Third P.O.V

Hinata blinked, rubbed her eyes and slapped her face. This wasn't a dream, or some sick hallucination. Sasuke the freaking crown prince was at her door step. She quickly dragged him in and checked if anyone had followed. Closing the door shut, she turned to a smirking Uchiha.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned.
"To see you," Sasuke replied and began inspecting the apartment.
"It's rude to walk around someone's home without an invitation," Hinata pointed out.
"You're the one that dragged me in," Sasuke replied. Hinata remained speechless and smacked her forehead thinking about how correct he was. Taking a few breaths, she invited Sasuke to have a seat in the kitchen. As Sasuke sat, Hinata busied herself with preparing tea and setting the table.

"Unfortunately I don't have any sugarless cupcakes, but here's dried fruit to take with your coffee," Hinata said, placing a plate in front of him. Sasuke gave his thanks as Hinata sat opposite of him. He watched her drink green tea with a plate of cinnamon rolls on the side. Hinata felt Sasuke's eyes on her and set her cinnamon roll down. She folded her arms and asked,

"To what do I owe the pleasure of his Highness in my humble home?"

"Alright, that's it. What's with the sudden change? One minute you're hard core, next you're all obedient. It's starting to get annoying"

"What should it matter? Its no big deal. Happy?"

"Yeah, no. I'm not buying any of your acts. What's the deal between you and Sakura? And as much as I hate playing the Prince card, I order you to tell me. With the little I know about you I know you won't tell me unless I order it and don't think of lying your way out of this one"

The room grew silent. Sasuke noticed how Hinata was nervous and seemed to be at a mental war with herself. She began to twiddle her forefingers and slumped.

"Are you sure you're ready to hear what I have to say?" Hinata whispered. Sasuke said 'hn' in approval. Hinata placed her hands on her lap and began her tale.

"I'm Sakura's body guard and lady in waiting. I have been since I was seven years old. And no I have no recollection of my life before I was six. As you know the law, child servants have a choice to release themselves from servitude at the age of 18. I want to at least be in good terms with Lady Tsunade and Lady Sakura so that I at least have a good financial back up and social standing when I leave this life. That's why I came to a decision to avoid high society individuals like yourself. I don't want any trouble now and I have no intention of jeopardizing my own future. A future where I can help people of my own free will and do whatever I want of my own free will. Where I can at least change my fate"

Once again silence filled the room. Sasuke had definitely not expected this by a mile. He opened his mouth to reply, but no words left. Servitude was a serious thing especially if you were the servant. Servants were below low class; merely aides and not considered a person, depending on their master. He could now understand Hinata's reasoning behind her actions. His train of thought broke at the sound of Hinata getting up from her seat. She cleared away the table and began washing the dishes.

"You know," Sasuke began, "you remind me of my brother. His fate was already decided for him as he should have been crown prince. Itachi was quite the prodigy and was wise beyond his years. However, he had a gentle spirit like the one you seem to have; and he loved to serve his people because of his love for them, for the land of Fire. He often traveled to meet isolated clans that lived outside of Konoha.
"However, no matter how busy he got, he never failed to spare time for me. The last time I saw him, he had been invited to a celebration of a clan heiress. He left me with a promise to bring me a special surprise. But he never did. I guess you could say that I'm drawn to you because of the light in your eyes. Its the same as the light Itachi had in his own"

"Your brother sounds admirable, but I can't be compared to him," Hinata said, "He's a..."

"Don't start that Hinata. You are admirable in your own way. To have survived under Sakura this long is very admirable, okay? Don't let what you've grown up to be define you. Just be you," Sasuke retorted.

"That's very kind of you," Hinata mumbled, "but what exactly do you want from me?"

"For starters, for you to stop pushing me away. And your friendship,"

"Who's to say it won't end in disaster?"

"I guess we'll be the judge of that won't we? Look at it this way, its a once in a life time opportunity to be friends with the prince, right?"

Turning around, Hinata giggled at Sasuke's response and crossed her arms. Sasuke smirked at his victory and was inwardly smiling at seeing Hinata smile.

"You should keep smiling," Sasuke said, "you look more carefree that way"

"Perhaps you should take your own advice. Smiling could help you more than me," the giggling Hinata replied.

"Oh yeah?" Sasuke exclaimed, closing in on Hinata and tickling her. Hinata squealed and tried to escape from Sasuke's arms. Hinata managed to escape and ran around the kitchen, Sasuke hot on her heels. Both ran into the sitting room with Sasuke catching up to Hinata and pinned her on the couch, once again tickling her.

They didn't notice a sleepy Ten-ten enter the room and mumble, "Hinata, what's with all the...ahhhhh!"

Ten-ten grabbed a pink plastic baseball bat and hit a stunned Sasuke on the back and shouting
"STOP TRYING TO RAPE MY FRIEND YOU PERVERT!"

"Argh," Sasuke grunted as Hinata squeaked in surprise.

It took five minutes to calm a sleepy-disoriented Ten-ten down and explain the situation. Hinata was nursing the bruise on Sasuke's back with an ice-pack while Ten-ten apologized and begged she not be prisoned for treason.

"Its fine, anyone would have misread the situation," Sasuke grumbled.

"Are you sure?" Ten-ten asked.

"Hn,"

"But seriously, what were you to doing?" Ten-ten asked.

"I think you're okay now Sasuke. Oh look at the time! You should probably go now," Hinata interrupted, pushing Sasuke out the door as he protested. Hinata whispered in his ear that they would meet later, waved and closed the door. She turned around to see a smirking Ten-ten who had her hands crossed.

"So do you want to tell me or should I guess?" Ten-ten chirped.

"He's just a friend"

"That's what they all say. And what was that display earlier on the couch?"

"He was just tickling me. Don't be over dramatic about this Ten"

Ten-ten laughed and headed to their shared room. Hinata flopped onto the couch and sighed. Perhaps things might not be so bad, she thought.