Secretly, discreetly, the two now held hands every time he brought her home after their late sparring sessions when no one was around, all of which have now returned to the comfort of their home and families. Their new little habit is her comfort with only reasons that were innocent, pure: a gesture from a friend to give consolation. It was his comfort as well but for all the wrong reasons: a touch that made him desire for more, a touch that seemed to be growing tighter each passing day. The two silently continued their hand-holding, her innocent friendship, and his cruel-forming cravings.

But no matter how much he would have liked it to be kept secret, away from the eyes, the talkers, the exploiters, the fangirls, Sakura Haruno became slightly suspicious.

Her suspicion first spiked during one lunch day. As always, she attempted to stalk Sasuke out of the class to ask him to eat lunch with her again but this time she was interrupted by Naruto who insisted, to her annoyance, that she should eat with him instead. Instead of listening to Naruto she absentmindedly watched Sasuke to make sure she will be able to find and catch up to him once Naruto's done with his persistence. It is painfully yet unnoticeably ironic to Sakura that she found him bothersome for his pleas when she did the same to Sasuke.

As usual, Hinata was first to leave, she then expected Shino or a few other kids to walk out next but instead, she saw the familiar symbol of the Uchiha that was proudly displayed on Sasuke's back leaving afterward. It was strange at first as Sasuke was never one to rush and leave. As soon as Sakura was able to stop Naruto she bolted off in hopes her crush had not gone too far off, but to no avail, he was nowhere to be seen.

The next day during lunch she saw him leave again right after Hinata. It had to be a coincidence that they left at the same time. But then during the day after that, she saw him exit right behind Hinata once again, the same also goes for the next day, and then the next after then, and so on. Though she failed each time to catch up to him, her suspicions grew each time. Just what was going on between Sasuke and Hinata?

She didn't want to make assumptions so she decided to first ask. Of course, she couldn't ask Sasuke himself or she'd just die in embarrassment, nor to Hinata as she was sure the shy girl would just stutter and mumble an answer she'd barely understand, so she decided to confront Kiba. His personality was similar to Naruto's so how hard could it be?

"Kiba-kun!" Sakura called for the Inuzuka once school was over, dragging Naruto with her so it wouldn't be too awkward.

He noticed her call and waited for her and Naruto, who was dazed by the sudden physical attention he was getting from Sakura by the forceful pulling of his wrist to follow her. "Huh? What is it Sakura?"

"It's about Hinata."

Like a dog, his ears perked up from the mention of his quiet teammate. "What about her?"

"You see, well…" Sakura had to play her cards right. If she were to ask the wrong way she was sure she would just sound like a narcissist. "How is Hinata these days?"

"Uh- Well, good I guess? Why are you asking me?" Kiba questioned with a curious stare, wondering where she was getting at.

She sweatdropped as she tried to shake Naruto's grasp off her arm. "Oh really? You guys been hanging out together a lot lately?"

"Yeah? I mean we are teammates."

"Has… she been hanging out with anyone else lately?"

"Like who?" It was strange enough that someone like Sakura was suddenly talking to him but to ask about Hinata instead of asking her herself made it even more strange. Has his Hyuuga teammate gone through some sort of trouble?

"Like… Sasuke-kun?"

Now that brought Naruto back to reality. The two rowdy boys gaped in shock. "WHAT?"

She quickly shushed them before they could say anything else. "Not too loud you idiots!" To be careful, she checked both sides in case any fans of Sasuke's were listening in. As if in formation, they huddled close together. "Well? Is it true?!" She harshly whispered.

"No! Yes? I don't know!" Kiba's body started to fidget as he began to worry about the safety of his friend. He knew how harsh Sasuke was to girls as he had front row seats behind the boy to watch him either ignore the girls that approached him until they left or just downright insult them until they cry. The Inuzuka wanted anything but his poor Hinata to be Sasuke's next victim.

Naruto wept for Hinata as he realized that now she too had to deal with Sasuke's cocky attitude. "Oh, poor Hinata! We gotta help her!" Just as he was about to bolt to find the two, Sakura quickly grabbed the back of Naruto's collar which made him choke from the whiplash.

"Hold on Naruto! We can't make any assumptions right now! Right Kiba-kun?" She turned to Kiba who, of course, disappeared at the speed of light. "KIBA?!"

Sakura groaned. "Ugh! C'mon Naruto! We gotta find them fast!"

—

"HINATA!"

As Kiba expected, he found Hinata walking around town with Shino. It was during this time of the afternoon the two would head back to town from a nearby forest as she would often help Shino find bugs for his collection.

As soon as Hinata saw the enraged Kiba running towards them, she squeaked in surprise and quickly hid behind the large jacket of Shino's. She had a great relationship with her teammates, in fact, she was probably the happiest when she was near the two, but sometimes Kiba's overreactions were just too much for her. She let out a small 'eep' when she realized he was going to grab her so she ran around Shino to prevent that, Kiba following suit. The two ran in circles around the now irritated bug user until he grabbed the boy to stop running. Once he had stopped, Hinata nervously hid behind Shino once again and clenched his jacket under the sleeve which had made him lift his arm so he wouldn't hit her face. "K-Kiba-kun, what's wrong?!"

"Sasuke! That's what! What's that bastard been doing to you?"

"Wha-? What do you mean?"

"Huh?" Shino looked at the two, wanting an explanation of what was exactly going on.

"Listen here Shino! That Sasuke's been bothering Hinata-chan!"

"Is that true, Hinata?" Shino had asked, now completely turned around towards her so that her haven would disappear and force her to confront the questions.

"I-It's-"

"KIBA!" Before she could continue she was cut off by Naruto who screamed Kiba's name while running towards the group, Sakura closely following behind. The two gasped for breath once they reached them. "W-We've been… Looking everywhere for you guys."

Sakura immediately pushed everyone to an alleyway for privacy. Her green eyes then sharply looked straight at Hinata's pale ones. She approached her which made the timid girl step back in return until she was grabbed by the shoulders. Hinata noticed how awfully similar Sakura was to Sasuke. She remembered the one time Sasuke had also taken hold of her shoulders so she wouldn't escape. The girl notioned the two would be a great match for each other. Maybe she ought to push Sasuke to hang out with Sakura more, knowing the pink-haired girl had an obvious crush on him and he needed more people to talk to. They were also teammates for goodness sake! "Hinata." The Hyuuga looked back up to Sakura when she realized she was looking down in thought. "By any chance… Do you spend time with Sasuke?" At this point, Sakura's careful thoughts to not sound so self-imposing have long been forgotten.

"Y-yes?"

'NOOOO!' Sakura's inner thoughts screamed. 'NO WAY! NO WAY! IT COULDN'T BE! ARE THEY DATING?' It took so much self-control to not scream that she felt that ninja training was way easier in comparison. "A-Are you two dating?" Sakura managed to grit out.

The boys leaned forward, expectant of her answer.

"N-no! I-I wouldn't dare, Sakura-chan!"

They all sighed in relief.

"Then just why is that loner even hanging out with you?" Kiba inquired.

Naruto agreed, "Yeah! I thought Sasuke's whole thing was to ignore girls, not talk to them!"

Sakura hit her head in realization. Of course, they were talking to Hinata. The innocent, quiet, shy Hinata, who had absolutely no clue about real love like she does. Would the girl even know what dating implies? "What do you guys do?"

Hinata fidgeted with her fingers, all the attention she was getting now making her exceptionally nervous. "W-well we just…"

"Just?" The group, except for Shino, prodded.

"J-just talk… and um… train I-I guess…"

"WHAT?"

"Well I guess that's not too bad," Sakura tried to convince herself.

Naruto added with a thumbs up, "Last time I checked, Sasuke was never interested in girls, so don't worry Sakura-chan! Believe it!"

Instead of a look of happiness he expected to receive in his attempt to comfort the pink-haired girl, he only got a hard hit on the head. "And what does that mean idiot!?" Shino looked away in disdain, knowing full well that Naruto deserved it, while Kiba only snickered.

The blonde tried to play it off cool, even if he just experienced Sakura's strength, a force truly not to be reckoned with, first hand. "H-Hinata-chan," Naruto starts to say, desperately trying to withstand the pain, "If Sasuke ever goes too hard on you in training, make sure to tell us straight away! We'll beat him right up for ya! Right, Kiba?"

"Right!" Kiba grinned, glad to finally get the opportunity to beat the cocky bastard up.

Hinata deeply blushed at Naruto's offer as she poked her fingers together in embarrassment, but with happiness nonetheless. Though she thought Naruto suggested it because he cared, what she, fortunately, didn't know was that he only offered just to have a reason to fight the Uchiha. "T-T-Thank you, N-Naruto-kun! Kiba-kun!"

"On that note," Sakura faced Hinata with a look of determination after she seemed to finish being in long thought. "Hinata-chan, please help me get closer to Sasuke-kun!"

Shino rolled his eyes when he noticed Sakura was going to start one of her girly talks. He took it as his cue to leave now that he evaluated the situation wasn't that big of a deal, even if it did make him a bit worried about Hinata's safety. Maybe he should start sparring sessions with Kiba and her so she wouldn't spend as much time with Sasuke. Wordlessly, he left the alleyway, Kiba also followed along as he didn't want to listen to any boring love talk or such.

However, Naruto stayed with a look of hurt in his eyes. "But Sakura-chan-"

"Get out of here Naruto!" Before he could finish, Sakura quickly pushed him out. Hinata could only watch, too shy to ask for him to stay even if she greatly wanted to spend more time with him.

Reluctantly, Naruto dragged his feet away to Ichiraku, hoping that a bowl of his favourite noodles and soup would cheer him up.

"Now that those idiots are gone, we can finally talk," Sakura said with a sly grin and clasped her hands to Hinata's. The meek girl trembled at just what she was getting herself into. "Please, please, pleaasseee put in a good word about me to Sasuke-kun!"

"W-wha- b-but- why?"

"You see… I like Sasuke-kun and I really want him to notice my good qualities. I do have good qualities, right Hinata-chan?"

Hinata nodded profusely in agreement. It was true, Sakura was pretty, smart, strong, and social. She had everything Hinata religiously wished she had every night so she held the utmost respect for her classmate. "Y-yes you do."

"So please clue them into Sasuke-kun for me! That's gotta help him notice and date me!"

"B-but shouldn't y-you make him n-notice you S-Sakura-chan? You're so p-pretty I'm sure you will h-have no problem…"

Sakura drastically wept, knowing that what she was asking Hinata to do was a bit shameless of her. "I know Hinata-chan! Believe me, I try every day, every second but it just doesn't work. Please help me out!"

"W-well… I-I suppose I could try…" Hinata would gladly help Sakura out. No one had ever really relied on her so for someone to finally do so made her not want to reject it either. A blush along with a smile of joy crept up to her face as she finally thought she had made her first female friend. "I-I'll do my b-best, Sakura-chan," she determined.

'Shannaro! Now Sasuke-kun will finally notice me and that Ino-Pig will finally lay off!' Sakura squealed and leaped up with happiness at the thought. "Oh thank you Hinata-chan! Just to be clear, you don't like Sasuke-kun, right?"

"W-What do y-you mean?"

"Like, you don't want to date Sasuke-kun, right? Wait- you don't think he wants to date you either, right?" Even with Hinata's confirmation, Sakura still felt a bit suspicious as to why exactly Sasuke was spending time with Hinata. It just couldn't be because he liked her, it just couldn't be!"

"No!" Hinata quickly denied the suggestion to reassure Sakura as she noticed her mood dropping by the possibility. "I-I do not like Sasuke-kun that way… And I-I'm sure he does not want t-to date s-someone like m-"

"Who doesn't want to date who now?"

Suddenly, an awfully familiar voice was heard at the entrance of the alleyway. Slowly and cautiously, the two girls looked at the source of the voice hoping to God that it isn't who they thought it is. And of course, there they were, confronted by the one and only, Sasuke Uchiha.

Hinata squeaked in surprise while Sakura loudly laughed in awkwardness. "Ahahaha! It's nothing Sasuke-kun!" She roughly waved her hand in denial. "We weren't doing anything suspicious! Not at all! Right, Hinata-chan?" She elbowed the poor girl, who wanted to do nothing but crawl down in a hole from the embarrassment that they got caught so quickly. Just how was she going to help Sakura if Sasuke found out? The pink-haired girl must have noticed Hinata's pessimism as she reassuringly whispered, "He doesn't know!"

Right, it was too early to make any conclusions. Hinata just had to play along to make sure it stays that way. "T-T-That's right…" The only problem was that she was terrible at lying!

Thankfully, with Sakura's great perceptive skills, she was able to catch the timid girl's trouble. She has to get out of there quickly before Sasuke asks any more questions. "Well look at the time! I gotta get home for dinner! See you Sasuke-kun, Hinata-chan!" Sakura hurriedly ran off, leaving Hinata alone with the boy that was exceptionally eyeing her, planning on just what to do with the now trembling girl. It was like a look of a predator eyeing his prey, a wolf and a bunny, a fierce Uchiha and a meek Hyuuga.

"B-Bye, Uchiha-san!" Hinata attempted to follow Sakura but just as she was about to pass his side, she was roughly pushed against the wall, both sides of her trapped by his arms to prevent any way of escaping.

"Don't try to escape from me now, Hyuuga." He gave a sinister grin that made her eyes tear up. Good. He rather liked that look. Oh how much fun he was going to have teasing her this time. Afterall, he couldn't just waste such a good opportunity that she opened up for him! "You don't like me? After all the time I spent with you?" He gave her a mockingly saddened face.

As always, Hinata fell for his act. "N-no, t-that's not true Uchiha-san. I... I do like… you…"

"Really?" The fake expression he held immediately disappeared as if it was never there. Instead, it was replaced with a smirk that was supposed to be a guise for a smile, not a crooked grin that just made him look even more fearful. "Then would you date me?"

Hinata's usual pale face exploded with the colour of red. "D-D-D-D-Date y-you? I-I could never!" Just as she did to Sakura, she profusely shook her head in denial.

"And why not?" Just as she tried to lean even more back to the wall, Sasuke only came closer by clasping his arm around her back and waist.

"B-because I don't l-l-like you that…. Way… I-I like… someone else…" If it was even possible, she blushed even more by the thought of Naruto. How great it would be if he could save her from this predicament!

Whereas Hinata began to hope, Sasuke became irritated by her answer, knowing full well she was thinking of Naruto. He was not going to let that loser beat him in this. He brought his lips towards his ear, their cheeks brushing against each other. "What if I wanted to date you?" Oh dear, her cheeks were burning. Too shocked, too surprised, too scared of what he will say next to reply, Hinata could only sputter in response. Sasuke also took this as an opportunity to take it to the next level. He slowly reached her lips with his, expecting to meet a soft surface with a taste of sweet cinnamon. Instead, he was met with the palm of her hand and then a slight push back. His eyes widened by her defiance but he became overjoyed by the look of her crying and overheated expression, just so unused and uncomfortable by advances such as this. His sharingan blinked on just to memorize the fulfilling look. As soon as she let go, he sank his head down on her shoulder and shook with excitement, an eerie smile of greed fully hidden away from her sight. He wanted- no NEEDED to see more. She was just so cute, naive, so easy to mess with. All these reactions were made completely because of him and the thought got him addicted. To have just so much control over her just made him feel delighted.

"P-P-Please don't mess w-with my feelings, Uchiha-san!" Mistaking his trembling as a way to hide his laughter, she immediately thought of this as another one of his cruel teasings.

"Yeah… it was a joke." He pulled away which caused her to collapse down to the ground as she fell from her trembling knees that just couldn't support her weight. "But don't think this will be the last, Hinata." With a last look, he walked away, already planning on what he will do next.

Sasuke Uchiha likes- maybe even loves Hinata Hyuuga. But is it for the right reasons?

A/N: Hi, thank you for the lovely reviews. Someone asked to see the teammate's reactions so I tried to incorporate that in here. I also realized the hand holding thing may have been a bit ooc so I tried to fix that as well. I'm kind of worried that Sasuke is developing feelings too fast? But I don't know. I hope the characters I wrote in this chapter are in character.

How was this chapter? I put in some comedy, trying to make it look like a real Naruto ep lol. But then it gets kinda dark at the end I guess. Do you guys like the amount of detail I give or is it not enough? I have trouble writing stuff like that.

To Juleeandrei, wow you really gave me an eye opener when you talked about that one Boruto ep where Sasuke visited Naruto's house. That made me ship sasuhina even more!

Ok guys just listen: dark Sasori x hinata, grooming, manipulation, Akatsuki? I don't know, just a thought for now.

Also I drew another sasuhina art in my twitter: moonalllie , that's based on this chapter here: art

What are your favourite Hinata ships? I'll probably draw them for you because I'm a huge Hinata multishipper. I like her with Itachi, Madara, Gaara, Neji, Kakashi, etc. bruh basically all the hot characters.

ALSO ALSO: can someone please tell me the prefixes (san, kun, chan, etc.) everyone uses to each other? I watch the eng dub of Naruto (which I think is very good smh) and I have no clue but I really want to incorporate that in here.

Ok bye, PLEASE REVIEW LOVE YOU!