Day 21: Childhood

Hinata trembled in front of her father's office. Her grades were not at the same level as Neji's and she knew her sister was gaining recognition in school.

Hinata was not special.

She did not do anything outstanding.

She was average and plain.

It was what her father reminded her of every single day.

Her hands shook as she clutched the bottom of her hoodie. She kept her head low, prepared for when he would tell her to—

"Come in."

…

Sasuke was many things, but he knew he wasn't better than his brother. Even though his mother told him that he was perfect, smart, handsome, talented…it was never the same level of Itachi's characteristics.

So when Itachi left the house in a fit of wanting to prove himself, Sasuke was left speechless. His father would mention how disappointed he was and he would find his mother crying when she thought he wasn't looking at her.

He had suddenly become number one.

Sasuke didn't like it. He wanted to be able to say he earned it.

Which is why he would compare himself to Naruto. The loser in the class was no match for him, naturally, but he knew that Naruto had talents that Sasuke had lacked.

"Don't push yourself," Naruto told him the day before they entered high school. "You have to be able to make it through in order to beat me."

"You idiot," Sasuke told him, a laugh on the edge of his words.

…

"Are you looking at a yearbook?" Sasuke asked Hinata one day. She was at his house, raiding his bookshelf.

"I am," she smiled, "It's from middle school."

"Your hair was so short back then," Sasuke said, sitting next to her on the floor.

"I didn't really know you back then, even though we went to the same classes," she commented, turning the page. She smiled at pictures of Sasuke and Naruto, running the relay during the athletic festival.

"I didn't know you either," Sasuke frowned. "I didn't even recognize you when we met again in college actually.

Hinata pushed herself against his shoulder, "You never did notice anything except yourself."

"Rude," he whispered, leaning against her. Hinata allowed him to kiss her cheek, but not much else.

"What were you like back then?" Hinata asked. "I want to know what baby Sasuke was like."

"Hmm," he thought, "I was an angsty little fucker. My brother had recently left to go do his own thing and didn't tell me anything, so I took it personally. I felt angry and sad quite often. Plus there was that whole puberty thing."

Hinata giggled into his shoulder, "I remember you being angsty! I think one time I had to ask you for a ball so that the girls could play volleyball and you scowled at me! I was so terrified of you after that."

"Any time a girl talked to me, I scowled," he replied back, his face in a smirk. "They were always trying to date me and I was always too moody to handle it."

"Every girl loves a bad boy," Hinata sighed, flipping the page. This one had Hinata smiling shyly, with her hair cut short. She had a book in her hand.

"What were you like?" Sasuke asked, trailing his fingers over the picture of tiny Hinata. "I just knew you were very shy."

"…I had a lot of anxiety," she admitted in voice so soft, Sasuke was afraid he would miss a word. "I was afraid of everything and doing anything. My father…wasn't the nicest back then. I feel like he had a lot of pressure on me."

"I see," Sasuke said, easily able to imagine Hiashi doing such a thing.

"I eventually started to see a therapist after high school. My anxiety was so bad that I couldn't get out of bed. I also didn't have very good thoughts," Hinata's smile was a ghost etched on her face.

Sasuke turned her face to his, cupping her cheek with the palm of his hand. "I couldn't imagine a world without you now," he told her, whispering against her lips. "I am glad—"

"I'm glad I'm here too," she smiled. "I don't think those thoughts anymore. My father and I have worked things out. I have a better relationship with my cousin, my sister, my friends…And you." Hinata pressed her lips against Sasuke's, reassuring him with a kiss.

She closed the book that she held with triumph, "I'm so glad that we aren't that age anymore," her smile big.

"I agree," Sasuke said, taking her hand in his. "Especially since I get to have fun being an adult with you."

Hinata giggled as Sasuke pulled her off the floor.