Hinata gathered her bag and rolled out of her chair out of her office, heading down the hall.
"Hinata, wait!" Hinata turned her head to see Sakura running down the hall.
What, did Sakura think she was going to be able to outrun her?
Sakura took a moment to catch her breath. "Since we are going to be just friends now, I thought we should start hanging out."
Hinata nodded, though she needed more information on why that had her running down the hall.
Sakura stood up happily. "Come eat dinner with us?"
"Us who?" Hinata wondered.
Sasuke lowered his head and pressed his lips together, hiding the smile that was about to break. Sakura opened the door for Hinata, and it took only a moment for the same look to cross Hinata's face.
This was going to be the end of him.
Naruto got up and waved. He moved a chair out of the way Hinata moved into it. Sakura tried to push her in, but Naruto caught her hands and shook his head.
Hinata met eyes with Sasuke, and it was clear neither of them had talked about their routine, so this was a conscience.
How were they going to make it through this?
"You behave." Naruto scolded Sasuke. "Sakura isn't going to like your jokes."
"What jokes?" Sakura asked. No one answered her as they ordered.
Naruto started rambling on about his paperwork, but Hinata kept glancing at Sasuke. She could see the glint in his eye. She tried to stop her smile, but it only grew every time she looked at him.
Sasuke leaned forward. "Do you think he felt outnumbered last time?"
Hinata covered her smile with her hand. Realistically this shouldn't have been so funny to them.
Sakura gave him a confused look.
"It's a little unfair. Together we only make up like one and a half persons." Sasuke added.
Hinata snorted and clamped her hand over her mouth to hide the noise.
Sakura looked like she didn't know whether to be mad at Sasuke or happy that Hinata was giggling.
Naruto waves his hand at her. "Ignore them. They went on like this for hours last time."
Sakura gaped at him. Sasuke and Hinata both laughed. Naruto sighed.
Sakura took a deep breath and smiled while she attempted to change the subject. "Hinata, how was your date?" Naruto didn't think this was going to go well.
Sasuke and Hinata looked at each other briefly. Hinata looked down first. "It wasn't a date."
"Are you sure?" Sasuke asked.
Hinata's eyes shot up to glare at him. He grinned.
"You said he was cute," Sakura said in a singing voice.
"No, I said I didn't want to answer you." Hinata corrected.
"Because you didn't want to say he was cute." Sakura excused.
Hinata sighed. Naruto tried to make a face to signal for Sakura to stop when she glanced back at him. He could tell that this was not something she wanted to talk about.
Their meals were set in front of them, he dug in, but he noticed Sasuke and Hinata didn't. Hinata reached across the table, Sasuke handed her his chopsticks, and Hinata broke them for him. She pointed down the table and reached over for a sauce for her. Then they went on eating without a word to each other.
Naruto considered the interaction, it stabbed in the heart. These were both his friends. He would never have thought that Sasuke would have trouble breaking his chopsticks or Hinata would have difficulty reaching for things.
The feeling washed away as Sakura started back up.
"Does this guy bring you lunch?" Sakura asked.
Hinata, for some reason, looked up to Sasuke instead. He had a grin. "No, he can't cook."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Can you? Your a little short for a stove."
"Sasuke!" Sakura squeaked.
"Better than you could open a can." Hinata shot back.
Sasuke's grin grew.
Sakura's jaw dropped. She seemed less mad with Hinata more, flabbergasted.
Naruto just ate. There wasn't going to be stopping any of them.
Sakura cleared her throat. "It sweet he comes to visit you at work."
"It's cruel she makes him come to her, she's the one who gets to sit," Sasuke countered.
Naruto was relieved to see another smile on Hinata's face. He was wondering if there was a point this would go too far.
"Sasuke that is really uncalled for." Sakura tried.
"You know you didn't answer her question." Sasuke pointed out, ignoring Sakura's protest.
"What's that?" Hinata snapped back.
"Is he cute?" Sasuke asked with a grin.
"No, but he thinks he is," Hinata said back simply.
Sasuke laughed. Naruto sighed. Sakura pouted.
Naruto didn't know what he expected to happen by putting them together again, maybe he should have told Sakura beforehand, but she might have suggested not bringing Sasuke. Naruto was now painfully aware of how demeaning he had been to her in the past and how Sakura was probably being her doctor, and he didn't want a two-on-one situation.
Sasuke and Hinata complemented each other well. However, the jokes weren't the end of it. Their interaction gave him a perspective he hadn't thought about.
He had never given Sasuke losing his arm second thought. He was Sasuke. He didn't need both arms to win a fight, but he had never really thought how it might affect his daily life or that, in the end, it could be painful for him, like Hinata's loss of her legs. It made him wonder what else Sasuke struggled with that he had never mentioned.
As Hinata and Sasuke tossed insults and jokes back and forth and Sakura tried to change the subject in vain, he smiled. He was glad they were having fun.
Sakura watched as Hinata and Sasuke disappeared down the street, still making off-color jokes at each other's expense. She crossed her arms. She honestly didn't understand it. She hadn't seen either of them like that in years. Honestly, she was hard-pressed to remember Sasuke seriously laughing at a joke or Hinata being so rude.
"Sasuke seems to understand her." Naruto started. "He knew that she didn't like being pushed in. He noticed that she could take a joke. He saw more than we did."
Sakura had noticed that they seemed to know what would be more challenging for each other and compensate.
When she looked up, Naruto made a face like he was figuring something out. "What?" She asked.
"I guess when you can't do certain things, it's easier to see what others might struggle with, like meals." Naruto hummed.
Sakura nodded, but she felt like she was missing something.
Naruto put his hands into his pockets, looking at them in the distance with a faraway look in his eyes. He smiled at her.
She was definitely missing something.