Pre-note: I'm back! (Cue synchronized gasps from abandoned readers.) So, perhaps, before you start reading this chapter, you might want to refresh your memory by reading the previous chapters over again. (Luckily, my chapters are relatively short.) It has been more than a year, after all. Happy reading!

Rated: T, for political themes, sexual issues, and light profanities

Standard disclaimer applies on each and every chapter of this fan fiction series.


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Prime Minister: Uchiha Sasuke

Chapter 9B – It's Complicated (Part II)

o


The past several days had proven to be physically and mentally draining for the Prime Minister. As a follow-up to the automotive industry discussion that emerged during the Asia Pacific Union gala dinner, he handed out the necessary instructions to the Ministry of Industries about changing the priority markets. Though these new promising markets weren't as profitable as if they sold the products to the North American continent, they would at least provide a good fall back for the mean time. Beside the industrial conversations, the PM also handled the education problems during the few weeks, since he had put this issue as a main point in his agenda. He was meeting with the MEXT on regular basis these days, ordering for changes in public school curriculums and discussing plans for a salary raise for state-employed teachers, accompanied by his Chief of Staff. Technically, the plans were still pretty vague, but the chances were high.

And then, there were talks about the budget plans that were due by the end of the year. To stabilize the economy, the previous PM had approved a bail-out of several billions of currency money and not all of that, thought Sasuke, went to use. Was it really necessary to buy a new fleet ship at times like these? Sasuke had given the report a frown.

During those days of preparing early reports, Sasuke barely went back to the Residence at all. His schedule ran from six in the morning to eleven in the evening, sometimes even till past midnight, not including the casual follow-up chats he had with his personal aides and staff, so he often opted to just stay in his office, stretching his limbs on the sofa set and dozing off for a few hours before going back to work.

His Chief of Staff, Nara Shikamaru, also suffered the same fate, but wasn't as fortunate. His cubicle didn't provide sofa sets, so sometimes after midnight, he would just fall asleep in his rotating chair or he would search for a spare bench by the vending machine to straighten his legs.

Then again, sleeping in the Office was convenient for the two: less time was wasted; they could stay up till the wee hours discussing various topics, live on hot coffee and calorie bars served by the vending machine, and get their work done faster.

Sasuke adapted pretty quickly to the poor lifestyle—despite constant bickering from the PA, Uzumaki, who kept on trying to rearrange his schedule—but his subordinate took his time. Nara was often seen yawning during their chats, and Sasuke would once in a while ask why.

"Nothing really," Nara answered, at the question. "I just feel like yawning," he said, with a light shrug, one evening while they were sorting out folders of proposals from a range of ministries.

Sasuke nodded at the reply. Well, it was not strange for Nara to appear sleepy—he always had been the droopy-eye type of person, Sasuke remembered, but it made Sasuke feel bad.

"It's just… family matters," Nara added, when the PM seemed to be unconvinced by his answer.

This made Sasuke nod, understandingly. From what the PM knew, Nara came from a prominent pharmaceutical family that had expected him to inherit the family's company. Apparently, the genius Nara decided not to pursue his education in medicine; he did not even want anything to do with drugs, illness, and all sorts, so when he announced that he would take up law at a prestigious undergraduate school, his father literally disowned him. This had led to the mutual friendship the PM and the genius shared during high school: they both did not have family—at least, not the type of family that could actually be called family.

"Your father's bugging you again?" Sasuke asked, not really wanting to butt into another's family problem, but couldn't help to ask. He heard that the old man's health was failing lately and had regretted his past actions to some degree. Perhaps they were on the verge of reconciliation.

The Nara shrugged reluctantly, obviously not in the mood to converse about the topic.

Sasuke let the subject drop, but couldn't find any other theme to talk about. Silence reigned for a while.

Then a shrill beeping sound filled the room.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Nara had jumped in surprise, and immediately fished for something in his pocket: a cell phone. He cringed at the number that appeared on the tiny outer screen. He gave the PM an apologetic nod of the head, a gesture that was returned with a nonchalant wave, and flipped the phone open. Instead of the courteous greeting he usually gave, Nara cringed painfully as he greeted the other side, "Yes, hello?"

Sasuke's eyebrows threatened to disappear into the line of his hair. A pained Nara was usual, but this Nara was rather desperate.

"I'm terribly sorry," Nara was saying after a short pause. "I'm afraid I won't be able to." He certainly was rejecting an offer from whoever was calling him. There were short pauses here and there in the phone conversation, and Sasuke could only hear the tone of the person on the other end: it sounded pretty angered. "I do, but I don't have time. I barely go home at all these days." Nara was insisting pretty hard. "Well, I'm terribly sorry, then, but there's nothing I can do tonight."

This was odd, thought Sasuke. Sure, the Nara was famous for being a lazy-ass, so it was not rare for him to turn down a request. But it was also uncharacteristic for him to actually insist on turning down a request, since, well, usually Nara would be just too lazy to insist on anything at all.

"Well, tell him I'm sorry, but I can't come tonight," Nara said, raising his voice one note.

Sasuke blinked.

The Chief of Staff then noticed that he was still in audience with the PM, and halted the phone conversation to excuse himself from the room. "Sorry, this is a troublesome phone call," he muttered in apology to the PM, as he strode out from the office. His words of denials towards the caller were repeated over and over again even as his voice began to trail down the halls.

That was sure odd.

Sasuke sighed and stretched out his arms while he was waiting for the Chief of Staff to come back. He stared at the folders on the short coffee table. They were pretty much in order: the rejected proposals bound in red, while the accepted ones were wrapped in blue. There were also several blue folders that had notes scribbled on them: these were accepted proposals under certain circumstances and they were piled in a different stack. That was pretty much the work of the day, Sasuke thought, glancing at the clock. It was late, but not yet past midnight.

He considered going back to the Residence.

Plus, he had run out of spare shirts and suits that he kept in the office, so he might as well renew his stock.

Sasuke was dwelling over this notion when Nara Shikamaru came back into the office. He didn't look so well, sighing heavily as he settled back onto the sofa set. He played with the flip of his cell phone for a moment before stuffing it into his pocket again.

Sasuke made up his mind. "Let's call it a day." He rose to his feet and declared, "I'm going back to the Residence tonight."

Nara blinked. If the PM was going back to the Residence, there was no reason for him to stay at the Office either, though going back home was not something he was completely looking forward to do. But he nodded anyways. "I suppose I'll go home as well."

The look on Shika's face when he mentioned the word home lingered in Sasuke's mind throughout the ride back to the Residence. It was a painful expression, as if home had always been the man's most fearful nightmare, but there was something in the midst of that hurt, resembling longing or… Sasuke frowned. Well, he wasn't a psychologist, and reading people's expression was not his forte, so he let the thought drop eventually.

But it was still nagging in the back of his mind as he entered the front doors of the Residence.

The first thing he noticed when he walked in, was that Chiyo-baa was wiping the dishes dry behind the kitchen counter. Sasuke gave the old lady a smirk, instead of a proper greeting.

"Finally back?" the old lady greeted him in a casual manner as well.

Sasuke nodded, then noticed a quite large bundle of white on one of the chairs by the dining table. At first, he thought it was a pile of laundry, but when the bundle shifted as he passed by, he realized it was actually Miss Hyuuga, wrapped in her double-bed-sized comforter. Her head poked out of the bundle as she greeted the PM lightly.

"Welcome home, sir."

Sasuke froze his mouth just in time to prevent himself from gaping. "What in the world are you doing there, Miss Hyuuga?" he asked, eyeing at the bundle that took up a wide spot at the table. "In that, at this time?" He glanced at a nearby clock to confirm that it was well past a student's bedtime curfew.

The girl frowned slightly and seemed to protest, but held back. Her shoulders were slumped a bit as her gaze fell. Then she shook her head. "Nothing, sir," she replied with a feeble attempt at a smile. "I was just accompanying Chiyo-baachan."

It was Sasuke's turn to frown. "Well, go on to bed now. You're going to end up waking up late at this rate."

Miss Hyuuga seemed reluctant, but obeyed anyways. She only turned to say, "Good night, Chiyo-baachan." She paused, and added, "Good night, sir," in a smaller voice.

Her greetings were responded by a cheerful, "Sweet dreams," from the old lady and a curt nod from the PM. She staggered to her room, dragging her covers behind her.

"What?" Sasuke blurted at Chiyo-baa once the girl was out of shot.

This time, it was Chiyo-baa who was frowning. And Sasuke definitely did not like when the old lady had that look on her face: in his younger days, it meant that he was grounded for at least a week. "You tactless fool," the housekeeper hissed, spraying dishwater at the PM with the flick of her finger.

Sasuke jumped away from the kitchen counter. "That's filthy, Chiyo-baa!" he protested, avoiding the sudden attack from the old lady.

"You have so little thought about other people's feelings that I find it a wonder that you can take care of the whole nation," Chiyo-baa mumbled, turning back to the dishes. "Those party members who chose you to be their leader must be senseless, brainless, heartless people!"

"What? What is this all about?" Sasuke stuttered, rather flabbergasted at his housekeeper's sudden outburst. He set his briefcase down on the dining table and pulled out a chair to sit down.

"That girl was waiting for you, you insolent fool," Chiyo-baa continued. She was rubbing a ceramic plate so hard to the extent that it was threatened to break. "She waits for you every night, you moron. And when you don't come home, she ends up sleeping in the living room accompanied by the television. And when you do finally come home, all you can say is 'go to sleep'? Honestly, sir, I thought I raised you better than that."

Sasuke reminded himself that Chiyo-baa would be the only person in the universe that could get away by calling him a fool and a moron in one string of words. "Well, how was I supposed to know?" he shot back at the sharp words. "All I know is that I come home well past eleven and I find her still up. It's only natural to send her to sleep. She's still a student." He paused. "I'm rather disappointed in you as well, Chiyo-baa. You know better than to let a student stay up till this hour."

Chiyo-baa slapped down a hand towel, walked around the kitchen counter to settle down in a chair across from the PM by the dining table. "She might be a student," she said slowly, emphasizing every single word with a stern tone, "but she is also a young woman." She tapped a nail against the hard wood of the table, pointing at the PM. He back away from the accusing finger. "Do you, young man, have any idea of how she thinks of you?"

Sasuke didn't like the finger. He flinched as he thought about a brief conversation he had with the Hyuuga days ago. "As an uncle?"

"Exactly!" the old lady nearly exclaimed, causing Sasuke to jump in his seat. "She looks up to you, you idiot. There's no father here for her, so you're taking that role now. It's only normal for her to want to know you better, to want you to know her better. She expects things from you, sir; she expects you to praise her for things she's done right, and she'll feel upset if you scold her when she's done wrong. She wants to be the first to greet you when you come home, and she's curious about things you do at work…" Chiyo-baa paused. She could go on forever about this. She squinted. "Don't you remember how you felt when you were little, sir?"

The man in front of her looked away. His eyes were blank when he answered, "No."

Sadness dawned on Chiyo-baa's face. She knew the topic of childhood would not get a good response from her protégé. His younger days were filled with harsh realities; it was not a surprise if he chose not to remember the past. Even the happy moments only felt bitter to him now. Chiyo-baa sighed. "Well then this is your chance. Relive the times that you missed out. She's under your care now."

Sasuke kept his face turned away. He knew the girl was under his care, damn it. Everyone was telling him that. It was not that he'd been completely heartless to her; there were times when he could actually relate his feelings to the girl's, such as during the Asia Pacific Union dinner night, and he found her rather… cute. (That definitely was not a commonly used term in his dictionary, he thought.) But, then, there were those times when he just couldn't get what the girl was thinking of, and her actions just seemed to be totally irrational to him. The way she fidgeted around him, the way she blushed too often in front of him, her verbal stutters… and he definitely wouldn't stay up all night wrapped in a blanket, waiting for someone else to come. Those little gestures annoyed him, but at the same time, they were what made her recognizable.

Chiyo-baa noticed the tumultuous thoughts going through the PM's mind and decided that it was time to end the talk. "Just go to bed now," she suddenly said.

Sasuke raised his head in surprise. It was as if the old lady was trying to get rid of him. Then he paused for brief second, realizing what he was thinking of. The Hyuuga must have felt the same when he used the similar words against her.

Chiyo-baa stood up and rearranged the chair she had been sitting in. She was about to leave the kitchen area when she heard his voice call her.

"Then what should I do?" Sasuke asked. "It's not like I want to stay at the Office every night, but I've got work to do. At the same time, I don't want people staying up waiting for me."

Chiyo-baa blinked. Well, well. This was a nice surprise. "You know, sir, there is a form of technology called the telephone. You can communicate vice versa from relative far distances through this device. It was invented by Alexander Graham Bell. Or you could opt for a more advanced version, the cellular phone." She only stopped after receiving a glare from the PM.

Who then stifled a chuckle.

"Just give her a call if you plan to stay the night over at the Office. Then you won't have to worry about making her wait all night."

Worry? Was that what he felt about the girl? Was he worried?

Silence reigned for a moment.

Then he merely said, "I'll think about it."


Konohamaru looked up at his father's face and immediately saw the dismay there. The kid's face fell. The change in his expression was so drastic that even a person as reluctant as Shikamaru didn't have the heart to turn away. Sighing, the older Nara picked up the boy and patted him lightly on the head.

"We wouldn't mind just looking after him during the day," the lady was saying, "but to leave him here for days... it isn't right, Shika."

The lady, Shika mentally noted, was his mother—Konohamaru's patriarchal grandmother. Going back to the Nara compound had made him swallow the last ounce of self-pride he had, but it was the only option. He figured it was the only place he could let Kon stay, without having to worry about his well being. His parents would definitely not let the child starve, and as much as his father hated him, the head Nara did not despise his only grandson. In fact, Kon's grandparents pretty much doted on the kid—something that confounded Shika to no end.

But even so, after three days with Kon, the grandparents had finally said enough was enough.

The child clung to Shika's lapels throughout the ride back to his run-down apartment. It was past midnight, nearly one in the morning. A child should be well asleep at this hour, not being tossed about from one house to another. Shika rubbed his palm against his forehead in frustration.

Damn, that Tem, Shika cursed inwardly. Of all weeks in a year, she just had to choose this week to go to China.

"Dad?"

Shika glanced down at the wad of spiky, brown hair. "Yes, son?"

"You can take Kon to work," Kon said matter-of-factly to Shika. "Mom takes Kon to her office when teacher's on a holiday."

Shika raised an eyebrow. That didn't sound like a good idea.

"Kon's a good boy," Kon continued, proudly pointing at himself.

Shika smiled back at the kid, weakly. What was this? Shika thought, staring at Kon. A five-year-old offering a solution to him, a full grown-up? There was his son, trying his best not to be a burden to the adults surrounding him. Children weren't supposed to be a part of the problems adults caused. And wasn't this ironic? Parents were supposed to support their children to grow into better people, not the other way around. Shika placed a hand on Kon's head and ruffled through the boy's hair. If this boy turned into a screwed grown man, then Shika had no one else to blame but his own self.

As the cab took a final turn around the curb, Shika nodded. "Yes, son, you are an awesome person."


It was nine PM, the next evening, and it had been two hours since Hinata had finished gobbling down her dinner. She was staring blankly at her notebook with a pencil in her hand. She initially meant to recheck the answers she wrote earlier to the math problems given by her teacher, but she stopped halfway to glance at the clock and then lost her interest in the homework.

He probably was not going to come home tonight.

Not that she was hoping for him to come home, she quickly added a mental note to that thought, but since she usually scanned over her homework while waiting for him, doing it this time felt rather useless.

Go on to bed, he had said. He was angry at her, disappointed at her, and she could tell by the tone of his voice. It had been past her usual bedtime, but she had not mind to stay up since she found lots of odd activities to spend the spare time. The PM must have thought of it in a different way. Well, she was, after all, only a teenager and she did have to go to school in the morning; it was only normal for him to scold her off like that, Hinata thought.

Her shoulders feel into a slump.

As her hands shut her notebook close, she wondered why she had decided to stay up for him in the first place. It was intimate to greet someone home, but she did not think of it that way. It was just that she had gotten too used to his sarcastic greetings in the morning. True, the greetings were never standard, but at least one had ended up quite pleasant and memorable to Hinata.

She wanted to talk to him again.

She wanted to have a proper conversation with him, perhaps about her prospects of becoming a businesswoman, or about his work; little things that could just lead to small talk. And since their morning talks were always cut short by the early rush, she decided that it would only be possible to wait for him to come home in the evenings if she wanted a decent chat.

But, apparently he did not like that.

Hinata sighed.

Chiyo-baa looked up when she heard the heaving breathing. She had been accompanying the young lady for the past hour by arranging the next day's breakfast ingredients into small plastic containers when she saw the girl stand up and walk over to where she was. "Tired already, Miss?" Chiyo-baa asked, gently. "It's still quite early." Which was true if it were to be compared with the recent bedtime the Hyuuga had adopted.

Hinata shrugged. "There's nothing else to do."

Chiyo-baa instantly knew that the lack of activity was not the cause; the cause of the little miss' reluctance was more of the lack of purpose, since before, even if there was nothing to do, Hinata had always been able to find something interesting enough to keep herself awake.

Chiyo-baa cursed at the PM, inwardly. She was so sure that he would consider calling tonight, but he had not and now Chiyo-baa was rather losing her faith in that man. How shallow, how insensitive men can be, Chiyo-baa noted.

Hinata helped Chiyo-baa stack the containers neatly and tucked them in the refrigerator. The housekeeper frowned at this, saying that Hinata shouldn't be doing the housework, but the younger one just shook her head and continued to give the elder assistance.

Then the phone rang.

The bell was quite shrilly, and it made Hinata drop a couple of containers of green vegetables that she had been carrying over to the refrigerator. She bent down to pick up the small boxes; luckily the contents did not spill and when she glanced up again, Chiyo-baa was speaking on the phone.

"The Prime Minister's residence. Who am I speaking to, please?"

Hinata wondered who the caller would be, since it was quite late for just anyone to be calling and if it were important business, the caller should have had more sense to contact the Office instead of the Residence. Hinata was still thinking about this as she tugged the fridge door open and placed the containers into the lowest shelf. Then she heard a hearty chuckle coming from Chiyo-baa.

"I thought you wouldn't call," the old lady was saying.

It must be one of Chiyo-baa's acquaintances then, Hinata thought, closing the fridge door. She walked back to the counter and picked up her math book that she left there and began to stride away when Chiyo-baa called out her name.

"Of course, she's here, you silly man," Chiyo-baa said into the mouthpiece before turning to Hinata, wagging a finger at her. "Come here, child," she called. "This call is for you."

Hinata's eyebrows raised in surprise as she took a step back to the kitchen counter where the phone was. Who would be calling her at this hour? Was it a Hyuuga family matter? It must be an emergency then, Hinata thought, but it could not be any bad news if Chiyo-baa had laughed earlier. Then again, the old lady had been expecting the person to call, so whoever could it be? Hinata knit her eyebrows even closer as she hesitantly spoke into the mouthpiece, asking in confusion, "Hello?"

"Miss Hyuuga."

It took her a while to recognize that voice that had become familiar to her lately. Her expression changed immediately. "Sir!" she greeted back, not sure whether to feel exasperated or happy about the call. Only one thing was for sure at the moment: she was surprised.

"Miss Hyuuga," the PM repeated. "I…," he then paused. It seemed that even the PM was capable of being lost at words. "I won't be going back to the Residence tonight," he finally said clearly into the speaker, in a rather rushed manner, "so please do not stay up waiting for me, and do sleep in your bedroom."

Hinata was speechless.

"I heard from Chiyo-baasan that you have developed a habit of sleeping in the living room lately, Miss Hyuuga," the PM continued. "I'd rather not have my efforts in changing my private study into your bedroom go to waste."

"I-I…," Hinata stuttered. She blinked. What was she supposed to say? "Of course, sir," she ended up saying, rather numbly. She blinked again. She was speaking to him, on the phone. And he had called her.

"Good," was his reply.

There was a pause.

It seemed like that was all the PM had to say, but he was having difficulties in finding a way to end the awkward conversation.

Then there was a sigh. "It's just that, Miss Hyuuga," he suddenly explained, "I already have so much on my mind right now. Please don't force me to add you to my worry list."

Hinata snorted at this. Was this his twisted-man-pride way of saying he actually was worried? Hinata thought of the PM briefly, wondering that if he could not come back to the Residence that night, he must be awfully busy. "You should take care of yourself too, sir," she said, thinking that the PM probably got less sleep hours than she usually did. It was no wonder that he had fallen sick last week.

All she got as a reply was a short, "Hmph."

A smile appeared on Hinata's face. The reply suited his character very much. It was clear and haughty, but also very nonchalant at the same time. She could actually imagine how the PM looked while saying the one-syllable grunt. Hinata was completely grinning as she mentioned lightly, "Thank you for calling, sir."

There was no reply.

Hinata tilted her head, unsure if the PM was still there, but decided to end the call with proper words. "Good night then, sir," she said, not certain whether her last greeting was heard or not, but she just shrugged inwardly and thought that it did not matter much even if it went unheard. "Sweet dreams."

But just then, as she began to lower the mouthpiece from her ear, she heard him say in return, "Sweet dreams, Hinata," and she could not help but break into a smile again.


"Ladies, congratulations on finally passing the biology exams."

Both Hinata and Tenten looked up at the teacher then exchanged glances. Iruka purposely heading towards their desk couldn't mean anything good. Hinata quirked her eyebrows, a facial expression mirrored by Tenten. They hurriedly turned to busy themselves by stuffing their bags with textbooks.

"What did you do this time?" Tenten mouthed at Hinata.

Hinata's eyes grew wide. "Nothing!" she whispered back.

Iruka stopped exactly in front of their seats and folded his arms. "I believe you two haven't handed in your future-major form sheets."

Hinata clapped a hand over her mouth, covering a gasp. She had completely forgot about the blank form sheets Iruka had handed out weeks ago. The whole ruckus going on with the Prime Minister had been her priority for the past weeks, not to mention, she had moved to the Residence, so the sheet of paper had likely been left at the Hyuuga manor.

Tenten, on the other hand, pulled out the form from her bag and gave it to the teacher. "Sorry, sir, it simply slipped my mind."

Iruka glanced at the paper. "Performing arts, Miss Tenten? That suits you well." He paused as Tenten beamed. Iruka turned to Hinata. "Miss Hyuuga?"

Hinata snapped her head up. "Yes, sir! I, um, haven't filled it out yet." Her voice wavered towards the end of the sentence. She winced.

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "That's not good, Miss Hyuuga." Iruka tucked Tenten's paper into a folder he had been carrying around. "If you hand it in too late, we won't have time to write any recommendations for you."

"Yes, sir." Hinata hung her head low.

"I expect it from you by the end of the week, Miss Hyuuga."

"Yes, sir."

Iruka strode away from the desk to dismiss the class. Hinata sighed loudly. She would have to drop by the Hyuuga manor either today or tomorrow.

Tenten swung the long sling of her bag around her shoulders while stealing glances at Hinata. "That's not like you to forget things. You're, usually, you know, more attentive when it comes to things like these."

Hinata shrugged. "It's just that so much happened."

"True." Tenten stood up and led them out of the classroom. She grinned, her steps bouncing lightly against the marble floor. "So, how is that prime minister of yours?"

"He's not mine," Hinata replied, tugging the straps of her bag. She trotted slowly behind Tenten.

"Well, he is your fiance," Tenten pointed out.

"If you put it that way." Hinata pressed her lips together.

Tenten grinned again. "Isn't it strange? I mean, we're still in high school. And he's, like, what? Thirty?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Hinata mumbled.

Tenten suddenly halted her steps, causing Hinata to bump into her back. Tenten whipped around, nearly knocking Hinata off her feet. "Say! When are you two getting married?"

"I don't know."

Tenten continued her monologue without waiting for Hinata's reply. "When you get married, I can be your bridesmaid, and you would wear a wedding dress in his favorite color. What is his favorite color?" Tenten only paused to take a swift breath. "And the decorations should be in your favorite color. Then the cake should be three tiers high. Oh! And there should be wine! What's his favorite wine?" Before Hinata could even shake her head, Tenten went on. "Flowers! The bouquet! Oh, there's so much to arrange for your wedding!"

Hinata laughed. "If there'll be wedding, anyways."

Tenten pulled back, slightly frowning. "What do you mean by that?"

Hinata tilted her head. She couldn't just mention the arrangement she had with the Prime Minister. "Well," Hinata began, twirling her hand in explanation, "I'm still young. There's a lot of possibilities that might happen. So, nothing's really concrete between the PM and I."

"But really, you guys are in a relationship, right?"

Hinata cringed inwardly. "We-ell..."

"Don't tell me you haven't even kissed yet."

"Well..."

"Oh, my God! Hinata!" Tenten shrieked, exasperatedly, so loudly that Hinata jumped. "How can you have not kissed yet? You even live together! You two are so odd!" Tenten huffed then regained her composure. "I mean, I think I've kissed nearly all the guys I like. Oh, for goodness' sake, I've even made out with Neji once!"

"What!" Hinata blurted.

Tenten snorted haughtily. "Well, that cousin of yours is kind of hot. So, yeah, I sort of ambushed him..."

"Oh, please, I don't want to hear any more of this," Hinata laughed, playfully covering her ears. Really, this was a shocking revelation. To think her air-headed friend and her ever stoic cousin had ever hooked up was rather... surely, with all these odd relationships going on, the world must be coming to an end. Hinata chuckled, shaking her head.

"But why are we straying from the main topic?" Tenten steered Hinata back to the main point. "So, you've never kissed him? The PM, I mean, not Neji." Hinata shrugged at that. "Do you even talk to each other? Do you even see each other? Or does he, like, just stash you aside?"

"Of course, we see each other." Hinata rolled her eyes incredulously. Well, the PM hadn't been at the Residence lately, but they did literally see each other every now and then. "We're just, you know," Hinata raised her shoulders slightly, "a bit more passive when it comes to that kind of relationship."

"I don't understand how you can stand it." Tenten straightened her back. "If I had a fiance, whether or not I like him, I'd definitely be curious about him. I'd interrogate him personally and privately. I'd want to know everything about him. I'd probably even kiss him, just to know whether or not he's a good kisser."

Hinata smiled at that, shaking her head slightly.

Tenten sighed. "Neji is definitely a good kisser. A hot one."

Hinata poked her forefingers into her ears and looked up at the sky. "God help us."

Both Tenten and Hinata burst into laughter.

But by the time Hinata arrived at the Hyuuga Manor, she had her curiosity spiked. She was curious. About the Prime Minister, about his background, about his past, about his childhood. She was particularly curious about the bad blood between him and his brother. It was the cause of this whole arrangement anyways. Then her curiosity regarding the trivial things Tenten had mentioned: his favorite color, his favorite wine; did he like the roses in red or white? Or did he prefer lilies? Or maybe he didn't like flowers at all? (He was a man, after all, Hinata pondered.) Did his entire work outfit wardrobe consist of indigo blue? Was thathis favorite color?

Was this kind of information up on Wikipedia? Perhaps, she could Google it.

Then her thoughts took another turn.

Was he curious about her?

Was this kind of information about herup on Wikipedia?

Hinata fetched the sheet of paper she was looking for and shoved it into her bag. She looked around her room for a brief moment. Nothing much had changed since she left. The floor was clean and she found no dust on her table. Her father must have instructed the maids to continue cleaning it up, even if she didn't live there anymore. Sighing, Hinata stepped out from the room and closed the door behind her. She turned to leave.

Only to bump into Neji.

Which prompted her to slowly flash a wide grin at that cousin of hers.

Annoyed, Neji glared back at her. "What?" He paused and added, "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing," Hinata replied, without dropping her grin. She headed to the front door. Then just before reaching the foyer, she turned around and faced the dumbfounded Neji. "You know, next time you see Tenten, why don't you tell her I said hi?"

"What? What do you mean? I don't—," Neji halted mid-sentence. Hinata's smirk made him re-think his words. Then it hit him. His face fell instantly. He wasn't the type to blush, but his already pale face grew even paler, if that was even possible.

Hinata's grin was of pure victory.


o


a/n: As per title describes, the relationships will get even more complicated! Will Sasuke and Hinata manage to get to know each other better? Can Shikamaru make it till the end of the week with Kon? And what exactly went on between Tenten and Neji? Please review!