It seemed like a good day.

It was the sunlight that woke him, it's brightness was streaming in through the curtains, hitting him square in the face. Groggily he pulled the blanket over his head, hiding in the warmth within.

He didn't even bother attempting to open his eyes, it would hurt more than it did already. Chirping echoed from outside, a bird's song. He assumed most people would call it sweet so early in the morning to hear a bird song. But he, on the other hand, was wondering if he had good enough aim to throw a kunai at the thing.

Still he didn't move, his mind focused completely on getting around the utter pain of the headache.

Flinching he pulled the blanket down a bit and started in surprise, finding himself not in his room at all, but in the living room, staring at the wide glass door leading to the courtyard hosting the sakura tree.

The hell… How did I-

His eyes shifted rapidly at the sound of a soft sigh coming from the other side of the room and he froze, unable to think of anything else to do but stare.

Hinata was curled on the other couch, her hair was loose and spilling like black ink down to touch the floor, leaving only a small peek of her rosy cheek and long lashes to be seen between the tight little knot she had made of herself.

Each breath was coming in and out softly, he could only hear it because he was paying utter attention. Piles of weights were beside her and some of her clothes too, he noticed. He felt his fingers fidget. She was using one of his blankets and that made it hard to tell just how much she was actually wearing.

Oh hell… Neji is going to try to kill me…

He made to stand up and then stopped, realizing that no, he actually wasn't in the mood to deal with the situation. Reluctantly he lay back down, staring at the pale little bundle of trouble that was sleeping peacefully in his living room.

Memory came back slowly of the night before, or at least enough information for him to know how he had gotten home and why she was there. He hoped he wasn't missing any particularly embarrassing piece.

Sighing he closed his eyes and hid under the blankets again to block out the disturbingly bright sun, wishing he had the guts to get up for some water, his mouth felt like sandpaper.

The damned bird outside gave another long string of obnoxious melody and because he was listening intently he managed to catch the sound of another sigh from the girl and then a yawn.

Damned… she's awake…

Hinata stretched lazily, like a cat for a moment, scrunching her eyes shut before relaxing into the warmth of her blankets- which smelled particularly nice that morning. Sighing she finally opened her eyes, half curled back in her original position.

For a moment the image she saw of a brightly lit but darkly decorated living room made no sense. She wasn't sure how it had come about that she was there, but for some reason she wasn't worried either. The memories came back slowly but surely and she turned her head slightly to look at the other pile of blankets that contained Sasuke-kun. The pile breathed in softly and then back out, allowing her shoulders to relax drastically.

Licking her dry lips she sat up, stretching once more.

Humming in the silence she grabbed her discarded sweater and slipped it over her head, wondering if he'd want anything other than black coffee and water for breakfast.

Does Sasuke-kun even eat breakfast?

Smirking at the realization that the vaguely depressed and arrogant young man probably thought he was too good to eat breakfast, she moved to fold up the blankets she had used, wondering if he'd want them washed too now that she had used them for a night.

He seemed the type of person to be picky about those sort of things.

Unconsciously humming to herself still she put the pile of blankets and pillows she had used on the couch and straightened out her clothes and hair with her fingers idly, looking around the house with curious Hyuuga eyes.

It was prettier than she had realized the night before. The light of the morning gave it a lot of life, albeit it still looked cold, and everything was so obviously masculine that she felt a little out of place.

Absently she headed down the hall towards the kitchen, pulling her hair into a braid as she walked.

It was odd, but being in his house felt more relaxing than being at home where the rules were always changing. Sometimes she was allowed to make her own breakfast, other times she wasn't.

At the moment, because Sasuke had no choice but to put up with her for the morning she could probably do whatever she wanted.

As soon as she was out of the room Sasuke sat up, flinching at the light but determined to do 'something' though he wasn't at all sure of what.

Scanning the room, he caught sight of the neatly folded blankets and pillows, and also a cup of water sitting on the center table, just in reach.

Thanking the stars for some sort of miracle he grabbed the thing and downed it, remembering suddenly that he had asked her for it the night before.

"Hm." He grunted, struggling to his feet. The smell of coffee was drifting out of the kitchen, along with the soft sound of her humming.

It was going to be awkward, he figured. Everything to do with Hinata was awkward, but he'd put up with it for a good cup of coffee.

He stopped at the entrance of the kitchen, leaning against the door frame, wondering if he should say anything.

She had her back to him, searching for something in one of the cupboards. He cocked his head, watching her rummage around inside. Even he didn't know what was in there. It had been ages since he last bothered to cook anything.

"Aha." She sighed, coming out from one of the lower cupboards with a toaster. He blinked. He hadn't even known he had that thing.

She stood, sliding it onto the counter before turning around and jumping slightly. "Eep!" she gasped, blinking at him.

For a moment neither ninja could figure out what to say, but Sasuke's lips decided to pull into an involuntary smirk of amusement.

"Nani?" He asked, sounding hoarse as he sat down on one of the stools by the island in the middle.

Hinata let out a nervous laugh. "I-I didn't h-hear you."

"So I see."

She fidgeted in front of him for a moment before turning to the cupboard beside her and pulling out a cup. He noticed she didn't have to look for them.

"H-how a-are you feeling?" she enquired, filling the cup with the hot liquid.

Sasuke rubbed his eyes tiredly, prepared to reply with the very customary "Hn."

But then he decided against it. She was there helping, the least he could do was try to speak.

"…like I have a hangover." He muttered sarcastically, managing to make her laugh again. Twice in a row, albeit the first had been an accident, still, he was on a roll.

"H-here." Hinata muttered, sliding the cup in front of him before turning around to pour hot water into another one for her own tea.

Sasuke took the cup with a thankful nod, lifting it to his lips, but not drinking. He knew it was too hot, and also he was watching.

Moving with an obvious knowledge of what she was doing she ground down the tea leaves between her hands. He had no idea where she got those, he didn't have tea in the house.

But then again, he hadn't known he had a toaster either, so maybe he did.

Finally finished she turned around and sat across from him on the island, hands wrapped tightly around the tea cup.

"S-sorry, for staying so long… demo, i-it began to rain and I-"

"It's fine." He shrugged, glancing out at the bright morning and regretting it immediately. He rubbed his eyes again. "Should I close t-the curtains?" Hinata blinked, already halfway through standing.

Sasuke nodded, very irritated by the light. Obviously he had indulged himself to more than he usually did. This hangover was hellish in comparison to his regular ones.

"Ano.." she began again, while pulling the dark material across the window and causing the kitchen to be engulfed in shadows. "I-I used s-some of your blankets… I'll wash t-them, if you want."

"What? No, don't worry about it." He muttered, looking up at her quickly. What kind of an ass did she think he was? She had helped him home, made him coffee and she thought he'd want her to wash the blankets she used? Deciding to be pointedly nicer he nodded towards the coffee.

"Arigato."

Hinata blinked, having never heard him say that to anyone let alone herself. "Eh? Oh- it's nothing." She nodded, blushing slightly as she sat back down, looking at the reflection of herself in her tea.

For a moment they sat in vaguely comfortable silence, each sipping their preferred morning drink until Sasuke remembered her cousin.

"Won't your cousin be panicking about you being missing like last time?" He enquired, quirking an eyebrow slightly at her very peaceful posture.

Her shoulder's tensed for half a second as she remembered her cousin and his last tantrum, but then she shrugged, biting the inside of her cheek and looking away.

"H-he should b-be old enough to control h-himself." She mumbled, trying to sound irritated but sounding more hurt than not.

Sasuke frowned slightly at her response, recalling her furious blows to the training post where he had found her.

It wasn't like him to ask, so he didn't. Instead he watched as she downed the rest of her tea quickly. "I-I should go though. My f-father is another matter."

Sasuke nodded, no complaints coming out of him at the word 'father'.

The thought of talking to the Hyuuga head was enough to get the hair rising on the back of his neck.

"Oh yeah, Hyuuga-san. Hinata spent the whoooole night at 'my' house. Oh, and did I mention that I was drunk?"

Shit.

He would probably die a slow painful death as a result.

Hinata bowed shortly, putting the cup in the sink on her way out. "We'll skip training today, Sasuke-kun?" she enquired, stopping at the doorway.

Sasuke sighed, turning to glance over his shoulder at her. "Hai. I don't think I could teach you how to walk properly let alone attack in my current condition." He admitted, saying for once exactly what was going through his mind.

Hinata smiled, giving him a nod. "All right, I'll see you later." She turned and disappeared, missing completely the reaction to the simple absent minded smile.

Heat engulfed Sasuke's face for a minute and he wondered if he was sick…a fever? Did fevers suddenly sneak up on your like that?

He frowned, reaching to touch his own forehead. Hell, he was warm. Maybe he really was sick.

"Hm." He muttered, listening to the door closing as Hinata exited the house. He'd have to make sure not to strain himself, at least for the day. Fevers weren't good things.

Stretching lazily he took the coffee cup and headed back to the living room to drag the blankets she had used to the laundry room.

Aching from all possible joints, he bent down and stopped, breathing in the scent that was laced into the fibers of his favorite blanket.

He couldn't put his finger on it, but it wasn't the usual smell. He made a point to make his blankets smell clean, and though this didn't smell 'dirty' per say, it smelled… different.

He brought the neatly folded blanket up to his face, frowning as he took in the scent again.

Jasmine?

And suddenly the embarrassing moment of the night before came back.

"You smell good…"

"Uh…er..a-arigato…"

He flinched, wondering if maybe he should… do something? Apologize. Shaking his head he ruffled his own hair and downed the rest of the coffee, flinching at the bitter burning liquid as it went down.

He had better things to think about.

Like going back to sleep.

Silently the Uchiha heir grabbed the blanket and headed up the stairs to his room.

Jasmine wasn't that bad.

Hinata sprinted down the steps, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach. He made her nervous still. It was obnoxious in a strange way. She didn't really mind it anymore, and he wasn't as scary, really…

No, he wasn't scary, but the butterflies didn't go away. They were worse than with Naruto-kun! That was probably because Sasuke's expectations were so much higher.

She rotated her shoulders as she skipped down the last few steps to the street, looking right and left as she pulled her hair into a high ponytail.

The sky was a beautiful blue, and the sounds of birds chirping was the loudest sound echoing along with the cries of children heading to school in herds. She watched, smiling slightly as the rabble of rosy cheeked youngsters turned the corner.

Feeling lighter than she had in a long time she started her walk back home, hands clasped behind her back, humming quietly.

Maybe she would smile at Neji, and tell him it was okay. It wasn't his fault, not really…

Biting her lip, but not nervously she almost skipped, but contained herself, for the sake of Hyuuga pride, before starting to trot off in the direction of home.

Father was probably worried.

It suddenly occurred to her, that he wouldn't be worried if he didn't care, if only a little.

Smiling a bit more she sped up a bit. No good daughter would want to worry her father.

Sakura screamed, throwing her fist forcefully into the ground. Chakra rolled out in waves, shattering through the ground in layers. Pillars of loosened earth rose up all over. Naruto frowned, serious for the first time in days. His hangover was 'not' gone, but training with Sakura tended to shove that to the back of everyone's mind.

Grunting he jumped up, scanning the ground for Sakura. Trees were tottering on their loosened roots, tipping over onto the shattered ground.

Growling angrily the pink haired fighter shot into the sky, hands flipping through jutsu motions rapidly. Flickering out of sight she appeared again…x3.

Naruto threw his weight backwards, missed by the three kunai by inches. "Damned." He grunted, blocking a solid hit by one of the fake Sakura's. Irritably he threw his own kick into the stomach of the other pink haired girl, watching the two copies explode into logs.

He stared at them, hearing Sakura's cry of power start behind the logs. Gasping he ducked, watching the logs splinter into a thousand pieces as Sakura punched through them both.

Grunting from the effort he grabbed hold of her ankle and pulled hard, sending her flying to the ground.

Together they hit, sending dust and dirt everywhere.

Groaning could be heard dully, and as the dust cleared, Sakura's hand reached up to pull herself out of the dent they had made in the ground.

"Ugh…" she sighed, rubbing her head. Letting out a bothered breath she turned to look over at Naruto, who was sitting up holding his own head too. "Gah." He gasped. "Dattebayo."

"You didn't have to catch me." She mumbled, extending her hand down to him.

"I'm a guy." He grumbled, accepting the offer. "Kinda supposed to."

"Sasuke wouldn't." Sakura muttered, pulling him to his feet. Naruto didn't say anything. There were a thousand and one things to say, but for everyone's sake, including his own skull he would withold all comments.

Two bruises in less than a few minutes was too much for even the future hokage to handle.

"How's your hangover now?" Sakura smirked, watching the blonde suddenly become aware of the bright light and the chirping birds.

"Uuuugh. Don't ask." Naruto grumbled, rubbing his face tiredly. "I knew there was a reason why I didn't drink, but I couldn't remember why."

"Heh." Sakura smirked, giving him a soft pat on the shoulder. "Come on, let's get some coffee."

"Love to."

The two ninja began to walk away from the disaster they had caused, each rubbing respective 'owies' as they walked. The comfortable silence continued on as they stepped back onto the road heading towards the middle of town. Any coffee shop would do. All they needed to tell the cook was to make it extra dark coffee.

"So how've you been?" Naruto enquired finally, giving Sakura a sideways look. "You've been awfully distant the last few weeks."

Sakura flinched, shrugging slightly. "Eh... fine. Just busy."

"Because Hinata has been skipping work?"

"Tsunade-sama doesn't seem to mind." Sakura muttered, sounding bothered. "She says Hinata spoke to her about the special situation regarding her skipping work..."

"Her training?"

"Hai." Sakura ran a hand through her short hair. "I'm a little upset."

"Why?" Naruto blinked, surprised by the revelation. "Hinata's situation is a little special."

"She's always had so much attention, from everyone- even when she was weak, at least there was attention there, people focusing on her, expecting more of her." Sakura sighed, rubbing her arm gently. "She's always depressed about it and there are others out there who would give anything to have people pushing them that far."

Naruto frowned, watching the expression on his friend's face turn ever more sour. "But Hinata's not only been in the spotlight for good things, Sakura... She's had it pretty rough."

"I know!" Sakura snapped, turning to face him violently. "I know that! But I just-"

"Don't understand why she had to pick Sasuke, huh?"

The simple statement made the pink haired ninja freeze, staring at Naruto with wide eyes. Never in her life did she expect him of all people to catch on so fast.

"...hai."

Naruto smirked, giving a soft shrug. "You and me both."

Sakura blinked, watching his blue eyes shift away towards the side, unwilling to look her in the face. She cocked her head slightly, frowning.

"Did you like her... Naruto?"

"Hehe." Naruto chuckled, turning to look at her, rubbing his neck. "Not 'till she wasn't around."

"...she's never said she's interested in Sasuke though." Sakura put in rapidly, feeling something like panic start at the base of her throat.

Naruto shrugged. "Hai, I know that. It's not like Hinata to say something though, is it?"

Sakura stared, realizing it was the truth. "Yeah... you're right."

"It's only been two weeks though. Maybe we're just paranoid because neither of them have been around. I mean... Sasuke's more or less my training partner, and Hinata is-"

"Mine." Sakura nodded, complying to his words, for both their sakes. "Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe... we're just panicking."

"Right." Naruto smirked, looking up at the bright blue sky. No one would have guessed that just yesterday snow was melting and then the rain was pouring. February was being weird.

"Anyway. Coffee." he stated, rubbing his sore head.

"Right!" Sakura grinned. "let's go!" cheering up instantly the med nin grabbed Naruto's hand and started running, dragging him along for the ride.

They turned a corner rapidly to step into one of the busy streets of the village, determined to find a cafe only to run head long into someone else in a hurry.

With a loud collection of 'oomphs!' the three ninja's fell backwards on their bottoms. Hinata sat up sharply, grimacing.

"G-gomen! Gomen nosai!" she gasped, squinting through the pain at Naruto and Sakura who were both blinking at her.

Both their heads were too hard to feel much of the pain anymore.

"Hinata-chan!" Sakura cried, standing up and starting to haul her to her feet.

"Eh!" Hinata gasped as she was forcefully pulled up. "Hi-"

"Where are you going?" Naruto began and then stopped, looking her over thoughtfully. "And where have you been? You look like you just woke up!"

"Naruto!" Sakura called, tempted to give him a thump on the head.

"Well she does!" Naruto flinched away.

"Hehe." Hinata grinned, still rubbing the growing bump on her own head. "I-I did j-just wake up, gomen, I wasn't paying a-attention to w-where I was g-going and I-I-"

"Hinata!"

Blinking the girl turned around to see Neji shoving through people, heading in her direction rapidly.

"Oh d-dear."

"Where have you been?!" he cried, stopping just in front of her, blocking Sakura and Naruto from view quickly, they took a step back, wide eyed and confused.

"Well- I-I was-" Hinata began, and stopped, feeling his grip on her arm as he started to drag her away.

"Your father is furious!" he snapped, pulling roughly, not because he was angry but because he was worried to death. His uncle had been up most of the night, sending out searches for his daughter, furious that she had left and uneasy about whether she was coming back at all.

"Neji-kun-" Hinata began.

"-Hanabi's been trying not to cry since you left. She was worried you wouldn't come back-"

"Neji!"

"Why did you leave like that? None of what I said was true, I was just worried and I-"

"Neji!!" Hinata finally shouted, throwing her arms around her stoic cousin in an effort to both stall him and surprise him.

The boy stiffened, feeling the small arms of his cousin surrounding him from behind. "Wha-"

"It's okay." she mumbled into his back. "I understand."

Sakura and Naruto stared, confused out of their minds and their eyes no longer the only things hanging wide open, now their mouths too had followed suit.

"Wha?" Sakura gasped.

"W-where did you g-go?" Neji found himself stuttering while Hinata pulled back, giving him a smile he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Uh... it's a long story." she laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "I do need to talk to father about it."

"H-hai." He stuttered, staring at her and noting how she was still holding his hand. Blushing furious, but still holding it.

"Bye! Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun!" Hinata added, turning to wave before starting off at a jog.

Neji stood there still, looking dumbfounded.

"What the hell-"

Gasping he turned around to follow. "Hinata! Wait!"

"She hugged him!" Naruto stated loudly. Sasuke leaned his head against the cold counter, blinking rapidly at the blonde. "Will you stop shouting?"

"Didn't you hear me?" Naruto sulked, glaring.

"It's hard not to."

"Dattebayo! She hugged Neji-teme!"

"Oh now he's teme too?"

"Christ!" Naruto finally spassed. "You're not listening."

Sasuke sighed, pushing away from the counter and rubbing between his brows. "So what if he she hugged him? Is that so bad?"

"It's not 'bad'" Naruto grunted, drawling on the word. "It's just... new." He lifted the cup of steaming coffee up to his face and sipped delicately.

Sasuke stared. "Baka."

"Where was she all night do you think?" Naruto blinked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "She looked like she was rested... and bubbly."

"Bubbly." Sasuke repeated, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah. And cheerful. Which isn't too new with Hinata, but she wasn't cheerful the last few weeks."

"Cheerful." Sasuke repeated again, then decided to stop, for fear of sounding like a parrot.

"Yeah? Didn't you notice?" Naruto stared at the avenger like he was something odd. Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "No, I didn't notice."

"Weirdo."

"Hn."

"So... about last night." Naruto began, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. Sasuke glanced at him, sipping his own cup of coffee lazily. It was probably his 11th.

"By 'last night' do you mean the idiocies you were saying while drunk?"

"Pretty much."

"What of it?"

"Eh... the whole Hinata thing- yeah, she's cute, but I wasn't actually gonna..." Naruto shrugged, rotating his shoulders nervously. "Ya know? It was just a passing thought, cuz Sakura was so hung over you all last week..."

"I said you were drunk. It doesn't matter." Sasuke muttered, feeling suddenly something like a weight come off his shoulders. Naruto brightened. "Thank God."

"You can thank me instead."

"Ya know... you're in a surprisingly good mood." Naruto put in suddenly, giving him an odd look. "For someone with a hangover, I mean."

"Shut up, dobe."

"Where exactly were you?"

"Gomen, I...I was training out and I saw Sasuke-kun-er I mean... Uchiha-san."

"Sasuke-kun?"

"...h-hai."

"Since when is an Uchiha a friend of my daughter?"

"H-he is training me, father."

"Training you?"

"For the end of the year..."

"And where were you?"

"I-I was... well... he was sick...a-and I took h-him home...It started to rain so I-"

"You stayed there."

"...h-hai. D-demo! He was so sick he fell asleep almost i-instantly a-and h-he woke up l-late! I j-just didn't w-want to get sick-"

"You could be tainted for all I know."

Worlds colliding, like a sudden crack in reality. Oh God, what did he just say? Tainted?

"T-t-tainted...?"

"You have just put your last stain of dishonour on this family's name."

"N-nani? No! N-no! I am not tainted! Father- I'm sorry!"

"You are no child of mine any longer."

The stamp against the scroll, an official document. Hyuuga by blood, no longer by name.

Tears running down her face. That wasn't right. No... that wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to say sorry, supposed to be forgiven. She was supposed to be-

"But the fight! T-the fight- Hanabi-chan and I-"

"You will have your chance. Challange the ruling of my clan, challange my heir, my daughter."

Burning words. One daughter, not two.

"Should you win, perhaps then you will be worthy of the Hyuuga name."

She wasn't sobbing, it was silent, tears pouring down her face. Composed as ever. There were parts of a Hyuuga that a document couldn't get rid of.

"H-hai, Hyuuga-san."

She would have preffered a slap across her face.

"Leave. You are not welcome here."

And she was running, as fast as she ever had. She didn't realize where until she was standing on the street, staring up at the gate leading to the mansion.

His expression was vaguely surprised, but composed. Nothing could ever really surprise him, but he had never seen a crying girl not screaming before.

"Hinata..?"

She choked on her tears for a moment. She couldn't see him very well, it was blurry with the tears in her way.

"G-gomen, S-S-Sasuke-kun, demo... I-I-I... m-my father he..." she stopped, burying her face in her hands for a moment.

Concentrate, control, breathe...

"Oh no." Sasuke sighed, realizing what had happened in seconds. No one cried like that for no reason.

A good day indeed...

Because I stayed home sadly of some unknown illness for the past two days I managed to write quite a bit.

It might feel a bit rushed, but I hope that you all like it. As you can obviously tell it's only been about a month since they've been interacting, so assuming that it's going to last about 11 more months for her to fight Hanabi, you guys are all in for a very long fic.

Though, it will speed up a bit more from here on. Months will go by in more like two chapters instead of six... or seven ...hopefully ((dies))

READ and REVIEW!

-Inky