So I lied. I couldn't hold out on this, especially since I had it uploaded already. I figured I might as well let you all have it. I've spoiled you all thus far but I won't be doing it anymore! This is just to make up for the year that I've been absent lol. I won't be uploading chapters 4 and 5 until next week though. I'm going to do my best to actually stick to that. Oh! And my birthday is friday if anyone cares to bake me a cake or some cookies! lol. Anyway, no one reads this part so I'll stop here. Chapter Three:

Cover My Eyes

by, Rampantt

Chapter Three : Strangers

Hinata arrived home around seven thirty that night, pushing open the door to the Hyuuga mansion. She was greeted by the diamond chandelier in the foyer that sparkled over her, drowning the hall in light. She closed the door behind her and removed her blazer, storing it in the closet to her right. Her heels clanked against the marbled floors as she entered the kitchen, walking around the island and opening the fridge to peer at it's contents.

Dinner had been at six o clock, as it had always been for as long as she could remember. On the first shelf were the remaining leftovers stored into tiny containers. At further inspection, Hinata concluded that the family had Western cuisine that night. She opened one of the containers and with her fingers fished out a sliced potato, popping it into her mouth.

"You know father doesn't like that," a voice sounded, startling her.

Hinata turned and found Hanabi standing in the archway, watching her eat. The heiress smiled guiltily and nodded her head at her sister. "Sorry, just wanted to taste it," she said, packing it back into the fridge.

"Mm. Where were you?" Hanabi asked.

Hinata poured herself a glance of water then leaned against the island. "I went to lunch with Sakura," she answered, leaving out the part about being at Naruto's apartment, alone, until now.

"Lunch?"

The eldest Hyuuga nodded her head briefly before sipping at her water. Hanabi could easily tell when people were lying to her, which often made her a good judge of character. It was hard to put anything past her. The way Hinata looked at it, she was lying to her sister, she had been in fact with Sakura for lunch. What she did after that wasn't anyone's business.

"I see," Hinata said, dropping the subject. She knew her sister wasn't telling her everything and that was fine. Hinata always ended up telling her anyway so it wasn't necessary to pry. "Anyway. Father was looking for you at dinner. Neji was here."

Hinata swallowed past the lump that had lodged itself in her throat. Neji had been coming around more and more in the past few weeks and it was starting worry her. Her father was in his late fifties now, nowhere near ready for retirement but still, Neji being there so often made her uncomfortable. "Why didn't he call me?"

Hanabi shrugged her shoulders once. "I don't know. He asked over dinner if any of us had heard from you since you hadn't been home since this morning."

Hinata nodded her head, taking a sip from her water. That was like her father. When they were younger it had been mandatory for them to join the family for dinner but after a while that rule slowly faded away. Hinata suspected that it was after Neji moved out her father began to lighten up. However, he still expected to see them around dinner, he simply didn't make it an issue if they weren't present. Part of her wondered if he had something to tell them since Neji had been there and he was looking for her.

"I'd go look for him if I were you," Hanabi said, disrupting her thoughts.

Hinata nodded her head and downed the rest of the water. "Thank you," she said, washing out her glass and placing it back in the cupboard.

The eldest sister left the kitchen then, in search of their father. She found the west wing of the mansion, traveling it's halls until she came upon her father's office. Lightly, she tapped at the mahogany door, waiting for a response. Her father's voice sounded from the opposite side and pushed at it, letting herself in.

It had been a while since she been in her father's office and for a moment, she barely recognized it. The walls were a deep chestnut, making the room feel warm but professional. The wall to her left was framed by a bookcase that stretched from floor to ceiling. She remembered when her father had the carpet installed, he had been very peculiar about which color and fabric he chose, in the end, he had picked well, flawlessly matching the carpet to the walls with a slightly darker shade.

"Father."

Hyuuga Hiashi was a stoic man. For as long as Hinata could remember, her father only had three expressions: the one he wore now, an angry one, and the one he wore when her mother died. That was it. For the most part, her father rarely ever looked any different. It took a lot to anger her father to the point of him visibly showing it and he only looked forlorn the day her mother died but never again after that. Hinata had spent a great deal of her childhood afraid of her father and trying her best to master the same stoic expression he wore, the very one Neji wore.

"Come in and sit," he said to her, sparing her a glance from his computer screen.

Hiashi had been sitting at his desk, going over the documents one of his partners had emailed to him when his daughter knocked on his door. He had expected her. He knew his youngest daughter would inform her when she arrived home. Glancing at the time on his screen, he noted that it was nearing eight.

When she was seated, Hiashi turned away from his screen to face her. She was still, he noted, as she always had been around him, even from the time she was a mere toddler. She looked to him with eyes that matched his own, pale and pupil-less. However, that wasn't the only similarity there. The two of them shared a silent bond, one that never spoke of, but there it was in her eyes, that loneliness that only he knew of. Hiashi's heart clenched for his daughter.

After her mother's death Hiashi had wondered countless times if he should remarry for her sake. Hinata needed a mother. It would do her know good to have only her father, a father who was hardly home enough, to look to. With a woman in the house he could be certain that there would be someone to tend to his child and love her as only a mother could. However, all his thinking was just that, thoughts. He had never bothered with marriage again after his wife's death and part of him regretted it now. He wondered how different his daughters would be had he not been so selfish. Would they be happier?

"How was school today, Hinata?" he asked her casually.

"It was fine, Father," she answered in as few words as possible.

Hiashi nodded his head. "Good."

Hinata did her best not to fiddle with her hands as anxiety settled in her. Her father hated that. She hated that. To keep herself calm, she thought of Naruto, vaguely remembering the conversation they had had when she went to visit him that evening.

"I wanted to talk to you and Neji," he started, watching as his child nodded in understanding. "It has come to me that in my old age, I should start working on my will."

Hinata's eyes widened only slightly. Her father's will had never occurred to her. Knowing that he had yet to draft one was somewhat comforting, that meant that he didn't necessarily plan to leave Neji the company. Not yet, anyway.

"I plan on leaving this house to you; you are my eldest and thus I am entrusting you to keep our home within our family when you marry," he told her simply. "As for your sister, I'll be giving her the house on the river side."

That was fine, Hinata supposed. She knew Hanabi liked that home best. It didn't matter to her really but she supposed she was grateful, this house had meant a lot to her mother. Unlike Hanabi, Hinata would never sell it, even if she didn't live in it.

"I plan to have my wealth distributed between yourself, your sister and your cousin – I think of Neji as if he were my son, you know this, and so it is only right in my mind that I assure that he be taken care of in the event of my death," Hiashi said to her.

Hinata nodded her head once more. She could understand that. After her uncle died Neji had become apart of her immediate family. He lived here his entire life after his father's death and only recently moved out. Neji was more like her brother in some ways as well. It didn't seem farfetched that he be included in her father's will.

"Now for the part that I struggle with. As you know, you are the heiress to my company since the timing of your birth, that has not changed. However, it troubles me that you may not be ready to take on such a task as running Hyuuga Enterprises and so I have begun to consider your cousin for the position," he said, his voice lowering as the conversation became more serious.

He watched as his daughter's hands balled themselves into fists in her lap. Her jaw squared too but she didn't look away from him as he would have expected her too. Instead she met him straight on, her expression never changing. Had it not been for the way her hands clenched her trousers, Hiashi would have believed she was unaffected by his words.

"Nothing is final yet of course," he continued. "You are still very much my heir as I have faith in you. Consider this to be a probational period while I make my decision. If I do not find you up to my standards then I will appoint Neji as my heir."

"Yes, Father," Hinata said, proud of herself for not letting her voice crack.

Hiashi was silent for a while, impressed by his child. Though he knew she struggled inwardly, it gave him comfort that she did not break down right there as she might have years ago. This was good. Hinata had grown since then and for that he was proud of her, however, she had a long way to go before he felt she was ready to take over his company.

"I want you to start an internship with the company next week. You will work like any other intern and given no special treatments. Neji will watch over you. After you graduate in December, if I like the reports then I will hire you, ideally as a junior vice president that way you can get first hand experience in what our company does."

Hinata nodded her head once again, understanding her father. She wasn't surprised that he would assign Neji to watch over her training and progress. While most would be worried about Neji's bias, Hiashi knew he could trust his nephew to be honest and never give an opinion unless that's what was asked of him. Neji never lied. "I understand, Father."

"Good," he said, watching her. He was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "I have great trust in you, Hinata. I know that you will not disappoint me. I do not wish to hand my company over to anyone other than you, but I will if it is better off in someone else's hands so do not misunderstand me."

"I understand you, Father," Hinata spoke. "Thank you for allowing me this opportunity. I will do my best and not let you nor Neji down."

"Good. You may retire to your room," he told her.

The heiress bowed her head politely then excused herself from her father's office.

Naruto nodded his head a bit, listening as Hinata emptied her worries onto him. It had been three days since they last spoke to one another and honestly he had been a bit antsy about it. He had tried calling her the next morning after that night but she hadn't answered, nor returned any of his calls or text messages that followed in the days after. It wasn't like her to blow him off and so he went to investigate this matter.

He caught up with her that afternoon when he went down to her school. Part of him wondered if she would avoid him when they met but he was glad to see that she didn't. In fact, she looked rather surprised to see him even. She had been leaving her last class of the day, Senior Seminar, when he caught her. From the looks of it, her mind had been elsewhere because she walked right past him without noticing him. He had to call her name twice before she snapped out of it and recognized him. From there, he brought her down to her favorite Cafe on Main Street to find out just why she had been dodging him.

"So basically this is like a trial run for you?" Naruto asked, watching as she sipped at her coffee.

"Yeah," she answered. "Father thinks that I don't have the kind of coldness that's needed for running a company."

"Of course not!" Naruto exclaimed.

She looked up at him, her eyes widened with shock. "N-Naruto-kun... You too? I thought you would at least.. be on my side."

"No, of course I am," he assured her, reaching over the table to grab her hands. "All I meant was that you're way too kind and nice to be 'cold' or anything like it."

She pouted her lip at him, her brows crumpling up. "That's not very helpful, Naruto-kun."

He laughed at her expression, noticing that she hadn't blushed when he touched her hands. She was obviously upset then. "Don't worry too much about it, I believe in you," Naruto told her. "And your father believes in you, isn't that what he said?"

"Yes but still, if he believes so much in me then why put me through this? Why make me paranoid? I already had the feeling that he wanted to give my spot to Neji... He always liked him best," Hinata complained, looking down at their hands, her index finger rubbing against his thumb.

"Hinata-chan, don't think that your father loves anyone more than he loves you," Naruto assured her. "You are his first born, his first real love, your mother excluded. Your father simply trusts Neji."

Hinata nodded her head slowly. The logical part of her knew that was true, but it was still hard to swallow. Ever since Neji had entered their family, her father had always made sure Neji was comfortable. She remembered all the times Neji had been called back to his office after dinner and she had not. She remembered all the business trips Neji had taken with her father and she had not. As a child, it's hard not to feel a certain way about these things. Hinata was always in the care of the nanny while Neji got to tag along with her father everywhere. As she got older, she understood that this was because her father did not know how to treat a little girl, how to care for one, Neji was a boy and easier to understand. However, that didn't make the pain any less hurtful.

She still felt her heart pang whenever Neji was near. Part of her was sorry for the way she treated Neji too. He had been mean when they first moved in together but that was only because he was hurting. However, Neji had never really ever did anything bad to her. He had been good to her and her sister, taking care of them when Hiashi was gone on business and scaring away the boys that tried anything with them. However, after a while, she had distanced herself from him. She was sure he noticed too because nothing got past Neji. Hanabi was still just as close to him as she had always been. Her sister informed her of the many lunch dates she had with their older cousin. Apparently it wasn't uncommon for Neji to stop by her high school and fetch her from class a few minutes before lunch and then return her an hour later. At least her sister had nothing to worry about in regards to Neji –he wasn't getting in the way of what was rightfully hers as the first born.

"I know," she said to Naruto, coming back from her thoughts when his thumb brushed against her fingers. "I just... I don't want to blow this."

"And you won't," he assured her. "You'll do just fine, better than fine even! The only person standing in your way is you, not Neji."

Hinata looked to Naruto and smiled a small, sweet smile. Having him physically there was far better than the letters he sent her. She was so glad to have them there, be able to hold his hand when she was sad and cry to him when she needed to. "I'm really glad you're home," she told him, a light blushing staining her cheeks.

Naruto smiled at her. "Hn."

He looked like he had more to say, but the buzzing of his phone interrupted him. "Just a second," he told her, pulling the device out from his pocket and putting it to his ear.

"Oy! Sasuke!"

Hinata sat back in her chair, letting go of his hand but he didn't seem to notice. "Yeah. I'm on Main Street. Cafe London."

She arched her brow at him and smiled guiltily. "Hn. Just Hinata-chan. Come anyway! She won't bite cha or anything like that. Yeah yeah, just come down here."

With that, the blonde hung up, not allowing Sasuke on the other end a chance to protest. "I hope you don't mind if Sasuke eats with us," Naruto said, looking guilty.

Hinata shook her head and smiled. "No, of course not." She was used to Sasuke. She hadn't seen him in the past few days but that was only because she had had been caught up in her own problems and hadn't bothered to go with Sakura to the airport the day before. The pinkette had assured her that it was fine and that Sasuke was with her so Hinata needn't worry. Normally, she saw the Uchiha one or two times a week. The heiress supposed this technically wasn't a date, even though she would have preferred to be alone with Naruto, so it wouldn't be a big deal if Sasuke came or not.

It wasn't long before the man in question joined them at the table. He looked rather tired, Hinata noted the bags beneath his eyes as he took up the seat beside Naruto.

"Afternoon, Sasuke-san," Hinata said politely.

"Ah," he responded, giving her the 'sup' nod. Very 'Sasuke'.

"Boy, teme, you look like shit," Naruto observed, looking him up and down.

"Thanks, jerk," Sasuke commented.

It was true though. His green button down was rumbled with his tie loosened. From the looks of it, he could use a shave too. Hinata figured he had been up all night, or at least, that how he looked to her. Vaguely she wondered what was bothering him.

"Perhaps, Sasuke-san would like some coffee..." Hinata observed, speaking to Naruto.

"Y-Yeah...I'll order you some," Naruto said, nodding his head. Soon, he was getting up and making his way to the counter and leaving the two of them alone.

Hinata sat up straighter and chewed her bottom lip. What was she supposed to say to him now? It was always awkward whenever the two of them were put together and she couldn't really pinpoint why that was. Sasuke wasn't as horrible as some people said he was, she figured that out on her own, but she still had no clue on how to deal with him –she never had. He always looked so unhappy, even when they were kids which was why she stayed out of his way.

The heiress remembered their first play date when her mom was still alive. Sasuke had pushed her too hard on the swings and she ended up flying out of her seat and scraping her knee real bad –she still had the scar too. From that day she had always made her best effort to stay out of his way; she knew he did it on purpose. Not even Neji had been that mean to her and yet this stranger had purposely hurt her than called her 'weak' when she began to cry. She hated him as a child and even a little bit in high school but now she had gotten over that. They were just kids and that was the kind of things children did. She wouldn't mind being on friendlier terms with Sasuke, however, she just didn't know how to go about it. He was always so upset, like now.

"Must you do that?" Sasuke said, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Eh? D-do what, Sasuke-san?" She asked, confused.

"Stare at me," he answered. "Plus you're chewing the skin off your lips."

Hinata blushed. He was right – she had been staring and she was chewing on her lip. It was a terrible habit of hers. "Oh! S-sorry."

Sasuke grunted. This girl was so weird. Why was he always being forced to hang around her? The two constant people in his life were all but obsessed with her. It was rather annoying – Sasuke did not like to share, even as a child. Couldn't she find her own friends? He'd admit that Sakura was hers first but at least Naruto was his, why did she have to weasel up to him too?

"What's with you and Naruto anyway?" he asked, posing the question that had been on his mind for years.

"Eh?"

She seemed confused but Sasuke wasn't the type to repeat himself and so he simply waited for her to understand his question. He watched as her cheeks darkened and she bit her lip once again. She must have caught herself because she quickly let it go. "A-ano..." she started to say, but Naruto was there in a flash, saving her the embarrassing conversation.

"There you go, straight black coffee," he said, placing the yellow mug down in front of Sasuke.

The Uchiha made a face at the mug. "You couldn't get anything better than this?"

Naruto smiled. "It was the only one they had available."

Sasuke snorted and took a sip of his coffee.

"Hinata-chan? Why's your face like that?" Naruto asked, looking at her. "Oy! Sasuke! What did you do to Hinata-chan?!" he then demanded, snatching the mug out of his hands before he could take a second sip.

"Oy! What kind of idiot are you? Why would you assume I did something? Her face always looks like that," Sasuke argued, reaching for his mug once again.

"No it doesn't! Whatever you did to her you better apologize!" Naruto demanded, keeping the mug away from his best friend.

"Tch! Apologize for what? I said I didn't do anything to her now stop playing and give me the coffee!"

"You don't deserve it!"

"N-Naruto-kun... I... It's got nothing to do with Sasuke-san," Hinata said to him, trying to calm him down after noticing the stares their table was getting from others.

"You sure Hinata-chan? I could beat this jerk up for you if you want," Naruto told her.

"You wish!"

"I-it really is alright, give Sasuke-san back his coffee," Hinata assured him.

Naruto looked from her to Sasuke with narrowed eyes. "I know you did something to her, jerk. You're just lucky my Hinata-chan is nice or else you'd be done for."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Sasuke said, snatching the mug back at last.

Hinata smiled at the two of them, glad to see that they were settling down at last.

"Say, teme, what's with you anyway?" Naruto asked, obviously over their little fight.

Sasuke took a few more sips from his coffee before setting it back down. "I was up all night," he started, resting his elbow on the table as well. "I've got this project I'm working on. It's gotta be good too or I might lose my funding."

"Ah, Ah," Naruto said in understanding. "What's it for?"

"The new atrium in the Hot Springs Country," Sasuke told them.

Hinata arched her brow. "The one for Hyuuga Enterprises?"

"The very one," Sasuke answered with as much snark as possible. "If all goes well I might be able to sign another contract with H.E. as well for another project they want put up in Sky Country."

Hinata and Naruto both nodded their heads. "That's impressive," Naruto commented.

Sasuke didn't anything however. Nothing was guaranteed however. They would still have to approve his design. Sasuke didn't own a huge firm, as of now there were only two people working for him –they were a small team – and it was hard enough for him to pay them as it was. He was using his own money lately, dipping into his trust fund on some occasions. If things didn't go well he was going to have to get rid of one of them and he didn't want that.

"I didn't know Sasuke-san was in architecture," Hinata commented, looking at him.

"What did you think I did all these years?" Sasuke asked pointedly, half way glaring at her.

"I... never thought of it," she said honestly, blushing a bit.

Sasuke arched his brow at that. Either Sakura had never mentioned it to her, which he doubted, or she never cared enough to remember. That bugged him. Was he really that small on her radar that it never even occurred to him what he might do for a living? What was worse, did she think he just lived off the money his family made? Did she think he was one of those guys? Sasuke didn't know why but the thought made him more than mad. He found himself pissed off.

"Sasuke..." Naruto said warningly. "Don't make Hinata-chan uncomfortable with your bad attitude."

He quickly downed the rest of his coffee. "Yeah, well, I only came for the coffee. I got to get back to work. Good looking out," He said to Naruto, patting him on his back and standing up. "I'll catch you later."

Naruto watched as his friend left, sinking his hands into his pockets as he exited the cafe. "That Sasuke...I'm gonna kill him one day."

Hinata only smiled at him as she took a sip from her own coffee.

Sasuke on the other hand was making his way to his car, a black Infiniti QX56, huffing as he opened the car door and sat behind the steering wheel. The thoughts and feelings of Hyuuga Hinata were not important to him. Who was she why he should care if she didn't know what he did? She was no one to him. He kept telling himself this as he pulled out of the parking garage, making his way back to his office.

Thank you for reading. As always reviews are heavenly and I much appreciate them!

As a side note, I also have a fictionpress account. I don't know if you guys visit that site, but if you do, it would mean the world to me if you checked out my work!

/ (squiggle line) rampantt

Much love,

- Rampantt