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Um...I'm updating today because I'm going to be busy...I'm actually a pretty fast updater XD if anyone noticed, three days if the max time I don't update. I know...blah blah.

I hope you like this chapter!! I toiled for hours! Lol. Oh, and...

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! ;...;

I am Hinata Hyuuga

As a Maid: Part Two

Xxxxxx

Shikamaru is sixteen

Xxxxxx

Thursday

At about eleven at night I stepped out the bathroom with a comfortable old white T-shirt and tattered black capris.

Sasuke was still up with a small, dimly lighted lamp, reading some intricate music notes. It was for guitar. He saw me, eyeing the capris with a raised eyebrow. Defiantly I stared back.

"I thought you were rich."

"What?" I'd heard what he said, but I was so surprised it was all I could manage.

"Never mind." He placed down the papers. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead, he switched out the light.

I sighed. It was an obvious sign of dismissal.

I heard his deep, quiet breathing. I wanted to touch him but I knew he still hated me.

Friday after school, I arrived as Ruka Soneva just as Sakura was leaving. She smiled at me. "New maid, huh?"

If I were Hinata Hyuuga...

But I wasn't. And that made all the difference. "Yes," I replied politely.

She smirked and went away, pink hair billowing in the wind.

My fist clenched. What had she been doing at his house? I pushed the door open softly. "Um...Sasuke?"

"What?" He emerged from the shadows in black shorts and a black T-shirt. He was rearranging his shirt. A towel was draped on his shoulders.

"I'm..."

His eyes narrowed. "How did you know my name"

"Your...name?" I repeated faintly. His hair smelled of pomegranate. Enrapturing...

"Yes. Sasuke. Uchiha. How did you kow...?"

"I - um, it's obvious!" I went on, trying not to sound too play-acted. "The Uchihas famously live on this block and have dark hair and dark eyes - " My eyes met his and suddenly I was startled by his look of intensity, "There's Itachi Uchiha and...Sasuke. You're the younger one, right?"

I breathed in, anticipating...

"Hn." He dried his hair. I watched, slightly fascinated.

"What?"

"Oh...nothing." I folowed him into the kitchen. There were papers on the table. "Are you going to give it back to her?" I showed him her homework. "I...I guess she left it here, right?

Why was she here, anyway?" Casual, Hinata...think casual...

"Homework. I finished before her and took a shower." I was relieved. I didn't know...but I was... "What are you cleaning today? You don't have to, you know."

"Oh, but I want to," I interjeted hastily. I wanted him near me, at least, without ignoring or glaring. "Wh-what's there to clean?"

"Nothing. The cleaning lady, believe it or not...came yesterday." He indicated to the shiny floors and countertops. "Do you want to call someone?"

It took me a few seconds to register that he thought someone might pick me up. "I'll stay, then," I decided.

He frowned. "I'm not the most hospitable person," he began. "I don't have much to do."

The only thing I thought he was interested in was - "What about guitar?"

"...How do you know I play guitar?"

I stopped, staring at his collar bone, anywhere but his eyes. "I - I saw your guitar, um, on Wednesday."

Maybe he had a bad memoery.

He dismissed it and started walking past me. For a second he looked like he was about to hit me. He always looked...intense, concentrated.

On a whim I hesitantly asked, "Are you going to play right now?"

"Yes." Think of something Hinata wouldn't do...

"Could you show me?"

Sasuke turned around. To my surprise he laughed. It was quick and astonishing to me - the first time I'd heard him laugh. "I'm not...very...good."

"That's okay! Show me how to play." In breathlessness I'd noted that when he laughed, it was more derisive than happy. It wouldn't count to be a smile, then.

A few seconds passed before I realized he was already upstairs. With a start I jumped up on the stairs. his room was on the right.

He was sitting on the bed with a glossy guitar in his hands. Suddenly If felt dread. I didn't want to learn guitar...I didn't want to be near him! He would find out one way or another. He'd hate me...

A simple and enticing beat slied through the air. La, la, la, la-la la, la, la, la-la-la, la, la, la-la la, la, la-la-la-la-la...

Slowly I relaxed and smiled. His hands moved nimbly, flexibly. Player guitar wasn't like anything else. I felt the beat, felt the soundwaves...

"You try."

I was momentarily stunned. "Um...no thanks."

"I thought you wanted to."

I remembered how Hanabi and Neji had convinced me into something I would never want to do. Be a maid. I didn't want to be manipulated like that again.

"No. It's okay."

He didn't press me any further.

He sat there silently, his fingers moving without his will. The beat started again. I had never heard it before. I loved it already.

I looked at the clock - I'd been sitting in this room for twenty minutes!

He stood up, towing his guitar away. "Ready to leave?" It wasn't rude nor courteous. I glanced up. Something went thorugh my mind just then. An electric current - I realized - I realized - he had never once smiled through those twenty minutes, through something he...enjoyed.

Was it really that freaking hard?! To just smile?

Withouth thinking I blurted out, "Why don't you ever smile?"

"I don't have a reason to," was his simple and maddeningly effective answer.

"But...that's ridiculous!"

Hsi eyes flashed. Hinata would have, definitely, cringed. I forced my body to stay still. I asked in a deadpan voice, "Why not, then?"

"I - I don't," he snapped in quiet fury. "You can go now."

I stared at him. Through all three forms - Neji, Hinata, and Ruka - he shunned them all. He never showed his feelings, save for bursts of anger.

I was tired of it. "I'll go," I shot back, getting up and walking downstairs. Just in earshot I called, "But I'll go because I want to and not because you told me to."

I ddn't know why I'd said that, but I grabbed the coat and ran out.

Throughout the night, his tune played in my head.

"So?" asked Hanabi that night.

These days Karu was working late shifts. I was stuck with my little sister.

"So?" she ventured again excitedly. "It works, doesn't it? Spill, Hinata!! I'll be your best friend..."

I yawned. "Go to sleep."

"No!" she insissted, though the skin under her eyes was rather dark. "Tell me! Please?"

If this were an online chat she'd put a begging face right there.

"I'm the maid," I sighed. I fought an urge to giggle. "I scrubbed the floor...and he played the guitar. No big deal."

She pouted. "Soething romantic happened, right?"

"No, you idiot. I 'm a girl he just met, remember?"

I was about to close the door but she asked quickly, "Did your acting go well?"

"Yeah. Whatever."

Saturday

I knocked on the door, feeling apprehensive. Tomorrow, Sunday, was when the bet expired. I couldn't believe the week had rolled past!

Sasuke opened it, as calm and as stoic as always. At the sight of me he paused, frowning. "I told you that you didn't need to come anymore." Despite that, he let me through, with a reluctant air.

"I want to," I replied simply. There was an unquestionable awkwardness and I didn't want to stay for too long.

Because of this I kept my jacket on.

I felt something hard poke me in the hip. I reached down, annoyed. If Hanabi had stuck an extra pin in the dress to hold it in place -

It was the cell phone. My hand knocked it the wood floor. Hurriedly I rushed down to retrieve it, but my fingers only met cold wood.

I stood up. "G-give it back."

He was frowning, looking at the cell phone, inspecing it.

"Tha-that's mine!"

And then I caughed sight of his eyes. They were furious, shooting animosity.

"Are you Hinata?" he suddenly yelled at me. I stood frozen. My first impulse would to run and hide in defense. I hated arguments.

My second impulse would yell something back.

Something Hinata would never do...

Thoughts ran through my head, making me only slightly aware of his coal-black glare. No...I can't cringe, can't gflinch, can't stumble. Smooth. Be...calm. Articulate. I can't yell, shout, or kiss...like that one time...

I...

I forced myself to stare at him. His hair was wild, his mouth open in a furious scowl. I thought I heard his heartbeat. Crazily I wanted to touch his chest at a time like this.

"I'm not," I said finally, with the most self-confidence I had ever portrayed. "I am Ruka Soneva. You don't have to scream at me."

His shoulders slumped considerably. He blinked, actually looked surprised. He took a few steps back. "I - I'm sorry...I mistook you for...someone...else..."

A flash of relief coursed through my veins. I wanted to sit down badly.

"But wait...this cell phone looks exactly like hers," he murmured, almost to himself. I looked at him, moving forward. I wanted to grab the cell phone, take it away. Take all traces of Hinata Hyuuga away...

Without casting a glance at me he flipped it open.

I froze.

I saw the screensaver; I'd changedd it to a flower yesterday. At least he wouldn't recognize that.

"Can I have it back, now?" I demanded. Now my voice shook, showing my inner self.

His grip slackened and he nodded. Wordlessly he started to hand it back to me, just as flashy red words appeared.

They were huge and hard to miss.

Welcome, Hinata! You have zero missed calls.

I gulped. The look in his eyes told me that he'd seen, too.

Uh, oh.

Yes, I know. Cliffie.

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Edit 3/23/08.