Chapter 4:

Soy Sauce

XxXxXx

The morning began slowly, as Hinata rose out of bed at nearly 11:30AM. After making sushi, she told him sternly, yet quietly, they were to go shopping to fill his empty kitchen with respectable food items. She shuffled to her kitchen, remembering this. She frowned at herself and began a pot of hot water to begin her morning tea. Watching the pot as she waited for it to heat faster, she wondered what they should by. Absentmindedly, she stroked the collar of her new, plush robe.

She turned her back to the teapot and pulled a pad of sticky notes and pen from a drawer. Clicking the pen, she tossed her long hair over her shoulder and began at the top. After a few moments, she nodded contentedly to herself. Rice, honey, fish, milk, noodles, eggs, flour, sugar, broth, seasonings, and nori were all on the list so far. Nodding once more, she listened to the teapot whistle. She turned off the burner and poured out a cupful of hot water over a teabag and into a mug.

Hinata licked her dry lips and pondered the night before. Sasuke was so... odd. He was trying to be nice to her. He was trying to whisk her off her feet. Or maybe, it was her overactive imagination. She shrugged and picked up her mug, taking a sip before hissing at the too-hot tea. She set the cup to the side, frowning pitifully at herself.

XxXxXx

Sasuke was up bright and early. Truthfully, he hadn't fallen asleep. His stomach was betraying him, or the Aburame had put butterflies into his stomach when he wasn't paying attention. He doubted the latter, but he wasn't going to blame Hinata. He wasn't about to ruin whatever he'd just created. He hoped she felt whatever electricity he'd felt the night before.

He stared up at the ceiling, too groggy to get up and make tea, too groggy to go over to her... Never mind. He wasn't too tired to get up and stalk to her apartment. He practically leapt off the couch and began his walk to her apartment. If they were going to go shopping, he thought, they might as well leave early so they didn't run into anyone.

In front of her apartment, he briefly wondered whether he should knock or open the door and call out 'guess who!' He decided on the former, knowing it would confuse her to no end if he opened the door and giggled out those two words. He shuddered, thinking it reminded him of Naruto. After a few moments of trying to erase the Sexy no Jutsu from his mind, he knocked on the door.

She didn't answer right away. He wondered what she was doing, and hoped it had nothing to do with peering out her window to see him blushing and struggling to regain his stoic features. He glanced through the window, just to make sure, but didn't see anything. The door opened as he was looking over the curtain-covered window. Turning his head, he looked down at her.

"Good morning, Uchiha-san." She smiled sweetly, her cooled tea in hand.

He nodded at her and glanced into her apartment. It looked the same as it had the night before, not that he expected any changes. He looked back to Hinata and nodded once more.

"Would you like to come in?"

He smirked and stepped past her. His arm brushed the plush fabric of the robe he gifted her. "You must really like it," he pointed out.

She crimsoned quickly and looked away. He walked to her couch and sat in the same spot he'd taken up when he'd brought her the gift she was wearing. She nodded a little, then walked to her kitchen. She picked up the pad and pen, slipping both into her pocket, then poured a cup of tea for her guest.

Both cups in hand, sh walked to the sitting room and offered the fresh cup to him. "I... Ano... I started a grocery list," she mentioned quietly, hoping to change the subject.

He nodded, the idiotic butterflies in his stomach acting up when she sat beside him. He took the pad from her hand when she dug it from her pocket. Glancing it over, he quickly stated, "You didn't write down butter, ketchup, mayonnaise, bread, lettuce, any sort of meat other than fish, or fresh fruits and vegetables."

She looked over his arm at her neat penmanship. "I guess I didn't," she murmured. "Here." She removed the pen from her pocket and reached over his wrist to write down what he'd listed.

The Uchiha flushed, but didn't say a word about the intimacy of their proximity. After all, her chest was pressing against his arm and his hand was dangerously close to her thigh. He glanced at Hinata, who was thinking nothing of their closeness. He watched her push the pen behind her hear, then look at him.

"I... Ano... I haven't bathed or gotten dressed or eaten," she admitted bashfully.

He raised an eyebrow, confused as to why she was telling him all that. Then it hit him. She wanted to take a bath, put on clothes, and eat. He blushed, imagining her in a tub filled with bubbles, cheeks flushed from the temperature. Shaking that stupid thought from his head, he mentally scolded himself for developing a teenager's mind.

He turned his gaze away and nodded. "I can wait."

She blushed furiously and set her cup on the coffee table with a nervous clatter. "I- I'll be back in a-an hour," she murmured, walking to her room in a daze.

He slouched back and let out a relieved sigh. He hadn't realized how much tension had developed between the two of them over the course of a single night. He ran a hand through his hair and stood up, pacing back and forth, trying to come up with a way to keep their shopping trip from being embarrassing.

His thoughts were interrupted prematurely when he heard a knock at the door. Taking in a deep breath, he went to the window and peeked through the curtains at the blonde kunoichi on the porch. He murmured how she shouldn't be there, and finally, opened the door. He frowned at her. "What are you here for?"

Oh, Sasuke-kun," she began, her old habit kicking in. "Where's Hinata-chan? You aren't keeping her away from the world, are you?" She was teasing, immediately drawing the conclusion they were dating. After all, he was in her apartment at noon and had recently purchased her a new robe.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm waiting for her."

"She's not home?" Ino pouted. "Well, in that case, I'll come in and wait for her, too!"

Ino pushed past him easily and looked over Hinata's apartment. "I don't see any pictures of the two of you or any of your stuff in here," she remarked offhandedly.

"I don't live here."

"Oh? Well, why not? You two are obviously close. You're in her apartment, and she usually locks it when she goes out."

"She's not out."

"Oh really? Then where is she?"

Down the hall, the water began to run in the bathroom. Ino giggled. "You were going to walk in on her bathing? Hah! And I thought Sakura and I were bad! We always planned on walking in on you going to the bathroom or sneaking into your house while you were sleeping to steal your clothes!"

The stoic boy's face with rigid. That knowledge nearly made him gag. He set down his tea, knowing he would never be able to take a single sip with Ino in his presence.

"Great," he thought aloud. "I used to think Itachi was my worst problem."

"You were so wrong," she laughed.

He groaned to himself and shook his head. "You probably shouldn't have told me about that. I'll have to tell Sai about Sakura's stalker side."

"Nah, he knows all about that! He says it's a 'turn-on'. I don't think so. Naruto doesn't think so either. Of course, other than me, he only thinks about ramen and how to get back at you and say 'ha ha, sucker!'"

After twenty minutes of complete hell for Sasuke, and a regular conversation for Ino, Hinata emerged from the bathroom. She was clad in a pair of long shorts and her jacket. Her cheeks were flushed from the warmth of her bath. She glanced between the two of her guests and smiled at Ino.

"Good afternoon," she greeted sweetly.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!" Ino squealed loudly, running to hug the girl. "Sasuke-kun, here, tells me that he doesn't live here with you. You two don't even have pictures of the two of you together. What kind of couple are you?"

"Aa... Ino-chan, we're not a couple," she whispered, almost as though, if she said it too loudly, Sasuke would notice and call her on it. He might tell her something she wasn't at all, yet somehow too, ready to hear him say. "We're just friends. I'm teaching Uchiha-san to cook."

"Ugh. You two are truly boring. When are you going to get together?" Ino was asking herself, as if Hinata and Sasuke weren't in the room. "Anyway, I dropped by to ask if you wanted to go to dinner with Naruto-kun and I. What do you say?"

"Ano..." She looked to Sasuke with pleading eyes. "I don't... know."

Ino pouted cutely. "Come on... I'll even let you bring Sasuke-kun with you. It'll be sort of like a double-date!" She was excited about this idea, but Hinata wasn't. She didn't want to say yes and admit she might have a crush on the Uchiha.

"Demo, Ino, why don't we have lunch together some other time..."

The blonde whipped around and looked at Sasuke. "You'll go, won't you?" she asked.

Afraid for his underwear, he nodded coolly. "I wouldn't mind. Will it be at Ichiraku's?"

The blonde laughed easily and nodded. "You obviously know Naruto-kun too well," she remarked. "Come on, Hinata. You have to go now. I even have a date for you!" She pointed at Sasuke.

The Hyuuga girl sighed and nodded. "I'll go."

"Yay!" Ino jumped up and hugged her friend. "Don't worry about what to wear, okay? It's not like it's a big fancy, shmancy date. It's small and quiet. We might even go to Naruto-kun's apartment later and watch scary movies." The girl then waved to the pair and bounced out of the room.

"...you did that on purpose," Hinata murmured, taking the cups of not-quite-finished tea to the kitchen.

XxXxXx

The duo arrived at the grocery store at 1:47PM. Hinata pulled out a cart while Sasuke looked over the list for a fifteenth time. He wanted to make sure the didn't leave anything off. She pushed the cart around, going slowly so he could follow. She pulled out items and put them into the basket of their cart as he read off the list.

Of course, when Sasuke mentioned soy sauce wasn't on the list, they had already passed the aisle. "I'm not going back," she said, looking ove bags of rice for the brand she used in her home.

"You'd better."

"I won't. If I go back, it will throw me off, and I won't remember what I was looking for."

"We have a list," he pointed out, waving the paper before her.

She frowned and stared up at him. "I don't care. I'm not going to a previous aisle for soy sauce." She knelt down to pick up the large bag of rice she wanted and placed it in the bottom of the cart. "I'm going to get bread next, not your silly sauce."

"You're being irrational."

"No, you are. Only people who don't like flavor put soy sauce on their food after the cook has prepared it. It shows how well the chef did. You don't need soy sauce."

"I do need it. What if I make bad rice?"

"Then I'll have you remake it."

"You won't be at my house all the time!" he remarked quickly.

She looked away from where she was walking and frowned at him. She wasn't going to comment further. After staring at him for a moment too long, she was interrupted by Lee. He was pushing a cart holding only a large cake. "Ah... Young love... How I wish I had your ability to achieve such passion!" he called out in passing.

Hinata took in a deep breath, set her jaw, and stalked away from Sasuke. She turned down the bread aisle and pulled out two loaves. When she turned around, she went down aisle five to pick up the Uchiha's beloved soy sauce. The rest of the shopping experience, she ignored him. She continued to pick out what his kitchen needed, only if it was on the list.

At the end of the trip, Hinata was carrying two bags, neither containing the sauce. Her jaw was still set, and her eyes had developed the look that Neji's carried when he was irritated. Once at his home, she pushed the bags into his arms and walked away.

"Stupid Uchiha," she had mumbled under her breath.