So this is around the end of November. Let's say that a month has passed since the last chapter. Anyways, read on, and reviews are appreciated.
"Hinata."
The person in mention blinked.
"Hinata." The name was repeated by a calm and patient voice.
Hinata finally looked up, tearing her gaze away from the beautiful collage of autumn leaves pictured outside the window. She realized that Kurenai, the math teacher, was standing before her desk.
"Y-yes?" Hinata blushed, realizing the teacher must have called her name at least five times. Luckily the other students were too busy working on their math assignments to pay much attention to Hinata.
"Here's your test," Kurenai smiled, handing back the graded paper to Hinata. "Good job."
"Th-thank you." Hinata shyly smiled at the teacher, unused to getting praise from anyone. As the teacher walked away, Hinata glanced down at the test. 93, pretty good considering she had been too busy attending meetings to study much.
Then Hinata sighed, and resigned herself to looking out the window again. This scrap of good news was insignificant compared to the whole plate of problems she was facing.
She glanced out the corner of her eye at the Uchiha. At the same time, the said Uchiha looked up upon completion of his problem. Their eyes met, and both quickly looked away guiltily.
Hinata gave another sigh and began working on her math.
---
The bell rang, signaling the end of the school week, and the occupants of the classroom happily ran out, shouting and hollering in the hallways. But Hinata stayed behind in the classroom, slowly collecting her materials, and hardly even noticed that Sasuke was the last person in the leaving crowd and was watching her from the corner of his eyes.
Kurenai looked up from her desk, "Hinata?"
She snapped out of her reverie and blushed, "Ee, sorry." She got up from her chair and slipped her math books back into her bag.
Kurenai gave a small smile, "So, Hinata, how do you feel about your engagement?"
Hinata turned slightly red and was too embarrassed to meet her teacher's eyes. "I-I guess... it was really unexpected."
Kurenai straightened out the stack of homework piled on her desk and laughed, "I guess I have to say the same thing."
"Huh?" Hinata couldn't help but to blurt out in her confusion.
"Our friend Sasuke has always been a loner. This is the fourth year that I've taught him, so it's quite obvious he doesn't like to have people fawning over him. That's why it was so surprising that you, probably the only girl who isn't already madly in love with him, would become his fiancée."
"O-oh." Hinata was surprised by her teacher's vast insight.
"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll all work out in the end," Kurenai encouraged her student.
"Thank you," Hinata breathed, grateful to her teacher.
---
Hinata fidgeted nervously her seat, waiting for the limo to start moving again. But glancing at the cars that surrounded them from all sides, it was quite doubtful they would ever get out of this traffic jam.
She had been making tea, a favorite pastime that helped her to relax, when the phone had rang. At first she thought it was Neji, him being the only one that really called her, aside from Tenten, so she picked up the phone without bothering to glance at the caller id, which unfortunately for her did not show the name of one Hyuuga Neji.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Hinata." A light female voice resonated from the earpiece.
"Um, w-who is this?" Hinata asked, slightly puzzled as to why the voice seemed so familiar. It definitely wasn't Tenten, nor was it one of the girls from school. So who was it?
"Don't you remember me?" the voice chuckled. "It's Mikoto Uchiha."
"Mikoto-san?" Hinata asked, stunned for a moment. Then the dam burst. "Oh, I-I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to, I, um-"
"What are you taking about?" Mikoto laughed. "You don't have anything to be sorry for."
"But I-"
"No, it's alright, I'm all better now," Mikoto insisted. "Besides, I called to ask if you'll join us for dinner tonight. Your cousin was the one who organized this, but he asked me to call you."
And feeling extremely guilty and grateful for Mikoto's forgiveness, Hinata had agreed, knowing that by 'us' she included Sasuke. Which is why she was stuck in traffic instead of enjoying her peaceful Saturday morning. But then even if Mikoto hadn't been hurt, Hinata would still have felt obliged to agree, as was in her amiable nature.
---
Sasuke leaned on the pillar, bored and tired of waiting. How long had it been, thirty minutes already? "Mother, I thought the Hyuugas were very organized and came on time." He said bitingly.
His mother gave a slight cough, "Sasuke, Neji-san had some important business to settle..." She didn't say anymore, nor did Sasuke inquire further, for he saw how serious and tense she was at the moment.
Did it have to do with this 'business' Neji had to attend to... or... what?
Then he saw the sleek and black limo, gliding over to the entrance of the restaurant smoothly and stopping right before the large glass doors. The door opened and at first he gave it no heed, until he caught sight of whom it was delicately stepping out onto the pavement.
It was Hinata, dressed in a loose lavender dress. Her long midnight blue hair was pulled up and held by a plain white clip. As she looked around, studying her surroundings, her pale eyes met his, and she noticed that he was staring her. They both turned away, one openly blushing and the other trying to look indifferent.
Then out came Neji, dressed in his usual business suit. His hair, as thick and long as Hinata's, was tied back by a black hair band. For once he didn't seem to even notice Sasuke, a slightly distracted look on his face.
The two women paired up, with the three men trailing silently behind into the classy restaurant.
---
"Neji-san," Mikoto began, a curious look in her eyes. Throughout the entire meal, Mikoto had been the only one that had tried to initiate a conversation, though her efforts had been just but useless as she was surrounded by silent men, and Hinata, who was sitting next to her son, wouldn't talk out of shyness, and preferred to glance out the window of the private room Neji had reserved.
"Who's going to join us?" Mikoto continued, glancing at the empty seat between Neji and Hinata.
A worried look crossed over Neji's face, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. He pushed back his chair and stood up, glancing briefly at the door.
He paused for a moment, resting a hand on the elaborately carved table, and glanced at Hinata before speaking. "Seven years ago-" he started to say, but cut off as the doors creaked open.
"Excuse me if I'm interrupting," a woman apologized, stepping into the room. "But I've brought her as you asked me to, Hyuuga-san." The woman was rather busty, and from her clothing it could be deduced that she was a doctor. At first glance Hinata thought the woman was in her early twenties, but then recognized her as Tsunade, one of the best doctors Japan had to offer, and famous for being much older than she looked.
"Thank you Tsunade-san," Neji welcomed the woman. He walked over to greet her, leaving the rest of the room's occupants to stare after them curiously.
"Shizune." Tsunade beckoned to someone standing behind her.
A dark haired woman appeared, holding the hand of a small girl. The girl had long dark hair, falling in uneven waves, covering most of her face. The arm reaching out to clutch at Shizune's hand was amazingly skinny, and with a jolt Hinata realized the girl wasn't small, but rather undernourished.
"Hinata."
Hinata tore her gaze away from the girl and looked up to meet Neji's eyes. They seemed unusually troubled as he signaled for her to approach. Hinata pushed back her chair too and walked over, slightly bending down so that she could be face to face with the mysterious girl.
Just then, the girl looked up, and their eyes met. Both were eyes of palest lavender, but one looked frightened and the other surprised.
"Wh-who are you?" Hinata stammered, frantically searching her memory. Were there other people besides Hyuugas that possessed the unique 'Byakugan'?
"Hinata-sama," Neji rested a hand on her shoulder and met her inquiring eyes. "This is Hanabi."