So, I got some feedback that I really appreciated and I changed the layout of the 1st chapter. Also, thank you guys for reviewing, I was jumping around from the happiness when I saw people reviewed lol

Hope you enjoy it and, if you want, leave me a review so I know what to change/adjust.

I do not own Naruto and the characters, but I do own the story!

(:

The next day she opened her eyes feeling very dizzy, she went to the bathroom to have a quick shower, the cold water waking her up.

'I didn't sleep very well last night' she tried to recollect her memories of the day before.

Sasuke left her in front of her house, but she was so embarrassed that she transformed into a cat, he kind of hesitated before leaving, but maybe it was just her impression. When she was sure he left, she meowed in front of her door calling for help

"Juuuunoo, please, help! I mutated into a cat and I can't open the door", after few seconds she heard Juno arriving, trying to open the small cat door that was locked from the inside.

"What happened?" asked Juno, her eyes showed worry, she knew that Hinata involuntarily transforming into a cat meant troubles.

Her human-now-cat friend looked at her confused "I don't really know Juno" she started trotting towards the kitchen, "I was with this man who I met today and he is very... good-looking and I was just so clumsy and… I don't know, I was probably blushing red as a tomato so when I said goodbye my body just couldn't take it anymore and changed, but I'm sure he didn't see anything".

The cat was now less worried, but rather amused by the situation "You like this man!"

Hinata, who was drinking from a small cup, choked and started sneezing "N-no I don't, it was just my n-normal shyness", but Juno noticed that she was stuttering, thing that happened above all when she was very embarrassed. Juno didn't ask any more questions and let her relax.

When she finally felt okay, she mutated back into her human form.

She looked at Juno "Normal shyness, nothing more". Juno gave her the most cat stare ever, as to say 'Sure'.

After her shower she put on a pair of jeans and a comfy grey jumper and sat down to have some breakfast. She got ready to go and waved goodbye to Juno who purred in response.

When she exited her house, she looked around to see if Kiba was there, but the streets were empty and quiet. She checked the time on her phone, it was 8.25; she had few minutes to wait for him. The crisp autumnal air tingled her nose and she could feel her cheeks becoming rosy. Her phone buzzed, it was a message from Kiba 'Sorry Hina, not gonna come to uni today, there was an emergency at the vet, I'll call u later'. Hinata sighed, at least today they only had one lecture and it wasn't that important.

When the woman arrived at the university, the environment was filled with voices and laughter, and some dark faces too; it was Monday after all. In the crowd, Hinata recognised Tenten's buns and Ino's blonde hair. As she approached them in the big hall, she got a glimpse of dark hair.

Sasuke's morning was quite weird, he would say. He was usually very precise and punctual, but today he managed to get up late, trip into his bed sheets that fell during the night, burn his breakfast, which was just a slice of toast, and wear two different coloured shoes. Luckily he realised just after he had left the house so he managed to change them before getting into university like that.

When he got there, he subconsciously looked for Hinata, with a rapid look he examined the crowd, but didn't see her. He saw his friends that were talking in a small group so he went to reach them, but a sweet perfume of vanilla and lavender caught him while walking. Curious, he turned and saw indigo hair waving, like a paintbrush on canvas.

Hinata stopped for a second and noticed that Sasuke stopped in his tracks too. They waved at each other, Hinata politely smiling, Sasuke with his usual calm expression. Hinata was going to speak and say hi, but he had already turned around.

She didn't know that he had to do so because he could feel a blush making its way to his cheeks.

She went to her friends that saw the scene from afar. "What. Was. That?" asked Ino with a provocative smile on her face, Tenten laughed, "That's Hinata's first crush" and they both started giggling. Hinata's face that was still pink from the cold breeze, escalated quickly to a bright shade of magenta.

"T-that's not true!" Hinata tried to hide her face behind her slender fingers.

"Did I miss something last night after I left?" asked the blonde girl,"I had to leave to go to work at the bar and Kiba offered to walk with me and we left those two alone, I thought you were going home Hina" Tenten was smirking.

"I did! But… he offered to walk me home, so we walked and I got to the house safe and sound. Nothing happened I swear!" Hinata was trying her best to result convincible. Her friends squinted their eyes examining her face. They both chuckled and Hinata felt more relaxed

"It's fine Hina we were just joking around"

"But it was still a bit funny, sorry" they all giggled.

People started to walk to their lectures and so the three parted.

"See you girls in the canteen for lunch" Hinata waved.

Her professor wasn't there yet when she got to the class and there were very few people in the room 'Guess Mondays are terrible for most people huh' Hinata looked around as she sat down at her table.

She didn't really talk to her classmates, not because she didn't want to, she just didn't have many chances to. Some people weren't very interested in making new friends and some others did not have her same lectures so she would rarely see them.

There was a girl though, that she had never seen before. She had blonde hair put into two small spiky ponytails at the back of her head, the rest of it was kept down and arrived at her shoulders. She had green eyes and had an intense look on her face.

She probably averted Hinata's gaze and turned her face toward her. Hinata, embarrassed, smiled and mouthed a 'Hi'. The girl seemed surprised and slightly smiled and waved to Hinata. They both turned around when they noticed someone walking in the room, it was one of the university staff members.

"Sorry students, but your professor is ill today and will not be able to make it to lecture, he sent you an email yesterday, but I knew someone would have turned up anyway" there were whispers between Hinata's classmates. She didn't even think about looking at her university email the day before, above all in the evening. She mentally sighed, thinking that she could have been in bed still, in her comfy warm pyjamas.

"However", the man followed, "since you're here, these other students are looking for volunteers for they study project and politely asked if anyone was interested" the man turned to the door and made sign to come in.

A tall man entered the room; he had black hair collected into a ponytail and a bored expression sitting on his features. The second guy was shorter, had red spiky hair and blue eyes surrounded by thick dark eyelashes that looked like he was wearing eyeliner. Then the third man walked in, it was Sasuke, who had his stoic expression, looking even a bit annoyed, with his arms crossed on his chest.

He looked around and Hinata could have sworn that his eyes went wide open for a millisecond, as if he had been caught off guard. Maybe Hinata didn't make a first good impression on him, maybe she said something wrong during their walk to her house. She found herself wandering again in her thoughts, the smallest frown on her face.

Suddenly, a male voice coming from the staff member made her come back to reality.

"So, are there any volunteers?" the trio looked at the class, Shikamaru and Gaara had pleading eyes whereas Sasuke was trying his best to make a normal expression, close to a smile, but not quite. Since not a single person was raising a hand and Hinata felt that she had to return the favour to Sasuke, she shyly put hers up. The blonde girl from before raised her arm too.

Sasuke didn't want to do this, but his two friends said it could have been worth trying so he had to go with it. They wanted to ask for some help to one of the members of university staff. Apparently, they knew a guy who was quite funny and, possibly, he was going to help them.

They went to his office and asked if they could go to each classroom to ask for volunteers"It's really important that we find volunteers before next week, they gave us this assignment only few days ago, but they want us to do this study as quickly as possible".

"Well, you can't do that guys, unfortunately, it would mean interrupting a lot of lectures and professors would be then angry at us, and we don't want that" the trio sighed and looked disappointed.

"However," the man continued, "I might have an idea".

They followed him through the halls of the university and arrived at the door of a classroom. Sasuke didn't really feel at ease doing this, Shikamaru wasn't enthusiastic either to talk in front of other students, but it was for the project's sake. One by one they got into the room and as he entered Sasuke scanned the place, subconsciously as he did when he arrived in the morning

'I don't know why I'm doing this, I mean, what are the chances…' his dark eyes met with grey ones.

'Shit'

'Why is this happening to me, I do not deserve this in my life. Oh well, they are giving a terrible explanation of what the project is and I'm sure no one is ever going to volunteer. Not her at least. Definitely not her. I hope. Please, don't raise your hand. No. No, put that back down. Here we go, I'm doomed'

"Very well, thank you girls for being supportive to your peers, you can all go now" and with that they all exited the room.

Since Hinata didn't really listen to the description of the project because she was in her parallel universe made of self-conscious thoughts, now she didn't know what she had signed up for. She would have asked to Sasuke or find the courage to ask to one of his friends, but they basically sprinted out, and now the halls were deserted.

As she went back to the table were she was sitting to pick her things up, she realised the girl from before was still there, scribbling on a small notebook. Holding the backpack's straps as if she were holding the straps of a parachute, tightening the grip with every step, Hinata approached her.

"H-hi" she managed to say once arrived at the girl's table, finally capturing the attention of the blonde, who looked up surprised.

At first she was quiet and had a concentrated look, but then she relaxed her features "Hey".

"My name is Hinata, sorry to bother you, but it's the first time I see you and I thought… maybe I should introduce myself", with that she offered her hand.

The other girl looked at the pale hand in front of her and then at Hinata. She could feel she was a bit nervous, but she still emitted positivity with her sweet smile. She took her hand and shook it "Nice to meet you, I'm Temari, I just moved here".

"In which course are you?" asked Hinata.

"I'm in Wildlife Conservation, and you?"

"Oh, I'm in that course too! Maybe we could study together sometimes, I mean, if you want to, don't have to…"

Her nervous chatting was interrupted by a little giggle, which made Hinata turn to Temari who smiled at her
"Yes, I'd like that, I don't have any friends here, just my brother".

Hinata's eyes sparkled and her face suddenly became radiant, "Would you like to go to the canteen with me? I'm meeting some friends for lunch, I could introduce you to them too!"

"Sure, why not!"

Hinata didn't remember the last time she had made a new friend, apart from meeting Sasuke, although she didn't think he was her friend and possibly he was never going to be since she had the feeling he didn't like her.

The two girls walked to the canteen in silence, not an awkward kind of silence, more like a peaceful one. When they arrived in the canteen, it was still quiet and the only people in the big area were the canteen staff and a lonely professor who was probably there to avoid the crowd of students during peak time.

The canteen was divided into two parts: one was in front of the counter where they served food; it had wooden tables and chairs neatly situated all around. The other part was a bit smaller and on a lower level, so there were some steps to access it. It was Hinata's favourite part because it had little booths with comfy chairs, but above all because it had a massive window wall looking out into the university garden.

Hinata pointed at a booth positioned in the corner, it was hers and her friends' spot as it was usually quieter than the rest of the canteen.

They sat at the table and they both looked outside, enjoying the warmth of a shy autumn sun filtering through the window.

"So… this project we're volunteering for, do you know much about it?" Hinata tried to ask, remembering that she still had no idea.

Temari shook her head "Not really, I spaced out during the explanation. My brother is one of the guys organising it, so I kinda had to participate" she shrugged and sighed as she put her arm on the table, resting her head on it.

Hinata frowned a little, feeling the nervousness going to her stomach, like when she had to speak to someone she didn't know or present in front of a big group of people. She just hoped they wouldn't discover her little secret.

Suddenly another thought made its way to her mind 'Wait, she said that her brother was one of the guys organising the project… No, she can't be his sister, they don't look similar at all' with the corner of her eyes she peered at the woman in front of her who was still looking outside. A calm expression lying on her forest green eyes.'To be fair, she doesn't look like any of them…' her train of thoughts was interrupted by the noise of footsteps and voices filling up the canteen.

Temari looked surprised by the amount of people walking into the place.

The loud laughs, the inviting smell, the calls between peers; it was startling how the atmosphere changed in few minutes.

She saw Hinata waving at someone, as to signal her position and then she mouthed 'tea'. Temari cocked her head a bit and raised an eyebrow, she was just about to turn around when two girls appeared from nowhere and sat down at the booth.

"Hey girls" Hinata started "this is my new classmate Temari, she's new so I thought we could show her around and study together" Temari had the smallest blush on her face while she waved at Tenten and Ino.

The girls grinned and introduced themselves "Hi, I'm Tenten",

"And I'm Ino, nice to meet you" they gave their best smiles then the brunette handed Hinata her tea.

"Thank you Tee-tee" said the girl, breathing in the steam coming from the cup in front of her.

"If you call me that I'll take the tea back to where it was" Tenten said frowning, looking at her friend.

"Well, you don't mind when Neji does it" an 'Oooooh' left Ino's mouth followed by a laugh and a flaming blush on Tenten's face who was looking everywhere apart from her friends to hide it.

Hinata chuckled and excused herself and added "You served it on a silver platter Ten".

Temari was looking at the scene and, even though she was new to all of this, she kind of liked it; she smiled, her head resting on her hands, amused by the fact that thanks to Hinata she was possibly going to have some good friends.

If things couldn't get any better, Hinata took out a hand-decorated blue box from her backpack and Temari saw the faces of Ino and Tenten brighten up. The woman opened the tin box to reveal several baked goods. Croissants, pains au chocolat, brioches and cinnamon rolls. Temari opened her eyes in surprise. Hinata positioned the box in the middle of the table "Kiba is not here today so you might actually be able to eat more than one".

Seeing Temari's hesitance Hinata said gently "Please help yourself, I made them for my friends".

The blonde girl blushed slightly and smiled; no one had ever been that nice to her.

Ino and Tenten were already stuffing their faces, Temari picked a croissant and Hinata a cinnamon roll, everything was going perfectly.

Too perfectly.

Sasuke and the others were just arrived in the canteen and it was already packed. All the tables were occupied by group of students or lecturers. It was at this time that Sasuke didn't like the canteen, he liked before and past the peak hour, but from 12 to 1pm it was just too busy.

He hadn't manage to come before because after that terrible experience in the room where she was, they had to fill in so many documents with the guy who "helped" them; then they had to meet up with other volunteers to explain the different details of the project. So now it was late for being early and it was early for being late. But he was exhausted, he felt drained and so did his friends, so they queued to get some food and drinks and then their hunt for a table began.

They eyed one, just in front of them in the main room 'Great' he thought, mentally smiling and relaxing at the idea of sitting down and having food. He didn't even move his first step that a girl quickly sat down with her group, occupying all the space. The trio looked annoyed and started to look for another place. Frenetically walking past every single spot in the canteen. It was a series of 'Ooh that one' and 'Nope'. They couldn't even see Naruto and Lee around so they could join them.

'They're probably doing handstands on a hill those bast-' his eyes caught a glimpse of indigo; a thousand shades of blue irradiating the booth were she was sitting. The trio was at the end of the main room, nearly parallel to where the girls where. Sasuke noticed Gaara walking down the steps, approaching the booth where they were

'What is he doing?' he thought, his eyebrows vaguely knotting. Sasuke felt his legs muscles twitching and with that he started following his friend.

Shikamaru let out a small sigh, frowning a little, 'So troublesome'.

Temari looked up to meet her brother's light blue eyes and she grinned

"Hello little brother" waving her hand jokily. Hinata, Tenten and Ino looked shocked, their eyes jumping from their friend to the redhead who was standing still, annoyance on his face.

"Brother!?" the trio gasped.

"Little brother" Temari corrected, a provocative grin lounging on her lips.

"Don't call me that, Big Ball", he stated in defiance.

The girls were looking at the exchange, not knowing what to expect from the electricity that was coming from the siblings.

Temari stuck her tongue out and with her index finger she pulled her right bottom eyelid down. The siblings smiled and the atmosphere felt relaxed again.

"Oh, sorry I should to the presentations" she gesticulated with her right hand, gesturing towards the girls, "These are Hinata, Tenten and Ino" then she went back to her brother, "This is my lit…"

"Gaara, I'm just Gaara. Nice to meet you" he interrupted his sister giving her a look that could freeze a pond during a very hot summer day.

The girls softly giggled and said hello.

Hinata then saw a black figure behind Gaara, her eyes meeting with his for a brief moment.

Sasuke must've been there the whole time because he had a teasing expression on his face.

"Little brother huh?" another figure appeared, it was the other guy that was with them before, his bored eyes now were squinting and an amused smile made its way to his lips.

Gaara turned around shocked at the presence of his two friends.

First of all, he didn't want them to discover his sister's nickname for him and secondly he didn't want to introduce his sister to Sasuke, knowing the effect he had on girls and his behaviour with most of them.

Glancing at his sister though, he noticed she was eyeing Shikamaru; her look was a mix of irritation and nervousness.
Then he turned around to see Sasuke, his coal-black eyes fixed on the dark-haired girl, 'What was her name again…'

"Hinata" the word left Sasuke's mouth without even being processed by his brain, it came out as a soft sound, a flutter of a butterfly would have been louder. Still Gaara seemed to have noticed it and so did Hinata, who was lightly blushing and had a puzzled expression.

Sasuke couldn't stop looking at her, the way the sun was hitting her figure made her look like a painting of a Greek goddess. Her hair shimmering, her pale skin glowing and her eyes, those grey eyes with a splash of lilac, reminded him of the rainy clouds hit by the dawn light. For a second he felt that they were the only ones in the room. But the second passed and the voices of her friends took him back to reality.

"Hi Sasuke" Ino said, resting her chin on her hands, a mischievous look on her face as if she had just read his dreamy thoughts.

"Hn" he nodded, "Do you have some space for us?"

The girls nodded, they had two extra seats, so one of them had to sit at the head of the table. Sasuke picked a free chair from another booth and sat down with them. From there he could see Hinata so he was content.

Hinata felt her eyes repeatedly move from her food to Sasuke. She didn't understand why. Though she couldn't understand anything at the moment. Since he pronounced her name she felt her stomach jumping around and her cheeks going warmer and warmer. Why did he say her name? Why like that? Why not say hello? Her thoughts going fast while she was trying to elaborate them.

In the meantime, the group had done introductions and was now chatting, well mainly the girls and Gaara, who seemed the only one up for a normal conversation.

"Oh, right," Temari remembered "Hinata was asking about the details of the project, we both spaced out during your boring explanation".

Hinata, who was immerged in her thoughts just seconds before, opened her eyes and blushed putting her hands in front of her, but before she could say that she wasn't bored by the speech, Sasuke talked.

"It's a simple DNA test, followed by an interview" he stated plainly, then went back to his cheese and tomato toast.

"Yeah, we probably should have explained it in that way during the speech" Shikamaru sighed.

"It's just for us to practice research methods and testing, but they recently told us we are going to be marked on it so the concern got to us during the presentation" Gaara continued.

"Yeah, we still don't have enough volunteers. We need at least 15, we have 8 so far" Shikamaru looked at Sasuke and frowned "Y' know, if you had put up an announcement saying 'Sasuke Uchiha wants you for this project' by this time we would have been full of volunteers"

Sasuke looked at him, his impassive eyes now were furious and looked like they could fire lasers.

"Don't you guys dare, I don't want any of my fans to come to the lab and harass me" his voice, on the edge of anger, came out like a bark.
Hinata was surprised he had more than one facial expression.

The others giggled, then Tenten said "Well, I could volunteer" and Ino nodded "Yeah, same. We'll help you and I'm sure Kiba won't mind too, right Hina?" Hinata nodded smiling.

Shikamaru and Gaara looked at the girls with gratitude.

"Thank you, we appreciate it" Shikamaru gave a relieved smile.

It was already time to go, they all had other lectures apart from Temari and Hinata. Sasuke and the others waved and left, then Tenten and Ino hugged Hinata and waved goodbye to Temari "Talk to you girls later" Ino nearly shouted after few steps.

Temari turned to Hinata "So, do you have plans for the rest of the day?"

Hinata shrugged "Uhm, yeah, I… uh, have a part-time job"

"Ooh nice, what do you do?" asked Temari curiously.

"Oh, I give private lessons to a group of children" she knew this line by heart now and she could say it so convincingly that even herself was starting to believe it.

"Cool, well, I'll see you tomorrow then" and with that she stood, gave her a quick two-fingers salute and left. She was so fast that Hinata merely managed to wave back.

Only when Hinata arrived at home, closed the door behind her, she realised what the guys said about the project. Her loose backpack fell on the floor and she let out a yell

"DNA TEST?!"

It wasn't a proper yell, more of a loud gasp, as the words didn't really come out clear enough, trapped in her throat.

Will her DNA test show her paw-ers? ... Okay sorry that was terrible, but I had to.

*BigBall refers to Temari's name which is also a kind of Japanese craft ball