Author's Note: Happy Halloween everyone! Well here you go: the next installment of Omiai! Thank you very much for reading ^_^

Disclaimer: Yeah Naruto still not mine. But I do own a pair of adorable kitties!

Day Eight: What?

Hanabi woke up to a strange Monday morning to be greeted by an empty dining room table and humming coming from the kitchen. Their father had had an extra early day, so they were forgoing their usual family breakfast. In occasions such as this, Hinata and she would eat in the breakfast nook in the kitchen. That wasn't all that strange, what was strange was to find Hinata there before her humming happily as she buttered her toast.

"Good morning!" Hinata chirped from her spot at the table.

"Morning," she replied groggily sitting down at the table and reaching for the coffee. Hinata poured it for her with a smile still overly cheery.

"Nice day, isn't it?"

Hanabi, now fully awake, raised an eyebrow as she took in the ominous looking clouds outside threatening to spill buckets of water; maybe even snow if the weatherman was to be trusted.

"Have you looked out the window? What are you so happy about?"

Hinata's cheeks colored and her smile got even wider. "We kissed… on the lips," she said excitedly.

Hinata's smile and happiness were so contagious that Hanabi found herself giggling alongside her. She hadn't seen her sister so happy in a long time. Perhaps for once her dad had actually had a good idea plotting an omiai together with Fugaku Uchiha.

The sisters then left for school and the glow on Hinata's face didn't dim even during Hinata's two most hated classes. Hinata had been itching all morning to text Sasuke to see where he wanted to meet later. She knew he was busy, so she was good and decided to wait until her first break of the morning when she figured it was around his lunch time.

"Hi. How's ur day going? Where do u want to go today?"

She didn't have to wait long for a reply.

"Too busy today."

With a smile she swiftly typed a reply.

"Sorry to hear that. We can meet later. I can make dinner. U have groceries now ;)"

"No."

Hinata cringed at the response and realized she was being too pushy. She had let her excitement get the better of her.

"Sorry. Tomorrow then?"

She grabbed her tea from the counter at the school's café and promptly proceeded to drop it back on the counter and spill half of it when she read what was shown on the screen of her phone.

"Not today or tomorrow. It's over."

In a daze she walked out of the café without paying any mind to the student worker grumbling behind her while he cleaned up her mess. She re-read the message to make sure that what she thought it said was truly what it said. She even checked the sender twice to make sure it was from Sasuke. She started typing multiple replies and ended up deleting all of them. What would she say? What could she say?

They had agreed on 10 days but the deal was that either one could end it at any time and she couldn't blame him if he had gotten bored or tired of her. She figured she shouldn't be so surprised, but she truly hadn't seen it coming. Things had seemed to be going so well. Maybe it had been just for her and she had been too blinded with giddiness and a sense of triumph to see that he didn't feel the same way. She stoically held her tears in until she was outside of the building and on the way home. Thankfully Hanabi had left earlier and she got to ride home alone.

It wasn't until she walked into her house that it finally hit her: she would have to tell her father that Sasuke wanted nothing to do with her for some reason she couldn't fathom. She was sure grandmother would have plenty of reasons for her to pick from as soon as she found out. She didn't feel like dealing with any of it today, so she decided to make a break for her room when Hanabi's voice stopped her on her tracks.

"You're home early," she commented innocently waiting to hear Hinata's plan for the afternoon until she saw her sister's red, puffy eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Not seeing Sasuke today?"

Hinata shook her head no.

"How come?" Hanabi asked, fearful of the answer. Hinata's expression didn't bode well.

She simply shrugged. "I don't know… he said it's over," she finished after a pause.

"Not even ten days! He could not put up with you for ten days. Pitiful!"

The voice Hinata had not wanted to hear thundered behind her and her sister and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Just as her luck would have it grandmother and Hiashi had entered the living room just in time to hear her conversation with Hanabi. Suddenly Hinata felt something snap inside of her and all the frustration that had been building up since that morning finally reached its peak. Well that was just as good. They were going to find out sooner or later and at that moment she realized she truly did not care what they thought.

"If it is that simple marry him yourself!" she spat as she practically shoved grandmother aside on her way out the door, leaving two open mouthed Hyugas and one smirking matriarch.

"That girl is finally growing a backbone," said grandmother with a hint of approval in her usually haughty tone.

"You've pushed her enough," replied Hiashi still in mild shock.

"It's called tough love, my son. Tough love."

He definitely agreed in the tough part, the love part he wasn't so sure.

OoOoOoOoOo

Hinata let her feet carry her without paying attention to where she was. She was still trembling from rage, sadness, or frustration. She wasn't sure anymore. Why did everything always go wrong when everything seemed to finally be going in the right direction? It seemed that the harder she tried the least she achieved.

She had been walking for a good while when she finally lifted her head to realize that she was in front of a park. She wasn't surprised. Her mother used to bring her there when she was little. That park was where she played with her friends and even when they were older they would still meet up there to hang out.

It was already twilight and with the impending coming of winter the park was mercifully deserted. She walked over to the swings and sat there, swaying gently while tears silently rolled down her cheeks. She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there when she was startled by a hand on her shoulder. She stopped mid-scream when she realized who the hand belonged to.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Hey Hinata! I saw someone from the street and I just knew it was you. Whatcha do…" he was cut short when she saw Hinata's tear-stained face. "What's wrong?" he asked kneeling in front of her.

She wanted to lie and say nothing was wrong but she couldn't. Maybe it was fate that she had met him here. "What's wrong with me?" she asked biting back a sob.

"What are you talking about?" he asked puzzled, until realization hit him and he glowered. "That Yakuza guy did something to you, didn't he? I'll bash his pretty white teeth in! What did he do?"

Hinata shook her head, slightly comforted by the fact that Naruto still cared enough for her to be ready to beat someone up for her. She wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of her jacket, took a deep breath, and trudged on.

"Remember when you broke up with me?" Naruto nodded slowly and she continued. "Remember you wanted to explain and I told you I wasn't ready yet?" Another nod and a wary expression. "I'm ready now. Please tell me."

"Hinata, there is nothing wrong with you. You're an awesome person…"

She interrupted him, "just tell me why… please?"

Naruto ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath, "you remember why we started going out?"

She sniffled and nodded. "Everyone kept going about how we would make a great couple."

"Right and we decided to give it a go. Before that did you even think about going out with me?"

Hinata thought back to her elementary school days when he had been all that occupied her mind. She couldn't say she had. Back then she thought just being near him was enough. She hadn't dared to imagine anything else. She shook her head and he continued.

"Look… Hinata, I love you."

She didn't know if she should hug him or slap him. He didn't seem to notice her internal debate and kept going. "I love you, but not like that. You are one of the most important people in my life. You are family to me. What I feel for Sakura is different. It's a different kind of love. It's hard to explain… it's, it's something you just feel."

"When did you know?"

"When I met Sakura. I just knew it in here," he said pointing to his chest.

Hinata's gaze was fixed on the jungle gym in front of her as she combed through her memories. Naruto was right. They had decided to go out more out of peer pressure rather than because they were crazy for each other. She thought back throughout their short relationship and realized than other than holding hands and kissing once in a while their relationship had pretty much stayed the same as before they started "dating." Then something occurred to her, "Naruto-kun, can I hug you?"

He had her gathered in his arms in no time. "Like you have to ask."

"Thank you. I think I understand what you mean. C-can we still be friends?"

He hugged her tighter in response. "Hinata, I missed you so much."

"Me too. I'd like to meet Sakura sometime."

"She'll like that. You're freezing. Come on, I'll walk you home," he said letting go of her and pulling on her hand.

"Sorry. You're working, aren't you?" she asked finally taking in the uniform he was wearing and the convenience store bag at his feet. "Is that for the shop?"

"They were shorthanded so they asked me to stop by, but things calmed down now. I was on my way back from getting drinks for everyone when I saw you. Just give me a minute to tell them I'm walking you home."

"It's OK. Don't worry about it."

"It's already dark. I'm not letting you go back alone. Just wait here. I'll be back in a bit."

She was too tired to argue so she just nodded.

"Don't move," he called over his shoulder as he jogged back to the auto shop where he worked part time doing all sorts of odd jobs while he continued his studies.

Hinata swayed on the swing going over everything Naruto had just told her. She had felt hurt and betrayed when Naruto had broken up with her, not to say incredibly angry. Looking back on things now she realized that she didn't resent Sakura because she stole her boyfriend, but because she felt that Sakura had stolen her dearest friend, a part of her family.

Hinata had been angry because, just like always, someone dear to her had been taken away. The moment Naruto told her about Sakura she felt her entire world crumble. The one person that always accepted her just like she was and always cheered her on was being taken away from her and that terrified her. She now realized that she had been really childish. The bond she and Naruto shared could never be broken. He had just proven it to her and she would reciprocate. She would support Naruto's relationship and root for his happiness.

She let out a long sigh and shuddered. Winter was truly upon them. She pulled her jacket tighter around her and her thoughts inevitably strayed to Sasuke. She couldn't believe they had been together just the day before and today he wanted nothing to do with her. In her jumbled mind one thought led to another and she couldn't help to compare Naruto and Sasuke. With trepidation she realized that hugging Naruto felt just like hugging Neji or her father. When she had hugged Sasuke or held his hand she had felt butterflies in her stomach and little jolts of electricity run down her spine. Not to mention when he had kissed her… and suddenly everything Naruto had just told her made complete sense. She was in big trouble.

Author's Note: Oh no! What's gonna happen now? Stay tuned to find out and a little review on the way out is always very much appreciated.