Who should the miscellaneous pair be for the next post? No suggestions means I use the default.
But here's this! Definitely no smut this time!
.
.
.
.
"Do you like me?"
Everyone froze mid-step. Ino and Sakura had been arm in arm, headed towards the Yamanaka home to relax after the group's outing. Shikamaru and Choji had been on the verge of starting a conversation, their destination not yet decided. Naruto, Lee, and Sai were headed back to Naruto's apartment to play card games for a bit. Hinata and her teammates along with Neji and Tenten were discussing where they wanted to go, but now they had stopped like everyone else, staring at Sasuke, who had caused the outburst in the first place.
And he was glaring at Hinata.
He hadn't meant to say anything.
He and Hinata started out as people who happened to be around each other when their friends hung out. Then they became people who ran into each other almost everywhere they went. Then they became people who actively hung out, but they always seemed to be secret about it. And maybe he will admit they had their moments – moments where they touched or looked at each other by accident and for some reason it didn't feel like just a touch or just a look. Sometimes their words of greeting and departure weren't just words. Sometimes their time together wasn't simply because they were bored and wanted to hang out. Sometimes they had moments that would determine whether or not they were just two people who hung out together, but she always blushed and put distance between them. He always huffed and brushed it off.
But they had held hands under the table tonight.
It was crowded, and they were smushed together, and she didn't shy away when his hand accidentally landed on hers. He didn't pull away when she wrapped her hand around his. Neither of them broke eye contact when they met, and there was no way they were just stares.
And he was confused.
When they all began to depart – Sasuke joining Naruto's group – the hand-holding incident felt like it had no meaning, and he was confused and didn't want to play this guessing game anymore.
It blurted out of his mouth before he could form the thought properly.
Hinata blinked, looking around and realizing eyes were on them. Her cheeks began to flush, and she blinked at Sasuke, almost brushing him off. "What…do you mean?"
"What do you mean?" Kiba asked, coming to Hinata's side and staring oddly at the Uchiha. "Why are you asking her something like that?"
"And why do you seem so frustrated?" Ino asked. The group drew closer, and everyone looked between the two, waiting for an answer.
Sasuke tried to keep his eyes fixed on Hinata, but everyone's stares made him anxious all of a sudden. He knew they saw them talk when they all were together, but they didn't know anything about how he and Hinata were when it was just the two of them. They didn't know the subtle things – the unspoken things – but he was starting to think he didn't know either. But…now he put both of them in a position where all emotions were either confirmed or denied.
And, yes, he screwed up.
"I…" Hinata started, giving a weak smile, "I have no reason to dislike you, Uchiha-san. I like…every…one…" Her gaze fell from his as she finished her sentence, and it grated his nerves the wrong way.
Sakura walked to Sasuke's side, clearly as confused as everyone else. "Did you think she hated you or something?"
"Hinata is not much of a talker," Lee chimed in. "Do not take her silence personally."
Sasuke grit his teeth, walking a few steps closer to her as to not feel the people behind him breathing down his neck. "You know what I mean," he said, keeping his voice low and controlled. "What am I to you?"
Hinata's eyes widened, cheeks ablaze with heat. She looked around again, everyone muttering and asking questions. She felt uncomfortable in her clothes – the embarrassment causing her to overheat – and she looked at Sasuke desperately. "Not now," she said, her voice pleading.
But his pride was getting the best of him, and his own embarrassment refused to stop talking. "You don't want them to know?"
She huffed, feeling as though this were a bad dream. "You're doing this now?"
"Hinata," Neji said, standing close to her, "what's going on?"
"Nothing," she said, looking between him and Sasuke. "I mean… That's not…" She sighed, giving one fleeting look at the Uchiha before lowering her gaze, not able to look at anyone. "I… I'm sorry. I need to go home."
Everyone watched as she rushed off, and Sasuke stood there, feeling naked and rejected, and he wondered what made him open his mouth at all tonight.
When he awoke the next morning, there was a messenger bird tapping outside his window. He retrieved the message, and discovered it was from the Hokage telling him to stand below the Hokage Tower in two hours. He groaned, ruffling his hair, and fell back on his bed. However, the thought of what happened last night leapt back to him, and he decided to get ready for the day instead.
o0o0o
Two hours later, Sasuke was surprised to see what looked to be the entire village outside the Hokage Tower. People were standing around, looking up at the balcony to wait for whatever was about to happen. He pushed his way to the front, not wanting to be in the back, and discovered the rest of his peers and their senseis as well.
"You let the villagers beat you," Kakashi mused.
"What took ya?" Naruto asked, jumping up from his squatted position.
He turned his attention to Sakura, irritated with the other two due to his tired mind. "What's going on?"
"No idea. Everyone was told to meet out here."
"Even villagers," Naruto added. "Must be important."
Sasuke looked around again. Looking at all the teams present, he discovered he wasn't the only ninja who was late getting here – one was still missing.
"Attention Konoha!"
Eyes shot up to the tower, everyone going silent. Tsunade and Shizune stood overlooking from the rail.
"Sorry to call you all out here like this," Tsunade said, "but it appears we have an announcement to make." She paused, an amused glint in her eyes. Shizune, on the other hand, sported an uncomfortable grin of her own. "It has come to my attention that a certain someone wanted me, the Hokage with my valuable and precious time, to hold a little meeting between Konoha 11, but after pressing for details about the matter, I found this to be a much more interesting solution."
Murmuring began to bubble as Tsunade gestured for someone behind her to come forward. After a few minutes of resistance, Hinata looked down from the balcony, face exploding with color. Her peers openly questioned what she was doing there, the senseis just as curious.
"U-Um," she said, and the village quickly erupted with shushings amongst each other, "I-I'm sorry you all are h-here. I just meant…for my friends to be here for this…but Ts-Tsunade-sama said I had to make things e-even."
Sasuke quirked a brow, an ominous feeling in his gut, and it was at that moment Hinata locked eyes with him. His eyes widened, lips parting as if he were to actually shout.
"Sasuke!" Hinata said, voice quivering. "I'm sorry about last night! And I'm sorry for not answering you! I-It was sudden and in front of everyone, a-and I wasn't sure how I ever saw this going, but-"
He crouched.
"if it's okay with you, I think I-"
Cursing, Sasuke jumped as high as he could and ran up the side of the building. He landed over the rail, quickly covering Hinata's mouth, and darted inside the building with her awkwardly held in his arms. He sprinted outside the Hokage office and slammed the door shut, breathing heavily. He could hear the village in a complete uproar, but he couldn't gauge the emotion attached to the noise. He looked down, taking notice of Hinata struggling, and released her.
She gasped, taking a step away from him, and looked at him incredulously. "Sasuke!"
"You don't have to say it." He turned to the side, suddenly feeling stupid for what he did. "Not like that."
Hinata stared at him, wanting to be angry or persistent, but the gravity of the situation was weighing in on them, and she was becoming self-conscious. "But…you know I… I mean, you know…right?"
Sasuke looked at her, confusion and wishful thinking causing him to frown.
She smiled softly, shrugging. "You are…something…to me…"
His eyes squinted by a fraction. "But what are we?"
"Well…" Hinata walked towards him, hesitantly taking his hand, "we're still confused…unless…one of us makes it clear." She looked at him, expectant.
He opened his mouth, looked away, looked back, closed his mouth, then squeezed her hand, running a hand through his hair. "We make a pair," he said.
Hinata blinked, head tilting.
Sasuke looked down the hall, his stubborn frown setting in place despite the color on his cheeks. "We make a pair, correct?"
Hinata stared at him a moment longer until she understood, then she stared another moment longer because the color on his cheeks slowly began to grow. When he gave her a nervous glance, she laughed, nodding. "Correct."