Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, but people believe what they want so will that statement even stop your imaginations from running wild.

The pale lavender eyes staring up at Sasuke made one word come to mind.

Beautiful

Everything about them were beautiful. Their doe-like shape, how big and round they were (even larger now that they were filled with surprise). What captured his attention most was how the city lights made her eyes glimmer like opal gems, he just wanted to snap a photo so he can keep them forever.

As he scanned the rest of the body that was attached to his new favorite things another word came to mind.

Tiny

Whoever she was the top of her barely reached his shoulders and she had to crane her head back pretty far just to meet his gaze. She was definitely small and the porcelain color of her skin and contrasting dark indigo tinted hair made her look almost fragile, like a glass doll. 'Thankfully I stopped her from falling, who knows what could have happened', Sasuke thought to himself not wanting to find out if his glass doll theory was correct… at least not now.

A few uncomfortable seconds rolled by but the small woman in front of Sasuke was still wide-eyed and frozen with surprise. Sasuke sighed knowing he would have to be the one to break the silence.

"As much as I would love to stay frozen in time with you miss, I really want to get this night over with", Sasuke said breaking the woman from her trance making her face fill with crimson as she realized her surroundings.

"Oh my goodness I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, thank you", the woman blurted out and would have continued but Sasuke brushed passed her, ignoring the endless fountain of apologies and thanks and bounded up the stairs behind her.

Sasuke turned around to acknowledge his friend who was currently apologizing to the dark-haired girl for his rudeness making her turn an even darker red. "Are you coming idiot", he said to Naruto making the blonde send him a mean glare. Naruto apologized to the girl one more time then started up the stairs to join Sasuke. He noticed two blonde girls run down the stair to the women he just left behind immediately recognizing the long haired one as Sakura's friend Ino. The two girls shot him a look that could kill then started dramatically fussing over their friend to make sure she was okay.

Tsk, this going to be a long night.

He glanced at the small dark haired woman as they all ascended the stairs to the building together.

Long and interesting.

At first Sasuke started drinking to try to enjoy the night but after finishing his first bottle of sake it was obvious that he was trying to escape it. With every shot everything around him began to become more obnoxious. The goukon was held a popular Japanese barbeque near campus, after his first couple of drinks the sounds and smells of the place already started to annoy him. Then there was fact that the other two guys Naruto decided to invite were Shikamaru and Sai, the last two people Sasuke would ever invite out. He took two more shots for the fact that he had to suffer through their company. Every time he had to sit through Sakura's advances or ignore her meaningless small talk he would skip pouring himself another glass and just drink whatever liquor was left in the bottle (hence why he was on his second). After a couple more drinks the room began to blur reducing everyone laugh and talking around him to nameless faceless figures of color. Everyone except one small quiet girl with pale lavender eyes sitting across from him. His drunken gaze focused in on her watching her as she giggled in response to the other faceless blobs around her. Honestly she hadn't done or said much the entire tonight. She wasn't loud or talkative like some of the others, she was meek and quiet doing very little to warrant attention.

Then why through my hazed vision was she the only thing that was crystal clear

Was merely existing all she needed to draw his focus? 'Maybe I do need to get out more if I'm making a big deal out of this girl', Sasuke thought to himself while he poured himself another shot forcing himself to move his focus from a beautiful pair of pearly eyes. Maybe this glass would be enough to blur her out like the rest.

~X~

Hinata was putting every ounce of focus into having a good time but no matter the effort she still couldn't help but feel like background noise to the rest of everyone else's enjoyment. Currently Ino was grilling her childhood friend Shikamaru on how he should come around more often and how he and Temari would make the cutest couple (she was always the match-maker). Then Sai made a blunt comment on Ino's poor match-making skills reminding her of the time she set Shikamaru up with a flute player from a rival school which ended in disaster sending almost everyone at the table in a fit of hysterical laughter. Hinata tried to giggle along but it felt forced and out of place so she eventually abandoning the effort. She stared down at her glass of water wondering if she should opt for sake instead like the other hoping it would loosen her up. Unfortunately the last bottle at the table was in the process of being finished off by Sasuke who she had been trying to avoid eye contact with the entire night. Mostly because of the embarrassing scene outside the restaurant earlier and also because he had adopted a bad habit of glaring at her from across the table. Every time she look up there he was staring intensely at her with his dark onyx eyes like looking at her made him angry. To avoid his gaze Hinata decided to distract herself with her cellphone (maybe she could study her electronic flash cards until the night was over). She dug her phone from her purse and pressed the button on the side to wake the screen. Surprisingly she was greeted by three missed calls all labeled 'Father' and one text message from her little sister Hinabi that read: "oowww you're in trouble".

Damn.

Hinata quickly shot up from her seat and walked toward the front entrance. Temari gave her a concerned looked as she was headed out to make everything was okay and Hinata mouthed the words 'Father' to her as she exited the restaurant. As she stepped outside to the chilly fall air she quickly reminded herself to never again listen to Ino when she said she didn't need a jacket. She took a few deep breaths to prepare herself then hit the call button on her phone to dial her dad.

"Hinata where are you", Hiashi started as soon as he answered the phone, "part of your moving out deal was that you come home for weekends."

"Father I'm out with my friends tonight. I'll be home first thing in the morning I promise", Hinata said hoping her father would be somewhat reasonable for once.

"No daughter of mine will be out in the streets all hours of the night doing Lord knows what. What kind of example would you set for your sister if I let you behave like that? I won't have you out there disrespecting the Hyuga name."

"But it's just one night and I'm not doing anything wrong besides I'm 22–

"Get home Hinata or should I send someone for you", Hiashi cut Hinata off reluctant to hear what his daughter had to say. The stern tone in his voice was all too familiar, when he got to this point there was almost no talking him down. Hinata stayed quiet knowing that nothing she could say would make a difference, the least she could do was not give him the satisfaction of having her verbally agree. "Alright I'll have a car waiting in front of your apartment in an hour, be in it", with that Hiashi ended the call leaving Hinata no room to protest. Anger bubbled in the pit of her stomach as she bit back tears. She felt weak, powerless and defeated and hated herself for it. Throwing her head back she looked up at the dark night sky trying to find a single star bright enough to shine through the bright glare of the city lights. Feeling too defeated fight back anymore her eyes slowly began to fill with tears, keeping her eye firmly on the sky above she let one tear escape its watery well and travel gently along her cheek. Suddenly a light flashed in her direction startling her back to reality. Hinata moved her focus from the sky to the man with dark hair and dark eyes to match holding a small digital camera struggling to stand.

"Why did you… move", Sasuke said while struggling to keep his balance. His words were a slight slur as he struggled to keep his composer. "C-come on do that- that again." He took a couple clumsy steps towards her then nearly tripping over his own drunken gait. Hinata hurried over to him to help his stay upright.

"Oh how to tables turn", he said as Hinata braced his balance.

"Sasuke I don't know what you're doing but I don't have time for this, you have to go back to the others so I can go", she said struggling to keep Sasuke on his feet.

"So you d-don't have a problem…talking when you trying to obey o-orders", Sasuke slurred. "Go a-ahead run home before midnight princess." The statement took Hinata by surprise. Frustration mixed with anger turned in her gut.

"You have no right to speak to me like that, you know nothing about me", she barked back. Using every ounce of strength she could manage she pushed him onto to his unsteady feet again and turned to walk away. Sasuke grabbed her by the wrist and spun her back in his direction. For a second he held her there keeping his pitch-black eyes firmly on hers, neither one of their gazes wavered.

"Prove me wrong, come with me", Sasuke said calm and steady with no trace of alcohol in his words. Without any okay from Hinata he pulled away from her friends at restaurant, away from her responsibility to her Father and back towards the city's streets as they melted back into to the crowd to an unknown destination.

Authors Note: Wow this chapter took a lot out of me. I hope its longer and more fulfilling then the last. I really didn't focus to much on the others at the 'goukon' or group date because that's not the direction I was trying to go with the chapter honestly it was a means to an end and that end was starting the delicate process of weaving Sasuke and Hinata into each other's lives. I promise you'll hear more from the other characters soon. I would also like to thank everyone for their kind words and I hopefully I continue to better my writing so this story won't disappoint. Thanks again for reading and see you soon.