A/N: Wow….talk about a long wait….sheesh! I'm sure you don't want to hear excuses….and I hope people are still reading this fanfic….if not, that's okay! nods Alright….so we ended with Hinata's 18th Birthday….and then I just kinda stopped writing….hmmm…..ponders

Well, I used the suggestion Random person included in her review…..all those many months ago lol

Oi, I seriously have some ideas though!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!

Gentle Glow

Hinata's Point of View

The warm March sun beat down on us. It was nice, considering that the breeze still felt like a winter chill. Lying on my back, I looked up at the bare branches that poked over the stone wall of the Aburame compound. From my point of view, it looked very beautiful. Beyond the branches, I could see some of the clouds blotting the blue sky like strokes from a paintbrush.

Blinking my eyes a few times, I could feel my eyes water a bit. The brightness was a bit too much, especially looking straight up at the sky. I turned my head a bit to the side to look over at Shino, who sat facing me. I had the feeling he had been looking at me, but when I actually looked he was busy going through his own bento box.

"Are you looking forward to working at the Academy?" he asked suddenly.

I held up my hand to block the sunlight from my eyes. "Well…" I trailed off, not knowing what I really felt about it.

Shino looked up from his food towards me, perhaps stirred by my reluctance to continue. I loved how he cared for me, it made me feel good. He probably wanted me to continue, but I just turned so that I was lying on my stomach. I was feeling blinded by the light, and still saw those annoying purple dots and lines. Closing my eyes, the orbs of phantom light still haunted my vision.

I could feel Shino moving to sit next to me. Opening my eyes, I discovered Shino laying next me, looking up at the sky. A smile came to my face. All I could think was, those sunglasses must be hand, after all.

"It's not the work I'm worried about," I continued on.

"…But the people you'll be working with," Shino finished what I was getting at. I had never meant to say that, exactly, but Shino always had this way of knowing what was bothering me.

There was silence. Not quite certain what to say, because I did not want to give the wrong impression. I was positive he knew who else would be working every now and then at the Academy, and that left only one person who I would be uncomfortable to work with.

"Yes," I said, then buried my head into the crook of my elbow. I could feel my face getting warm. I only hoped that Shino did not notice. Why am I blushing! It's not like Shino can read your thoughts...but if he could, what he do? This is so stupid…he wouldn't care if you were kind of unsettled to be working with Sasuke. Not that you will be working with him…plus, why would you want to?

Thoughts kept racing through my mind. I did not like it when I got paranoid like this, as if I were committing a crime just by thinking about Uchiha Sasuke. It's not right. You're with Shino, I lectured myself.

"Hinata?"

I perked my head up, a bit embarrassed, and praying that Shino had not been talking to me for too long. "Y-y-yes?" I stammered. My face heated up again, just hearing myself stutter.

"Is this about Uchiha-san?"

I could have died. I buried my face into the blanket we were lying on, and folded my arms in front of me, making sure that he could not see my face.

"I-I-I'm so s-sorry, Shino," I suddenly said, but was certain all he could hear was a muffled sound. I had no clue why I had said that, maybe I convinced myself that he could read my thoughts, after all, who could not, was the real question.

I peeked up over my jacket sleeve at him. He had a half-smile on his face, with his brow cocked, probably not sure what to make of this. I did not like guessing what people were thinking, it was better if they just came straight out and said what they wanted to. "About what?" he asked.

My lip quivered a bit, just as I was about to continue my explanation. I was caught off guard, I assumed he would get concerned…or something. Propping myself up on my elbows, I looked at him in disbelief. "A-about…de-…ah-…" I was speechless. All that managed to come out was a few mumbles, or incomplete words. I stopped myself, and tried to calm my nerves. Shino seemed calm and cool, and yet, here I was, getting worked up about…nothing?

The amusement that was initially on his face was gone, and now he was just looking at me, perhaps trying to make out what I was attempting to tell him. Shino was really one of the few people I could truly confide in. All those years, I have wanted to spill out what I was thinking, but just at that moment, I wanted to block everybody out, including him.

"Is it because what happened at your birthday?" My thoughts searched for what exactly he was talking about, and then it hit me. Remembering back to that day, when he left me standing there. I did not mean to be so withdrawn that day, I appreciated that they went through the trouble of organizing it for me. It showed that they really cared. I just wish that if people did not want to come, they did not have to against their own will. "You don't need to worry, Hinata. Sasuke's like that to everybody."

Glancing over to meet Shino's gaze, I pointed out. "That is true…" I rather admired that he was trying to put this into perspective. Secretly, I was so glad that he did not assume I liked Uchiha Sasuke. Besides, Shino was not one to tease.

"You have to understand where it is he came from. It's was shaped him, and just accepting him like that should make it less of burden to handle."

I smiled. "Thank you for understanding, Shino," I hugged him. He held me for awhile, and we sat there, and he told me about a mission he had to go on. It was getting late in the afternoon, and I decided it was about time to get home. Besides, I had my training to get to, and Shino had to go to another briefing for another mission he would have to do. We were Chuunin, but Shino and some of my other well-talented peers, were sometimes put into other teams to complete further missions. Our team had our own missions as well, but sometimes there skills were needed for certain missions.

As I walked home, I spotted Uchiha Sasuke. Immediately, I had the urge to run and hide. I would have too, but then I heard someone addressing me.

"Excuse me?" the quiet voice came again.

I stopped, and turned to see an elderly lady, struggling with trying to set up some folding tables. I could not understand why she would be setting up this late in the afternoon. Usually, you saw shop keepers out bright and early setting up there business.

"Can you help me?" I noticed that the tape she was using got stuck together, and she likely had difficulties finding the end.

"Oh," I immediately, went to take the tape from her. "Here, I can get that undone for you." After a few frustrating picks at the tape, I got it.

Meanwhile, she was trying to unfold the legs of one of the tables. "I got it," I told her, not sure if she noticed that I fixed her tape.

"Hinata?"

The sound of the voice was familiar, and I knew Sasuke had spotted me. Trying my best to act surprised, I turned around. I did not need to act, in fact, I was surprised. "Oh, Sasuke," I said with a small smile.

"I didn't know you worked here," he said, as he looked past me to the old lady.

"Oh…I don't," I confessed, "I was just helping."

"Looks like she's having trouble, do you think you should help her?"

Following his gaze, I looked back to the see that the old lady was still having difficulties with the stubborn table leg. Hurrying to her side, I helped her. She turned to see Sasuke standing not too far behind us.

"Oh, you brought a friend!" She exclaimed, "Could you two just quickly tape these up." She handed Sasuke a few decorations. It made me wonder why she just didn't use nails to get them up, since it would hold better. I watched as she started explaining to him where they go, and I finished setting up the last of the three tables.

Soon, Sasuke was on a tiny ladder, trying to pin up the decorations. "My nephew is busy today, and I found it very hard to get set up," she began to explain to us, as I handed Sasuke pieces of tape. "And what help we do have, we have to cook, right?"

I nodded in agreement. She continued to talk, taking a few moments every now and then, instructing Sasuke where the stringed decorations go. At last we were done. Sasuke was going to put the ladder back in, when suddenly the old lady stopped him. "Well, that one side could be a bit higher," she began to say, "You wouldn't mind just going up to fix would you?"

I thought Sasuke would look annoyed, but he was not. He just came back out with the ladder, and asked which side needed fixing. It was one of those moments, when something just 'clicks' inside of you. Shino's words came back to, and it was as if I could hear him saying that more understanding is needed. I certainly did not want to be ignorant, and I felt disappointed with myself that I would assume Sasuke to be a total jerk.

Sasuke pulled off the line, and I caught it before could drop. He had pulled at least half of it back down. I was struggling with getting the tape unstuck. It wrapped around itself, and I did not want to put it up like that, it would look to messy.

"You got it?" Sasuke asked, looking down at me from the ladder.

I bit my lower lip as I tried to pull the tape off, only succeeding in getting it more stuck and bunched together. "No," I grunted, as I pulled hard enough not to break the string itself. "The tape's stuck."

Climbing down the ladder, Sasuke stood in front of me, looking at the mess I had made of the tape and string. I handed it to him, and he pulled on it. Looking up from the tape, I met his scarlet eyes. "What did you do?" he asked as he struggled to get it off, and not wanting to break the decorations nor string. That was the major concern. He pulled it off, and in my hand I held the other balls of bunched up tape.

"You got it!" I smiled, and wanted to laugh. We must have looked funny; I tried to imagine how we might have looked.

"Here," he held up the tape he got off the string. I sort of cringed, because I thought he would throw it at me. "You don't want it?" With that, he stuffed it in his pocket, not wanting to leave it lying on the ground, I assumed.

At last, the decorations were up to the elderly woman's satisfaction. She gave us little treats as thanks. He never did complain, even as we walked together for a few blocks. Once again I felt ashamed that I would think he would gripe about wasting his training time helping some old lady. We parted ways, and never spoke too much during our short walk. After he left, I found myself smiling, for what reasons, I could only guess at. There was more to Uchiha Sasuke, and I always knew that.

I only wish that I knew more about him. Today, I found out that he is not as bad as some people say. I wondered who really knew him.

I wish I could get to know you better, Uchiha-san.

A/N: Okay, so that was more Hinata/Shino than Hinata/Sasuke, but as I was writing this, more ideas came to mind. Plus, I'm working on another fic…yes, I'm expecting it to be good too crosses fingers okay, well review…good or bad, it doesn't matter. I want to hear how I can improve, and you can help grins

Thanks for reading!