Behind the Mask
CHAPTER 10: A Star Is Born
Off to one side of the room sat Uchiha Sasuke, the cut across his knuckles being mended by the team's medical staff. The older, balding man was seated beside the young hockey player, his experienced hands working diligently to stitch the wound. As Hinata walked over the threshold in to the team's dressing room, she glanced over in his direction and saw the familiar scowl plastered to his face. She would have guessed that by now she would have been use to it, but it appeared to be anything but. That one little facial expression still managed to send a shiver through her body every time their eyes met, and this time was no different.
Once his dark eyes met her pale ones, she felt her entire body stiffen, petrified in the doorway. She inwardly wondered if he blamed the injury on her, if it would not have happened if she was able to stand up for herself. At least once in her life she wished she wasn't so easily scared. Perhaps he just hated her that much and it would be better off if she just left the team.
"Hinata!" yelped a voice as two arms wrapped around her shoulders from behind. Kiba pulled her back enough to look down into her mask and she found herself leaning against his chest, "why are you standing in the doorway?"
"O-oh! S-sorry, I'll move," she stammered, pulling herself forward and away from her friendly teammate. "I was j-just distracted."
"It's no use thinking about that goal now," the team's silver-haired coach stepped around the two bodies and looked down at the girl with a smile hidden behind his mask, "it's done and over with. We'll get it back," he added with a reassuring pat to her padded shoulder. Kakashi then stepped forward and motioned for the players to take their seats.
Hinata was nudged forward by Kiba and eventually found a spot beside Shino. Neji gave her a curt nod from his stall near Sasuke and Naruto flashed her a spectacular grin, a grin that would have given everyone the impression that they were winning the game. The truth was they weren't. Kiri was up one – nil and Hozuki Suigetsu had managed to steal a goal, even provoking the usually calm Uchiha.
"Okay," Kakashi clapped his hands to get everyone's attention, "hm, what shall I say?" He looked over to the assistant coach for direction, but received a shrug of his shoulders.
"How's Kotetsu?" Izumo inquired, pushing his damp hair out of his face, though most of it just flopped back.
Quirking one of his eyebrows, Kakashi leaned back to glimpse into the small, conjoined room, "ah, he looks fine." The player in question was stripped down to his shirt and shorts, the hockey equipment tossed to one side. Another member of the medical staff was stretching out the boy's limbs, testing for where the pain seemed to come from. "Yea," Kakashi nodded, "fine."
"Well, that was informative," Shikamaru yawned and slouched in an empty stall, squished between Chouji and one of Konoha's more quieter players.
"Yes," the coach nodded in agreement, "I think it was very informative."
Finding the conversation odd in respect to what she was accustomed to under the reign of Mitarashi Anko, Hinata leaned over to Shino and questioned quietly, "is h-he always like this?"
The boy returned her question with a vague nod before speaking, "this is only the beginning. He hasn't added his signature line yet."
"Signature line?"
Kiba straightened up, one hand coming to cover the bottom half of his face as he imitated their coach, "look under the underneath," he mumbled under the palm.
"Huh?" Hinata queried with a slight tilt of her head, "what's that m-mean?"
"Who knows," the dog-loving hockey player shrugged.
Suddenly she felt a pair of eyes on her, but they felt different this time. It wasn't Sasuke glaring at her. That feeling she was well accustomed to by now, but not that it made for an easier time. Hinata shifted her gaze away from Kiba and straight forward to find Kakashi bent down and looking back into her eyes, "it means you must look under the underneath when there's a problem you need to solve."
"Um… o-okay," she nodded quickly, hoping he would move on to something else… someone else.
Coincidentally, the coach did move on, standing back up and turning to look back at the rest of the team. He only promptly requested Hinata remove her mask before he started to instruct the rest of his team. The man went on to drill the team on their few flaws of the first period. Fortunately, the lecture didn't last nearly as long as the intermission was. Time was still abundant for the players to mull over the current predicament. But before Kakashi ended his short speech, he turned to Sasuke with a curious tilt of his head, brows furrowed as he probed the raven haired boy with his eyes, "why'd you get so riled up?"
"I didn't get riled up," Sasuke retorted, his tone dark and in complete denial.
"Ha!" Kiba pointed a finger offensively, "you so went and lost your temper this time."
"I concur," Lee added, a charmingly bright smile sparkled as he leaned forward and careened his eyes to the Uchiha, "it appears you're more protective of our sweet Hinata than you let on."
The authorities, members of the coaching staff, looked between Lee and Sasuke. The latter's jaw tensed visibly and Lee simply smiled… until he realized his assistant captain was decidedly not happy with his innocent observation. Lee retreated into his stall, shrinking back far enough so he was out of Sasuke's sight. Hinata followed suit with Lee and leaned back, pulling her mask back on as she felt familiar eyes glaring holes into her; straight through her goalie pads and everything.
There was a light knock on the door and the same female voice that ushered them out onto the ice called to the team, "five minutes, boys!"
Most of the seats around them had been vacated in favour of getting snacks and such, but the three girls didn't move. Their faces wore thoughtful expressions as they looked between each other now and then, furrowed eyebrows displaying their disbelief.
"Okay, okay, we need to go over this again," TenTen waved her arms as she shifted to look at the two girls on her left, "Hozuki Suigetsu scored, then he bullied Hina, who then shrank down to the size of a pea because he is freaky looking, and then…"
"Uchiha Sasuke steps in and plays hero," Temari completed, looking past Ino and to TenTen, "why didn't Neji step in?"
"Bastard…" Ino cursed under her breath as she crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. The blonde was slouched in her seat, much like a child deprived of her obligatory hockey-game-chocolate-ice-cream-malt.
TenTen leaned out to get a look at Ino's discontented face, her usually pretty, blue eyes burning with ire. "Did you just call my boyfriend a bastard?" she questioned, a little smirk of amusement on her face.
"No!" Ino looked to her brunette friend incredulously, "why in the world would I call Neji a bastard? I was referring to the jerk of an Uchiha. He makes Hinata's life horrible and then jumps in and defends her?! Seriously! What's his problem?!"
The Sabaku shrugged and got comfortable in her seat again as Kiri's players made their way back on the ice. "Why didn't Neji do anything?" she queried silently.
TenTen shook her head, exacerbated, and sighed, "there's something going on between him and Uchiha. I don't know what it is, but he's letting Uchiha treat Hinata like that. They have that…" she fumbled with her words, gesturing awkwardly with her hands, "you know, male bond-trust thing going on. Like skinship, but without the touchy feely."
Their team captain cracked a smile, "skinship without the touchy feely is just friendship. The whole point of skinship is the touchy feely between boys."
"Now you're getting bogged down on novel details," TenTen replied with a wave of her hand. "Oh well, I'd rather not imagine Neji getting all touchy feely with Uchiha anyway," she shrugged before sliding forward in her seat as the Heat finally came out onto the ice for the second period.
They watched with great interest as Hinata led the group out, followed by the rest, who took a quick warm-up skate before exiting off to the bench. The indigo-haired Hyuuga scraped away the ice at her net, and then stretched her limbs. It was clear that their coach wasn't icing their top line, but opted instead to throw out the fourth line and the top defensive pair. One of the players glided up to her, head inclined downward as he exchanged a few words with her amidst the cheers of the fans. Hinata nodded confidently with a smile just as he turned and skated off to ready for the faceoff.
"A-bu-rame?" TenTen tilted her body over Ino's lap, "we like him, right?"
Temari did the same and nodded, "think so. Haven't really heard anything bad about him."
At that, Ino merely rolled her eyes and retrieved her phone from the pocket of her jeans. The fancy schmancy device lit up and she scrolled through the various applications at her disposable. With a few clicks Ino had what she needed. So she stood up and cupped her hands to her mouth, "Hina! Suna is leading 4-0! You better not lose this game or they will never let you live this down!"
Hinata's ears perked up and she twisted her head around to give her friends a gentle smile. Inwardly she repeated those words with the image of the two boys doing just that, not letting her live it down.
"Damn!" Kiba roared, slamming the penalty box door before kicking it with his skate. Just then the referee skated by and picked up the puck as it sat idly in front of the sin-bin. "Hey!" the Inuzuka lammed his gloved hands on the glass, "that was NOT charging and you damn well know it, you pansy ass!"
Naruto slid on the white bench, head inclined to look at his fellow teammate. "Hey," he said curtly, wearing a grin as his eyes squinted, "how's it going, buddy?"
"That was not charging!" Kiba echoed his earlier words before dropping down beside Naruto. "This sucks for the little mouse," he muttered grudgingly.
"Hinata?" the blonde questioned and received a nod in response, "heh, no kidding, eh? 5-on-3's never go good for the goalie. Oh well, at least I don't have sit here all by myself."
Back on the ice, the ref was waiting for the clock to be turned back. When the whistle went on Kiba's penalty, a few seconds had been lost in a short delay of the officials' reactions. Fortunately, this gave the Konoha players time to get ready for the ensuing 5-on-3. Hinata especially was using the time to mentally prepare herself.
Somehow miraculously, they had scraped out of the second without any mishaps. No goals had been scored on either side and no fights were fought. It appeared as though Kiri's players learned not to pick on the Heat's newest addition or else they would face the wrath of a certain Uchiha's fist. Even with the scoreless second, they managed to keep the fans enthralled, throwing hits left and right, getting breakouts on odd-man rushes, and coming within a hair's width away from a goal on a few chances.
Sadly, the third period didn't seem to be going their way. Kiri, a mediocre team, was still up by one goal and their goalie had stonewalled every shot the Heat sent his way. At the thirteen minute mark, which left seven minutes left, Naruto lifted his stick up and unintentionally caught one of the opposing players, an immediate high-sticking was called. But upon further investigation and a stream of crimson blood, Naruto was assessed a double minor for high-sticking and causing injury, meaning a heaping four minutes in the box. Two minutes were killed off with no catastrophe befalling them until the whistle went again, this time to send the feisty Inuzuka to the penalty box.
There were five minutes left of the game and the ref whistled the players into the top faceoff circle, the red circle to Hinata's left and a little ways in from her blueline. Her lavender eyes scanned the backs of her teammates. Lee and Shino would support her defensively while Neji was the lone offensive player. The players lined up, Hinata crouched, and the arena erupted with chants of encouragement. However, she heard none; the puck dropping was like a single pin hitting the concrete floor of the arena's underbelly, clanking with a ding. Time slowed but her heart was pounding, thumping like there wasn't enough blood getting to her peripheries, sending the organ into overdrive.
Either way, Hinata steeled herself and pushed any negative thoughts and fears away. There were things that needed to get done and she knew it would come soon, especially since Neji lost the faceoff and Kiri swiped the rubber disk back, forcing Konoha's three remaining players to fall back and form a triangle in front of the anxious girl. The opposing players passed between each other while skating side to side in an effort to throw off Konoha's players.
A pass along the blueline and Neji sunk down, reaching his stick out in an effort to intercept the pass but failed as he fell out of position. It wasn't in their favour as puck had come to Haku of all people, a player with unmatched precision. Rumour among the league was that one should never enter a game of darts with him; it was guaranteed that you'd lose. Not that darts mattered in a hockey game…
The boy hooked his stick up just a little and let the wrist shot go once the Heat's captain was down and the shooting lane freed up. This shot proved to be no problem for the Hyuuga's superb goaltender. Hinata slid across the ice and lifted her blocker glove to deflect it off. The only snag was that she couldn't find the room to swipe it out of midair with her glove, so it bounced to the ground.
The puck landed not far from Shino and he slapped it up to the blueline with every intention of sending it the length of the ice but it was caught at the blueline. He let out a frustrated sigh and urged his tired legs to keep fighting when all they wanted to do was rest. Like before, the other team cycled the puck and pelted Hinata with shots at every opportunity they got. For her part, she fought relentlessly. She did everything from jumping, sliding, reaching, diving, to scrambling every which way the puck went. After all that, she was tired and so were her teammates as there was only forty seconds left on both penalties and no one had gotten the opportunity to change.
The exhaustion became particularly apparently when Lee, to Hinata's right, chased after a pass between two players and tripped over a strange dip in the ice, sending him toppling over as a familiar face skate around him and came in on her. She looked Suigetsu in the eyes and lined her body up with his, though she was edging to her left in anticipation of a cross crease pass. Frighteningly, it didn't come and he deked around her, pulling the puck to her left and waiting until she followed before pulling back to her right where she was out of position. The round object glided in, on a straight path to pass over the red goal line. She knew that regardless of what happened she couldn't just give up because she had fallen out of position. No, she would keep on fighting until it was too late.
So with that resolve, she kicked her leg out while she fell back into a laying position, her entire body sprawled across the crease. To her astonishment, the blade of her skate caught the top of the puck just as it drifted halfway over the line. Still, she knew that wouldn't do because he would soon come into continue to pester the puck some more. It was on instinct that she brought her goal stick to the outside of her leg to help fight against Suigetsu's whacks of his stick. Then she closed her legs together and held on valiantly for the ref to blow the whistle.
The referee stood behind the net with his feet planted on the red bar that circled around the bottom. He was sprawled forward to the point the he was looking down at an angle directly above from where the puck had almost squeaked through. Hinata winced and held her legs against the pokes at the puck. For a goal to be declared the entire puck had to cross the line and she was certain it hadn't. But it didn't matter because the object of interest was out of sight anyway and the whistle went. Even if the Kiri players argued that it was a goal, the ref would wave it off as a no-goal because of inconclusive evidence. No video replay would suffice in determining whether or not the puck crossed over the line. Then again, it was quite apparent where the puck lay when Hinata relaxed after the whistle and opened her goal pads to reveal the puck sitting a good two inches away from the goal line, a definite no-goal.
"Tch," Kiri's silver-haired player scoffed as he turned and skated back to his bench for a line change.
A small surge of accomplishment coursed through her body seeing Hozuki Suigetsu's displeased expression, even a subtle smile creeping across her features.
"Thanks Hinata," Neji skated by and gave her a gentle nudge with his stick before making his own way back to the bench. Shino gave her a grateful nod while Lee bowed his head and apologized.
No thanks were needed for Hinata. Her job was to stop the puck and any praise she got was a bonus… However, it was clear she wasn't going to get any praise from a certain obsidian eyed hockey player as he hopped the bench and stepped on the ice. Sasuke was fully rested in comparison to the other players as a result of the minor cut to his hand. It was minor and surely would not stop him from playing out the rest of the penalty kill.
He didn't even pay her a glance as he and the two defensemen skated over to take the next faceoff to her right. This time Hinata stood with a little more confidence after being pelted with a decent handful of shots. And this time Konoha won the face off with Sasuke swiping it back to one of the defensemen who then proceeded to cycle it around the backside of Hinata's goal to the other player. He took a few strides before smacking it down the ice to brace for the incoming check.
As the puck slid down the length, the crowds cheered the winding down of the penalties. There was still enough time left on the clock for one last rush before Naruto and Kiba returned to the game. The two players were already standing up in the penalty box as Kiri regrouped and started back into Konoha end. The puck was dumped once the first few players stepped over the blueline and then chased into the corner where a player from both sides met and battled. The Heat's player lost and the rubber disk squeaked up the side where another player was waiting patiently with his stick raised for the slap shot. The blade came down and the puck was propelled forward, breaking through the air. Down at the other end, Kiri's goalie clanked his goal stick on the ice to warn his teammates that Konoha's imprisoned players were due to be released in seconds.
Hinata held her breath as the puck whipped towards her… until her defensemen dropped down to the ice and took it off his shins. But there was no time to breathe a sigh of relief as Sasuke promptly pick the puck up and called out to his best friend just as the door to the penalty box swung open and both previously captive players stepped out.
The blonde grinned from ear to ear as he expertly took the pass to his stick at the painted redline and skated in on the goalie, Kiba being the only other player trailing behind him. While he skated in, the goalie came out to cut down the angle. Instead of shooting, Naruto dropped the pass between his legs to Kiba before cutting off to the side. The Inuzuka wore a similar grin as he sent a wicked slap shot, which… missed its intended target entirely and smacked right into the goalie's mask, between where his eyes would be.
"Whoops," Kiba murmured as he came to a stop when the goaltender slumped over, very much like the Heat's first real encounter with Hinata.
"Whoa," Naruto came up beside his penalty box partner and looked up with bewilderment, "did you miss or was that on target?"
"No, I missed."
Kiri's players were quick to come to their goalie's defence, shoving Kiba and Naruto away while the team's trainer came out to check on the boy. The pair backed up to where the rest of their teammates were and Hinata skated all the way out to where Kiri's blueline was, her concerned eyes locked on the goalie opposite to her. Her breathing was heavy; she knew exactly how that sort of hit felt and she glanced over to Sasuke to catch him looking at her, but he wasn't glaring or scowling. His expression was a little softer than apathetic before he turned and headed for the bench.
Unfortunately, and it pained her to see this, Kiri's goalie was helped off the ice to be replaced by their backup. Hinata bowed her head and clanked her stick on the ice as the crowd clapped encouragingly.
"Hinata!" she snapped up to find Kakashi standing up on the bench and waving her over, "watch me. We're going to pull you for the extra attacker."
She gave a nod of understanding before coming back into her net to finish off the less three minutes left of play. And so when play restarted it was Konoha's second line that moved out, giving the first a breather in preparation for the last haul. Both teams skated back and forth, checking and swiping at the puck to gain clean possession in a last ditch effort to either solidify the score as it was or get the tying goal. No shots were had on either end as both teams understood the importance of not letting any goals in if they hoped to come out winners. At just more than one minute left, Konoha took a shot that deflected off a stick somewhere on its way to the goal but it shot up and over the glass, into the crowds of fans jumping to catch themselves a game souvenir.
The play would restart in Konoha's offensive zone, so Hinata looked up to her coach to receive a quick wave to come to bench. Once she stepped off the ice, the Heat's fourth offensive player hopped over and the six players took their positions. Hinata's net was left unguarded in hopes of scraping out a tying goal.
She sidestepped around the bench's door and found an empty spot beside Chouji who greeted her with a salute. Together, the goaltenders watched attentively as the Heat's very best players stepped onto the ice and made their way down to where the faceoff was being held. Hinata could feel her heart beating erratically again. The sight of her empty net was disturbing her on so many levels.
Even if she knew and fully understood the coach's decision, the Hyuuga still clasped her eyes shut as the crowd roared when the puck was dropped. She couldn't watch but she could tell by how her teammates were cheering that things were beginning well. Then there was a hand resting on her shoulder and she opened her eyes before turning to find Chouji smiling sweetly at her, "don't worry so much."
"I… I c-can't help it," she informed forlornly.
Just then a ding drew her attention back to the game at hand and the crowd let out a simultaneous "aww" as the puck bounced off the crossbar and missed the goal. After a handful of cycles and a few shots that either went wide or were blocked right off the bat by one of Kiri's players, a pass was intercepted and sent down the length of the ice. Lee sped off after it followed by an opposing player as the puck slid within two feet of going in the empty net. Hinata's heart skipped a beat as her breath hitched in her throat.
Sasuke pumped his legs and went straight for her net, guarding the right side as the two players met in the corner and poked and prodded the puck. The Kiri player was a bit bigger than Lee and managed to shove the bowl cut wearing hockey player off, swiping the disk back to another player who shot the puck towards the net. Sasuke dropped to his knees and slid over all too late as the puck trickled past him. The Heat player's dropped down to the bench with sighs and grunts of disapproval as Kiri celebrated their second goal, the clincher.
Hinata looked up to the clock to see a measly ten seconds left. People that had stayed in hopes that Konoha would pull out a win were getting out of their seats and leaving the arena to beat the rush. They knew it was over and the home team had essentially lost. With ten seconds the players would at least try to break the shutout Kiri had. Unfortunately, when play restarted the Heat lost the faceoff. Kiri took the puck behind their own net to run the clock down until the buzzer went and their bench cleared to celebrate their victory over the MJHL's top team of the west.
Dejectedly, Hinata skated off with her teammates, paying little attention to the proud cheers of a few fans that had made their way down to the glass to cheer on their new goalie. No worries though, she would get her moment to appreciate the backing that had developed over the course of the last two and a half hours.
Once she made it into the archway, Hinata was stopped by the woman from earlier. She smiled brightly to the shy girl and announced, "second star of the game, Miss Hyuuga Hinata."
"S-second star?" Hinata's eyes widened as she stared in disbelief.
"Mmhm," the woman gave her a shoulder pat and nodded, "quite the splash you made in your first game; one goal out of thirty-four shots."
The deep voice of the announcer went off and announced the third star of the game. It was the Kiri goalie that had gone down on a misplaced shot by Kiba. Hinata stepped out of the archway to watch as the boy came out from his bench and waved to the fans before retreating back in. The announcer next called out a name that was all too familiar to her. Hinata's name echoed through the arena and she nervously walked out of the archway and stepped out onto the ice to give her own wave.
It was then that she finally noticed the small crowd gathered at the end of Konoha's bench, on the spectator side of the glass. The group was entirely made up of young girls who clapped and screamed their appreciation. The lone male amongst the group was a young father; his daughter was held in his arms. She adorned a miniature Konoha Heat jersey and waved enthusiastically to her newest role model as Hinata felt her eyes go hot with tears. Hinata gave them a bashful smile and waved before she exited off the bench again.
The first star was handed to Kiri's player… the one that had scored the winning goal, but Hinata didn't care enough to stick around so she scurried off to her private dressing room. In contrast to the noisy atmosphere in the arena, it was serene in her room and allowed her to reflect on her first game. She undressed and showered in the tiny shower tucked away to one corner before dressing in her dress suit. Hinata really appreciated that the team had gone so far as to even add an individual shower into her room.
She brushed out her hair before coming up to her equipment bag to pack away her things when there was a knock on the door. "Are you decent?"
"Y-yea, come in," she responded and twisted from her position to see the door slide open, revealing Shikamaru and Chouji.
"Hey, congrats on the second star," Chouji waltz in with a bag of potato chips in his hand, "man, Neji looks so proud."
Shikamaru stepped in and found a spot along the wall to lean on, "just a heads up; there's no team meeting so just take your stuff to the bus when you're done."
"Mm," she nodded and zipped up her bag, "I'm d-done. We can go." Hinata stood up and grabbed the handle of her bag and pulled it as the wheels rolled.
"Alright then, ladies first," Shikamaru gestured as he pulled the door open and held it for her. Gratefully, Hinata walked through and into the hall. The three goalies strolled to the players' exit of the arena, but Hinata abruptly stopped when she caught sight of someone with long, dark hair. He was rather feminine looking and she easily recognized him as Kiri's star, Haku.
"Um, I'll catch up," she instructed to the two before receiving shrugs as they sauntered off to the exit. Her bag dropped down to the concrete floor and she hastily dug through one of the outer pockets before finding a small box. "Ex-excuse me," she called out meekly.
Haku turned around and raised an eyebrow to the girl that nearly matched his rather short stature, "yes?"
"Uh… h-how's your goalie?"
The boy opposite her tilted his head, streams of dark hair falling off his shoulders, "why do you ask?"
"O-oh, I'm j-just concerned," Hinata answered before holding the small box out in both her hands, "i-it's just tea, but it h-helps with headaches. At least it helped wh-when I was hit."
"Ah, alright," he took the box from her hand and eyed it before offering a gentle smile, "I'll pass it on to him with your regards."
Hinata smiled back and nodded just as the rest of Kiri's team came out from their room. Off to where she had come, Sasuke walked out. His dark eyes darted between her and Haku before he looked back at her with a questioning look.
"What are you doing?" he stood over her and glared at his long time rival, "the bus is waiting." Then, without even waiting for her answer, he clutched the handle of her bag with one hand while the other found its way to the small of her back and nudged her to walk, but much more gently this time than the other occasions.
What Sasuke didn't expect was the large hand that came down over his spiky hair and ruffled it. "Sasuke!" the voice rumbled, causing the young Uchiha to smack the hand away.
"What do you want? Kisame," Sasuke ground out, every word laced with malice as he stepped back, putting himself between the man and Hinata.
She watched curiously. There was no doubt in her mind at who the man was. He was part owner of the Kiri team and appeared to have come out to watch his team's tilt with Konoha.
Kisame chuckled, "I just wanted to say hi, and to the pretty girl too." He smiled and waved, which Hinata returned apprehensively.
"It's done then," Sasuke turned around and put his hand back where it had been and continued to nudge her along.
They made it a few steps before the man asked a peculiar question, one that left Hinata furrowing her eyebrows. "How's your brother doing, Sasuke?"
"Ask him yourself" was the curt reply before Hinata found herself being shoved out the door.
The cold air hit her like a brick as they finally made it outside and he all but smashed her equipment bag. Thankfully, he had only tossed it roughly into the pile of other bags set out to be packed into the bus. Still, he didn't look all too pleased with being questioned suddenly. Hinata decided not to further pester him about the new bit of information, so she quietly padded away from him.
"Hinata!" she was jolted from behind as two arms squeezed around her waist, "you were so amazing out there!"
"Hanabi…" she squirmed in the girl's hold before finding that her own arms were returning the hug, "thanks."
"It's true," their mother came in and stroked some strands of Hinata's hair away, "you played remarkably." Before Hinata knew it, she could already see her mother's eyes shining with tears.
"Oh, don't cry," Hinata tottered over with Hanabi still locked onto her and slung one arm around her mother.
Feeling left out, Hiashi awkwardly joined in on the group hug as he whispered into her ears, "we're very proud of you."
"Thank you… but wait…" Hinata pulled away briefly and looked to where Neji was standing with Lee. She waved him to join, but he merely quirked an eyebrow and shook his head, adamant that he'd not join the group hug.
"He's always like that," her mother explained with a roll of her eyes as they finally pulled apart.
"Okay, okay!" TenTen flailed her arms, "it's our turn now."
Hinata giggled and stepped aside to be mauled by her friends. "Thanks for coming to support me."
"Of course," Temari replied with a grin as she ruffled the girl's hair, "we wouldn't miss your MJHL debut for the world."
"That's right!" Ino chimed, "because we looooove you that much."
"Yep, so keep fighting," TenTen added as she took her hand off their hug and pumped it in the air. "And just let us know if the Uchiha treats you poorly."
"Or just tell Gaara and Kankoru," Ino concurred.
"Don't worry, he hasn't done anything," Hinata reassured.
"Ahem," Neji interrupted, directing his attention to a certain brunette, "I get a hug too, right?"
"Later," TenTen replied shortly, leaving the Heat's captain looking wounded. "Fine, fine," she finally complied and the girls broke away as TenTen skipped over to Neji and embraced him.
Everyone exchanged farewells and well wishes before heading off. Temari had handed Hinata two large bags before saying her last good bye. Even Hotaru and Matsuri dropped by to congratulate Hinata on her second star of the game. Soon after Hinata was waving as everyone made their way back to the parking lot and she was left as the only girl among a team of teenage boys. She didn't mind so much anymore, but she'd still miss her high school team.
"Come on, let's get on the bus," Neji nodded off in the direction as the rest of the team was finally ready to leave and a few players were packing the equipment in with the luggage.
"Wait!" one of the players packing the bags pointed over to her, and rather rudely at that, "you're a rookie."
"Hm?" Neji cracked a smile and looked to his baby cousin, "he's right. You are a rookie."
"A-and?" she looked wide-eyed between the two.
"Rookies load the bus," he informed with an amused smile before walking off to the entrance of the bus, "have fun. Oh and by the way, since you got second star, watch out for Naruto and Kiba."
"Huh?" she watched him disappear.
"Yea!" the other rookie cheered triumphantly and tossed a bag to her, causing Hinata to stumble back with a whimper.
The indigo-haired girl awkwardly dragged the bag over to one of the compartments of the bus. The task at hand wasn't an easy on. The bags were heavy and stinky. They didn't all fit properly; leaving her to remove some and restack them while the other rookies moved with ease. It was like a cruel game of Tetris and it also didn't help that she knew Sasuke was watching. He was standing by the door with Naruto while Sakura clung to him.
Then there was a clank as something fell out of a goalie equipment bag. Hinata placed the bag back down and bent over to pick up the item. "Maple syrup?" she wondered before sliding the bottle back into the open slot and zipping it up. The label on the bag signalled that he belonged to Chouji so she wasn't too surprised.
It took her a good deal of time until she managed to fill up one compartment and move on to the next. Her arms were not happy. If it were simply tossing the bags in then she would be fine, but it was that they kept falling back out. "Stupid bags," she whispered under her breath.
"If you're having trouble, just get on the bus," Sasuke commanded as he snatched the bag from her hand, "I'll do it." He clearly wasn't jumping for joy about it, and he actually looked very annoyed.
"U-um, o-okay," she bowed a little and started for the bus. He glared at her the entire way while the other rookies stopped to watch. It was like all eyes were on her and it chilled her to the bone. Sakura was standing beside Naruto with her emerald eyes narrowed while Naruto grinned. Thankfully, it all passed and Sasuke tossed the bag in as she reached the first step up.
When Hinata was two steps up, she looked back to see the rookies get back to work as Sasuke loaded her pile and her heart sank with guilt. Before she realized it, she was running the short distance to her section near the back end of the bus. "I c-can do it," she reached out and grabbed onto Sasuke's hand, "it's my responsibility."
"Suit yourself," he handed the bag off to her and shoved his hands into his pockets before walking back to the bus. It wasn't until his back was to the girl that a small upturn of his lips was evident; more of a smirk than a smile.
"She went back," Yamato informed as he repositioned himself in the seat at the front of the bus.
"Did you have any doubts?" Kakashi settled back and let his eyelids fall. The assistant coach shrugged.
Eventually, after some very feminine grunts and whimpers, Hinata pulled the last compartment door shut and made her way on the bus. She took the only empty pair of seats and settled down beside the window. She knew Sasuke was sitting behind her but was too tired to care. He looked to be nearly asleep anyway. Finally the bus rolled out, ten minutes behind schedule, and Hinata's cell phone went off.
"Hello?" she answered, though she had already seen the name in the display.
"Congratulations on getting second star," Gaara's smooth voice eased her nerves, "but you still lost."
"I know. You don't have to remind me."
"Alright, I won't," he answered with a bit of amusement, "so how was your first day in the MJHL?"
"My arms feel like they're going to fall off," she whined into the receiver.
"They made you load the bus?"
"Yes."
"Ah, I see," he let out a very light laugh, "so you guys are headed to Kumo first before Suna, correct?"
"Mmhm, we're suppose to get into Kumo sometime tonight," she hummed quietly while trying to remember the team's schedule, "we get the day off tomorrow and we play on Sunday. Where are you right now?"
"On the bus, just getting out of Ame," there was a rustling sound before his voice came back, "keep me company. Kankoru is already asleep and we've only been on the road for twenty minutes."
Hinata giggled, "alright…"
Behind her, Sasuke rose up to look over the top of her seat. He was trying to sleep and here Hinata was giggling into the phone with some idiot who saw fit to call right after an exhaustive game. He wanted to take the phone from her hand but refrained, choosing to sleep or at least try to sleep.
A/N: BRACE FOR THE LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE! hehe. First, yes they lost. The world isn't all sparkles, flowerbeds, and unicorns. The Heat need a good dose of humility once in a while. Second, you're probably thinking that maple syrup scene was a letdown, but it wasn't the real scene. After some contemplation, the intended scene doesn't fit. Sasuke needs to start taking a serious interest in Hinata. Essentially, for the maple syrup scene to work, they need to be closer. And no, it's nothing kinky, because this fic is rated T. Third... hehehe skinship! The touchy feely between boys. I'm not a yaoi fan but I'll fangirl over skinship (that was an insert to please the author). Oh and there was the Gaahina insert for those Gaahina fans, myself included. The next chapter... I think will just have the team hanging out and if you remember from chapter 1, Kumo is the hometown of the Hyuuga. Mostly because they couldn't get a Hyuuga in the manga.
I actually wrote this all today. I guess I was inspired by the game I went to watch with my cousin. Oh hockey, I'm so glad you're back.
As always, THANK YOU for reading and reviewing. Trust me when I say I read all your reviews and more than just once too! I have fun incorporating little ideas and such, just like the soon to come maple syrup scene spawned from a review! Did you catch the 'eh'? Sphyma was surprised no one said it. I fail as a Canadian... leaving it out. I hoped this chapter shed some light. Please drop a review if you get a chance. Remember, I do read them all.