Hey everyone,
So I'm back and this chapter sucks as bad as the last- HOWEVER. the NEXT one is good. cuz i wrote it all in one sitting and that's how i write best.
so you all have a lovely day and leave a review.
-Ink
It's so quiet... Hinata looked around dazedly at the snow covered village, wide eyed and confused. It wasn't even halfway through the month of February, so it wasn't so rare that the snow would be falling, but... there was so much of it. It was almost spring too!
The thing she loved most about the snow was the silence it could bring, a comforting silence. Blinking rapidly as the flakes fell on her lashes she looked up, watching one land tentatively on her nose.
"Hm." she hummed, smiling despite herself as it melted against her skin.
Sasuke was standing a little ways away, looking at the footprints that were surrounding the front door of the ramen shop-which was still closed.
But he could recognize those tracks anywhere. There were two of them, one smaller than the other, and the smaller one had managed to chuck the bigger one into the snow.
Sakura had hit Naruto for some reason... as usual.
"They were here." He muttered, standing and then freezing at the sight of Hinata staring up at the white sky, eyes closed.
...she did that a lot.
He didn't say anything, but waited, stuffing his hands into his pockets, confused as to what to do. No girl acted like that around him. He never struggled with gaining their attention- hell he usually struggled with getting rid of it.
Finally Hinata cracked one eye open lazily, blinking at him. "P-perhaps they went to train?"
"Not without breakfast." he replied, glad that the silence was broken. Hinata almost laughed, muffling the sound with her gloved hands. Naruto leaving without breakfast to do something just seemed impossible.
"I can find them." she said suddenly, rolling her shoulders and lifting her hands to unlock her Byakugan. Sasuke didn't reply but watched as the veins began to form around her eyes before she opened then again, focusing to a point in the distance.
Silence reigned for a second as she scanned the area, looking quietly with a puzzled expression on her face. "Mm!" she hummed suddenly, making him turn to look at her thoughtfully.
"They are walking towards Sakura-chan's house, I think..." she began, sounding mildly put out. "M-maybe we should leave them-"
"Come." Sasuke muttered irritably, not caring that the girl was trying to give his two team mates room. He knew, like everyone else that Hinata was absolutely in love with the baka. It was irritating to watch her mood begin to drop just because he was walking with Sakura.
Girl trouble was annoying.
But it served her right. What kind of a crazy lunatic fell in love with someone like the teme Naruto?
"Demo- Naruto-kun and Sakura-chan- t-they might want to b-be-"
"Just come." Sasuke sighed, sounding impatient. Hinata slammed her mouth shut and followed quickly, wondering if she was supposed to apologize or not.
"They're just going to get breakfast anyway." he added after a moment, hiding half his face behind the high neck of his shirt. Hinata nodded rapidly, eyes wide, trying not to blush too hard.
"They don't need to be alone or anything." Sasuke continued, trying to get her to realize it didn't mean anything to Sakura and that Naruto was still being as much a dobe as ever.
Hinata kept nodding, confused. Is he trying to convince me...or himself? She almost gasped. What if he likes Sakura-chan?!
Sasuke blinked at her suddenly shocked expression, totally confused. What the hell? Did I say something?
"A-ano... Sasuke-kun...Sakura-chan doesn't- er... I mean... she's never agreed to go with Naruto-kun anywhere..." Hinata began uncertainly, blinking at him, trying for a change, to soothe his nervousness. "Like... out, on a d-d-date, I mean."
Sasuke's brows knit together in confusion. '...uh...hai- exactly."
Hinata's expression brightened and she looked away, walking along happily. Sasuke just blinked at her in confusion, not understanding what the heck was going on.
She's so weird...
They continued their walk, Hinata examining for the most part the large trees covered in snow, and trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue without Sasuke noticing.
Impossible, of course, seeng as he was watching curiously and a little puzzled.
Of all the people... he had nnot planned to spend his friday morning with someone like Hinata Hyuuga- who until recentl he had been sure that he could understand, but had never bothered because she was just...a wallflower.
He blinked in surprise as she stepped up beside him, pointing up ahead shyly. "Sakura-chan's house is right there."
"...hai." he replied, resisting the urge to quirk an eyebrow, but the tone of voice said it all. Hinata stared at him. "D-did you know where it was already?"
"...she used to be my team mate." he stated, it was self explanatory, he figured. Hinata on the other hand turned another shade of red and blinked at him confusedly, but didn't ask. Sasuke shook his head when she ran on ahead, feeling more awkward and out of place by the minute.
Where in the hell had this girl grown up in? A hole somewhere? Of course he bloody knew where Sakura's house was. Actually that was the safest place to be when the crowd of fangirls went on rampage during Valentine's Day-
He stopped walking suddenly, listening dully to the sound of Hinata's elbow against Sakura's door. Her hands were so sore she had probably decided not to use the conventional method.
Valentine's Day... he had forgotten that it was February- albeit it was still early February, so maybe just maybe he had time to prepare- time to find a reason to leave the village before the godforsaken day came along...
"Hinata!" Sakura's voice rang out sharply, snapping Sasuke out of his daze just because it was threatening.
No one really understood how disheartening Valentine's Day truly was. Someone had once told him that the time you ever felt truly alone was when you were in a crowd.
All year long he avoided thinking of that day. It was the day that his admirers came out to adore him, and he had to stand and watch trying to dispassionately rip their hopes to shreds, just to survive the day.
It was that day that he truly felt alone... that one day...
"Sasuke-kun?" He looked back, meeting Hinata's pale lavender eyes with his own, surprised to see her standing right in front of him. When had she snuck up on him like that?
"Nani?" he asked coldly, moving to walk by her. She followed quickly, snow crunching oddly under her weight as she trailed at his elbow.
"A-are you o-okay, Sasuke-k-kun?" she blinked as they walked up the stairs towards a confused looking Sakura and Naruto.
"Fine." he muttered, vaguely irritated, glancing over at her quizzically. Hinata blinked back at him in surprise and lowered her gaze, stopping a step lower when they reached Sakura's front door.
Naruto and her stood there, mouths slightly open to let out questions that never actually came out.
"W-" Sakura began.
"Hn. I forgot to get a sleeping remedy last night." Sasuke cut in quickly, stuffing his hands in his pockets on the way. "And she needs her fists healed."
Hinata looked up and smiled weakly at Sakura, turning a bright red shade as Naruto stuttered out a "H-hi-hinata-chan?"
"...Hi...Naruto-kun."
"We- I mean... Hinata is an able med nin... so I-" Sakura began, giving her friend an odd look. Hinata blinked at her in surprise, feeling the icy touch of that glance.
"She can't heal herself. And, she didn't have the remedy done. You mentioned it once in practice." Sasuke interuptted, having caught sight of that half glare that Hinata was fidgeting about.
He tried not to frown too openly about it. Of all the people to give Hinata a hard time he somehow had hoped that Sakura would be mature enough not to...even if she was still oddly obessed.
"Right." Sakura chirped suddenly, flinging Naruto into the house and opening the door wider. "Come on in."
"Ouch- Sakura-chan." Naruto grumbled, rubbing his shoulder where he had hit the wall in her foyer. "That was a harsh shove."
"Well you weren't moving." Sakura replied thinly storming past and into the darkened living room.
Hinata and Sasuke stood still at the front door, both hesitating to enter for very different reasons. "Well." Sasuke muttered impatiently, giving Hinata a look that clearly stated 'go in'.
Nodding rapidly in emberrassement Hinata stepped in, tapping the snow off her boots before sitting by the step inside to pull them off hurriedly.
Naruto looked obviously back and forth between Hinata and Sasuke, giving him a questioning look.
Sasuke managed not to glare... too badly before shrugging and following the young Hyuuga inside.
"You're what?" Naruto blinked, watching as Sakura caught one of the bottles of some sort of odd smelling liquid as it fell from her hands.
"Trainning her." Sasuke glared, giving the blonde a glare before glancing over at Sakura and adding a look too.
Sakura's back however was to him as she stared rather intently at the bottle in her hands. Hinata was sitting closest, watching with clever byakugan eyes as her friend's hands tightened rapidly around the bottle, threatening to break it's delicate glass.
A crack creeped along the edge of the container suddenly, making Hinata jump to her feet quickly."Ano! Sakura-chan...l-let me-"
"No. I'm fine." Sakura smiled politely, walking over and placing the dripping bottle on the table. "I almost dropped it, must have hit one of the shelves."
"...h-hai." Hinata nodded, willing herself to believe it.
"So... you're trainning Hinata-chan." Naruto said again, letting out a low whistle. "Heh.' his eyes flickered around for something to look at. "...er... how...how's that going?"
"She needs weights." Sasuke replied simply, watching Sakura come back with another bottle to pour the dripping liquid into.
"Weights?" Sakura muttered, her voice forcefully cheerful. "What for?"
Sasuke didn't reply but looked over at Hinata pointedly, making her turn another undiscovered shade of red. "Oh- ano- t-to improve m-my speed."
"She's fast as it is." Naruto put in, leaning against the wall, arms crossed.
"She can improve." Sasuke replied just as cooly.
"Here." Sakura stated suddenly, stretching her hand out to Hinata, who hesitated for a moment before giving her the sore and bruised fists.
A little rougher that usual Sakura undid the bandages, her fingers moving quickly through each motion. Hinata refused to look, staring directly at the table with confused panicked eyes. She had done something to make Sakura-chan upset... it was so obvious. If only Sasuke and Naruto would leave so she could ask...
"You can't be hurting yourself like this on a regular basis." Sakura muttered, her hands beginning to heat up with chakra. "I can't heal them all the time."
"H-hai!" Hinata nodded feverishly. "I understand."
Sasuke just continued to watch, arms crossed, brow furrowed. He would have to turn this into something good for him... the discomfort shown by Sakura could be problematic in the future, but he could deal with it if he managed to get a good deal out of...
Valentine's Day.
His eyes widened as he stared at the Hyuuga in front of him, biting her lip and fidgeting under his obvious stare.
She was the key... the key to keep all those idiot fangirls away- including Sakura. It didn't mean he had to make her believe they were going out, he just had to be away with her somewhere and they would hopefully back off.
Hm. Perhaps the Hyuuga heir had more uses than he had initially thought...
"B-bye! Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun..." Hinata waved from the street. The two ninja's waved back half heartedly before Sakura closed the door.
Hinata let her hands fall to her sides, fidgeting with her scarf, biting her lip painfully. They were so upset with her and they wouldn't say why. She didn't even know exactly what it was that bothered them.
She sighed, rubbing her fingers over her sore lip. Maybe training with Uchiha-san had been a bad idea after all...
"What are you staring at?" Sasuke called impatiently, hands stuffed deep in his pockets. "We've got to find training weights."
Hinata spun around, blushing furiously as she trotted after him. "Oh- hai! Gomen.."
"Let's go." he muttered irritably, starting down the vaguely deserted street. There were more footsteps everywhere, which was comforting. At least they weren't the only people out. Hopefully some of the better training shops would be open. It wasn't very early anymore.
"Ano... w-where would we get weights?" Hinata stuttered, walking one step behind him. For a moment she tried to step in his footprints, then stopped, realizing his stride was a lot longer than hers.
"I know places." Sasuke replied, as usual forcing out more words than he usually would for the sake of keeping the conversation going.
"Oh. Hai." Hinata nodded, looking around at the still village, trying to ignore the worry nagging at the back of her mind. Sakura and Naruto were two of her best friends... it was discomforting to know they were upset with her for some reason.
"Let's go." Sasuke muttered, deciding not to ask about her vaguely pained look. He didn't want to know.
It was dusk by the time she was home. The weights were uncomfortable and made her look bulky, but she didn't mind. It would eventually get better. Sasuke didn't say whether she should wear them to sleep or not, but she figured not. That'd be a little awkward...
Stepping in the door she was met with Neji's intense glare. "Where have you been?"
Hinata blinked, blushing. "Nani? I... training-"
"Shino and Kiba came by asking for you."
"Oh- n-not with them... I forgot to tell them." she sighed, rubbing her forehead tiredly. "Gomen. I forgot to tell everyone."
"You're training on your own now?" Neji frowned, letting his crossed arms fall to his sides. Hinata's eyes shifted. Sasuke had mentioned not wanting anyone to know he was training her.
He hadn't mentioned why and she had not asked. "Hai." she lied, looking up at him, blushing. Neji frowned slightly.
"I see."
"...I should...sleep."Hinata muttered, ripping off her shoes and stumbling up the stairs. Things would be very difficult from now on.