Keeping Aflame
Feminine Squabbles
The change was a gradual thing, but Hinata was very observant. So, when Ino and Sakura stopped speaking to each other, it wasn't nice, but it wasn't unexpected.
'L-let's eat lunch,' Hinata said lamely to break the silence one balmy morning.
'Okay. Hey Hinata, how about you invite your cousin along?' Ino suggested brightly. 'Tell Sakura she's not, though.'
Hinata had claimed Sasuke her cousin for lack of a simpler way to explain. It was even true, in a distant and far off manner.
'Hinata, you'll eat lunch with me, right? We can sit by the bench where Sasuke usually sits! Of course, you can tell Ino that she's not welcome to join us.' Sakura glared daggers at Ino from where she was sitting, on Hinata's left.
Ino glared straight back, from Hinata's right, and tugged defiantly at the helpless girl's arm. 'Hinata, please tell Sakura that Sasuke should be having lunch with a pretty girl like me, who would actually match his looks, rather than someone with a forehead big enough for two!'
Sakura's cheeks brightened at the jab and her fingers clenched around Hinata's wrist. 'Hinata, please tell Ino that first, I take very good care of my appearances, and second, looks don't matter as much as the heart anyway!'
'Ha! Hinata, tell Sakura that she just admitted I'm prettier than her!'
'No way! Oh – I mean, Hinata, tell Ino that I said I'm not just pretty, I'm beautiful! My parents said so!'
'As if! Hinata, tell Sakura that I'm way prettier and let's go ask Sasuke right now who he thinks is better!'
'Yeah, because obviously he'll say that I am!'
Hinata Hyuga was nine years old, and very conflicted.
'U-um, I made a mistake when I was checking the time. It's not lunch yet after all…'
/300 words