CHAPTER 5

It turned out that the pretty demon was quite tolerable after all.

Exactly 22 days had passed since Hinata popped by the dance studio, and that was the last time she did – not that Sasuke was counting. He could not decide if he was more relieved or disappointed, since her presence that one evening was admittedly mood-lifting. Nevertheless, Uchiha Sasuke was not going to start pining. People pined after him, not the other way round.

He still saw her fairly often for shoots, and he felt his ego boost that one time when the producer Terumi Mei complimented him and Hinata's chemistry. It was likely that their little bonding session in the dance studio had played a part in making them feel more at ease around each other, so at least something good came out of it. All in all, Sasuke was satisfied with how things were going.

Make no mistake, Sasuke had not abandoned his plan for revenge against Hyuuga Hinata. He simply had no headspace to think about it over the last week or so because he was focused on preparing for Team 7's comeback. It was a long-awaited one, and he was not about to disappoint his fans just because he had taken on an additional commitment or two.

Day by day, he underwent intensive training with his group members to stabilise their vocals as they danced. All three of them went to the gym together in the morning to sing on the treadmill before continuing this practice in the dance studio with the actual choreography. It felt like they could not catch a break, but none of them complained very much about the gruelling training as they were all equally determined to put up a good stage.

Finally, it was the eve of their music video premiere on YouTube. Kakashi had very kindly kept their afternoon and evening free for that day, so that they could catch a breather. At around 1130pm, the trio was seated in the living room.

"Are y'all ready?" Naruto turned to look at his groupmates, which was responded to with a thumbs-up by Sakura. Without further prompting, he clicked a few buttons on their group's Instagram account and started a livestream.

"Hellooooo everyone!" Naruto cheered before giving his signature smile. Sakura and Sasuke took turns to greet their fans after him.

Within 5 minutes, the view count shot up exponentially, and the live comments starting coming in one after another in quick succession. This time, Sasuke was hellbent on keeping mum when he read the live comments. He had learned his lesson the hard way.

However, someone had to do the honours, so Sakura and Naruto took turns to read out selected questions and answer them. A handful of commentators brought up Sasuke's unusual silence, and such comments kept coming in until Naruto finally turned to him and asked, "Sasuke! Say something to our fans! They miss you."

The man in question leaned in closer to capture his whole body fully in the frame, and he said, "Hey, I miss you too." Those words came out easily, because he had been saying it casually over the past four years, and his fans never ceased to lap it up. "We hope you are as excited for our new music video as we are."

With that last tactful comment, he shifted Naruto's phone such that the focus was once again on his two other groupmates. They continued to entertain their fans with stories while Sasuke stared blankly at the screen, feeling his soul leaving his body with every second that passed. He was so tired despite the nap that he had taken in the afternoon, yet he had no choice but to put up a front for his fans. It was arguably a more challenging task than their training, as he loved dancing, whereas he did not particularly enjoy sitting down to make small talk with faceless people.

However, he snapped out of his reverie when he saw a blue badge next to one of the comments, and he quickly realised who it was.

hinatahime_ All the best for your comeback! *heart emoji*

It was such a simple comment, but Sasuke's heartbeat quickened when he read it. Still, he forced himself to maintain a neutral expression in case any of the crazy fans started making GIFs out of his reaction to Hinata's comment to add to their microanalysis videos on YouTube.

"Hinata-chan said something!" Sakura exclaimed and pointed at the comment to draw Naruto's attention to it. She then formed a heart shape with her hands and winked. "Thank you Hinata! We love you!"

The moment she mentioned this, a new wave of comments addressed to Sasuke appeared.

"Sasuke's favourite girl is here!"

"How did you feel about Hinata's response to you?"

"Didn't realise this before, but they're cute together #sasuhina"

"Nooo marry meeeeee"

"Fertilise my eggs daddyyy"

"Are you into guys?"

"Love youuu Sasuke-kun"

It took a herculean effort for Sasuke to refrain from rolling his eyes. He clearly had the craziest fans out of the three of them. Some of the girls could get so possessive over him that it quickly stopped being funny, especially after one of them sent a cum-stained underwear to his apartment on one occasion.

"I love you all!" Naruto's loud voice interrupted his unpleasant thoughts. He proceeded to make an exaggerated kissing face, much to Sakura's disgust. She smacked his cheek to get him to stop, and that earned a few laughing emojis from their fans.

Sasuke looked at the clock hanging above the television. It read 11:58PM. He let out a quiet sigh and stared back at the phone screen with visible boredom on his face. All that was left was for him to watch their new music video, make a few exaggerated reactions if that was warranted, then leave the livestream early to go and sleep.

Perhaps he could also relinquish his role of being Team 7's fanservice king in the process, since it was a thoroughly draining task that he was simply not meant to excel at.

The day of their showcase could not have come sooner. Team 7 did their customary chant in the dressing room before launching themselves up to the main stage for their performance. Their fans filled the entire venue, and they were roaring so loudly that Sasuke could hear them over his earpieces. Nonetheless, he could not help the gratitude that he felt towards his fans for showing their support for Team 7, so he walked up to the front of the stage at the end of their performance to blow a quick kiss to the audience.

He did it nonchalantly and without smiling, but the fans saw past his deadpan expression anyway and cheered gleefully at his unusually generous fanservice. Some of his female fans in the front row even pretended to catch his flying kiss, and made an exaggerated show of returning it. Sasuke smirked at their ridiculous antics and turned to leave the stage. He was the first to do so out of the three of them.

The moment he entered his dressing room, he saw a familiar person – no, demon – sitting on his seat. Hyuuga Hinata swivelled around at the sound of the door opening and immediately broke out into a radiant smile when she met his eyes.

"Sasuke-kun!" she greeted. With a skip in her step, she bounded over to him and handed him a small bouquet of flowers. He stared at her in bewilderment, uncertain as to whether all of this was a hallucination. The pretty demon had no reason to give him flowers – he had yet to do anything to score! Yet here she was, presenting him with a gift right after his first comeback stage. Sasuke did not know how to feel about all of this.

"A-Are you okay?" she asked while waving a hand in front of his face.

Sasuke blinked his eyes into focus and gave her a tight smile. "Yeah. Thank you." As he plucked out the bouquet with one hand, he used the other to pull her in for a hug. Hinata let out a gasp, visibly taken aback by the unexpected gesture, but for a moment she simply rested her hands on his broad shoulders and inhaled the lingering smell of his deodorant. She found it to be a surprisingly pleasant scent.

Unfortunately, their moment was disrupted by the sound of footsteps. Hinata broke away from him in the last second before Naruto barged into the room. She squeaked when the blonde shouted out an ebullient greeting directed towards her, and before Sasuke could process what was happening, he blinked to the sight of Naruto tackling Hinata into a huge bear-hug. The splash of red on the demon's cheeks turned ten times darker at the physical contact, which greatly irked Sasuke.

"N-Naruto-kun…I brought something for you…"

"Eh?" Naruto finally released his suffocating grip on Hinata, which gave her the space to reach for another bouquet that she had left on the dressing table. She handed it to him with a moony smile.

"Congratulations on your successful comeback!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the disgusting scene before him and left the room with haste. This was practically the physical manifestation of Hinata's interview that set him off from the get-go. How dare she make a fool out of him like this?

He did not stay to hear what Naruto said because he figured it would be something cheesy that was inspired by a romance drama. Uchiha Sasuke hated romance after all – he was too cool for it. As for the flowers which he realised belatedly he was still holding, he could think about what he was going to do with them later.

Much to Sasuke's annoyance, Naruto invited the pretty demon to join Team 7 for a barbeque dinner on the rooftop of their dormitory that night. Even as he was in the midst of barbequing meat for everyone, he could not help but glare daggers at Hyuuga Hinata's back.

He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that this woman had the audacity to accept Naruto's invitation, when she had done nothing but rejected him thus far. He was the one who spent the most time with her; and he was the one who bought her her stupid overpriced iced latte whenever they left the dormitory together for shoots! Even if looks were irrelevant, Naruto still had nothing on him! So how dare she-

"Sasuke-kun? You're burning the meat."

Sakura's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Sasuke looked down and realised that he had in fact burned a few pieces of meat to a crisp. Once again, this was Hyuuga Hinata's fault for distracting him from his task. It could not be anyone else's fault but hers.

Without hesitation, Sasuke extracted the charred meat slices from the grill and placed them onto the plate that she was holding. "This is for Naruto." Sakura had to stifle a laugh behind her hand, but she readily agreed.

Sasuke then used his tongs to pick up a thick cut of meat. Hyuuga Hinata, you can have this rare, he thought evilly. He had never cooked this particular cut of beef before, but that was for the best if it meant that the pretty demon could get what she deserved. Sasuke had never been a more passionate advocate for fairness and justice than in this moment.

However, just as he was about to prematurely remove the meat from the grill, a pale hand gently closed over his gloved one. He whipped his head up to glare at the intruder. "Sasuke-kun, that's still rare," Hinata remarked softly.

Oh, so now she was going to womansplain cooking to him? Of course he knew it was rare! That was the point!

"You should cook it a bit longer then cut it up with the scissors." She must have caught him in a moment of distraction as Sasuke soon found himself standing next to her by the grill, watching her cook the meat expertly.

He did not know what possessed him to take out his gloves and hand them over to her in the next moment, but he said, "You should wear these or the oil may splatter onto your hands." Hinata thanked him with a blush on her face. Sasuke turned his back to her after she took the gloves and rolled his eyes. That little gremlin… He could not even stay mad at her over what transpired earlier in the day.

"Sasuke-kun."

"Hn."

"You should rest early tonight."

He raised a brow at this. "Why?"

"You look more tired than usual these days." As she said this, she picked up a pair of wooden chopsticks lying on a nearby tray.

Sasuke shrugged and put his hands into his pockets. She was right about that at least. Comeback seasons were equal parts thrilling and draining for him, and he was sure Naruto and Sakura felt the same.

With delicate fingers, Hinata picked up a bite-sized piece of meat using the wooden chopsticks and held it up towards her companion. Sasuke stared at her confusedly but she did not relent. If anything, the blush on her face deepened. "Y-You should try this," she told him shyly. "It t-tastes better when it comes straight from the grill."

After a second's worth of hesitation, Sasuke bent down and allowed her to feed it to him. Alarm bells were sounding off at the back of his head as he did so, telling him that this was a terrible idea and he should immediately abort this plan, but somehow he was too tired to make up some useless, indignant protest. He chewed on the meat thoughtfully.

"Is it good?"

Sasuke swallowed his mouthful and nodded. She was surprisingly proficient at this, for someone who looked like they grew up with maids to cook for her. Hinata shot him a megawatt smile, which led him to begrudgingly admit to himself that she was very pretty when she smiled at him like this.

Unfortunately, their moment was interrupted by a loud wolf whistle. The pair spun their heads around and they were greeted by the sight of a grinning Naruto. "You two are so cute together. How did I not realise this till now?"

Hinata's smile cracked, but she forced herself to maintain a polite smile at Naruto. From Sasuke's perspective, it looked like she was upset by his words, and somehow that stirred up the residual anger within him. More than that however, he felt a stab of hurt when he caught a glimpse of her smile that was pulled taut at the edges.

"Mind your own business," he eventually gritted out before leaving Hinata's side.

"Geez," Naruto sighed and gave Hinata a dramatic pout. "The teme always has his panties in a twist. Don't mind him, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata nodded, but inside she was still feeling unsettled. Perhaps it was because she was quite the people-pleaser, but she felt genuinely perturbed when Sasuke behaved as aberrantly as he was currently doing. Without waiting for a second more, Hinata tore out the gloves and followed after him, leaving Naruto yelling from behind about how she had left some meat on the grill.

Hinata did not know why she was being so anxious over Sasuke's behaviour. He had a reputation within Konoha for being aloof. On top of that, according to Naruto and Sakura, he was also occasionally temperamental. Walking out on her like this should have constituted normal behaviour for Sasuke, and yet Hinata could not shake off the feeling that there was something amiss.

With hurried steps, she descended from the staircase until she saw his jet black hair disappear behind a turn. She rushed down the hallway to catch up to him, and the moment she rounded the corner, she bumped right into the waiting man. Hinata looked up at him apologetically. In return, Sasuke gave her an unimpressed look and folded his arms.

"Why are you following me?"

Another blush made its way to her cheeks. "A-Ano… I wanted to see if you were okay…"

"I'm fine. I left you alone with Naruto so you could spend time with him. You're wasting your chance now."

Hinata began to fidget on the spot nervously. Her eyes remained fixed on his neck so that she did not have to meet his piercing gaze. "T-There is no chance to waste," she replied quietly, but did not elaborate.

Sasuke took a step closer. "Do you like the dobe?" he asked bluntly.

Hinata sucked in a breath at that. It took her a moment to compose herself before she replied, "I did… M-Maybe I still do, but I don't know. I didn't get to see Naruto-kun very often ever since he debuted."

Another step closer. "Why do you like him?"

This time there was no hesitation. "He is very hardworking, but also very carefree. And he always tries to make others around him happy."

Sasuke had to withhold a derisive snort at the dazed look in her eyes when she spoke of Naruto. Yet, he had to admit that she was right about his groupmate. Naruto was his most reliable friend whom he could always trust to drag him out of the dark recesses of his mind when the situation called for it.

After a contemplative silence, he turned around wordlessly to leave but was stopped by a gentle tug on the sleeve of his hoodie. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Why are you saying sorry?" He refused to turn around to look at her.

"I feel like I have made you upset…"

A pause. "No. I'm just thinking about what you said." After a brief moment, he moved to leave again, but this time Hinata skipped forward to walk in step with him. He gave her a questioning look, but she deliberately avoided looking at him. He could not help but roll his eyes.

"You aren't one of my fangirls, so why are you following me now?" He tried hard to mask the bitterness in his voice, since it was completely unwarranted.

Hinata let out a cute giggle when she heard this. "Maybe I am now…"

Sasuke let out a disbelieving snort. Was the demon trying to tease him now? How scheming of her. "Is that so?" he replied sarcastically, "I find that hard to believe."

"D-Do you even want one more fangirl? You seem to have a lot already."

They stopped right in front of the lift, and Sasuke took her by surprise when he swivelled his body around to stand in front of her. He was so close that she could breathe in the scent of his cologne and the lingering smell of barbeque. He stepped closer to her till their shoes touched. Yet, she did not find herself getting uncomfortable from the proximity as she had become used to having close contact with this man.

As a result, Hinata merely looked up at him in mild confusion. He then surprised her by stroking her head. She let out an involuntary shiver when she felt his fingers card through her long hair. He was doing it with enough tenderness to make her toes curl.

"Don't you know that you're the only one for me?" he murmured lowly.

Hinata's eyes widened in shock at his forwardness, and she could not help the intense blush that creeped up her face. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish, but no words came out. Sasuke thought that she looked rather stupid.

At that moment, the lift doors opened and Sasuke nonchalantly walked in. Hinata continued to stand outside, rooted to the spot. As he pressed the button to close the door, he tucked his hand into his pocket and said to her in a painfully stoic manner, "See you tomorrow."

It took Hinata a good five seconds after the lift doors closed to realise that he had just recited one of his character's lines for the scene they were scheduled to film tomorrow. She crumpled onto the floor in embarrassment for jumping the gun. It turned out that his reputation amongst his fangirls was not exaggerated after all – Uchiha Sasuke was so, so mean indeed!