CHAPTER 2:

A SMALL CHAT

Author: hehe. This is the second chappie to Because You Are Living. Haha, hope you enjoy! x oh yea and thnx for the reviews!

"He's very popular because of the way he teaches. He's very close to his students."

"He's very handsome too, and single, for your own interest."

"He isn't so strict on the students. And his jokes are hilarious."

Hinata nodded as all the girls gathered around her and talked about their first period English teacher, Hyuuga-sensei or Neji-san. Many students liked calling him Neji-san and many times Hinata forgot he was the teacher and thought he was a student.

"He's great and all, but Sasuke-kun is better." Sakura said, twirling her short pink hair with her finger. The girls all squealed.

"Sasuke-kuunnn! He is so hot." They all shrieked. The girls' shrieks stopped as a boy with black hair, which was tied, wearing his uniform sloppily, stepped up to Hinata.

"Neh, so you're the new student huh?" He asked, slamming his hand on her desk.

"Shika! Get away! She's not interested." Said a girl with long yellow hair and azure colored eyes.

"I'm not interested in anything; especially girls, Ino. All they do is drool over guys that they think are hot but are just plain ugly." He commented. "I simply came to greet her, geez. She is going to be a face I'll have to get used to anyways. I'm Nara Shikamaru. Nice to meet you…"

"H-Hinata. Hyuuga Hinata."

"Hyuuga eh?" Shikamaru rubbed his chin. "Wow. You must be rich."

Hinata turned red. "I-I'm not that rich."

Shikamaru smirked. "You're not the only rich one here, so you don't have to feel different. Yo Sasuke, come over." He motioned his hands for a certain guy to come.

"What now." Said a cold voice. A boy with dark black colored hair and onyx eyes walked up to Shikamaru. He stood tall and his uniform was spotless clean, unlike many other boys in the school.

"S-Sasuke-kuuunnn." Sakura said in a lovingly way.

Sasuke glanced at Hinata. "So you're the new girl, huh?" Hinata nodded in a yes. "Interesting."

"Hyuuga Hinata. That's her name." Shikamaru said aloud to Sasuke. "Isn't it interesting? Hyuuga Hinata."

Sasuke widened his eyes for a moment but quickly turned back to his calm state. "Hyuuga huh?" after that, he walked away to his seat, attempting to be secluded from everyone.

Today seemed to be his lucky day because all the girls were interested in Hinata and finding out information about her. All the guys who always asked Sasuke to give them some answers on the homework, which Sasuke never gave anyways, were staring at this new girl who wasn't half bad on looks. All the while, Neji was straightening his desk while letting his students get a ten minute "bonding" time. Every year, he always did that to his classes.

"Now." The teacher cleared his voice and stood up high. "You bonding time with your peers has ended. Everyone back in your seats. Its time for me to get to know my students." He walked down the rows and asked for the student sitting in the desk's name, then his interests or hobbies, and goals in life. One by one, each student was picked.

Hinata bit her lip and became feared to be picked. She feared that if Neji would pick her and realize that she was a Hyuuga, he would be angry at her and treat her different from all the other students, knowing that he was "kicked" out of the very clan Hinata was in. Did he have any grudges with the Hyuugas'? Hinata hoped not. By the time he reached her, Hinata was shaking heavily.

"What's your name?" Neji asked.

"H-H-Hinata…" she hesitated to say her last name. "H-Hyuuga."

Neji seemed to be shock. "Hyuuga? I see. Well, please go on."

"I-I like…I like to press f-flowers and I enjoy eating cinnamon rolls and senzai. My g-goal in life…i-is…" she bit her lip. "S-Still undetermined." Hinata waited for Neji to say something; something cruel about the Hyuugas. When she looked up, her eyes met his and, for a quick moment, she saw a depressing emotion pass his eyes. But that was only for a moment. It quickly drifted away.

"Well, it'll be an honor to be teaching you this year, Hinata-sama." Neji smiled. Everyone "oohed" and "aahed" as their superior teacher called a student with –sama after their name. After that, Neji quickly moved on to the next student.

Hinata felt a bit relief but couldn't help feel that Neji was tense around her. She sighed, glad it was over. Honestly, this day wasn't going so well.

Hinata took a seat on an empty lunch table. This whole day so far was a disaster. First off, she got lost in almost every class. Luckily, Sakura was there to help her find her classes. Second of all, she had to answer many questions from the students, and some were very stupid. And last of all, as she was walking to the cafeteria, she so happened bumped into Hyuuga-sensei. Though everyone said he was undiscriminating and one of the best teachers on campus, Hinata couldn't help but not believe them. She kept having the feeling that he didn't like Hinata at all.

"Hinata!" Sakura yelled from another table, waving her arms into the air. "Come join us!"

Hinata nodded and got up from her seat to sit with Sakura and her group. There, she saw Ino, Shikamaru, and Sasuke, who obviously looked annoyed with Sakura and Ino, who were both tugging on his arms.

"Yo." Shikamaru greeted. Hinata took a seat next to him, and poked her so called meat loaf with her fork.

"So what school did you go to before you came here?" Shikamaru questioned.

"A-Ano…I went to Shin High." Hinata answered.

"Did you have a lot of friends?" Ino asked.

"Well, not that much. I mostly hanged out with four of my best friends. Shino, Temari, Kiba…and…" Hinata turned a bright red as she remembered a certain spikey haired blond with deep cerulean colored eyes. "Naruto…"

"That's cool." Sakura smiled. "You must've been close with this Naruto."

"W-W-What makes you think that?" Hinata stammered.

"Well, you blushed when you said his name." Sakura giggled. "Never mind, forget what I said." She held Sasuke's right arm closer and tighter.

Sasuke pulled his arm away from Sakura and then from Ino. "I'm not you're toy that you guys can tug at." He said coldly. Sasuke got up from his seat and picked up his tray to throw away. As he walked away, he quickly glanced at Hinata and when he noticed that she saw him look at her, he quickly turned his head and smirked. Hinata's eyes fell to her tray as she continued to poke her food. That Sasuke sure is cold…

"Sasuke must be in a miserable mood today." Shikamaru sighed. "And I think I know why."

"Miserable? He seemed angry to me." Ino remarked.

"Eh, you don't notice these stuff. You only notice his looks Ino." Shikamaru laughed.

"Shikamaru's right. Sasuke is in a miserable mood today." Sakura sighed. "I can never be able to help him. Shikamaru, you talk to Sasuke the most out of us. Do you know what's troubling him?"

Shikamaru looked at Hinata. "Heh, I could tell you all, but then I'd have to kill you guys. That would be very troublesome." He laughed. His gaze turned to Sakura. "Sasuke would kill me if I told you guys. I may be a boring guy, but this boring guy wants to stay alive."

Sakura sighed heavily as she rested her chin on her hand. "I wish Sasuke would talk to me more often."

Ino held in her laughter. "Sakura, he would never talk to you."

"Shut up you fat pig." Sakura glared.

"What did you call me!" Ino yelled.

Hinata giggled. She could easily see the close friendship between these two and how close, even if a little and even if it's hard to see it, Shikamaru and Sasuke were. It reminded her too much of her old friends, how Kiba and Naruto would drool about all the hottest girls on campus and how Temari and her would just talk about girl stuff while Shino made remarks on both conversations.

"A-Ano…I'm going to leave now. I-I'm going to explore the campus." Hinata shyly said.

"Do you want to be accompanied?" Sakura asked along with Ino.

"N-No. You guys can finish your lunch." She smiled. Hinata got up and threw her lunch tray away. She was glad to get rid of that thing.

As she reached outside the cafeteria, she suddenly realized how big Kon High. It was much bigger then Shin High, probably 4 times bigger. But there were a lot of students here and Hinata could understand why. The school had a good reputation and wasn't bad on academics skills. Also, it had one of the biggest campuses and it never got a low mark on anything. Shin High had always been on the average side of ratings unlike Kon which was always on the above average side.

Hinata walked up the stairs of the school, running her hand up the railings. She wondered if there was a spot where students weren't yelling or running around; somewhere were she could just "hang out" alone when she needed it. There was nothing like that on that floor of the school so Hinata went back down. That's when she noticed it. A big tree that created a huge shadow stood empty without any students around it. She then understood why no one was near it. As she got closer, it was easy to see that the tree was very damaged, its bark carved with symbols or names. Its branches were twisted and it bent to the side. But for some reason, she was drawn to it. Hinata smiled happily to herself. That was it. That's where her "tranquility" area would be.

As she approached the tree though, she quickly found that she wasn't the only one who was attracted to this tree. There, sitting on the floor of the tree near the roots was him. Uchiha Sasuke.

"S-Sasuke…" Hinata mumbled. Sasuke heard his name and quickly turned his head to see the Hyuuga heiress.

"Oh, its just you." He turned his head and pretended as if he never saw Hinata.

"D-Do you mind…if…if I join you?" she asked.

"No. Go ahead." He said coldly.

Hinata sat down next to him. "So you were drawn to this tree too, huh?"

Sasuke kept quiet for a moment but then spoke. "It reminds me of myself." Hinata cocked her head to the side in confusion. "In a far distance, it looks like any normal tree; heck it even looks beautiful. But as you get closer, you can see its ugly scars and huge flaws. It's like me. People think I'm perfect because of my outside appearances. They don't understand that I'm just a guy full of flaws and scarred with ugly experiences. I'm just like them. Its weird but…this tree gives me comfort."

Hinata would have never expected this from any student, much less Uchiha Sasuke, because that was exactly how she felt. "Me too." She replied. "That's how I feel. Sometimes I feel like…they just don't understand."

Sasuke smirked. His smirk soon turned to a small laugh. "That's stupid you know." Hinata blushed in embarrassment.

"Hm…well I guess I should be going. I want to explore the school with the time I have left." She got up and brushed off some dirt from her uniform. "It was nice talking to you Sasuke. Bye."

"Wait…Hinata." Sasuke said in a low voice. "Maybe…maybe we could talk again later. You never know, we could discover more stupid similarities."

Hinata realized that Sasuke was trying to be friendly and nodded happily. "Yes. Perhaps." And with that, she walked away; a smile stuck on her lips.

Hinata continued walking around the school and noticed a library. Indeed, it was huge. The library had its own floor on the bottom. As she entered inside, she noticed how silent it was. This must've been where the students like her, who enjoyed quietness, stayed. Hinata took a seat and simply enjoyed the tranquility.

"Hinata-sama."

Hinata turned around to see none other then Neji. "A-Ah…Hyuuga-sensei. What are you doing in here?"

"I was looking at some books. Mind if I join you?" he asked, putting his hands on a chair next to her.

"Iie. I don't mind."

Neji took the seat next to her and stretched a bit. "So…how do you like the school so far?"

"Its big." She commented.

"Ha, yes it is. That was how I felt when I first arrived here four years ago." He smiled.

Hinata blinked. "Four…years ago?" Wasn't that the exact time when he had left the Hyuugas? Or from what she had heard.

"Hai. Why, does it bring any thoughts?" he asked, chuckling a bit. Hinata bit her lip. Neji's grinning quickly stopped. "And yes, if you are wondering, that was when I left the Hyuugas." He answered as if reading Hinata's mind.

Hinata straightened up in her seat. How had he known she was thinking about that?

"So…how are the Hyuuga's doing?" Neji asked.

Hinata looked at Neji confusingly. Why was he asking? "T-They're doing…good."

"That's good to know." he chuckled. Hinata again was struck with confusion. Didn't he have a grudge against them?

"A-Ano…may I ask why exactly did you leave and why did they kick you out?" Hinata asked nervously.

"So, your father never told you?"

"My father?" Hinata asked. What did her father have to do with it?

"I see. Perhaps when you understand more things, I will tell, ne Hinata-sama?" Neji patted her head.

"You don't have to call me with sama." Hinata mumbled. "You're a teacher. You don't have to say it."

"Oh, but I must. You are the Hyuuga heiress aren't you?"

Hinata nodded. "But…"

"Well, I must be going." Neji got up. "It was nice talking to you." He headed for the door and waved back. "Ja."

Hinata waved back. That was obvious. Hinata thought to herself. He didn't want to talk about it. She blushed in embarrassment. I should never have brought it up…

Outside, Neji leaned against the wall. A small pathetic look was on his face. "To think that I have Hiashi-sama's very own daughter as my student." He closed his eyes and thought about many things. Suddenly he realized something.

It wasn't a coincidence.

-End of chapter 2-

Author: Ha. Yeah. This is the end of chapter two. In here, Hinata gets to know Sasuke more and talks a little bit with Neji. : hope this chapter wasn't too boring. And PLZ review. And I'll explain more about the coincidence thing later in the chappies. :