"I'll be gone for two days next week," said Neji, squinting his eyes at Hinata. "Inuzuka and Aburame, too. You'll be alone."
Her cousin and the rest of the basketball team would go to Suna High and perform their exhibition game. Two of her friends would be coming, as they were also a part of the team. Sighs of understanding was all she could offer.
"I know," Hinata said, nodding lightly with a small smile. "And Suna High will be here tomorrow."
"I won't be there for you," her cousin continued. The boy took a deep sigh before looking back at Hinata, dejected. "You can come, right?"
Of course, Hinata could. It was not mandatory for every student to come for the exhibition games of different sports, only those who are a part of the medical organization, the cheering squad, and of course, the campus journalists were given the chance. Most of the time, students from different clubs are selected by the school heads themselves, so it was always an honor.
As for Hinata, she was not the type of person who would just go ahead and grab opportunities such as this one. Usually, she would think of these invitations multiple times, then she would consult to her father who rarely said no. Her cousin, Neji, was another thing.
"Yes, nii-san," Hinata said with a small nod, clutching her books to her chest tightly. "But it's fine. I don't want to."
It was not the first time Neji asked her to come with the games, and it will not certainly be the last. There would be follow-up games after. Before, Hinata knew that even if she had the privilege to come with the sport teams, she would not because there were other willing journalists. Now that their staff was smaller than the past, she knew the possibility of needing to come with the teams. But now that she had the chance to refuse, she did.
After all, Hinata was never a fan of tight spaces and crowded places.
"Again, Hinata," said Neji. "I won't be here. Why don't you just buy your phone? By then, we'll know you're safe."
Neji already knew the answer to that question. Every time he would ask, she would have a variety of answers. All of them were true as she would never lie unless necessary.
"I am safe here," she said with a small smile, almost letting out a small fit of giggles. Her cousin only meant well, and she understood his paranoia. "I promise I'd go directly to the gates after my classes. I'll give Ko-san my schedule."
"You're right," muttered her cousin with a sigh. Although it sounded like he was thinking of the contrary, Neji was kind enough to even crack a small bit of smile. Still looking unconvinced, Neji squinted his lavender eyes at Hinata. "I trust you well enough, in case you are wondering."
"Oh, I know," confirmed Hinata with a smile.
"Okay but," Neji started, biting his lower lip. Pulling thick locks of his hair, he continued, "Buy yourself a phone, you can use my money for all I care. Even buy yourself a new set of headphones because the gods know how damaged yours is. Just find yourself something that we could guarantee your safety."
"Neji-nii, you know I don't want to buy a phone," said Hinata, her lips curling. "Besides, too much exposure on gadgets can be bad for me."
"It's just a myth." The brunette shrugged, still looking as frustrated as ever. He put his long hair into a neat ponytail before looking at Hinata back again. "Where will you go now?"
Sometimes she wondered how Neji could effortlessly put his hair into a neat style because she could not do that to her own hair. That was the reason why she always kept her hair down. Well, her hair did help when she needed to hide from something. But then, she might be the only one in their school with the midnight blue hair.
"The journ office?" she said, more to herself than to her cousin once she finally realized Neji asked something.
"Do you want me to walk you there?" asked Neji, raising his brow at her.
"It's fine," said Hinata with a small smile before walking away.
As she walked, Hinata clutched the books she was holding to her chest. The academy was once again in its busy week, knowing that several sports team will be busy since it is already the sport season. As for journalists, they will be occupied, too, since it was that 'time' of the year again wherein they need to write multiple articles in one sitting to get their jobs done.
Hinata could only sigh since everyone was busy. Too busy. It does not help with the fact that the journalism club only had a few members this year. Most of their members had already graduated, the newly added ones were only there because they needed to, and then there were those who are just incompetent.
Still on her way to the eastern side of the academy, Hinata felt like she was running out of breath. It was definitely hot, and their uniform made it hard to breathe. Her skirt was longer than most girls, but it was still short enough for her. Their orange school blazer only contributed to the heat. Their undershirts were also thick in cloth. While it was good to know that the seamstresses put an effort in the uniforms and their money was not wasted on poor cloth, it was still hot.
Hinata did not like it, but not to the point that she hated it. Hate was such a strong word. She could never use it on anything, nor at anyone.
While she wanted to remove her blazer, the books in her hands made it hard. Again, she could only sigh. Maybe if she agreed on Neji taking her to their office, it would not be this hard.
"Hinata-chan!" someone from behind her suddenly said, making her jump.
Her heart started beating wildly, but it was not enough for her to pass out. She needed to thank her angels for that. Hinata was clumsy but thank goodness she did not drop her books. Clumsily, she reached for the bottle in her bag, but she could not, so she just stopped.
Just breathe, she told herself.
"W-wh-what is it?" she uttered out, turning around. Then she saw a flash of familiar blond hair and another boy with raven hair. Her cheeks felt warm as she could not think straight, knowing that both of the famous basketball players were there. "Oh, Naruto-kun."
Acknowledging the blond was one thing, and as much she wanted to acknowledge the Uchiha with him, Hinata did not. A few days ago, Sunday, the raven-haired boy did not even talk to her nor do anything remotely close to noticing her. Not that she needed attention, but didn't he show signs of motives that one Saturday night? Indeed, he just messed up with her mind.
No wonder why the dark-haired basketball player is popular among the girls.
"Hinata-chan!" greeted Naruto again. Although they were already looking at each other, his voice made her jump again. "This is Sasuke, the bastard. The one you asked about!"
Her eyes widened. No. Why was Naruto telling this to both Sasuke and her? Was the blond really that oblivious with awkward shots?
"I r-really d-didn't ask," she tried to lie, but ended up grimacing with the bad results.
"Oh sure 'ya did!" Naruto pressed, making her eyes widen more. "Remember? You asked me if he was dating someone!"
Hinata's eyes widened more. How could he say that out loud?
It was not her intention to ask about the Uchiha's relationship and make it seem like she was interested. She just asked out of curiosity if the dark-haired boy was telling the truth. And it was not just Sasuke she asked about. In fact, she did ask about Nara Shikamaru's state, too, since the boy only wrote one or two words per question. Either way, Hinata would still write what Sasuke had told her.
"B-but. . ." Hinata started, her lips trembling. "I d-did, b-but n-not b-bec-because —"
"You don't have to explain yourself," the Uchiha muttered, bored eyes staring back at her.
As quick as possible, Hinata averted her eyes. After all, Hinata did promise herself she would not stutter around the Uchiha. Yikes. That one Saturday night that did so much to her.
"Th-thanks," she said, clearing her throat. Hoping that it would do help, she asked Naruto, "What c-can I do for you?"
"Erm, uh," started the blond, scratching the back of his head. "Nothing, really. We just saw you passing by, so yeah. Sorry to bother you."
"It's fine, I was just on my way to the newsette of-fice."
There was almost complete assurance in her voice if it were not for the small hiccup at the end. Yet, she tried not to stutter around the Uchiha since he claimed that he liked her stutter. Even if it is one of his flirtatious ways, she would not take the bait. Uchiha Sasuke was a sneaky boy, after all.
"The newsette office? That is what you call the school's newspaper room?" asked Naruto curiously, his eyes widening excitedly. "I haven't been there! Are we allowed to go?"
The blond's voice was too loud for her own liking. Every single time he raised his voice, her heart would skip a beat. Yet, even if this was the case, Hinata found it adorable. The boy himself was adorable.
"Course," she said with a small smile, her eyes lingering to her books in her hands before looking back at Naruto. Shyly, she asked, "Do you want to — maybe — come?"
"Sure! Let's go, bastard!" said Naruto. At this, her eyes widened.
Is he talking to me? She thought, eyes still as wide as they were.
"Don't call her a bastard," said the Uchiha with a widening smirk. He started to walk towards her. If it was still possible, her eyes widened more when she felt like he was coming for her. But before she could react, the raven-haired boy said, "Give them to me."
"What?" she thought out loud, eyes still wide. Blinking, her eyes went back to its normal shape.
"Your books."
His eyes were dark and almost intimidating.
"It's f-fine," Hinata said, trying her best not to stutter but had failed miserably at.
Turning her body away from him, she felt something stop her feet. She did not even look down to see what it was. The Uchiha's shoes stopped her feet from turning around. If she had forced herself to do so, she might have fallen. Thank goodness she had some sense.
"It's pretty much necessary as people around here always have a lot to say," said Sasuke, almost as blank as his eyes.
It was clear that he was toying with her. Hinata was never the type to go on full revenge nor do something humiliating to others, so she did not think of anything that would drag him down. Instead, Hinata just set it on her mind that she would not mind anything. If something happens, she will just go with the flow. After all, it would be best if she just went with it.
"Do you care. . ." Hinata started, trembling slightly. It was her best way to stray away from whatever Sasuke was about to do. "About what oth-other people might say?"
"I do," admitted the Uchiha with such nonchalance that almost blew her away.
Naruto, who seemed like he still had not registered whatever that has happened, looked at them both with knitted eyebrows. Through the Hyuuga's peripheral, she could see the bright haired boy's reaction. It was enough to make her smile, even just a little bit.
"Oh, but our newsette isn't much," the blue haired girl said, looking back at the blond who still had the same confused expression he wore. When he finally got some sense, Hinata continued, "Not even as grand as your locker rooms."
"You just haven't seen how dirty it is, is all," said Naruto with a casual tone before smiling brightly. "So can we go?"
"I did insist, didn't I?" Hinata asked softly, more to herself than to her company. Turning back at Naruto and promptly giving Sasuke a glance, she cleared her throat and said, "You can come."
On their way to the office, Hinata was comfortable with the fact that none of the boys pestered her. Not that it was a normal occurrence for her to be bothered by boys, but it just felt different than being with Kiba nor Shino. Whilst both parties had their commonalities and she had always been comfortable with Kiba and Shino, with the Uchiha and Naruto, Hinata felt warmest.
"Oh, this is it. . ." the blond said, eyes blankly staring at a small distance. His blue eyes roamed the room in a quick motion before he looked at Hinata and Sasuke back and forth. "Pretty cool!"
Hinata was taken aback at how Naruto said those words. It was like he did not mean it, but he really did. At this, she gave him a warm smile. It was not every day their office gets complimented by someone.
She walked over to their air-conditioning and turned it on. Normally, she would have removed her school blazer, but since she had company, she figured she wouldn't.
"It is," said Sasuke suddenly, making Hinata jump a little.
Hinata did not want to look at him, even if there was a part of her that wanted to see his reaction. Fortunately, there was a mirror, a little bit far from where they were, but her eyesight was clear. That was when she noticed.
The Uchiha had his dark eyes roaming around the room with much interest. His lips were slightly parted, but still had the slight curl upwards. When he licked his lips, Hinata let out a hiccup. Immediately averting her eyes from the mirror before Sasuke could catch her staring, Hinata started walking.
That was a wee bit close.
No more lingers, Hinata warned herself.
"Oh, no one's here," muttered Hinata, almost a little bit disappointed. It was always her alone in the journalism office. She was practically carrying the whole club. That worried her up to no end. "I guess it'll b-be just us."
"Stutters," Hinata heard Sasuke's whispering voice.
"What's this?" asked Naruto, eyes on the globe in front of him. There was visible wonder in his eyes, and Hinata could not help but smile at how his eyes showed signs of piqued interest. He stuck his finger and touched the top of it. "It's so cool!"
"It's an Armillary sphere," said Sasuke before Hinata could do so.
Hinata's eyes widened. Not many people knew of what the object is. Most of the time, the visitors and supervisors who would come to their office would just look at the sphere. Some would ask what it is – just like what Naruto did – but most of them did not know. Hinata was, for the most part, impressed.
"And how would you know that?" asked Naruto, raising a brow before looking back at the sphere in front of him. If Hinata was being asked, she, too, was very much curious.
It was not every day someone know of the mysterious thing displayed in their office. If anything, Hinata was impressed with Sasuke. Had there been someone who knew of what it is before? Hinata could not even remember a time. First impressions never last, and even if Hinata never really admitted to herself that her impression of the Uchiha was a lowkey flirt, what he was showing now was far than that. It was almost as if he did not mind her.
She did not know if it was a good thing or not.
"There's a sign, idiot," muttered Sasuke, pointing at the small placard displayed just a few millimeters away from the astrolabe.
Hinata did not even notice the sign even if she had to go to the same office six times a week. Letting out a small fit of giggles at her own bizarre moment, Hinata immediately put her sleeve before her lips. It was a habit of hers whenever she needed to suppress her laughs, giggles, and even her smiles sometimes. It would be best if she would not offend anyone. Small actions can be offensive.
At this, the raven-haired boy looked at her. Turning to look at him briefly, Hinata could still not understand why the Uchiha rarely showed emotions. His face was as blank their whiteboard that her father had donated. Even Neji and Shino showed more emotions. All the Uchiha did – ever since they had met which was just around three days ago – was smirk and put the blankest expression Hinata had ever seen.
"Sorry, Naruto-kun," mumbled Hinata after composing herself, pertaining to the fact that she found the blond funny.
"Huh?" asked Naruto. "What did you do?"
"Nothing," it was Sasuke who answered for Hinata's behalf. While it was not the answer Hinata was going to say, it was better that way. Knowing herself, she would just probably stutter. Turning to look at Hinata, Sasuke asked, "Whose astrolabe is this?"
"It's been here as long as I c-can remember," answered Hinata, looking away as she was refusing to meet his eyes. Clearing her throat as she did not want to stutter more, Hinata pursed her lips. It was a few seconds before she spoke again, "We do not know much of this, actually."
"Who would know how to read it unless you're a full-on nerd," said Sasuke with a shrug.
"But you do know what it's called," pointed out Naruto. He whistled and smiled at his friend before looking at Hinata. Pointing Sasuke with his thumb, Naruto continued, "That's saying something."
"There was a sign," retorted Sasuke. He blew some of his bangs, making Hinata giggle as she found it adorable. At this, Sasuke turned to look at her with a small smirk. She did not bother to avert her eyes now. Looking back at the Uzumaki, Sasuke's smirk grew wider. "Not my fault if you did not see it."
"Saw it, didn't bother to read it, 'cause 'ya know? Pointless and all." The blond shrugged, still looking at the globe in front of hm. The Uzumaki was mesmerized with the golden vintage. "Still, bastard, how'd you know it's an astrolabe when the label only says Armillary sphere? Nerd."
"N-not a good insult," mumbled Hinata.
"Ah sorry," Naruto mumbled, sounding sincere. Hinata did not want him to feel that way so she only gave him a small apologetic smile. It was enough.
"That's what you get when you actually study," said Sasuke, pertaining to knowing what the object was.
"Like you study anyway," mumbled the blond with a scoff.
"Oh, and you do?"
"But do you?"
"I do," said the Uchiha, smirking even just a little bit.
Somehow, the little argument they had just stopped because of that. The only girl in the room was thankful for the exchange of retorts from the boys. Taking the silence as an opportunity, Hinata turned to look at the boys and smiled when their eyes met hers.
"So uhm," Hinata started, biting her lip out of anticipation. "I'll be working on something if y-you don't mind."
Shutting her eyes tightly, Hinata reminded herself that she should not stutter around the Uchiha. After that one moment back just two days ago, Hinata swore to herself she'd stop breaking her words into syllables especially when she was with the Uchiha. Still, she did not think of him badly. In fact, Hinata adored Sasuke.
She adored him with all the right reasons.
"You can just stay here for a while if you've got nowhere to go," said Hinata with invitation. Walking over to her desk, she started booting her computer on to work on some of their files. Looking over Naruto and Sasuke from her monitor, she said, "I'll be just right here."
"Sure sure," replied the blond, looking at the pasted words in their bulletin board. "Hey, Hinata-chan. What's this?"
Looking up from her monitor, Hinata's eyes met with Sasuke's first before she met eyes with Naruto. Frankly speaking, she did not expect to lock eyes with the Uchiha, but what was done was done. As soon as she saw Naruto pointing at the typewriter, she smiled warmly. How could he not know a typewriter?
"A typewriter, Naruto-kun," she answered sweetly. Raising her brows when the boy started clicking on the keyboard, she continued, "Have you never seen one?"
For a split second, she saw the Uchiha raise his eyebrow at her.
"Oh, I have," answered the boy. "It just seemed. . .I dunno, strange? Is it still usable?"
"Of course, it is." Giving the boy a small shrug, Hinata continued, "But we do not use it, never did. You could try it if you want to. It just gets a little complex at times."
"Nah, nah," Naruto said, brushing her off. He motioned for Sasuke to come, and that was the cue for Hinata to stop looking, but she still would hear what they were talking about. "Look, bastard. It's a picture of Kurenai-sensei."
"Makes sense, 'cause loser," the Uchiha started, his voice still sounding unfamiliar to Hinata's ears. "She's the school paper adviser."
"She is? I thought she's just an English teacher."
"That's because that's her major, you idiot," muttered his friend, almost making Hinata giggle if it weren't for the insult. "Look there, you could see a drawing of Kakashi."
"It doesn't look anything like coach," Naruto murmured. "His hair is all over the place."
"It's a caricature, you dumb blond," Sasuke said with much irritation. At this, Hinata tried her best not to giggle because of the insult. Although her eyes were on the monitor, she was listening to the boys. "What? You dunno what a caricature is?"
"How would I?" asked Uzumaki. "It's not like it's a word you would hear every day."
"Hn," agreed the dark-haired boy, nodding as Hinata could see the spikes of his hair appear in her vision which was only focused on the screen. Then the Uchiha said, "Look at what we have here."
Curiously, Hinata took a small peak at the boys before looking back at her computer monitor. Her eyed widened, but she chose to just encode her other works for the literary page. A little bit nervous, Hinata bit her lip. They were going to read that.
Just to cheer herself up, Hinata told herself that the copies would probably be finalized in just a few days. The boys would read it, either way. There was no point of stopping them now. Now that both Naruto and the Uchiha already got their hands on the copies that were by the one of the desks of the proofreaders, she could not just yell no.
"Oh, it's our interview!" cheered the blond with a bright smile. "Hey, Hinata-chan!"
"H-huh?" she asked, refusing to meet their eyes. It would be best if she just had her eyes on the monitor to refrain herself from stuttering more. After swallowing the lump in her throat, she asked, "What is it?"
"D'ya mind if we read this?" Naruto asked. Even through her peripheral, she could see his bright smile. "You bastard!" gasped the Uzumaki, making her look. "Sasuke's already reading it!"
"Oh," Hinata managed to say.
Her eyes met with his when he lifted his face away from the paper he was holding. Not even one bit of emotion crossed his features. But Hinata could read auras — Sasuke's was definitely not negative. In fact, it felt comfortable.
So instead of forbidding them to read, Hinata shyly gave a nod to encourage both the boys in reading her half-edited article.
Putting her attention back to her monitor, Hinata tried her best not to give a glance to the boys in the room. They still had their eyes on the paper as if it carried every secret there is.
"Why's your paragraph longer than mine?!"
"I'm more interesting."
"So, an emotionless bastard is now more interesting?!"
Hinata let out a small giggle at that. She even had to use the power of her sleeve to suppress her laughter. It was just amazing how the blond and the dark-haired lad were far different from each other yet still seems to be very close.
Now Naruto's question crossed her mind: why was Uchiha Sasuke's paragraph lengthier than most when she was almost pretty sure he lacked descriptions?
A lot has happened last week, Sasuke could barely recall everything. Mind you, his memory was rather good.
First, he met Hinata again because of Naruto — that damn gorgeous girl who caught his eye. The memory was not all throughout good. Sasuke accidentally showed the geeky side of him. Now now, he loved reading and all that, so he knew what an astrolabe is and even knew how it functioned. Was it a turn off for the Hyuuga girl?
Besides that, Sasuke also happened to know that Hinata wrote about them. His heartbeat raced when Naruto pointed out that the written piece about him was longer than their teammates. Even longer than the journalist's own cousin.
Ha! Take that, Neji-bastard.
Then their game with Suna High. The foreign group was good — as expected. It went well because Konoha won. It was only a practice game, so it was nothing to reminisce about. Not worth remembering since Naruto left him all alone in the cafeteria just to be with the Gaara-guy. Naruto and Gaara had met in their rookie years and were rivals at first — just like Naruto and him, Sasuke supposed — but instantly became friends after that. Still, Naruto was being insensitive. Yet, Sasuke could still blame himself for not pointing it out.
However, the highlight of the game was when the whole gymnasium quieted down because one of the chosen students from Suna High shouted, "Who's that guy in a ponytail?!"
It was not a big deal, but Shikamaru lost the ball because of the blonde girl from the crowd. In the end, they were being 'shipped' together. Sasuke know nothing of the term, he just heard some people say it.
"Oh, come on Shika, do tell," teased the cheerleading captain, even nudging their teammate in the slightest.
Was Ina her name? It didn't matter. Her and Shikamaru seemed pretty close though, not that it was his business anymore but it's not his fault he notices small things.
Sucks that he didn't get to notice Hinata earlier though.
He had been missing out.
"It's not every day Shikamaru gets hit on," Choji continued, making the cheerleader burst into a fit of giggles. "Way to go, Shikamaru. The girl looks really into you."
"Such a drag," Shikamaru said with a small huff, making almost everyone in the team laugh.
"No but seriously, she's jaw-dropping," Kiba commented, earning a nod from Choji. "Shino, don't you think?"
"Blondes aren't my type," answered Shino inexpressively.
"Definitely Shikamaru's though," Choji teased. "Didn't you like Ino-chan when we were younger?"
"I didn't," muttered Shikamaru boredly.
"He totally did," Ino countered, giggling with Choji and the others.
"Self-proclaimed," the Nara muttered again, making everyone in the gymnasium laugh, including the cheerleader as if she was not the one being pressed by Shikamaru.
"Oh Ino-chan! It's a delight you're here with us today!" cheered Lee who just entered the gymnasium. "Such a wonderful and youthful presence!"
"Awwe! You're sweet." The cheer captain looked touched, but not a brush of blush was in her face so Sasuke just rolled his eyes and had his eyes on his phone. "I hear you like forehead girl, wanna hit her up?"
"Oh Ino-chan and here I thought we were friends," whined Naruto after the game in his phone ended, not even letting Lee speak.
"Since when?" retorted the blond.
If Sasuke did not know them, he would probably guess that they were distant cousins. Both loud mouthed. Blond hair, though the girl's was platinum while Naruto's hair was vibrant. Blue pools too, although Naruto's was much much blue whilst the girl's was too light, even giving the illusion that she doesn't have pupils.
"That's how it is, huh?" asked Naruto with a pout. "It's not like we weren't stuck in the same locker when that Temari girl was hitting on Shikamaru."
Sasuke had to blanch hard. Stuck in the same locker, his arse. Such a move cannot be counted as an accident.
"Oh, so Temari was her name," said Choji and Ino synchronously. "Jinx."
"Isn't it?" asked his blond friend.
"How would we know?" asked Choji. "You know her brother."
"Yep, Temari it is," confirmed the Uzumaki with a small fox-like grin. "Oh, and Gaara? Gaara's my best pal. His play last week was so good."
"Kankuro. . ." mumbled Shikamaru, making everyone in their team look at him. Putting his fingers by his chin, Sasuke immediately knew that he was thinking. The boy in ponytail looked at everyone and said, "He's a good strategist, the Kankuro guy. He controls everyone in the game."
"The one with paint in his face?" asked Neji who came out of nowhere. Sasuke did not even notice their captain. "What else?"
"Not much," Shikamaru replied, shrugging. "It's almost a one-man team. Two men team, I should say."
"They play well against us," commented the Hyuuga. Crossing his arms, he continued, "But you're right, they're a two men team. Without the one with paints in his face, they do not function well. Without the redhead, they're doomed."
"Don't underestimate Suna," said Nara. "They may have some sort of secret weapon in the next game. It's only a practice game. There's more to come."
"Patronizing the enemy, are we?" the blonde remarked with a wide smirk. Changing expressions, she said, "Why? Because Tomari comes to every game because of her brothers?"
"It's Temari."
"Oh, but Gaara-kun is so cute, too!" cheered Ino, never minding Shikamaru's correction.
"I'll set you guys up!" cheered Naruto with a bright enthusiastic smile. "Gaara's single, ya know?"
"No thanks," the cheer captain said quickly. Before Ino could look at Sasuke, he averted his eyes. Wouldn't want to give Ino the wrong idea. "I've got someone in mind. But hey! You know what? You could totally set Shikamaru up with Temari!"
"Oh gosh, you're right Ino-chan!"
"I always am!"
"Yamanaka," called Neji. "You have better things to do. Everyone around here is busy. You have your team. I have mine."
"Fine," said Ino with exasperation. Changing her expression, the blond grabbed her bag and ran straight to the door. Waving her hand goodbye, she shouted, "See 'ya later Shika! Choji!"
Not a few seconds had passed since the cheer captain left when Kakashi entered the gymnasium. His bored eyes hovered over to their team which only made Sasuke roll his eyes. Their coach was late. . .again.
He could almost hear himself say, "In a parallel universe, maybe he isn't always late."
"Good afternoon, afternoon," greeted Kakashi boredly, walking towards them with his hands on his pockets. "Nice to see all of you in here. Perfectly present."
"We've been here for what feels like eternity!" shouted Naruto which only made Kakashi tilt his head in amusement.
And there Sasuke was, a phone in his hand while watching his team exchange a couple of retorts and quips. It was a funny sight, but he was never going to admit that out loud.
"We are already familiar with the way Suna plays," started their coach after their exchange of rhetorical questions and comebacks. The masked man cleared his throat and turned to Shikamaru. As if he was with them all along, Kakashi said, "And I hear someone here caught an eye of a certain lass from Suna. Care to tell us about it, Shikamaru?"
"Troublesome," the Nara muttered, making all of them laugh hysterically.
Shino and Neji who barely show any emotion joined their fit. Even Sasuke had to keep himself from cackling.
"Jokes aside." Their coach took a deep breath. "We might've won the practice game, but it does not guarantee us an easy way in. Don't let your arrogance eat you. You know better than that."
"The Gaara boy wasn't even that scary," said Kiba, squaring his shoulders.
"Questions so far?" asked Kakashi, dropping himself off to a vacant seat.
"Nothing out of the ordinary, but coach, wasn't Suna the one who suggested the exhibition game would take place in their area?" asked Choji. Without having a reply, he continued, "Do you think it's got something to do with home court type of tactic?"
"Possibly," said Kakashi. He lightly shrugged his shoulders before saying, "But it's unlikely. Again, it's just an exhibition game so you needn't worry."
"Still, I think it's unfair," said Akimichi.
"Life is unfair," quipped Kakashi with his all-too famous eye smile. "Moving on, any questions?"
"If life is unfair for everyone, does that make life fair?" asked Naruto with his fingers in his chin, making the whole team groan. The boy seemed oblivious with what he has done so Sasuke had to knee his bottom. "Ouch! What was that for? Seriously bastard, I'm starting to think you have a thing for butts."
"Naruto, no more questions such as that. Do us a favor," Kakashi said boredly, looking at his blond player with blank eyes. "So, as I was saying —"
"What did I do?" asked Naruto with a disbelieving voice. His brows were furrowed in a pitying way that Sasuke could laugh at any time now. Though he had to keep his cool. Naruto turned to look at him with the same disbelief in his face, "Whaaat?"
Nara boy even had to massage his temples out of frustration. Kiba slapped his own face as if he was in a stupid dream. Their good-for-nothing captain looked bemused as usual. The rest was history. Thankfully, Rock was too busy taking down notes in his overdesigned notebook to even say something such as a youthful question.
Sasuke only rolled his eyes and crossed his hands as Kakashi started talking once more. It would be pointless to hear something he won't be a part of, but he has nothing else to do so he just listened.
"You already know of Gaara of Suna High," their coach said. "I believe he's your friend, Naruto."
"Yep! When they said it was impossible to be friends with someone like him, I did it!" said the blond proudly, his fox-like grin widening. He put his chin in between his fingers again and asked, "Which made me think, if nothing is impossible, does it mean that there is a possibility for something to be impossible?"
"You're making my brain hurt," said Kiba, massaging his temples in an overreacting manner.
"What a drag," said the Nara, looking down as usual.
"Stop speaking for a while, Uzumaki," said Neji, giving his blond friend a threatening glare. "We're in the middle of a meeting."
"Sure thing!" the energetic blond shouted, earning grunts from their teammates.
Sasuke listened, but not at all. The words seemed like they were just floating in his head and vanishing right after. It was just Kakashi anyway.
"Now hand your permission slips over," the silver haired coach said boredly, his sleepy eyes drifting towards the ceiling as if he was tired. But yes, it was tiresome.
The whole lot of the team went on their way and handed their waivers to Kakashi. Sasuke stood still at where he initially stood, unmoving. He had his hands crossed while looking at their basketball team wobble over.
"We only got seven, whose permission slip's missing again?" groaned the coach as if he was tired of the same scenario. "Was it you again, Naruto?"
"Pft! Not me, coach!" said Naruto. "That was one-time last year! Never gonna make the same mistake twice. Maybe it's Kiba! He did try to copy his mother's signature last year!"
"It isn't me either," said Kiba defensively. Sasuke only rolled his eyes as another wage of shouts is starting. "Hey and guess what, stupid, she did want me to come! She just forgot to sign the waiver! And I've gotten my slip signed, so boo on you."
"Who signed your slip then?"
"My sister!"
"Is that even counted?"
"Yes, it is! You're just an idiot, is all."
Their shouts echoed the gymnasium. Yes, Sasuke did find it amusing, but he needed to stop this.
"It's me," said Sasuke, admittedly, even raising his hand as if he committed a foul. It was just out of habit. Before anyone could ask, he continued, "I don't have anyone to sign mine. No guardians nor parents at home."
"Forgive me for asking," started Kakashi. Now that the coach used something so formal, the Uchiha straight off realized their teacher was serious. "Fugaku-san isn't home? And so, is your mother?"
"It's just me. They won't be home 'til next month," he replied, refusing to meet Naruto's eyes. He knew the blond would show another one of his pitying looks. After all, Naruto was the only one who understood. "If I could, I would've asked the maids or a close relative."
"I see." The coach nodded with understanding. Kakashi gave a small shrug before saying, "It's just an exhibition game, but you know you could've done something about it if you really want to, don't you?"
The answer was simple: yes. He could have if he really wanted to. It was easy to fax everything out. Aside from that, he could also ask one of the maids to get the slip signed if he really wanted to. Yet for some reasons, he did not. Sasuke did not want to stay and get left behind, but it would be just trouble if he asked for his parent's agreement.
"They already know what I'm capable of," mumbled Sasuke with a soft smirk. "Suna, I mean."
"Yes, yes they do," said Kakashi. He turned to look at the rest of the team before saying, "Unless you don't want to improve. I've said it countless of times before and I'll say it again: you need to improve your teamwork."
The emphasis on the word teamwork did not go unnoticed. Sasuke could just roll his eyes. When his father became an international player representing the Fire Country, Fugaku would tell stories about one-man teams and how those manage to beat their team. Still, Sasuke believed in teamwork; it was just impossible with them at times.
Choji and Shikamaru work well for some reasons. Not only was Shikamaru the point guard, but also the strategist while Choji was always on offense. The bond between Shino and Kiba was good, too, knowing that Inuzuka was brash while Aburame was calm and collected. The same goes for Neji and Rock Lee. As much as Sasuke did not want to stay in his team's level, it was true that Sasuke and Naruto work well, especially when they're communicating.
"Then it can't be helped," mumbled their coach. "Well then. But make sure, Sasuke, that you'll be joining the follow-up games after the exhibition game."
"Sure."
"Last week's game was alright," started Kakashi once more. "And I commend everyone for it. You've heard the speech before, so instead of moping around, pack your things and remember that we'd take off at 3 o'clock in the morning. No tardiness exempted."
"Coming from coach, eh?" joked Naruto, making Sasuke flinch a little.
After the meeting was adjourned, their team even played a bit before heading outside. While everyone was leaving, Sasuke was by the committee table, arranging the borrowed seats into their proper places. Naruto had already gone home — that traitor who also happened to be a loser.
He was simultaneously clicking his tongue as he felt annoyed by his own sound and the fact that Naruto left him. . .again. It would not be bad if the blond told him that he'd head home sooner, but he did not. Instead, the Uzumaki just left. Stupid.
When he picked up his bag, Sasuke had his furrowed eyebrows as he was the one to secure the whole gymnasium by himself again. He had to make sure that the electronics were unplugged, the lights were off, and everything was right into place. Screw Kakashi for arriving late but leaving early.
He was the coach for goodness' sake.
Just as he was heading towards the door, someone called him.
"Uchiha."
It was Neji. That damn Hyuuga.
If it was Hinata who called him, he might have smirked, but since it's their always-glaring-captain, Sasuke could gag himself to death. Now now, the Uchiha had to stay calm. If he would not miss the next game for the game in Suna, he would not have stopped walking and head straight towards the door. Still, he had some shame, so he decided to stop.
"What?" he asked, turning around to meet the Hyuuga's glare. If the conversation would be about Hinata and his 'moves' on his cousin, Sasuke would definitely leave. He would never admit he was trying to stray away from fights, but that was the case. He was not like his brother. "I'm bored so speak."
"I have a favor to ask of you," the Hyuuga said, eyes still glaring as if he weren't asking for something. The long-haired man cleared his throat before saying, "It's about my cousin, Hinata. . ."
"What about her?" Sasuke asked quickly, almost too quick and it cut Neji's words off.
Neji squinted his eyes at him, but Sasuke did not move for his own sake. He was not scared of their captain but backing down would not mean anything. It would not scratch his pride nor destroy his image, so he just went on with it.
"I'll be gone for two days starting the day after tomorrow," said Neji after a while, and it was obvious he was still contemplating on his own decisions. "And you will stay."
"Right. I will."
Just as soon as he said those words, the Hyuuga in front of him looked devastated but was still proudly standing. It was his image, even Sasuke could not blame him. Their cocky captain asking for a favor? That was all throughout surprising, but not impossible. Still. . .stupid reputation shit.
"And," their captain cleared his throat.
As soon as his watch reached 8:00, Sasuke blew his bangs away from his nose. It had been quite a few minutes since their captain stopped talking. The conjunction Hyuuga-boy ended up with only annoyed Sasuke. Was this all staged for a suspenseful act? Screw the dramatic Hyuuga and his stupid dramatic effects.
"C'mon now, Hyuuga, we haven't got all day," muttered Sasuke, trying to press on his annoyance towards the man. Knowing Neji still would not talk, he continued, "I gotta go home as early as you do."
"Fine," Neji spat, his eyes twitching. "IwantyoutowatchoverherwhileIamgone."
"What?" asked Sasuke, overly annoyed. The bastard spoke too fast and Sasuke could not help but throw an amused look. "Repeat that. I didn't catch one bit of it."
Of course, he did, but Sasuke was never going to admit that. There was satisfaction, and damn, it felt good.
"I said. . ." the Hyuuga started again, visibly trying his best to conceal his emotions and still look proud. It was a funny sight, but it was no laughing manner. "I said. . .I want you to watch over her, over Hinata, while I am gone."
If Sasuke could write that down in a verbatim way, he could put one period at every word's end. Neji spoke it with too much emphasis which almost made Sasuke laugh his heart out — but of course he would not do that, that's too ridiculous for someone like him. Instead of laughing, Sasuke thought of a plan.
Good plan, indeed.
"I barely even know your cousin," said Sasuke with much nonchalance, he could even praise himself as an award-winning actor for such a job well done. Inwardly, the Uchiha was wearing the best smirk he could ever come up with.
"I know," Neji grumbled. "But you're the only one who could stay that I could tr. . ."
"Trust?" continued Sasuke, his smirk widening. It was not every day he got to see Neji flustered. This would indeed be one of the moments he would come back to whenever he felt anxious. Just to press the Hyuuga more, the Uchiha continued, "I'm touched."
"Yes," said Neji. At this, Sasuke lost his smirk. So, it was true. "I do trust you, so watch over her while I am gone."
"She does not know me, Hyuuga," said Sasuke. "Even if she does, she would not trust me. Are you telling me I should do this from afar? Can't. No guarantee. Aside from not wanting to be declared as a stalker, I don't have a care in this world once I am away from anyone. Loser won't be there, so there is no one who would make me remember. Unless your cousin is close."
"Wh-what?" asked Neji, stuttering. So, the stutter is a family thing? Eh, never mind. "What are you suggesting?"
"Nothing," he mumbled. Gods, if he only knew the Hyuuga was this stupid. . . After clearing his throat, he continued, "I'm just saying that I wouldn't care if I forget."
"Fine!" yelled the man in front of him. "I'll text you daily dose of reminders!"
"I don't look at my phone much," lied Sasuke.
"Damn, fine, bastard, stupid son of a—"
"Language, Neji," warned Sasuke, his smirk flaring once again. Ah it was nice to push their captain to the edge. Indeed, it was nice. "Any more scheme?"
"Fine!" grumbled the Hyuuga, now obviously annoyed but still taking Sasuke's words in mind. That was good. He was easy to manipulate. Good. "I'll have my cousin's schedule and send them to you later."
"And?" asked Sasuke, hoping there was more to that.
"And I'll tell her about leaving her to you," continued Neji, still sounding irked, only much worse. "Just don't do anything stupid."
"Do I look like the kind of guy that would do stupid things?"
Sasuke forgot the following conversation after that. Something that was much important was up. And it frenzied him up to no end.
Two days that Sasuke would get a chance to be with Hyuuga Hinata? That damn gorgeous girl? With a smirk on his face, Sasuke sighed, looking at the moon from the gym window.
"Ah, the moon is too beautiful," he muttered, even letting out a small snicker.
Now what would Hinata do whenever she wanted to suppress her giggles? He asked himself with the same smirk that never faded. Ah right, cover her lips with her sleeves.
That was what Sasuke did.
"The fuck are you doing?" asked Neji who was suddenly behind him.
"Language, you dick."
