A month had passed. Autumn was coming, a scene depicted by falling leaves and couples walking together in hushed whispers. Hinata drew her long fingers through her hair which almost reached her shoulders now. She pulled her school jacket closer about her and walked quickly home, hoping to finish her homework before dropping by the bar at 10 to start her night shift.
"Hinata."
She stopped walking, and turned to the voice behind her. "Hanabi?"
"Ne-chan." An introspective glance was cast at her. "You've lost weight." The younger girl stated, her hands folded neatly over the handle of her bag in front of her. She had sounded like she was talking about the weather.
"Sou. Well, it isn't exactly really easy living on your own, you know." She tried to chuckle, but it came out in a choke, and she cleared her throat embarrassedly.
"Mother has been asking about you. What should I tell her?"
Hinata gave her a long contemplative look, and all was silent for a moment. She had no idea what to say, and thought it best to leave it alone. Turning her back on her sister, she continued walking, and wondered about the consequence idly at the back of her mind. She had moved out to stop having to answer to her family and this happened to be a very good place to start, she reckoned.
Hanabi watched her sister's hunched back straighten a tad, and thought of the flowers in their garden that were dying without Hinata's care. To her, Hinata was just like those dying plants, she would wither away slowly and it would be no one else's but her own fault. "Ne-chan. You haven't changed a bit." She turned around and headed towards the opposite direction.
Hinata opened the door to her apartment and slipped off her shoes, muttering a 'tadaima' as she stepped into the cold empty room. Flicking the lights on, she fumbled with the remote for the television for some background noise, and went to the refrigerator for a glass of milk.
As she settled down in front of the television with the glass in one hand and the remote in the other, the phone rang. The girl scrambled for the phone, and uttered a breathless hello.
"Is this Hyuuga-san?" a mild voice came from the other side.
"Yes. Can I help you?"
"Oh. Well, you know the spare bedroom in the unit? Um, I've found someone to rent the extra room from me, and I was wondering if it would be okay if she moved in later this week?" her landlady asked, and Hinata nodded her head, affirming her answer on the receiver. "That's wonderful. Have a great evening, dear. I'll see you soon!" Click. The line went dead.
Sliding the phone back into its cradle, Hinata chewed on her lip, wondering how her new flatmate would be like. Hopefully, she'll be as mild mannered as herself and wouldn't pose too much trouble. She looked around the house, and found it too messy for her liking. Hmm. It wouldn't do to ruin the first impression would it? After all, that was what counted the most in any situation.
Glancing at the clock, Hinata figured that she would do it another day, as she had to get dinner ready and then prepare herself for work. A few hours later, she was standing behind the bar counter, a sleek shiny black marbled counter littered with cocktail and beer glasses, as well as ashtrays which were emptied ever so often.
Her trainer was a fellow student at her high school, and she was glad that it was someone that she was sort of familiar with, instead of a stranger. At least she could open her mouth and ask questions without choking on her own saliva.
"Ano, Sasuke?" the boy with eyes that looked like they have been dipped in ink looked at her with an expectant expression. She had been told to drop all formalities the first time she had called him Sasuke-kun, and with those eyes that could kill you with a glare, she obeyed without any argument. "What was the recipe for a Bloody Mary again?"
He sighed, and tilted his spiky head down, looking at the bottles on the rack before picking up vodka and pouring it into the cocktail shaker. Going to the fridge, he took out a can of tomato juice which went into the shaker, followed by some Tabasco, then scooped some ice into it before securing it shut with its cap and shaking it a few times; popping the heel of his hand against the shaker expertly, twisting the cap open and then pouring the red liquid into a glass.
"What's the garnish for Bloody Mary?" he asked Hinata, who had them already ready at hand.
"Celery sticks. Plus pepper, and Worcestershire sauce." She replied, sticking the green vegetable into the side of the glass, topping the drink with drops of said sauce and a dash of pepper. Hinata grinned at him. "Thanks." she grabbed the glass and placed it in front of the customer a few seats away, handing him his change a few moments later.
"I've got an order for a screw against the wall. Go make that." Her trainer told her moments later, while he busied with other drinkers vying for his attention.
Hinata worked silently and efficiently, and before she knew it, the crowd dwindled and she flicked her wrist to look at the time. An hour to closing. From what she knew, this bar was really popular back in the late 90's, but ever since the Hyuuga family had set up newer chains of bars and chillout lounges in the area, business had died somewhat but picked up again around the middle of last year.
"It's our live band that keeps people frequenting this bar." Sasuke had told her, and she nodded, understanding why. Their band was really good; they played all sorts of music, ranging from jazz to hip hop and dance. Often, the staff made dedications and song requests to make their shifts more enjoyable. Friends would pop by to visit them too, making the atmosphere a nice and comfortable one.
"You wouldn't believe the people that come here to drink," the spiky headed boy told her later while they were cleaning up the bar. He had loosened his collar after the lights were turned on, and the top three buttons were undone as Hinata looked up curiously at him, balancing the water laden bar mat precariously as she inched her way towards the sink.
"Why? Are they alcoholics or something?" she drained the bar mat and waited for his answer.
Sasuke looked at her peculiarly, and she blushed for having said something stupid. "Bars aren't complete without alcoholics. I don't mean them; I'm talking about our marketing teacher, Gai-sensei."
Hinata's jaw dropped open slightly. "He drinks?"
"Well, that's a stupid question since I've just said he came here but yeah. He drinks. And he often brings his favourite student here. Lee, I think his name was."
"Isn't he in the Science class?"
"Yeah. I think Gai-sensei teaches maths too. Anyway, since Lee cannot drink, and I mean cannot, I end up having to help Gai-sensei get him back home, which is really unfortunate 'cos I've got a car and he lives right next to me."
"Sasuke, you aren't working because you have to, are you?" Hinata clamped her mouth shut and berated herself mentally for prodding into his business. She sneaked a look at the temperamental boy to find his mouth twisted in a frown.
"It's none of your business." He snapped, and Hinata left it at that. The once cheery air that surrounded them now seemed to turn frigid, and the girl finished her cleaning duties as quick as she can, setting the mop aside and then plopping down on the highly modern stool in front of the bar, flipping open the stocktaking book and checking the bottles that needed to be replenished.
"Don't forget Pimms No.1. We've just ran out of it today." Sasuke spoke for the first time in an hour, and Hinata managed to crack a relieved grin.
"Okay."
Sasuke moved to sit beside her, fishing out a pack of Salem's as he stuck one in the corner of his lips, lighting it up with a flashy lighter. He stuck the packet in front of her face, offering her one which she declined with a shake of her head. He kept it back into his pants pocket. "You'll learn how to smoke sooner or later, working in this kind of environment," he mumbled, the cigarette obstructing his speech.
Hinata narrowed her eyebrows, which was saying a lot for the normally timid girl. "I will not." She told him, turning away from the boy.
"We'll see." Was his reply as he snatched the stock book from her and flipped through the pages. The girl couldn't be bothered to take it back from him and sat there, stifling a yawn with the back of her hand. Black eyes flicked at her for a second. "Tired?" Hinata gave another yawn in response.
"If I hadn't quit the martial arts team, I would have been even worse." She said, leaning her head against her outstretched arm, eyes fluttering.
"Fine. I'll leave this for tomorrow when the Boss comes in in the morning," he said, pushing the book and papers away from him and stood.
Hinata looked at him blearily, sleep clouding her eyes. "Mmmf? We going already?" she sat up and breathed deeply. "Yeah. We'd better go now. I've got school tomorrow."
"Me too, baka." Sasuke told her.
"I'm not stupid."
"Wanna bet?"
"I am not." Hinata felt drunk. Drunk from sleep, that is.
"Whatever, baka. Let's go." He grabbed the swaying girl by the elbow and dragged her to the front door, closing it behind them and locking it with a huge set of keys.
"Wow. That's a lot of keys."
"Do you talk this much when you're tired?"
"Do I?"
"Nevermind. I prefer you quiet."
"I'm stupid when I'm quiet." Came the soft voice, and Sasuke chose to ignore it. They walked briskly towards the carpark a few blocks away, and he keyed the ignition as they tore out of the building moments later.
A week later...
"Hinata-channnn!" she turned around to see the boy-of-boundless-energy waving at her frantically. She stopped and waited for Naruto to catch up, before marching towards their first class of the day: finance.
For once, she had hoped not to storm out of class as she realised that she was seriously lagging behind. Half of what she read in her textbook did not make sense to her, and to make matters worse, there was a mid semester exam next week, which counted for a third of the overall mark. She needed the brain power of someone really smart really soon.
As if on cue to her prayers, Neji strode in with a bevy of giggling girls behind him, earning irritated looks from the boys in her class. Neji was the genius of the class. Always one to score the top mark, he was both humble and helpful towards the rest of the students, offering tuition whenever he can. All this on top of being president of the martial arts club. Everyone would have loved to hate him, but they couldn't. Not when he was protected by a wall of charisma.
There was another genius in their class however, and Hinata turned around to look at Sasuke, who was currently sleeping on his desk, arms sprawled across the table, their fingers dangling at the sides. Before taking up her job, she had never noticed Sasuke, preferring to keep to herself and notice only those immediately around her, namely Naruto.
Speaking of the blonde, he was arguing over her assignment on the table with none other than Kiba, the lazy bum.
"Naruto-kun," she started, causing both of them to stop and look at her. "Let him have the assignment. It's not like I have been skipping classes and scribbling nonsense on it anyway." She shrugged, and saw Kiba hesitate copying from her paper from the corner of her eye.
She grinned inwardly, and figured subtlety is good. She continued, "If sensei saw another person having the same 'type' of answers, maybe he'll think that it isn't so wrong after all. Then I probably won't fail next week's exam!" she faked happiness.
Kiba inched away from Naruto and herself, mumbling something about doing a good deed by leaving Hinata alone for once to bug someone else. Naruto blinked owlishly at Kiba, who was on another girl's back in a flash, begging for answers.
"Hey. I keep forgetting to ask you about those dark circles under your eyes. You okay?" blue eyes were fixed upon her in concern as she nodded her head, giving one of her little smiles.
"Yeah. I got home late last night from work."
"Again? Isn't there another job with better hours and pay?"
"Those not under the Hyuuga Corp? No, I don't think so." Hinata replied, shrugging. "Anyway, it's quite fun. I get to learn a lot about other people."
"If you say so..." he trailed off, and Hinata looked curiously up at him. "You're bleeding." He said, and fumbled for a piece of tissue.
The only tissue he had was crumpled and she didn't dare take it. Who knew where it had been. Turning around, she dug around her bag while her nose dripped all over her skirt, and pulled out a packet. She held it against her nose and tried to calm Naruto down, but the boy's gone panicky at the sight of blood and began making wild gestures, gaining the attention of those around her.
"Tilt your head back, it's supposed to stop the blood flow," one of the students suggested, and Hinata blushed, wondering why hadn't she thought of that earlier.
"Do you want to go to the infirmary? I'll take you," another one offered, and Hinata felt oddly touched by their actions. And here she was thinking that the class had only wanted to tease and belittle her, and hated herself for acting the victim all the time.
"It's alright. I'll be fine after a while." The truth is she did not want to miss any more finance classes and Iruka-sensei came in right after she finished her sentence with a cheery grin.
"Ah, Hyuuga-san. How nice it is not to bump into you at the door for once!" he paused, noticing the red stained tissue which was now turning brown in her hand. "Are? You're bleeding?"
"I-I'm fine! Please, continue with class." Hinata piped up, then ducked her head.
"Sasuke-kun!" he boomed, and there was a rattle as the dark haired boy jumped from his seat. "If you'd kindly join us in the world of the living... Great. Now that I have everyone's attention, I've got an announcement to make."
As everyone hushed, Iruka-sensei continued, "I have realised that most of you haven't been handing in your assignments as of late and well, I do know that this particular topic is quite... hard to grasp, so I've decided to give you guys a break and cancel next week's mid semester exam." A collective cheer was heard and the smiling man raised a hand to quieten them down. "In place of the exam, however, you'll be doing a project that will last through the rest of the semester.
"I'll pair you lot up, and in that pair, you're supposed to come up with the week's lesson based on the topic given. This will hopefully put you in each other's wavelength so you might understand the topic better. You may see me after class to ask questions. Anyway, let's get down to business." And he went on stating the pairs that he had assigned, and Hinata had Naruto as her partner.
Hinata heaved a sigh of relief, and grinned at Naruto, who returned it with as much enthusiasm. In the corner of her mind, she noted that Neji had gotten the sassy Mia, who was well known for her rebelliousness in school. Sasuke had Hiroe, who was an ordinary girl with good grades, who also happened to be his girlfriend; a tidbit that Hinata had found out from a very drunk Lee who was babbling non stop about his crush, a certain pink haired girl named Sakura, and how lucky Sasuke was to have someone whom he loved and already loved him.
School was over by the time she knew it, and it was time to head down to the supermarket for work. She dragged her bicycle from its place, listening to Naruto's plan about how they should go about doing the project.
"Okay. I've got to rush. See you later." She climbed on the bike and pedalled away.
She grabbed her head as it throbbed, the other hand steadying the bag of groceries she had gotten after work. Pushing the keys into the doorknob, she twisted it and opened the door, momentarily having forgotten that she had a new roommate who had moved in a couple of days ago.
"Tadaima," she said to no-one in particular, not expecting a reply.
"Okaerinasai!" Came a chirpy voice, and she looked up to see a pretty girl with large dark eyes staring back at her. "Oh! Let me help you with that!" she came and took the bags out of her hands, putting them on the kitchen counter. The girl had a traditional Chinese hairstyle, two buns atop of her head, reminding her of a character from a game that she had played many, many years ago.
"T-Ten-ten." She stuttered, not knowing what else to say.
"Yes?"
"Uh. I had nearly forgotten you were staying here." She gave a sheepish smile.
"Don't worry about that. I'm sure in a few weeks time this place wouldn't seem right without me." Ten-ten grinned, as the microwave beeped behind her. "Oh! I've made dinner enough for the three of us." She told her, running to the microwave to get her dish out.
"Three of us?" Hinata's heart skipped a beat. Visitors? No way...
"Yup. You wouldn't mind if my boyfriend came over, would you?" Ten-ten bit her lip, looking really hopeful.
"Uh... I guess not..."
The doorbell rang. "That's great! I think that's him at the door," she winked at Hinata who looked like she'd just been swept by the whirlwind.
The door opened and Hinata busied herself with the groceries on the table, not wanting to greet Ten's boyfriend with a great big smile. She could hear them exchanging hugs and kisses at the door, and both of them stepped in, with Ten-ten's voice gradually getting louder as she neared the kitchen, and she was talking about her new flatmate, who was the 'sweetest girl ever'.
Hinata flushed a little, she hadn't really been around the house long enough(because of her schedule) for Ten-ten to have a proper impression of her. Taking out some juice from the fridge, she decided to pour 3 glasses of it and carried it in one hand out to the adjoining living room.
"Hello." Hinata greeted, and her stomach churned as she realised the guy had waist long hair.
He turned around, and the girl nearly dropped the glasses she was holding as the person turned out to be none other than Neji.
"Neji-niisan!"