Lavender and Resentment

Update! I hope you guys like the recent plot-twist! You wanted more character development, whatever that means; I tried to give it!

UPDATE OF AN UPDATE!

I fixed a lot of the errors in the story by accidentally doing it all over again. The basic wording is 99% the same, but it wouldn't hurt to give a re-read. This is much less awkward. As a bonus, I'm currently halfway through the next chapter, which I dub, "Patch the Remains," full title being, "Patch the Remains Before They Slip Away."

Also, the first half is mostly the same. The middle is where I changed a few things. It's overall the same, but just more refreshing.

Enjoy!

The rest of Tuesday was uneventful. Hinata and I eventually got up the nerve to leave the closet at the end of the day and be on our ways home. Instead of walking there as I usually would, I took the bus. Hinata rode with me. We didn't say much. I had to tell the driver where to drop me off. Hinata and I got off at the same stop and said our goodbyes before walking towards our houses. I couldn't help but notice a strange look in her eyes as she turned and left. It was like she was staring right through me, and not in a bad way either. She looked nervous too, but I was used to that by now. This look was new; different.

I remembered this as I fumbled with my keys and opened the door to my house, taking in the scent of fresh sake that was in the air. I knew that only two things could come of this, those things being, one, my parents actually getting along, and two, a very violent and restless night for all three of us. I hoped for the former.

My prayers were apparently answered, as all was quiet in the house when I closed the door and padded my way into the house, being careful not to disrupt the peace. It was a rare occurrence when the wood panel flooring wasn't marred by objects crashing into it. I was grateful for this, making sure to step over the broken glass and assorted shrapnel decorating the boards on my way to my room. I looked to the kitchen on my right, seeing the culprit, an open bottle of sake on the fold-up table. My nose often did serve me true.

I turned and went inside my room, closing the door and taking off my clothes and sniffing them, just to see if they were worth throwing in the wash yet. To my surprise, I found a new scent on them. I didn't recognize it immediately. At first I shrugged it off, thinking it was merely some of the perfume that Ino often wore, and in some cases forced me to wear, but when I took a second whiff of my hoodie, it became clear that whatever the scent was, it certainly wasn't Ino's.

If I had to describe it, I'd say it was something between lavender and honeysuckle, and what a glorious scent it was. Never in all my life had I smelled something so intoxicating, not even the lemony goodness of Ino's hair, or even my favorite fabric softener; God knows I love citrus and strawberries. I shrugged and threw the clothes down, with the exception of my hoodie, which I held to my chest before I drifted off into dreamland, making a mental note to keep track of all the different scents that I came into contact with the next day.

Wednesday started out just as bland and uneventful as the day before. I woke up early, took my shower, got dressed in my usual attire, walked to school, and went to the girl's bathroom and performed my daily ritual, carving faces into the stall doors and installing random electronic devices such as bugs, pen-cams, radio controllers, etc. I didn't put any of them together, of course. A trip by a Radio Shack and some screwing around with Naruto took care of that.

When the bell rang for classes to begin, I went to first period and pretended not to give a fuck that Ino magically found herself a boyfriend. I glanced at her and shot a glare at the crowd of boys that were gathering around, especially the jackass she was cheating on me with. I watched her smiling at those bastards with envy. If only they knew how lucky they were. That stupid grin stayed on her face for quite a while, at least until she saw me. Her smiling expression instantly morphed into a sad puppy-dog face.

Just because you can make cu- I mean putrid faces doesn't mean I should forgive you for this... I thought, glowering and looking away. Sucking up from a distance, Ino? I mean, honestly . . . I frowned in disgust, not caring that I hadn't exactly been faithful either. At least I didn't cheat in public, I reasoned.

"It's over." I mouthed. Ino's face dropped further. She asked the teacher to go to the bathroom. He refused, so I was forced to hear her stifled bawling, which wasn't helping my bad mood at all. I frowned, watching the crowd of boys around her attempting to 'make it better.'

My phone vibrated in my jacket pocket. I had a text. It was from Hinata. I recognized the number from the time that she and I talked when Ino had just finished pegging my giant forehead with her phone. I wasn't sure how she'd gotten my number, I assumed it was probably just Ino using poor, gullible little Hinata to force her way back onto my good side again.

I added her to my contacts, not worrying about getting my phone taken up, since Gai sensei was always preaching about the power of youth and whatnot, as well as claiming cell phones the biggest source of youth in the universe. I opened the text.

It read, "saku-chan . . meet me in the closet"

I quirked an eyebrow and texted back, "k, b there in like 5 mins"

The closet? What could she possibly want from me in there? I thought, I might as well go and find out though, seeing as I'll be stuck in here otherwise.

Without a word, I got up from my seat and left the room, not bothering to grab the hall-pass, or even paying attention to Gai sensei as he preached to the complaining students about my take-charge attitude being the most inspirational and youthful thing he'd witnessed, proceeding to give me an A+. After all, I didn't care anyway; why should I listen?

Weirdo, I thought to myself, continuing to go down the long hall, past the gym and to the end of the foyer, finally coming up on the janitor's closet.

I tried the door to no avail. She locked it, I surmised.

"Open the door." I ordered.

"Wh-who is it?" Hinata's voice came from inside.

"Sakura-chan." I answered simply, "What did you want to talk about?"

Hinata cracked the door open, as if she didn't fully trust me from my voice. When she saw my face, she opened it fully, her near pupil-less squinting in the light. It was evident that she'd been in there quite some time. I stepped inside the closet with her and shut the door behind me, locking it. I stood next to her in the dark. It was a stark contrast to the near white-out conditions in the hallway. The only light in the room was coming from beneath the crack, and that wasn't nearly enough to see anything but the dim outlines of the tile adjacent to it. I listened as Hinata shifted her weight and took a deep breath.

"Sakura . . I – I wanted to ask you something."

I raised my eyebrows in interest, knowing that she couldn't see them.

She continued, "I-I've been thinking . . and well, I don't know how to say this."

About a minute of silence passed, interrupted by a sigh from Hinata. "Sakura-chan, I – I'm sorry," she whispered.

I sighed, "I told you a thousand times; it's not your fault."

I sat down on the tile, pulling Hinata down next to me and giving her a big hug. Hinata whimpered pathetically and slid into an awkward kneeling position over my lap. I rested my hands around the hem of her shirt. Hinata was tense. She shifted against me. We were cuddled up against the wall of the closet, between what I assumed was a mop bucket and some spare plywood.

"Sakura . . . I d-didn't mean it like that." She said, obviously twiddling her fingers. I could tell from how hot her face got against my shoulder. She was sitting in my lap.

I cocked an eyebrow. "How did you mean it then?"

Her body tensed further. "I – I . . . never mind." She shook her head vigorously, probably blocking out some obscure thought, one that I was sure that I knew well.

I sighed. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me."

By now, at least two bells had rung. I was sure that it was lunch period, meaning that people could do just about anything they wanted, including walking around campus and whatnot. Hinata whimpered once more, squirming around and trying to get comfortable. A few more minutes passed with the two of us in that same position, Hinata's arms around my neck and mine around her hips - God, did that girl have some hips on her. I was almost jealous.

"Hinata-chan?" I asked, resting my head against the wall in thought.

"Hn?" The raven haired girl answered.

"Do you want to go to my house?"

Hinata paused and replied quietly, "B-but we'll miss the rest of our classes, Sakura-chan!"

"What do you think we're doing right now?" I asked.

She went silent.

"Is that a yes or a no?"

She lifted her head up, "W-well, if you th-think it's a good idea-"

"Great, come on. It's only a few miles . . kilometers, or whatever." I said, hauling the two of us up and dragging her out of the dank closet, nearly blinding the both of us. "The light – it burns!" I joked, keeping a ginger hold on Hinata's hand as I led her to the nearest exit, which was on a hallway, just around the corner from where we were.

I rounded the corner with Hinata in tow, looking back every once in a while, just to make sure that I wasn't holding onto a severed arm. I was walking quite fast.

"Wh-what about our books?" Hinata asked.

I pressed on, "I'm sure they'll be fine. You and I both know that Gai and Mitarashi sensei are too lazy to throw away our crap."

"H-how'd you know that I left my bags in M-mitarashi sensei's class?" Hinata asked, desperately wanting to go back.

"Naruto gave me your schedule from the last time we hung out together. That party where you were afraid to come out of the closet because we were playing spin the bottle on his bed, remember?" I said, only half maliciously.

"O-oh…" Hinata said, embarrassed.

When we went off campus, I let go of Hinata's hand, but still kept an eye on her, insisting that she walked directly beside me. We hit a minor street later on and followed it down to where the park was. I often used to walk through it on my way home, before Ino and I were friends again. I was practically skipping down the smooth sidewalks, only occasionally glancing over to see if Hinata was there.

The girl kept up with me for the rest of the way to my house. The trek was pretty uneventful other than the whole 'trip down memory lane' vibe I was feeling. Even Hinata seemed like she was off in her own little world. When we finally got there, it was in virtually the same state as it was that morning, minus the fact that it was lacking my inebriated parents peacefully sleeping in the back room. I looked over to Hinata, who was studying the place as I struggled to find the right key. Finally, I managed to find the thing and let us in after what seemed like an eternity of fighting with the lock. We went inside.

I could definitely feel Hinata's curiosity peaking. I glanced at a note on the fridge, no doubt left by my mom. I knew before I read it that it was explained my parents wouldn't be home until Friday night or Saturday morning – something like that. Either way, I'd have lots of free time. I looked to Hinata, who was staring at our collection of family photos on the wall, half of which were of Ino and me, and not a single one with my mother and father together.

"Hinata, you want some food?" I asked, ripping the note off of the fridge and discarding it.

The girl jumped and shook her head 'no' vigorously.

"Come on then," I said, urging her to follow me into my room, or dragging her, if you will. I pulled her inside with little resistance and released my hold.

I plopped down on the bed and watched her close the door, blushing like mad. She looked more nervous than before, if that were even possible. I patted the covers, wordlessly calling her over. She blushed furiously, fidgeting with her fingers. I did the same again and she finally sat down on the bed with me, in an admittedly awkward position. When I got fed up with waiting for her to adjust, I finally just grabbed her and pulled her close as possible, not paying attention to the protesting mewls she made when I did so.

Hinata gasped, pushing against me in vain. "S-sakura-chan!"

"Hn?" I said, my lips brushing her jawline.

"We shouldn't be doing this," she whimpered, "Sakura-chan!"

"Who's doing anything, Hinata-chan?" I teased, grinning.

Hinata's eyes widened. Our lips were mere centimeters from touching.

"Just kidding!" I said, pulling away and giggling like a school girl, leaving Hinata flustered. "Aww, come on, you know I was!" I laughed, now trying, and failing to smooth it over. I was growing surprisingly more insensitive throughout the years. I sighed and sweat-dropped mentally.

Have I always been this much of a jackass? . . . Damn.

After a few minutes, I just gave up on it and rested my head on the pillow. Our of the corner of my eye, I could see Hinata inching closer, alternating between fidgeting and blushing frequently. She continued in a pattern: watch, move, fidget, move, watch, reach out slightly, pull back, repeat. I smiled inwardly, remembering how I used to do the same with Ino when we were little. Then I frowned. I wondered if noticed.

Damn it, Ino, get out of my head!

I shoved thoughts of her out of my mind repetitively, forcing myself to focus on Hinata, and though I genuinely wanted to, I couldn't get her out of my head – not until the scent of lavender and honeysuckle was wafting into my nose.

"Hinata-chan?" I murmured in surprise, trying to link the wonderful smell to when and where I'd first stumbled on it. The girl jumped at the mention of her name.

"S-sakura-chan?"

I looked down to where Hinata was, her arms encasing mine, her head resting against my shoulder. There was a hint of that 'deer-in-headlights' look that she always had in her eyes, but most of it was covered up with a sort of daze that I couldn't quite place. I was sure that I'd seen it somewhere, perhaps a mirror, but I couldn't recall it at the moment.

How cute, I thought. I forced my mind to change subjects, remembering that if I in deed did get out of control, it'd drive her away from me. After all, she was Hinata, born into a conceited clan with shortsighted views and narrow-minded ways. How would she come to embrace homosexuality when she was constantly trying to be the perfect little angel that her father wanted her to be? She couldn't; I was sure of it.

"Sakura-chan," she repeated, giving me one of her concerned gazes.

"Hnn? Oh," I started, realizing where I was again. "Cold?" I asked, half-seriously. After all, it was still winter, according to my temperature gauge. Since Christmas, it hadn't gotten above ten degrees celcius.

Hinata nodded. I wasn't expecting that; especially since she always wore a jacket. Instead of speaking, I grabbed the feeble covers that were bunched up behind me and threw them over us, taking the time to shut the blinds as well, making it quite dark in my room – not sure why I did that... Hinata looked at me intently, with that same stare that she gave the day before. I pulled my arm from under her and turned to face her, snaking my arm around her waist.

"Hinata-chan . . what do you want from me?" I asked, perplexed.

Hinata looked away. "Sakura-chan . . I – I think there's something wrong with me."

"Wrong? Like what?"

"I-I don't know." The girl said, gulping and trying to put an extra inch of distance between our faces.

"Well, um, you want me to turn on some music?" I asked, gesturing to the stereo system I'd had installed a few weeks back. I'd nearly forgotten that it existed in the first place. The speakers were from some overseas company in America, and while they weren't truly new, they were new to me. I hadn't tried them out, or even really done anything with them yet.

Two points for originality, retard. Now she's going to think you're blowing her off or something, I thought, making a mental note to buy myself a guide book on what not to say to women.

To my surprise Hinata nodded.

"One sec, I need to see if these work," I said, thinking out loud and climbing over her, leaving the covers in place so that she wouldn't freeze. It was still very cold in deed outside, the hail from days ago still littering the streets. Of course, I realized this after I tossed my jacket to the floor, only to find that it was insanely frigid.

Hinata nodded once more as I walked up to my battered dresser and cleared off the broken glass to get to the triple-deck stereo setup, complete with a tape-deck, EQ, master volume, and radio tuner. I blew away the dust and turned the volume to zero before pushing the power button. A slight hiss came from the speakers in the corners of my room. I turned the treble down a bit and set the volume at around two or three, causing the stereo to assault my ears with rap music. I quickly tuned to a different station.

Relieved, I asked Hinata what kind of music she had in mind, remembering that I had a list of local stations that Sasuke wrote down for me when I got re-gifted the system. Hinata shrugged in response, watching me fidget around, searching for a good station and messing around with the EQ and volume. I finally settled for a station with mixed metal and alternative rock, since it was the most bearable out of all of them. I was glad that they didn't play too much mainstream music either. Mainstream to me was just a boring piss off. Half the songs were revamps or stolen anyway. The current song was 'Cyanide' by the Death Stars. It was at least half-way over.

I went back to the bed and clambered over Hinata again to settle back into my original spot, tapping my toe against the footboard to the song. Hinata raised an eyebrow mixing the expression with a blush and an amused smile.

"What?" I asked, resting my head in the crook of my arm and watching her intently.

Hinata shook her head nervously, although I assumed she meant, 'Oh nothing, just that you're actually enjoying something.'

I shrugged, continuing to tap my foot until the song started to fade out, giving way to commercials. I frowned and shifted my weight more to the side, trying to ignore them. It was hard, considering that each and every one of them was of a lousy horn-dog with a tinny voice trying to advertise condoms, clubs, or some other shit. I could see Hinata blushing madly out of the corner of my eye as I began glaring daggers at the radio.

Finally, it went back to real music again, and it stayed that way, for a while. I was seriously jamming until 'Evil in a Closet' began massaging my eardrums with its greatness. It wasn't that I didn't like the song, but rather, it reminded me of myself. That notion was swiftly beaten out of my brain when I looked back to Hinata, however, who was now fidgeting with her fingers and trying to get as close to me as humanly possible. I was surprised she was daring enough not to stop when we made eye contact.

That's unusual… Heh, I suppose she grew half a spine while I wasn't looking. I thought, giving a small smile and chuckle, causing her to blush even more furiously than before. She brought a finger to her mouth, which was slightly open, lips pursed in a way that was growing steadily more and more adorable, but suddenly, she paused.

"You sure nothing's wrong?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow and drawing myself a little closer to her.

Hinata made a lopsided face. It probably meant, 'what?' or something of the sort, considering that my reference was from about half a conversation ago, but I didn't feel like explaining. I decided to try my hand at being coy instead.

"Oh, so now you're giving me the cold shoulder? We can't have that now can we?" I said, nudging her with my gigantic forehead.

Hinata giggled, "Sakura-chan!"

"That's what I thought." I smiled and wrapped my arms around her gently, surprised when she did the same, although much more slowly. I kissed her cheek.

She blushed, "S-sakura-chan, don't do that!" she said with a gasp, both smiling and giggling in the process.

"Why not?" I asked, still beaming smiles. In the back of my mind, I thought, This music is so messing with my mind…

Hinata's face scrunched up for a second as she glanced away, chewing her lip.

"Well?"

"Um… Uh, I – I don't know, maybe, uh . . yeah," she said, stuttering.

"So I'm guessing you liked that?" I said, being as confident as possible.

I could've sworn Hinata's face turned three different shades of red.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"N-no, it's not that, it's just that-"

I cut her off, "It is that and you know it." I laughed, entertwining her legs with mine.

"No, it's just that . . I – I haven't been able to get this off of m-my mind," Hinata paused, starting to shake, " . . ever since yesterday."

Hinata looked down with shame, making me feel stupid for being so insensitive. I was pretty sure she wasn't going to say anything until she finally spoke, voice shivering uncontrollably with tears threatening to streak her cheeks as she slowly flopped over, clutching my hoodie violently, not that I didn't already know what she was going to say anyway. I managed to piece together a few words of what she said. From sheer repetition, I understood, 'Sakura, I'm sorry,' and 'Father will hate me.'

Damn Sakura, it's official – you are a jackass. What to do, what to do?

Not knowing what else to do, I simply stroked her hair and nuzzled her, rubbing small circles into her back, feeling like an idiot because I'd been the one to trigger all the drama this time. I sighed, continually muttering reassurances into her ear, as Ino would often do when we were younger. I forced myself not to cry as she began to sob into me.

Fuck, Sakura- Stop thinking about Ino! Stop-it-stop-it-stop-it! I ordered myself, trying and failing to console the raven-haired girl in my arms as she proceeded to cling to me, spasming repeatedly. I looked to the ceiling, lying on my back as it went on.

When will the drama end? I asked myself, coming close to tears as well.

"Wh-why does it have to be so hard?" Hinata wailed, shuddering and almost throwing up everywhere from all the heaving she was doing.

I started to choke, fighting back the tears that were readily welling up in my eyes. I couldn't stand to see someone as innocent as her crying, especially if it was over what I thought it was, and thanks to the tears, I couldn't stand to see at all.

"Hinata-chan, I . . I don't know. It's going to be okay, I promise," I said, squeezing her and rubbing her back vigorously.

"Y-you really think so?" Hinata whimpered looking up at me from her position on my chest, cheeks red and streaked with tears. All I could do was nod.

"Oh thank you, Sakura-chan!" Hinata squeaked, instantly cheering up, leaving me to wonder what just happened, and better yet, why the man up stairs waited until now to work his magic.

"What did I do?" I asked, wondering out loud.

Hinata simply nestled her head into my chest, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. I heard a loud grumble, causing Hinata to quickly roll off of me, blushing for the millionth time. I cocked my head at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Hungry, I'm guessing?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Come on then," I said, crawling over her and getting out of bed. When I realized she wasn't following, I turned around and saw her still in the bed, looking back at me with those mesmerizing eyes of hers, still red from crying, but beautiful nonetheless. I was falling for her, and I couldn't do a damn thing about it.

And here I thought this was just going to be a weekend project fling . . . I guess surprises come in all shapes and sizes, eh?

True, true, you cliché bastard, you.

I thought I told you to go – oh well, I don't care anymore . . Go ahead, stay all you like, schizophrenic-manifestation-of-my-subconscious. See if I give a shit.

Well, at least you're somewhat civil now . . .

Oh shu-

"S-sakura-chan, are you coming?" Hinata asked, rousing me from my internal issues.

I jumped, "Oh, yeah, sure. What do you want to eat?"

Hinata shrugged, hints of nervousness blanketing her features. I left the radio on.

"Want me to fix some ramen?" I asked, hopefully.

"S-sure!" Hinata squeaked, following me to the kitchen, tiptoeing around the broken glass and appliances as we passed the wall of family pictures once more, half of them torn off the wall and lying scattered on the floor around it. I noticed her giving the group pictures more attention than others, particularly the picture with Ino's family and mine standing side by side and smiling gingerly. It nearly brought tears to my eyes to look at that photo, seeing Ino's parents hugging my own, with Ino and I holding hands in the center, smiling like there was no tomorrow. I pushed those memories out of my mind and skipped into the kitchen.

I motioned for Hinata to sit at the table while I grabbed a jumbo sized cup of ramen that I nearly tripped over. I busted the dried noodles slightly by stabbing them with a fork before filling the cup with some water and shoving it in the microwave, putting it on about two or three minutes. Hinata insisted on helping the entire time, but I made her sit back down. When there was about a minute left to cook, I grabbed a pair of chopsticks and took the cup out, stirring it with the wood. I put the cup back in and let it finish cooking before taking some paper towels and grabbing the steaming hot cup from the microwave. I sat it in the middle of the table, grabbing another pair of chopsticks for Hinata to use. She thanked me graciously.

"Careful, it's hot," I cautioned, eying the steam coming from the cup.

I sat next to her so that we could share the cup without having to make a huge mess trying to reach it. As I reached over to get some noodles our hands bumped, chopsticks clattering into the cup.

"Sorry." I said, retracting my hand. I looked to Hinata, who was blushing yet again. I huffed, "Aww, don't get all embarrassed; you're making me feel like I did something wrong."

"S-sorry," Hinata muttered, beginning to tentatively reach out to the cup, glancing from it, to me, then back again. I gave her a smile and a wink as she clumsily grabbed her chopsticks. I followed suit, looking up at the raven haired girl before grabbing myself some noodles and shoving them into my mouth. Hinata hesitated at first, but eventually, she got comfortable enough that I didn't have to constantly smile to get her to eat. I was relieved, although I did think it was cute.

Minutes later, we finished the instant ramen. There was still some broth left in the cup. Hinata grabbed the cup and tipped it back to her mouth. I cocked an eyebrow.

"You're not going to throw that away?" I asked incredulously.

Hinata paused, "W-well, I-I don't like to waste . . I-I can throw it away if you want." The poor girl looked mortified.

I shrugged. "Your choice."

I turned and took our chopsticks to the sink, watching her out of the corner of my eye as she drank the broth. How she managed to stand that crap, I had no idea, but I hoped she chewed some gum afterwards before she came into my room with me. I shrugged to myself and started going back to my bed, hearing her throw the ramen cup away and start to follow as I plopped down into the covers once again. Hinata was soon to follow, sporting a pack of gum, as I had hoped. We took our respective sides on the bed, sliding underneath the purple-plaid sheets together.

"Feeling better?" I asked.

Hinata nodded, "Y-yeah." She was still blushing just as hard as she was earlier. I wonder if her cheeks ever got tired of staying flushed like that. I giggled at the thought.

"Good." I smiled, re-intertwining our bodies, causing Hinata's blush to spread to the furthest reaches of her form. I laid a hand on her side, touching my forehead to hers. Her eyes widened, and I could tell she was thinking the same thing I was, or at least something similar.

Hinata gulped. I decided on taking a chance.

"Do you trust me?" I whispered, feeling the blood beginning to rush to my head.

Oh boy . . . Nervous – not good! Not good!

Why are you nervous? You don't even know if you like her!

Shut up! Either way, this moment is too cute to waste; I might ne- My mind was pulled back to the real world again before I could finish the thought.

"I-I think so." She whimpered, gulping again, resting a hand on my arm.

"I think so isn't good enough," I said, "You have to be sure." I encouraged as I leaned in slightly, our lips nearly touching. My hair was standing on end.

"U-um, yes?" Hinata muttered.

"Then I guess I can to this." I whispered, closing my eyes and pressing my lips against hers lightly, noting how soft they were. Hinata's eyelashes fluttered against my cheeks, sending little electric charges down my spine. It didn't last long. Three seconds and I was back to staring her in the face again, breathing slightly harder than before. Never in my life had I seen her face so red, and damn did it feel good.

For a moment, I didn't dare move an inch, savoring the taste of her chapstick on my lips. If I'd used some tongue, I could have probably gotten laid if I wanted to, but alas, I figured that a quick and chaste smooch or two would be a good start. After all, it's better to take it slow than end up not getting anything at all. Hinata's mouth hung open, her hands still resting near my sides, eyes lidded and glossy. With that, all my figuring went out of the window. I leaned in again, stopping just before our lips met and pushing her onto her back.

Her short locks spread out beneath her on the bed. I gave her a reassuring smile, but when I tried to move forward, a palm to the collarbone stopped me. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, my voice squeaked and made a crackling noise.

"Sakura-chan" Hinata half-murmured, half-moaned, pushing me to the side and down into the bed, rolling over on top of me.

"Is this supposed to be a message to me that we shouldn't be doing this?" I asked, half-seriously.

Hinata shrugged, yawning and nuzzling me, signaling that she wanted sleep. I sighed, slightly annoyed, and wrapped my arms around her. I wasn't sleepy in the slightest. It was going to be a long night.

Author's note: I'd like to apologize to my readers about the HUGE delay in updating and improving chapters. I hope to revamp all of them soon, since I plan to eventually publish them for my friends so they won't have to go online to read them. Exams and all isn't exactly helping with this. I should have the next chapter up very soon though, as a small consolation. I promise to give it my all. :)