Rumours and Assets
The rumors at Konoha Gakuen High have been confirmed and Itachi Uchiha is indeed pursuing the new Hyuuga girl. And for the sake of defeating him, Sasuke wants to win her affections first. With his good looks and "too cool for you attitude", it couldn't be too hard, right?
A/N: Well, I really wanted to update this and hopefully I don't get too carried away as I write this...? (I'm really unsure, I bet this might end up far too long once again, sorry!) Just to make it clear about the school day's structure, there are five periods in the whole day. Homeroom, Period 1 and 2 are before recess, Period 3 and 4 are after recess and before lunch and Period 5 is last and after lunch.
One extra note and I know I'm rambling too long but I've made Tobi the leader in this as it makes sense with the recent Naruto chapters where he's able to even order Pein around. In a sense, I reckon Pein acts as the leader but in reality, Tobi is the real leader working in the shadows, that's my theory at least. XD
EDITED: For the sanity of my reader's I've fixed the horrible spelling/grammatical and even Japanese errors I made! D: Thank you Mei Sanniang for pointing out the "Yakuza" issue. :D
Anyways, onto the next chapter!
...
The first day of school had finally ended and Hinata flung herself onto her bed, exhausted. Most of the time, she had spent attempting to keep up with Itachi as he quickly led her to her next class before vanishing mysteriously every time she would turn to thank him. When she had asked him about it before reaching her fifth period class, he explained briefly in these exact words:
"I don't have any more time to waste on you. I have class as well."
Hinata sighed into her pillow. So she really was a burden as Kisame had said. For Itachi to have said that to her face so easily, it must be true. Hinata was already a burden to her family and now she was one at school as well.
Tears formed at the corners of her eyes but she quickly sat up and shook her head. She couldn't cry anymore; she wouldn't allow herself to. It was pointless for her to cry and if others saw it, she would only become more burdensome, weak and useless. She forced the tears back and grabbed the day's homework from her bag to prevent her mind from wandering back to the thought of her being a burden.
It wouldn't help if she were to become upset over these things.
Yet, as she began working on her simultaneous equations, she couldn't help but think that she was indeed a burdensome and useless person.
Two tears splashed onto her book before Hinata snapped her maths book shut and hurriedly made her way to the bathroom to wash her face. There was no one at home besides her and yet, she still felt as if she were doing the walk of shame, her weakness showing in the glittering tears on her cheeks.
...
"Yo, Hinata-chan!" Deidara greeted with a grin as Hinata made her way to her locker.
Hinata's face fell.
Chan? Whatever happened to the formality before?
Had they already become friends so quickly that she hadn't noticed? Was a one day acquaintance enough to have such informality between two people?
"You're rather early to school, hn," Deidara said cheerily, the sight of his grin unnerving Hinata.
"Y-yes."
That's right. I'm the pet of Akatsuki now. Why Kami-sama? Why did I stupidly enroll into this school? Hinata cried mentally.
"Erm..." she began, her voice quiet as she responded, "I w-woke up early today... s-so, I th-thought I might as well just come early to school," was her explanation as she brought up her fingertips to her lips worriedly, blushing.
"Pet-chan, you are so adorable!" exclaimed a familiar voice from behind Hinata before she was literally attacked. Tobi had jumped up and hugged her from behind before proceeding to stroke her hair as one would do to a cat or dog.
She inwardly sighed, wishing she could wriggle out of his grasp but knew that the Akatsuki were a dangerous bunch and decided that for her own safety and perhaps others, she would not do anything to make them mad. "Why a-are both of m-my senpai here so early too?" she asked, trying to ignore how her head tilted each time Tobi stroked her head.
Tobi cheered excitedly. "Did you hear that Deidara? Did you? Pet-chan said "my senpais"! Isn't that adorable?" he asked before proceeding to stroke Hinata's head, murmuring about how wonderful a pet she was.
Hinata blushed, realising her words were mistaken and that she hadn't intended at all for it to mean that way.
"Yeah, yeah, you idiot, I heard it," Deidara said, a gang member who was clearly annoyed by their leader despite his position. "Well, I'm actually here to work on my artwork at school," he said, answering Hinata's question.
"Oh, you do art?" Hinata asked in interest.
"Yes, art is quite a blast," Deidara said with a grin. "And I mean literally. You see, I use these paint ball guns when doing an artwork and it's always exciting to see it explode as it makes contact with the canvas, hn. My teacher thinks its unorthodox but she can't stop me." At this, Deidara threw back his head and laughed loudly.
Hinata sweat-droppped. He brings in guns to school? A cold wind blew past her. I most certainly will die with these people if I'm not careful. I fear for my life, Kami-sama.
"Stop being an idiot, Deidara," came Sasori's voice gruffly as he made his way towards the trio, a canvas under his arm. "You're being showed up by that perverted junior (A/N: LOL, guess who? XD) in the art class and you can still laugh stupidly like that? I wonder sometimes why Kurenai-sensei just doesn't throw you out of the class. You're a fool when it comes to true art."
Deidara snorted. "Hah, true art is what mine is: a blast! If you can't enjoy yourself while you do it, then it's not real art is it, hn?"
"What do you mean by that, Deidara?" Sasori asked, his eyes narrowing.
"NNNOOOO!" Tobi wailed, covering Hinata's ears. "Do not fight in front of our precious Pet-chan!"
A vein popped out in Deidara's head. "Shut up, you immature buffoon!" he yelled, pointing at Tobi angrily. "Every time you open your mouth, you prove how much of an idiot you are!"
"Deidara," a deep and velvet voice spoke, silencing the party.
Itachi Uchiha had arrived and a previously non-existent wind blew his hair as he walked towards the group. Hinata checked around to see if any windows were open. How was he able to make such an impressive entrance?
"Must you use such a loud tone in the early morning?" Itachi asked softly and Hinata gulped nervously. She could hear danger bells ringing in her ears at the tone of Itachi's voice and looked away, hoping that he would not look at her. The last thing she needed as a pet of the Akatsuki was to have her head chomped off by a murderous-sounding Uchiha.
Blinking, Hinata noticed a green-haired senior walking beside Itachi and she tried to not be rude by wondering how he could have such oddly coloured hair. The fact was that she indeed had strangely coloured indigo hair herself but she had never encountered someone with green hair and wondered vaguely if it was his natural colour like hers was. The senior seemed to notice her staring and turned his gaze to hers which she quickly averted, suddenly taking interest in her shoes as rouge tinged her pale cheeks.
"Ahh, I don't believe we've introduced Zetsu to you, Pet-chan," Tobi spoke, causing Hinata to lift her head but her gaze hovered on the green-haired seniors pant-covered knees. "He was away yesterday because... why were you away yesterday?" Tobi asked, cocking his head to the side comically.
"Ugh... stomach ache..." was Zetsu's grunted reply.
Hinata could feel his eyes on her face and she dared not raise her eyes to confirm that fear. An arm draped around her shoulders and startled, she looked up to be see that it was simply Deidara who wore a grin that didn't ease the fear.
"Did you know Hinata-chan, that our buddy Zetsu here is a cannibal?" Hinata tensed under Deidara's arm. "Yup, he's probably eyeing you right now, trying to figure out which part of you would be best to eat once Hidan sneaks you away and sacrifices you whilst our idiotic leader is looking in the other direction."
Wide-eyed, Hinata avoided looking at Zetsu, wondering if he was in fact thinking of tying her to a spit and cooking her over a large fire. Ugh, bad thoughts... Hinata suddenly felt queasy.
"NO! NEVER! I WILL NEVER LET MY GUARD DOWN AROUND YOU ALL!" Tobi declared, seizing Hinata away from Deidara. "I will never let you eat my Pet-chan!" he vowed, one hand pinning Hinata's head to his chest, the other pointing accusingly at Zetsu.
"An idiot to the core," Deidara sighed, shrugging in defeat. "I was simply teasing her."
"Look at her!" Tobi cried indignantly, spinning Hinata around to display her flushed face (she was suffocating because she couldn't breathe against Tobi's chest). "She's traumatised! Don't say such intentionally harmful things to her!"
"Argh, I can't stand this idiocy, I don't have time to waste on you idiots," Sasori grumbled, rubbing his temple as if he had a headache.
Unable to stop her curiosity, Hinata spoke, "Are y-you finding somewhere to continue your artwork, Sasori-senpai?"
Sasori's head shot up at her question and his gaze shifted to her causing a deeper blush to cover her cheeks. She knew that some of the Akatsuki were either not interested or were not entirely happy with her presence in their gang. Sasori was one of the "if-you-didn't-waste-so-much-of-our-time-I-couldn't-care-less-about-your-existence". The fact was that Hinata consumed most of the Akatsuki's time and it annoyed Sasori having to wait for another argument started because of Hinata's presence to end, so the cold stare from him was almost expected. Almost.
"Why would you be interested for?" he asked, his tone as cold as his stare. "You probably aren't even artistically inclined," he added harshly, before turning on his heel and walking away.
"Ah! Sasori-sama! Wait up, I have to work on my artwork as well!" Deidara called after his retreating back before running to catch up to him.
Hinata stared down at her hands sadly. Had she unintentionally insulted him somehow?
"U-Uhm... I have to go to my locker now," she said quickly, bowing. "Please excuse me." She turned and dashed down the corridor, hoping they hadn't noticed the upset expression on her face. It would be just more annoying for them to see how easily upset she was.
"Do you know the way to your homeroom?" Tobi called after her.
"Y-yes!" she lied as she ran down the corridor.
Hinata raced around the corner out of their sight and finally slowed down, sighing in relief. At least she wasn't upset enough to start crying. She looked up and noticed someone at the locker next to hers and would have turned around and walked away if he hadn't noticed her.
Sasuke Uchiha peered around his locker, annoyed and wondering which girl was staring at him this time. He wasn't a morning person (yet for some reason he was an early riser) and the fact that there were still girls to ogle at him at this unpleasant time of day irritated him.
"U-uh..." Hinata started, not liking the awkward silence hanging over them. "G-Good morning Uchiha-san," she greeted, bowing briefly before shuffling towards her locker, wishing her hands were steady so she could open it quickly and hide behind its door.
"Hmph," came Sasuke's uncaring reply, turning back to his locker to draw out the books he would need for his first two periods.
Despite her attempt, the awkward and heavy silence remained and her trembling didn't cease even as she managed to open the locker and hide her head behind the door. A wall between them, that was all she needed, even if it was only small and temporary, as long as she didn't have to face him whenever he glared at her.
A hand gripped the top of her locker door and pulled it back enough to reveal her frightened face and his agitated one. "Do you have a problem with me?" he asked coldly, continuing to glare at her.
Mutely, Hinata shook her head violently, wishing he would relinquish her locker door so that the wall would come between and shield her from those angry eyes of his. She wondered vaguely why he was even directing his anger at her; she couldn't think of anything she had done in the past minute to aggravate him.
Abruptly, he startled her and made her jump by slamming his locker shut, still facing her with his glaring eyes. Hinata wished silently that she could run away without it seeming rude. "Then why are you looking at me like that?"
"L-like what?"
"Like I'm going to devour you or something," Sasuke said with a shrug, the annoyance never leaving his eyes.
"U-Um... uh..." Hinata was blushing again and she knew it. She didn't know what else she could do. I mean, how can I explain to him that I think his face is scary without offending him?
Sasuke's hand remained planted on his locker door and he drummed his fingers on the metal, waiting impatiently. He really hated mornings. He could already feel a headache arising and it wasn't even 8:30 yet. Clicking his tongue, Sasuke tried to suppress the rage he knew had been building up all morning ever since he found out his brother had intentionally set his alarm clock to 5:30 and had taken the last tomato for his own sandwich for lunch. And Sasuke knew the older Uchiha had done it to spite him, after all, Itachi hated tomatoes. The thought of his brother throwing away the tomatoes that were meant for him made his blood boil.
"Look, Hyuuga... what's your name again?" he snapped, making Hinata jump once more which irritated him. Why was she so jumpy around him?
"H-Hinata."
"Hinata," he repeated plainly and Hinata didn't know whether to take it as an insult, "I'm not in the mood in the mornings so avoid talking to me at all costs. Don't greet me; don't do whatever, it'll piss me off," he warned, scowling even further.
Hinata simply stared at him. So he wasn't intending to tell her off? He just wanted to warn her that he was really moody in the mornings (which she could already see at a glance)?
Sasuke stared at her expectantly before sighing in agitation, "Do you understand?" he asked and Hinata realised he was trying to remain calm and collected.
She nodded quickly not wanting to anger him any further. Was he telling her this because he was worried he may blow up at her in the future? Or did he usually tell this to people when they hardly knew him? She had no more time to ponder on this as a voice rang out through the corridor.
"Sasuke!" called the voice of the blonde-haired boy, Naruto from yesterday. The blonde teen accompanied by the other two from the day before-Sai and Sakura-walked beside him as they came to a stop in front of Sasuke. "Where've you been? Oh, hey!" he exclaimed when he noticed Hinata. "You're that girl that was being harassed by Sai yesterday!"
Not knowing whether or not to feel insulted, Hinata simply nodded in response.
"Oh wow... but hey, how come you're talking to her, Sasuke? AH! Are you bullying her, Sasuke-teme?"
"I'm not in the mood to talk to you, Naruto," Sasuke warned with a growl, shoving his hands into his pant pockets and turning away to leave.
Naruto gasped in horror, staring at Sasuke's retreating back with wide disbelieving eyes. "IMPOSSIBLE! HAVE YOU COME TO HARASS HER TOO?"
Without warning, Sasuke's fist flew and connected with Naruto's jaw making him stumble backwards. "NOT EVERYONE'S A PERVERT IN THE MAKING LIKE YOU!" Sasuke yelled, his eyes blazing angrily.
"I'M NOT A PERVERT! I'M JUST INTRIGUED!"
"THAT'S THE SAME AS ADMITTING THAT YOU ARE A PERVERT!"
Hinata simply stared wide-eyed at the scene before her and wondered if this was the result of Sasuke being moody in the mornings, or because Naruto had just said something completely inappropriate.
"Don't worry, this usually happens," said Sai with his usual smile, suddenly standing next to Hinata. He turned to her "how-did-you-get-over-here" face, his smile never leaving his face as he spoke, "Oh yes, I didn't get your size yesterday, what did you say it was...?"
"I assure you that you would not want to know," came a deep smooth voice.
Hinata turned around to see that Itachi and Kisame stood behind her and felt a mixture of fear and relief that they had come and prevented her from having to answer Sai's inquiry.
"Why not?" Sai asked, his smile never faltering.
"Because Itachi's permitted me to break that perverted face of yours if you do get an answer," answered Kisame, grinning wickedly as he cracked his knuckles.
There was a pause. "Well I know for a fact that at a glance, her size appears to be around-"
Sakura clamped a hand over Sai's mouth, laughing nervously. "Well... uh, we'll just be going now! Narrruuuttooo!" she growled, grabbing him by the ear. "We're going now. Come on, Sasuke-kun."
However, Sasuke remained where he was, glaring at his older brother. Itachi turned his gaze to him, as if only just noticing the younger Uchiha.
"Sasuke? You are remarkably early to school today," remarked the older Uchiha, his expression as blank as usual, obviously showing no remorse for what part he had to play in Sasuke's early rising.
Hinata could almost see the several veins pop out on Sasuke's forehead and watched worriedly as the muscle under his eye twitched convulsively. She stared from Sasuke to Itachi, wondering whether another fight would ensue right before her eyes. It seemed fighting was the only way to express yourself in this school.
Clenching his fist, Sasuke strode forward calmly and it appeared as if he were going to walk past his brother. Hinata silently hoped he would continue walking as she didn't want to see another fight break out, especially when she knew Sasuke would suffer more severe blows to his head; more unnecessary brain damage for him. Her hopes were dashed when Sasuke came to a stop next to Itachi, silence and tension heavy in the air.
"I will look through every single bin in the school and by the end of the day, if I find some tomato slices thrown away, I will kill you," Sasuke said darkly before he continued to stride away.
If people attending this school were willing to kill each other over tomato slices then Hinata was definitely going to visit the Principal soon and sign out of this school. Yes, she could just enrol into another school, in fact, that idea was very appealing to Hinata at the moment.
"We shall go to Homeroom now. Do not fall behind," Itachi ordered, staring pointedly at Hinata before turning and making his way down the corridor.
Quickly, Hinata bowed to his retreating back wanting to show her gratitude for the Akatsuki member's interruption (she wasn't sure how she would've avoided answering Sai's question). "Thank you!"
"I told you not to fall behind," was Itachi's only reply as he continued down the corridor, not once looking back.
"You heard him," Kisame said, nudging Hinata forward with his elbow, not wanting to wait on her.
Yes, enrolment into another school sounds very appealing indeed.
...
A senior from year 11, held out his hand as she entered Homeroom, a grin on his face. "You must be Neji's cousin. I am Rock-Lee," he introduced, waiting for her to shake his hand.
"Ahh..." Hinata bowed her head and shook his hand. "I-I'm... Hinata Hyuuga..."
"Hinata," Lee repeated thoughtfully, his other hand stroking his chin in the manner that someone with a beard would when in deep thought. "That is indeed an appropriate name for you. A sunny place indeed," he said with a smile, heat rising into Hinata's cheeks.
"Th-thank you. It's a pl-pleasure to meet you," Hinata mumbled to the floor, pulling her hand away from his and bowing.
"No, no. The pleasure is mine! I am glad to have met the cousin of my rival!" replied Lee brightly, teeth sparkling in his smile as he gave her the thumbs up.
Rival? What does he mean by rival? "R-Rival?" Hinata couldn't help repeating blankly.
"Yes, this is Lee. He's our school's elite soccer player and had always considered Neji his rival since the day they both started at this school and Neji achieved the highest mark for our grade on the entrance exam," explained Temari who sat on a table near the entrance of the classroom, her glasses shining in the light as if they had been overly polished. "Neji is also our student council president and the number one Martial Arts expert in our school." (Although Hinata already knew this, she couldn't help but be in awe of all of her cousin's achievements in comparison to herself. What had she done so far in this school besides attract attention to her assets?)
"Kukuku... but Lee has never been able to defeat Neji, thus his attempts have all been in futile," added Gaara, who adjusted his glasses with a smirk.
"That is far too cruel, Gaara of the Nerds!" Lee cried, storming up to where Gaara and Temari sat. "I would prefer that you not speak so out of line!"
Deidara placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder and lowered his mouth near her ear. "Those two people are apart of the trio that form the 'Megane Brigade'. In short, they're bespectacled nerd retards, hn. The one with the red hair and Yakuza-like tattoo on his forehead is the leader. He's also your class' president and enjoys wearing eyeliner."
"IT'S NATURAL DAMN IT!" shouted the indignant nerd, re-adjusting his highly polished glasses once more.
Deidara rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, I'm sure it is." He muttered into Hinata's ear, "Don't listen to a word he says. He's a bold-faced liar and should have rocks thrown at him, hn."
"U-um..." Hinata began, uncomfortable at Deidara's closeness. She pulled away and turned to face him, glad to have an excuse to not be so close to him. "U-um... he's my senpai by two years... then how come I'm in the same class as him...?"
"It is referred to as, 'The Designated Class'," answered Itachi, surprising Hinata. "They place the students with the highest entrance marks around the same age group into this one class. There is a designated class for the ages 12-14, 15-17 and finally, for our grade's year, they simply place the best students of varying subjects into a class. As long as the students are at the top or near it for their classes, they will be placed into the designated class in their final year. With each year, they have a liking to nickname the designated classes by the ages: the juniors are named Genin, the age group above Chuunin and finally our year are known as Jounin. These names however, are only given to the students of the Designated Class. That is how our school system works."
Hinata knew that during Itachi's explanation, her mouth had fallen open at the overload of information and the fact that he had spoken so much (and amusingly enough, Deidara and Sasori, being the art students, drew up chibi diagrams to accompany the explanation). "S-so... my class yesterday... that's why we had student's from m-mixed years?" she asked in awe of the information revealed to her. She hadn't known that there was such a complicated school system.
"Yeah, none of your teacher's probably said anything because they all assumed that you knew what class you had been placed in, what with all the students being in three different years," Kisame said, peeling open an orange and popping a piece of the fruit into his mouth.
"B-but... how did you know I-I was in the Designated Class?" They couldn't possibly have seen her whilst she was in her classes, they were busy with their own classes to be bothered with hers.
"We broke into the school's filing cabinet and read the reports on which students were in the Designated class," Deidara said airily, his expression of one who wasn't concerned about their law-breaking actions.
Hinata's jaw dropped further. "Y-you br-broke into...?" She was really going to faint.
Luckily, the bell rang signalling that Homeroom was to commence and she took a seat at what she was now sure was to be her permanent spot for the rest of the year with the four Akatsuki members. She couldn't be blamed for being extremely worried about what recess might hold in stall for her. After all, she was hanging out with a gang of juvenile delinquents and just about anything could be expected.
...
"Climb it," Kisame ordered with a grin, pointing his thumb to the ladder that stood ominously before Hinata, perturbation rising in her throat at the sight of it.
She attempted to gulp it down, her hands beginning to perspire at the height of the ladder. It reached all the way to the building's rooftop. Not that she was entirely fearful of heights, but just the thought of climbing the foreboding ladder made her stomach queasy. Uneasy thoughts of the ladder rungs breaking or the ladder breaking off from the wall settled into her mind and the ending of her plummeting to her death replayed in each scenario.
"Climb it," came Kisame's amused voice again as he nudged her towards the ladder.
"But..." she began weakly, her stomach becoming more unsettled. "I'm wearing a sk-skirt." A pathetic excuse, a very pathetic excuse but everyone had their dignity on stake nowadays didn't they?
An alarming bark came from Kisame and Hinata jumped in fright before realising it was simply his way of laughing. He suddenly stripped off his school jacket and threw it to her, grinning at her confused expression. "Tie it around your waist."
Looking for another way to avoid climbing the ladder, Hinata began to think of another question to ask. "U-uhm, why do y-you all sit up on the r-rooftop for recess and lunch? What about yesterday?"
"Yesterday, we were simply going easy on you because of the leader, but today you're going to sit up on the school's roof like we do; you're not being babied from today onwards. And besides, we shouldn't make Sasori wait for so long, he's short tempered when it comes to wasting time."
Remembering the cold look from earlier that day, Hinata swallowed hard and tied the jacket around her waist before gripping the highest rungs her hands could reach. She clenched her jaw and tried to summon her courage. After all, she had endured tougher ordeals before, right? She still couldn't stop the trembling as she began her slow climb up the ladder. Her breathing became laborious and she had to pause often to catch her breath and calm herself.
"What's up?" Kisame asked as he stopped below her, no concern in his voice but rather amusement.
Hinata gasped for air, gripping the ladder rungs tightly, fearing that her sweaty palms would make her slip. "V-Vert-tigo..." she stammered, a wave of nausea sweeping over her.
"Aw, come on, we're almost there."
"I-I..." Hinata struggled to breathe and her head leaned against one of the ladder rungs, her gaze directed to the distant ground below her.
Dizzy...
Suddenly, her grip loosened and her hands slipped off of the rungs and she began to fall gracefully backwards, no longer able to support her trembling body.
A hand reached out and grabbed the jacket around her waist, stopping her briefly. "Shit," Kisame growled, before quickly yanking her up by the jacket and grabbing her with one arm just in time for the jacket to slip and fall to the ground below. Grumbling, Kisame turned and look up to the top of the ladder, knowing he couldn't climb up one-handed without falling. "Hey, some help here!"
Itachi's head appeared over the ledge of the building and at the sight before him, he began to climb down the ladder, holding his hand out. "Hand her to me."
Nodding, Kisame shifted the dead weight in his arm and grunting with effort he pulled her up onto his shoulder. Itachi climbed down two more rungs before crouching easily, one hand lazily holding a rung near the top of the ladder for support as he reached down.
"She's heavier than she looks," Kisame warned as he pushed Hinata up by her back with one hand towards Itachi who wrapped his arm around her waist and effortlessly pulled her up towards him. "Or maybe not for a genius like you," Kisame said with a grin as Itachi wordlessly and almost too gracefully for any normal human pushed up with his feet, using his other hand near the top of the ladder to push him up further and flip him in the air, allowing his back to brush past the building's ledge and for him to land on his crouched feet.
There was wild applause from Tobi who shouted for an encore which Itachi chose to ignore.
Itachi laid Hinata down onto the concreted roof before making his way back to his usual spot on the roof's building, expressionless as usual and not a bead of sweat shone on his face as if the previous display had been effortless for him. "I would prefer if you handled her from here," he said coolly addressing the group generally as he seated himself in the shade of a shadow cast by the roof's exit door.
"Konan," Pein said simply.
"Yes," Konan answered, getting to her feet. She walked over to the unconscious Hyuuga and opened her bottle of water, tipping the contents onto her face. "Nap time has ended."
Coughing and spluttering, Hinata slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, wondering why she was suddenly wet. She was beginning to dry her face off with her sleeve when she felt the queasiness of her stomach. Not as strong as before, but still enough to make her feel ill. She groaned and rested her palms on the warm concrete below her.
Concrete?
Hinata looked up in surprise and gathered her surroundings. She was on the rooftop with the entire Akatsuki group. All she could remember was loosing her grip on the ladder rungs and falling. Had Kisame caught her and brought her up? Her brow knotted together and she stared down at her hands in embarrassment. She had been a burden yet again.
She looked back up and caught Zetsu staring at her, a shiver running down her spine as she remembered what had been revealed to her earlier that morning.
She wasn't sure how much more of this school she could take and it was only her second day. It had never occurred to her before how truly exhausting it was to attend a school, not only that but she was forced to sit with a group of juvenile delinquents.
Sighing inwardly, Hinata reached out to grab her lunchbox when she froze and stared at the empty spot before her. She pulled her arm back, sat still and tried to remember if she had been carrying it with her when she had been climbing the ladder. After racking her brains for some time, her jaw dropped in horror as she realised that she hadn't even brought her lunchbox with her and unwilling to face the ladder again, Hinata decided that it was best if she just missed out on recess. It was only recess after all, she could survive.
Silence fell upon the group as the familiar sound of a stomach rumbling was heard and to her embarrassment, immediately all eyes turned to her. Hinata could almost curse her stomach as it rumbled once more but knew that it was ill-mannered to do so.
"U-Uh..." she began awkwardly, staring at her hands in her lap. "Um... I kind of... f-forgot to br-bring my l-lunchbox..." Hinata explained, twisting her hands together nervously. "A-and w-well-"
"Yo," greeted a familiar voice casually by the ledge where the ladder was located.
Each head turned to the new arrival and Hinata couldn't help having her mouth fall open in surprise at the sight of Sasuke, lazily holding her lunchbox out towards her.
"You stupidly dropped this on your way out of class before recess," he said, his eyes cold as he scanned the faces of the Akatsuki before stopping on the other Uchiha.
"A-Ah-" Hinata was cut off once more.
"Why didn't you get the Yakuza-wannabe to bring it?" Deidara asked, glaring at the young genius.
"Because Naruto wasn't the one who picked up the lunchbox, I did. Besides, I was curious as to what you do on these rooftops," Sasuke explained loftily, coolly taking the glares directed at him.
"Well, now that you know what we do-eat our fucking lunch-, get the fuck lost!" Hidan demanded, his grip on his chopsticks tightening.
The air was tense and Hinata knew that a fight might ensue if any more words were exchanged so she hastily got to her feet and literally ran over to Sasuke who was preparing to reply with a snide remark. "Th-thank you!" she cried rather loudly, her mind filled with concern and a hope that she would not have to witness another fight.
Sasuke's eyes turned to address her with surprise. He had not expected her to dash up to him and shout her gratitude in his face like that.
Not wanting there to be any more arguing from the Akatsuki and Sasuke, Hinata continued to speak anxiously, not really processing what she was saying herself. "U-uh, th-thank you and please, feel free to h-have the t-tomato slices from my lunchbox."
Sasuke simply stared at her and it took Hinata a while to realise that the Akatsuki were staring at her too and all of this staring was being done too silently for Hinata's liking. Had she said something wrong? She had only offered the tomatoes because Sasuke had said previously that he was willing to search the school bins for them and why let him go through the trouble of that when she had tomatoes herself? When she reasoned that in her mind, it made complete sense to her and yet she was still receiving stares.
Coughing into his hand awkwardly, Sasuke lowered his gaze and dropped the lunchbox into Hinata's hands. "I... don't want your tomatoes," he replied in a somewhat embarrassed tone.
Hinata cocked her head to the side and watched as he glanced briefly at her lunchbox before tearing his eyes away again. He actually did want them.
Using sheer willpower alone, Sasuke turned away from the lunchbox with the trapped tomato slices that were calling for his help and felt his heart clench. He mentally apologised to the tomatoes who wept at their lost of not being consumed by an actual tomato-lover. As he lowered himself onto the ladder however, Sasuke glanced at Hinata and motioned for her to come forward. She approached him and he quickly muttered something to her before hurrying down the ladder. Hinata watched after his rushing form, a look of surprise on her face.
"Pet-chan? Are you okay? He didn't say anything cruel to you, did he?" Tobi asked as he approached Hinata who had remained watching Sasuke on the roof's ledge.
"Eh? Oh, n-no! Nothing cruel at all!"
"Hey, what the fuck did he tell you just then?" Hidan asked, staring at Hinata accusingly.
"Eh? N-nothing!"
"Nothing my ass!"
"It r-really wasn't anything!"
Hinata seated herself on the concrete, knowing that the Akatsuki were still watching her and opened her lunchbox, trying to remain calm so that she could eat her recess without anyone accusing her of being a liar any further. After she opened her lunchbox, the first things that greeted her were the freshly sliced tomatoes that she had cut up early that morning.
"Could you... give me those tomatoes in our next class?"
Hinata wondered to herself if the brain damage was the reason for Sasuke's urge to eat tomatoes. She smiled to herself anyway as she put the tomato slices to the side and ate the rest of her food.
…
End Chapter 2.
A/N: Thank you so much to all the kind reviews I got! :3 Oh my, I got really carried away with this one... I just kept typing and couldn't stop... Sorry, was that bad? I can't seem to help making these chapters long though... :P I apologise if there are any grammatical or spelling errors (But I'm Australian, so US spellers, most of them are not mistakes, just Aussie spelling XD). And YES! I had to put in Sasuke's love for tomatoes! XD Well, please kindly leave a review, thanks! :)