll take the bus then." She declared.

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They finally reached the Hyuuga manor and again the dark-haired teens were standing in front of the manor's door.

"Hinata..." Sasuke called out in a low voice. "I, I wouldn't be able to escort you to school tomorrow... As the student council president I have to be there to watch over before the festival starts... But I asked Neji-senpai and Ino-chan to take you with them." The Uchiha looked at her.

"Don't worry, it's okay. I understand." She smiled warmly to him.

"You're not mad?" He asked.

"No. It's as what I've expected, the same thing happened to Neji-nii last year. He was the president last year, right?" Hinata told the Uchiha to ease him.

"Right. Thank you." Sasuke held her hand. "I-I'm going now, hime." He kissed her hand before he left her there standing with a very flustered face.

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"Sasuuuukeee!" Mikoto squealed in glee when she saw her son enter their house. "Mei-chan called and told me that you already got the kimono. I'm sorry if I hadn't come, there was an emergency at the office." The Uchiha matriarch tackled her son and rubbed her cheek with his.

"It's alright, mom, and please stop that." Sasuke tried to break free from his mother's hold.

"So, how was the kimono? Does it suit her?" Mikoto queried excitedly but smiled slyly when she noticed Sasuke's red face. "I can tell that she looks good in it. Your face says it all." She mocked his son while the young man turned away.

"I'll take my rest now." Sasuke said still avoiding his mother's teasing.

"Oh. Before you go tomorrow, get the oatmeal cookies I've made for Hinata-chan on the counter. Those with strawberries are for Yuki-chan." Mikoto told him.

The next day before Sasuke left for the festival he took the packed cookies his mother had made but he didn't notice that the ones he got were the strawberry oats for Yuki-chan. He kept the cookies on his bag and made his way to school on his bicycle.

Soon, afternoon came and the students started coming, the girls in kimono while the males are in their casual wear, others were wearing yukata. As for Sasuke, he was on his school uniform and he was stationed on their school's front gate with the other officers watching on the people that were entering their school and checking each person's passes to be sure that they were from their school.

The Uchiha was busy with his task when someone, a couple, appeared in front of him.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino nudge his arm.

"Uchiha." Neji called to him.

"Ino, Senpai." Sasuke bowed to them and checked their passes. "Where's-"

"H-hello, Sasuke..." A small voice called behind the Hyuuga prodigy. Neji moved to the side to reveal the heiress in the kimono she got with the Uchiha male the day before, but today, she had a little make-up and her hair was braided on the side.

Sasuke was speechless and stared at Hinata but he greeted her when Neji had flicked his forehead.

"Sorry," he muttured which caused the other to giggle. "Hi, Hime." The Uchiha smiled.

"So, can we go now?" Ino asked.

"Yes," he answered. "I'll just meet you when I'm done here." Sasuke directed his gaze to Hinata.

The heiress nodded and followed his cousin and his girlfriend.

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"I'm sorry it took me a while." Sasuke huffed as he reached the two Hyuuga and the Yamanaka in front of a dango stand.

"You finally came!" The blonde girl cried. "Now, Neji and I will leave you two." Ino winked before pulling Neji to another stall.

"Is this your first time to be in a school festival?" Sasuke asked the heiress.

"...yes..." She mumbled.

"I shall take you in every stall we have were." The onyx-eyed teen intertwined his hand with Hinata's and showed her around the school filled with food stands and game stalls.

When the dark-haired couple felt tired from walking and playing every game the students prepared, Sasuke brought her in the school pavilion to take a rest.

"Oh, my mother wants me to give this to you." Sasuke brought out the packed oatmeal cookies Mikoto made.

Hinata took the packed cookies from his hand and smiled modestly and then she started to giggle.

"What are you laughing at?" He asked her slightly offended.

"Nothing." Hinata said while opening the package. She took a piece and ate it. "This is good, Sasuke! You should eat too." she squeaked in delight.

Sasuke shook his head and pushed away the cookie Hinata was offering. "No, mother has made them for you." He told her.

"These are really good but there's something in it... strawberry?" The heiress looked at him slightly puzzled. "Tell me, Sasuke, does this have strawberries?" She asked.

Sasuke took a bite and tasted the cookie. "Yeah, they have strawberries. I guess I took the wrong pack, these are for Yuki-chan." The Uchiha answered her.

Hinata gasp when she knew the cookies had strawberries. All the color was drained from her face.

"What's wrong, hime? You look pale." Sasuke glanced at her.

"A-ano... I-I have allergies o-on strawberries." Her face is slowly gaining its color.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." The raven-haired teen took the cookies from her. "I'll just give this to Yuki."

The heiress nodded. Slowly she started scratching her face and Sasuke hadn't failed to notice it.

"Is everything alright? Your face is all red and blotchy." The Uchiha pointed to Hinata's blemished face.

"It's itchy," the heiress whined. "I need medicine." She grasped Sasuke's coat.

The Uchiha panicked at Hinata's reddening face due to the allergies, he carried her bridal style and got to his bicycle. Sasuke rushed to the nearest pharmacy and bought an antihistamine and bottled water for Hinata.

"Here, drink this." He gave the heiress, who was waiting outside on a convenient store next to the pharmacy, the medicine he bought and the water.

Hinata took the antihistamine and did what she was told. Moments later, the couple could see the fireworks from the campus which was only a block away from where they stayed. The two watched in silence until Sasuke spoke.

"Are you feeling better now?" The raven-haired glanced to her face illuminated by the different colors of the fireworks.

"Better." Hinata smiled at him. "Thank you." She said while she looked at the fireworks.

"It was my fault, hime," Sasuke grasp her hand. "If I had only known that you were allergic with strawberries this wouldn't have happened." The young man stated with sadness and guilt that laced his manly voice.

"Don't blame yourself, Sasuke." Hinata held both of his hand. "I'm fine now, nothing to worry." She assured him.

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Sasuke and Hinata had been on their way back to the school when the Hyuuga stepped between him and the bicycle.

"You know what," she smiled to Sasuke. "You reminded me of my crush when I was younger." The Uchiha stopped on his track and raised an eyebrow at the lady next to his bicycle.

"What?" Sasuke scoffed.

"I was seven when I had first and last seen him." She told him. "It was during this same festival and I was playing on the park with my mother when this boy came. He said I had weird eyes but he also said that I was cute. He was the only person who called me weird and cute at the same time." Hinata continued her story while Sasuke listened in silence. "After he said that, the boy gave me cookies. Strawberry cookies and that was the time they learnt that I had an allergy on strawberries."

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrow at the heiress. "How did that boy became your crush?" he questioned feeling slightly jealous that Hinata had a crush before she met him.

Hinata beamed widely before he answered him. "It's because mother had told me that if someone gave you cookies on spring festival it means that the person liked you." She said.

"That's so childish, and how old were you? Seven? You had a crush at age seven?" Sasuke mocked her.

"Hey!" Hinata slapped his arm. "He was the only person who did that to me and he was really nice." She huffed.

"But I gave you cookies tonight." The Uchiha grumbled.

"What was that?" The heiress leant to him as if to listen closely.

"Nothing." He said while he looked away.

"Are you jealous because of a young boy?" Hinata teased him.

"Of course not!" Sasuke replied defensively.

"Don't worry because I love you more than him. He was just a fragment of my childhood." The heiress blurted out but abruptly held her mouth when she realized what she just said.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked if what he heard was right.

"I-i..." Hinata held her chest where her heart was abnormally beating. "I k-know it w-was too s-soon to say this...w-we only met a month a-ago but I-I've never felt this w-way b-b-before... I think I'm in love with you..." The heiress hushed with her face buried in her hands.

The raven-haired teen couldn't hide the blush forming on his face with the Hyuuga's confession. He was speechless but he also couldn't help the smile slowly appearing on his lips. Hinata peeked at him on the spaces between her hands and saw the Uchiha wiggle his forefinger for her to move closer to him. The heiress uncovered her face and leant closer to Sasuke, the young man whispered in her ear that made her squeak and blush even more.

After seeing her reaction and the smile that graced her lips, Sasuke kissed her forehead because he saw his senpai on his way to them and he doesn't want Neji to accuse of him taking advantage on his cousin.

"Hina-chan, we finally found you!" Neji cried. "Where have you been?" asked the prodigy.

"We were just taking a walk." Sasuke looked away hiding his flustered features.

"Taking a walk with your bicycle?" Ino eyed Sasuke suspiciously. "And what's wrong with your face?" The blonde asked Hinata.

"I had allergies and Sasuke bought me medicine at the nearest Pharmacy." The heiress answered the interrogating duo.

"Alright. Let's get home now it's getting late." Neji lead the ladies to their ride.

Hinata turned to Sasuke for the last before she entered the car. "Good night." She said to him.

"Good night, hime." The Uchiha muttered they drove away.

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The onyx-eyed teen reached the Uchiha residence with a huge smile on his face and recalled the words he whispered to the heiress.

'You're the first girl that has ever made me feel this way... and the feeling is mutual.'

He couldn't bring to say the three words at first but still he managed to say them before he lost all the courage he had.

'I love you...'

Sasuke looked for his mother as he entered their home to inform her that he took the wrong cookies. He was about to head to the kitchen when the young man noticed his parents' office door slightly ajar and it looked like she's talking to someone on the phone.

"Hiashi," Mikoto said over the phone. This got the young man's attention. "Is it alright if I visit her?" the Uchiha lady asked her friend and also her husband's rival in business. "I want to personally see and meet the person who received my eldest son's heart." She said almost in tears but little did she know that Sasuke had overheard the conversation she had with Hiashi.

'Hinata has Itachi's heart?' the teen Uchiha thought as he opened the door.

"How did Hinata had Itachi's heart?" Sasuke asked his mother darkly. His fist clenched tightly.

"S-sasuke!" Mikoto was appalled to see her youngest son on the door. "Itachi had his heart for donation if anything happens to him... Hinata-chan needed a heart transplant because of her fatal heart disease and fortunately... Itachi's heart was available and the doctors had it transplanted it in her..." She told him the truth and Mikoto could not stop the tears forming in her eyes when she saw Sasuke standing there, dazed.

The teen Uchiha couldn't believe what he had just heard, all the time he thought Hinata had loved him but it turns out that it must be Itachi's heart that's beating. It must have been brotherly love she felt for him because Hinata had his brother's heart.

Sasuke was confused and he didn't know what to do and what to believe in.

'Does she really love me? Or it's just brotherly love she feels because it is Itachi's heart that's beating...' the raven-haired teen had thought.

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End of Interlude 3.

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Ahoy! HAPPY HALLOWEEN :D

Uhm, I'm sorry if this one didn't turn out to be good… I just don't know how to write and start this chapter… I've made too many revisions on this one and it was far from the original plot I had in mind. And about the festival… I really don't know what do! It was supposed to be a spring fest but spring fest in Japan happens in April… but I thought that this is fanfiction and anything could happen in fanfiction. STILL I'M NOT SATISFIED! How I wanted it to be real…but…but…I failed…oh, and the cookie-thingy on spring fest, I got it from Harvest Moon. Where the character you play gives a cookie to the girl he likes on Spring Goddess Festival XD

P.S. This will be my last update for this month (October) and the next Chapter (Chapter 7) may be uploaded by November or December or whenever I'm free because my second term class will start next week and I'm loaded, that means less time to write and more time for pressure in studies

PLEAAAASEE tell me what can you say about this pseudo-chapter D: