Sakura and Ino had started eating with them. To Sasuke's surprise, Ino didn't annoy him as much as she used to. She no longer fought with Sakura over him, and although she breached his personal space multiple times in any given day, at least she wasn't trying to make him fall in love with her. She reminded him of Naruto in the sense that he felt no need to contribute to the conversation when she was around. The heavy-lifting was handled with ease by the beautiful pharm student. Neji spoke significantly less than before, and even TenTen seemed irked by their presence, despite the comments she made about finally having female friends to eat with.
Sakura was tolerable when she lost herself in Ino's ramblings, or found herself arguing with Ino about trivial things. Or more tolerable, he should say. At least when she was shouting, she wasn't staring at him with weirdly fragile and possessive eyes.
Sasuke often used the skills he picked up by being friends with Naruto in this situation. He was very adept at tuning out the ramblings of hyperactive blonds.
But, a name caught his attention, and this time he had to interject.
"What?"
"Hinata." Ino repeated, barely skipping a beat. "We should find her."
"Why?" he grunted, squeezing his chopsticks a bit too hard.
"Um because she's our friend and she's been missing for three months." Ino stuck her tongue out at him before turning to Sakura. "Honestly, this guy doesn't understand relationships at all. I don't know what we ever saw in him."
He would have argued, but any argument would have fallen on deaf ears. Instead, he remained silent and listened to Ino's plan to gather a search party that evening.
"They're looking for you." He warned Hinata as she got into the car. Her face paled, and she looked at him with wide eyes.
"What?"
Her voice trembled as she spoke. The raw fear caused goosebumps to raise on his skin, a chill to touch his spine. He looked away from her as he clarified.
"Ino's assembling a search party tonight."
She breathed a soft sigh as she leaned back in her seat, tension draining from her body.
"Who did you think I meant?"
"Oh, it doesn't matter." Her eyes flickered to him briefly before returning to the fingers laced in her lap. She chewed on her lip as she thought.
"I don't want them coming to my house." He spoke after a few beats.
"I guess I can text Neji."
She pulled out her phone and began to type. Then she deleted her message. And typed a new message. Then deleted it. She repeated this process several times on the ride home, and a few more while seated at the kitchen table. Often, the message she typed was the same as the one she had just deleted.
A frown marred her features as she stared forlornly at the screen, her cursor blinking in the message composition block. Her posture was slumped over the table. She seemed on the verge of tears.
The sight irked him. Walking over, he plucked the phone out of her hands and typed a message, short and to the point: "This is Hinata. I'm fine."
"That doesn't sound like me at all!" she protested, deleting the message immediately. Her thumbs moved furiously, composing a brand new message. As soon as she finished, Sasuke plucked the phone from her fingers and hit send.
She squealed, her face turning red as she tried to hide it behind her hands. He watched her, a bemused smirk twitching onto his lips.
"What's the big deal?" he asked, twirling the small thing between his fingers. "It's not like your cousin is going to hate you if you word something wrong."
"He might!" Hinata grabbed for the phone. Sasuke, wanting to push her a little further, lifted the phone from beyond her reach. She had to stand on her tiptoes to even get close, her fingers brushing his forearm as she reached for it. The touch was warm, it sent tingles down his arm.
"I don't think it's possible for him to hate you."
Indeed, Neji seemed to worship the former heiress. He only ever spoke of her positively, and became noticeably angry if he thought someone slighted her, which no one ever really did, anyway.
"He used to." Hinata commented offhandedly, more focused on the phone than her words. Sasuke, however, dropped his arm at hearing her words, his expression going serious. She snatched the phone back from him, opening it to read the message that had just been sent.
"Hinata." His harsh tone drew her attention back to his eyes. He stared unwaveringly into her white orbs, his eyes slightly narrowed and eyebrows pushed together. "What do you mean, he hated you?"
"Oh, he used to blame me for his father's death. I was almost kidnapped when I was three. My father saved me, but he ended up killing the man that tried to take me. My uncle ended up taking the blame for the murder, and was sentenced to death. Neji was angry for a long time until he met Naruto."
Hinata fiddled with her phone while she spoke, unable to meet the intensity of Sasuke's gaze. He scoffed when she had finished, causing her to flinch slightly.
"What's with you and getting kidnapped?"
She allowed her eyes to travel back up to his. He had relaxed considerably, and Hinata smiled up at him, allowing a little giggle to escape her lips. Sasuke watched her as she covered her mouth, only now realizing that his hands were on her shoulders. She curled her fingers, drawing them away from her lips.
Only a few inches separated them. If he bent down, his face would be centimeters away from hers. If he moved it closer, he could press his lips against hers. Would she protest?
A little buzz drew him out of his trance. He backed away, retreating to the wall as her face lit up from the text from her cousin. She typed back a response, this time sending it right away. A second buzz rattled the air a few seconds later. She smiled up at Sasuke, a silent thank you for pushing her to send the message, before she retreated into her room.
He wondered if she felt what almost happened between them.
