"Hinata!" Hanabi pounded on her sister's bedroom door.
Hinata laid in bed all night unable to sleep, thoughts swirling her mind of the events from the night before. She heard her younger sister's footsteps running down the hall and towards her bedroom, though she made no effort to move. She stared at the ceiling listening the gradual knocking turned pounding against her wooden door, as Hanabi yelled for her to wake up.
She eventually got annoyed and yanked her door open causing Hanabi to almost fall forward as she was about to pound at the door with all her might.
"What is it, Hanabi?" She didn't hide her annoyance as she spoke.
"You have a visitor." Hanabi being used to her sister's coldness brushed it off and completed her task of delivering this message. She walked off after telling Hinata.
Hinata watched her sister turn away as she processed what Hanabi said. She didn't want to get carried away in thought, but her mind was quick and she felt herself getting excited hoping for Menma to be at the gates waiting for her. As soon as the hope crossed her mind it quickly diminished with Hinata feeling stupid for even thinking that would be a possibility. Of course, it wasn't Menma, he wasn't the type to do something like this after an insignificant event like last night.
She left her room, and walked to the front gates of the Hyuga compound to see a familiar face. She should've guessed it would be him, considering he normally showed up at her home when he had enough free time to fit a spar.
Sasuke stood in front of the gates, eyeing the entrance waiting to see her walk out. The guards no longer stared with suspicion when he arrived like before, seeing him here was a semi-regular occurrence, so no they just minded their own business and kept to their guard duties.
Hanabi greeted him with a smile, which he returned before she ran off telling him she would fetch her elder sister. He didn't stand their long before he caught a glimpse of her figure.
He stared at her feeling his heart beat speed up the closer she got to him. He didn't know this feeling, but he'd caught wind of it for a while now, probably from their first spar when he saw her slight smile. A genuine smile. He originally approached her due to her skill and status, no one could deny the fact that she was talented and skilled, not to mention being an heiress probably came with extra training, making her good opponent for Sasuke to test his skills. He himself came from a great background and was talented as well, it was a perfect match to grow their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. He didn't expect this admiration to fester, though he didn't regret choosing her. He'd do it over again if he was given a choice.
"Hinata, would you mind giving me some of your time?"
He watched her as she pondered his question, they both knew why he was here; he'd never come before for anything other than this.
"I'm not busy, so why not." She replied.
They walked along side each other to training ground #7, a few stared in their direction, while others questioned. People still weren't used to seeing a Hyuga and an Uchiha interact like this, though this wasn't the first time, many still made it obvious how they weren't used to it. Sasuke at one point had heard rumors that their clans were arranging a marriage for them and that was the reason they were seen together. It made him laugh just thinking about it, but he guessed he wouldn't have opposed the idea.
Sasuke glanced towards his side where she walked looking straight ahead. She was pretty he thought, really pretty. He swallowed as he recalled back in the academy how most of the male pupils would talk amongst themselves about the girls in their class. There was one incident in particular that stuck out to him now.
The boys all stood in a group on the playground as they discussed the topic of, girls.
"So, the prettiest girl huh?"
Sasuke joined the group curiosity overcoming his mind. He'd be lying if he said he'd never thought of a girl like that, but to name the prettiest, well he'd never personally compared them.
"Menma who do you think?" One of the boys turned towards the blonde and asked.
Sasuke noticed Menma standing against a tree, he'd never taken Menma to participate in a conversation like this. Well, now that he thought about it, the boys did group themselves near Menma, it wasn't like he made himself apart of the group.
"Who cares which girl is the prettiest." Menma replied dryly.
"Well, I think they're all beautiful." Rocklee threw in.
"I mean I'd have to go with Neji's cousin, Hinata."
Everyone faced Shikamaru as they heard the words come out of his mouth.
"She's so mean." Choji piped.
"That doesn't take from the fact that she's pretty, right Neji."
Neji stared at Shikamaru as if he was crazy.
The conversation kept up as they all argued over the girls in their year. Sasuke noticed Hinata from the corner of his eye as the group kept talking. It looked to him someone had gotten under her skin since there was a girl running away crying leaving a proud looking Hinata behind. Choji wasn't wrong when he said she was mean, but her looks did speak for themselves, she sure was pretty. He looked back to the group only to make direct eye contact with Menma who stood across from him at the far side of the circle of boys. No one besides Sasuke seemed to notice the death glare being thrown his way by the blue-eyed boy.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Hinata's face distorted with annoyance.
Sasuke snapped back to reality, shooting his eyes straight forward. He'd been caught staring at her. He felt utterly embarrassed, but was it such a bad thing that she caught him looking.
"Just admiring your pretty face." He smirked taking this embarrassing moment to flip it in his favor.
"You sound stupid, anyway we're here."
He laughed as they walked into the training grounds. Sasuke watched as she looked at him disgust, this only made him feel the urge to tease her more, if only for her to release her annoyance and anger during their spar. They readied their bodies with a few warm up blows, then proceeded to get into their fighting stances all set to begin.
He couldn't sleep, it was four in the morning and he couldn't get a single second of shut eye. He didn't bother lying in bed willing sleep to come his way, instead he dressed himself and walked to training ground #7. Why had he come here? He only wanted to release his thoughts and pent-up frustration with some training, but why of all the training grounds did his feet bring him here? This only added to his abundant number of annoying feelings and thoughts he had at the moment. Menma wouldn't stress it anymore, he'd decided he didn't care why he was here, it was a stupid training ground, no special meaning. With that he began to release it all.
4:30 A.M. sweat trickling down the sides of his face. Hair matted along his neck and forehead. His breathing had become uneven and heavy. Yet he didn't let up, couldn't let up. If he stopped now it would all come back. His mind finally shut up; it was finally quiet. All he could hear was his own breathing and the sounds of the training dummies being busted left and right. It was peaceful, or at least as peaceful as Menma could get now a days. He didn't want this peace to be broken, so he begged his body to keep going, to keep pushing. Hopefully his stamina could keep up, because there was no way Menma was stopping anytime soon.
7:00 A.M. He collapsed, exhaustion finally consuming his muscles. He couldn't push through anymore. Though he wasn't complaining because when he dropped, his mind was still empty. They didn't come back. He felt the urge to laugh just thinking how pathetic he looked coming to a state like this over something, so trivial. He thought it was over, until he felt it. Her chakra, he could feel it's nature so warm and welcoming, he thought. Opposite of what she made herself out to be, how weird. He didn't have time to feel these sensations for he could feel her nearing him.
He rapidly made his way off the ground and muted his chakra, hoping she hadn't already felt his. He hid in the trees, before sensing out where she was, only to sense another chakra he recognized with her. Sasuke. They must be coming out to spar. He should leave. He really should just turn away and leave. He repeated the same thought, but somehow found himself getting closer to the pair.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" He strained his hearing to listen in on their conversation.
"Just admiring your pretty face." His mood plummeted.
When exactly did Sasuke and Hinata get comfortable enough to speak like this to each other? This really ticked him off. Not only the fact that Sasuke spoke to her so flirtatiously, but the fact that it bothered him so much. He finally rid his mind of her for a short moment just to have her come crashing down on his thoughts overwhelming him. He couldn't process a single clear thought, his mind felt like it was caving in on itself.
Menma dropped to the ground still hidden in the trees. His panted heavily as he gripped his knee with one hand and pulled himself up using the tree. He leaned against the hard wood trying to catch his breath. What had just come over him? Why was this happening? No one could give him answers, but all he knew for sure right now was that he needed to leave.
She felt him, of course she felt his chakra. It was Menma, she would never miss a beat when it came to him. She felt him while walking closer to the training ground, she felt when he muted it, and she felt the sudden quick surge while she sparred. It lasted a millisecond, but she could sense the sudden craze of emotions in it. It was quick, but those emotions lingered on her skin while she fought. This gave her enough motivation to end the spar as quickly as she could, she wanted to see him.
The spar ended with Sasuke being the victor just like all the times before, although this time she feigned defeat much sooner than usual. She knew he could tell she had lost on purpose, but he said nothing.
She ran into the woods with no hesitation. He had to still be here. She searched every corner with her activated byakugan. After hours of scavenging the woods Hinata plopped onto the hard dirt ground beneath her, she looked up into the trees, and deactivated her byakugan. Tears streamed down her tightly shut lids though they managed to spill out anyway. Why was she crying? The silent tears kept flowing as she stared at the now navy-blue sky full of stars, when did it get so late out? Her back laid flat on the dirt, the tears had finally stopped leaving behind swollen redness around her clear eyes. She stared at the pretty night sky, the stars aligning in the most beautiful ways, it almost made her wish she was up there with those beautiful stars, maybe then she wouldn't feel like this, this horrible consuming pain eating her from the inside out, these thoughts of Menma constantly on replay. Maybe this was the sky's way of telling her to quit this whole Menma thing.
She laughed. Her laugh echoed through the trees as her voice raised almost psychotically. Her body shook on the ground, vibrating as she couldn't control her shrieks. She convulsed on the ground, more tears managing their way out of her eye sockets, although this time they weren't tears of sadness, but of humor. The sky was funny, she thought. Making her think for even a second that she should leave Menma. She wouldn't ever decide on doing something so absurd. She couldn't.
Her laughter died down after a very long and nice awakening. It was today that she decided to never quit pursuing that feeling Menma gave her. Today she chose to never give up. Her eyes closed, back flat against the cold dirt, she let sleep take her.
Sasuke knew she ended the spar far too soon for it not to have been purposeful, though he didn't question it. He could tell why she did it, he had also felt Menma's chakra while they walked, but he wasn't surprised since Menma had a way of always being around when him and Hinata were together.
After the spar ended, he watched Hinata sprint into the woods, exactly where he had felt Menma. This confirmed his suspicions. He frowned as she disappeared from sight, her figure being swallowed up by the trees. He felt stupid for standing there, so he began to leave. He didn't want to see her seek out another person, it made his chest feel extremely tight.
Sasuke walked down the streets of Konoha as he felt a certain someone approach him.
Sigh* "What do you want?" He turned back to face a pair of bright blue eyes.
"Don't go near her anymore." Menma stood tall with a straight face, glaring at Sasuke.
"Who are you to be ordering me around." Sasuke smirked.
Menma stepped closer to Sasuke, leaning his head in towards Sasuke's ear to whisper.
"If you care about her, you'll stop going near her." He took a step back smiling at the black-haired boy.
"You wouldn't do anything that could possible hurt her in any way, so what's the point of making empty threats?"
Menma only chuckled as he patted Sasuke's shoulder then disappeared into thin air.