Rumours and Assets
The rumours 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: I'm so sorry for the updating late! (For this story, longer than a week is late, I think at least...) It's winter in Australia right now and I've got a terrible cold. Not only that but I've been struggling to write lately so hopefully the cold doesn't last for too long... D: And school's being a drag so, meh...
I received a lot of reviews after chapter three asking why Itachi didn't just wear contacts or have laser eye surgery. But contacts require a lot of effort to look after them (you can't wear it all day, you have to purchase specific things to keep them clean and ensure that they're moist, you can't sleep with them or else they'll permanently damage your eyesight... Thinking about it sounds like too much work. DD: I wouldn't want any character to suffer the trouble. XD) And laser eye surgery... erm, Itachi doesn't care for those kind of things as he's more concerned over other things... I won't say anymore or else I'll ruin the story...? D:
Onto chapter four!
...
There were only two moments in a day where Hinata exchanged words with Sasuke and she found that they were unusually tense moments. Sasuke's moody disposition made him unpredictable and each time Hinata saw him he would surprise her. The two times she would talk to him would be in the morning when she went to her locker and secondly when she handed him her tomato slices before heading off to lunch. And in each of those times the usual response she would receive from Mr Grumpy Pants Uchiha would be either a grunt (which would suspiciously sound like a "thank you" from the mouth of a very bad ventriloquist) or "Mm" before he proceeded to ignore her. Hinata was used to it by now; at least she was receiving some sort of reply. And by the end of last week, Sasuke had learnt not to try refusing the tomato slices because the entire week, his brother had continued to take (or "mistake") the tomato Sasuke had purchased for himself, always finding the new places where the younger Uchiha would hide them. Whenever that had happened, Sasuke would sulk and be even more moody in the mornings-not that he wasn't already. He had a weak spot for the red fruit that he had extreme difficulty hiding.
That was why, Hinata was staring at him with wide-eyes, stunned. She was sure her mouth was hanging open and knew that it was ill-mannered but couldn't help herself. "E-ehh?"
"I don't want them," Sasuke said bluntly, staring at the opened lunchbox held under his nose.
"Y-you... don't w-want them?"
"That's what I said, or are your ears failing you?" Sasuke asked coolly, leaning back onto the lockers behind him, arms folded over his chest.
It was lunchtime on Tuesday, Hinata's second week of school. She had only barely survived the first week and it seemed like it was going to be another long and arduous week at Konoha Gakuen High. With those thoughts in mind, she promptly shut her mouth and looked down at the lunchbox in her hands, wondering what she was to do now. I guess, I should just leave now. She closed the lunchbox with a sigh and turned to leave, wondering why the tomato-loving Uchiha would refuse her tomato slices. Did he think he was above her commoner-prepared food? Did he not like the tomatoes she had brought on Sunday, they were on sale for a rather cheap price...
The questions that buzzed in Hinata's head were creating more stress and she had had enough of that from last week.
"Hinata," Sasuke called, pushing off slightly from the lockers. She stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him, a look of confusion on her face as he approached her leisurely. "Were you paying attention in Homeroom?" he asked coolly, folding his arms over his chest as he watched her brows crease in further confusion.
"Eh? Uh-m..." Hinata paused to think. Now that she thought about it, she had been too busy worrying about Itachi's poor eyesight and that he may walk into a wall if he didn't start wearing his glasses soon and she had tuned out entirely during Homeroom. "Uh..."
Sasuke snorted and brushed past her, walking down the school corridor with his hands in his pockets. "You're on clean up duty tomorrow."
"EH? Cl-Clean up duty? Wh-who's my cleaning partner?" she asked, calling after his retreating back.
Sasuke waved a hand at her without turning around and Hinata wondered what he intended by that. She hated when people played charades with her. She always lost miserably.
"Oh yeah," Sasuke paused and looked over his shoulder. "My brother didn't take my tomato today, so I won't need your tomatoes." He looked back ahead and continued walking. "You should go back to the Akatsuki now. Their idiotic leader is probably sulking without you there."
"Y-yes," Hinata said, turning and heading in the opposite direction from him.
...
"MY CUTE PET-CHAN! WHERE ARE YOU?" Tobi sobbed into Pein's arm as he clung to his sleeve.
"Why are you crying on my sleeve?" Pein asked in annoyance.
"Because Kakuzu wouldn't give me a hug!" Tobi whined, continuing to cry into the irritated Akatsuki member's arm.
"Why are you involving me in this? If I remember precisely, you never asked me for such a thing," Kakuzu muttered, glaring at the loud Akatsuki leader.
"Why should I ask for such a thing?" Tobi sniffed. "It should be your natural instinct to embrace your leader with confidence! I shall show you," Tobi said, pulling away from Pein's arm and holding his arms wide open as he leapt at Hidan. "Now Hidan, embrace me with your brimming confidence and console me!"
"FUCK OFF!" Hidan snarled, kicking Tobi in the head.
Hinata gasped from the ladder at the scenario before her. "T-Tobi-senpai! A-are you all right?" she asked, scrambling up the rest of the way onto the roof before rushing to the fallen masked senior.
Suddenly, Tobi bolted upright and seized Hinata by the shoulders making her squeak in fright. "PET-CHAN! Pet-chan... is it you? Or has the kick to my head caused such severe brain damage that I'm hallucinating?"
"U-uh, it's r-really me..."
Tobi let out a heart-wrenching sob before attempting to throw his head into Hinata's chest to sob, however, two pairs of arms grabbed his sleeves, the back of his shirt and even his hair, pulling him back and preventing him from doing so, the limb owners-Deidara and Hidan-glaring murderously at him.
"You fucking pervert!"
"Don't make us knock you out, stupid idiot, hn."
As Tobi received several more death threats, Hinata laughed nervously, not wanting to sit around Tobi for too long in his 'unusual' state and edged away to her usual place on the rooftop, thinking as she went that perhaps the kick to the head really had given him brain damage. She watched as Tobi crawled back to Pein's side, grabbing his arm and weeping into it, complaining about how he was treated so poorly for his noble intentions.
Sasori stared out at the activities occurring below them from his usual position on the ledge of the rooftop. He was deep in thought, deciding what he should do for the major artwork assignment Kurenai had given them that day and it wasn't helping that Deidara kept disrupting his thoughts with pointless suggestions.
"Why don't you just draw a picture of me for your portrait assignment, hn?"
"Why would I do something as idiotic as that? Your face has no remote artistic aesthetics to it so that would have me failing the assignment," Sasori snorted in reply.
"Hey, that's rude!"
"The truth hurts, Deidara," Kisame said with a laugh.
Hinata smiled warmly. Although what she had seen on her arrival was rather alarming, today's lunch was a lot more peaceful than previous days. She couldn't help but smile as she proceeded to use her chopsticks to pick up some rice, bringing it slowly to her mouth.
"Don't move."
She froze, the end of the chopstick near her open mouth and her eyes shifted from it to Sasori who was on one knee before her, a sketchpad and pencil in his hands, squinting at her face as he studied her.
"Uh-"
"I said, don't move, didn't I?"
Hinata sweat-dropped. She wasn't sure how long she would be able to hold her position and whether she refused to admit to it or not, her stomach was giving tiny grumbles, longing for the rice held between the chopsticks, almost brushing her lips.
"Um... I think she's salivating, hn," Deidara commented, pointing at the drool that was trickling out at the corner of Hinata's mouth.
Sasori growled, startling Hinata out of her trance. "I said don't move!" He brushed the saliva off the corner of her mouth with his thumb, making Hinata blush in embarrassment at having been hungry enough to drool. Ignoring her slowly reddening face, Sasori continued to sketch her portrait, glancing up occasionally and erasing parts at other times.
After a few minutes, Hinata could feel her stiff shoulders grow sore and her stomach whining for food and wondered how much longer she would have to sit still. It also wasn't helping that it was a sunny summer's day.
"Your long hair.." Sasori said after a long stretch of silence where Hinata struggled to keep her sore muscles still. "...it's artistically pleasing to draw..." Sasori commented as he continued to sketch her portrait causing her cheeks to flush at the compliment.
"Um... th-thank-"
"I told you not to move."
Hinata immediately fell silent and cried mentally, wondering how much longer she would have to remain in the ridiculous position, her stomach growling more insistently.
"Hold on," Sasori grumbled, directing a glare at Hinata's stomach.
She suppressed a smile at his bizarre actions, knowing that he would probably scold her once more for even moving a fraction. It seemed like forever or far too long in Hinata's mind that she sat with the chopsticks near her mouth and her aching muscles were screaming in protest when Sasori finally relaxed his hand and sat back, looking over his work before finally speaking up, "I'm finished." Admittedly, he had finished quickly, but when asked by Deidara about it, he waved it away saying in an irritated voice that it was simply a sketch and he hated the fact that he was making Hinata wait for him to finish so that she could eat.
"Th-thank you, for being so c-considerate," Hinata said before she finally began to eat, her stomach doing growls of rejoicing.
"Hmph, I hate making people wait," Sasori simply replied gruffly, returning to his usual position on the roof, sketchpad under his arm and Deidara attempting to catch a glimpse of his sketched portrait of Hinata. "We shall do this again some other time," he called over his shoulder as he walked away.
Fumbling her chopsticks, Hinata stared disbelievingly at his retreating back. "A-again? In the exact same position?" her muscles suddenly felt very sore at the thought.
Sasori turned and seated himself, glaring at her. "Obviously, are you not thinking Hyuuga?"
"A-ah..." With nothing else to say, Hinata fell silent and resumed her eating, sobbing inwardly at the fact that she were being forced to be a model for the Akatsuki member's artwork. It was bad enough being the pet of the Akatsuki, but to model for them too? Kami-sama, they will wear me out for sure!
…
Hinata couldn't understand why, but for the entire day, it seemed that nearly every girl in the her year and the years above and below her, glared daggers at her which she could feel stab painfully into her wherever she went.
What have I done Kami-sama? she sobbed, racking her brains for anything she might have done to offend such a large number of students. Had she unintentionally said or done something incredibly obscene or offensive in the morning? She twisted her hands together, unable to think of anything that would have gained her so many dirty looks in such a small amount of time. Not knowing what she could've possibly done to deserve said glares, Hinata sighed defeatedly and dragged her feet towards the corridor where her locker stood, turning the corner and noticing Sasuke at his.
Not in the mood to greet the Uchiha, but knowing it would be rude not to, Hinata surprised herself by grunting out a, "Mm," as she passed him, stopping by her locker.
Sasuke turned to her in surprise, raising a quizzical eyebrow before resuming rummaging through his locker, ignoring her. He pulled out his Science book, remembering he had some homework due the next day and closed his locker, sliding the padlock into place and clicking it shut, before pulling at it to ensure it was secure. He unzipped his bag and shoved the exercise book in before slinging it over his shoulder and turning to the Hyuuga, who's lips were pursed whilst she was in deep thought, absent-mindedly drawing out random books from her locker.
"Hinata."
"Hmm?" Hinata turned her light eyes to him.
Pulling the bag onto his other shoulder also, Sasuke smirked at the confused Hyuuga before turning away, beginning to walk down the corridor and calling over his shoulder casually, "Remember that we have clean up duty tomorrow."
Hinata stared at his retreating back. Right, cleaning duty, Hinata thought as she turned her attention back to her locker, I already knew that. She reached up to pull out another book and froze, her mind finally clicking. She whipped back around, her expression of pure horror. "Cl-clean up du-duty with you?" she asked, her body suddenly numb. Strangely, she knew what he was going to say next but still needed clarification, or if she was lucky enough, he would admit that he was simply joking and that she hadn't been stuck with him to clean up the homeroom early tomorrow morning. Oh Kami-sama, early tomorrow morning. Please say I'm not stuck with him in his least favourite time of the day, Hinata prayed silently, feeling that dizzying wave of nausea wash over her at the thought of being stuck alone in the same room with the moody Uchiha who would most likely decapitate her if he was in a foul morning mood.
"Of course you're stuck with me," Sasuke replied, stopping to glance over his shoulder, smirk still in place. He continued along his way and Hinata swore he was suppressing a laugh as he said, "I'll see you early tomorrow morning then, Hinata."
Hinata had the sudden urge to faint.
...
It was 7:15 in the morning on Wednesday and Hinata cautiously slid open her Homeroom class' door, peeking into it.
"What're you doing?" Sasuke asked as he glared at the small opening from his seat on the teacher's desk causing Hinata to jump in fright. "Get in here."
Hinata gulped and took a deep breath, crying mentally at her misfortune. Why Kami-sama? Where did Kurenai-sensei get the sad idea of placing me together with him? She then recalled what her teacher had said, yesterday afternoon when she had summoned her courage to face her and ask her if she could have one of Sasuke's fan club members do clean up duty on Wednesday in her place.
"But you get along so well with Itachi, I thought it would be fine to put you with Sasuke since you're in the same class," Kurenai's poor logic had explained.
Kami-sama, Hinata had thought as she stared at her teacher in horror, people actually think I get along with the Akatsuki? Do they not realise that I receive death threats from them daily? If I don't go along with what they say, I will surely die! Someone save me! She had sobbed mentally, the sound of her life crashing around her reverberating only in her ears.
Sighing at that memory, Hinata slid open the classroom door entirely and walked into the room hesitatingly. I might as well get to work straight away, it's not like I can make small talk with him anyway, she thought as she walked towards him cautiously. "U-Uhm... where's the list of the things we're meant to do?" she asked tentatively, knowing that the Uchiha was particularly sensitive at this time of day.
Sasuke sighed, his brows drawn together in annoyance and jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the shelf behind the teacher's desk. "The book's up there."
Walking up to the shelf, Hinata reached up to grab the blue book sitting upon it and found that it was just out of her reach. She glanced over at Sasuke who appeared to be ignoring her and brushing dust off of his jacket and she returned her attention to the book, reaching up once more pointlessly. If only I was just a little taller! she thought, biting her lip as her fingertips brushed against the tip of the shelf, missing the book narrowly once again. She pushed herself onto her tip toes and her fingers brushed against the spine of the blue book. Just a little further...
Annoyed with her fruitless struggle, Sasuke sighed and walked forward, stopping behind her and reaching up over her head, easily plucking the book from its place on the shelf and holding it out for her. He could tell that she had stiffened in front of him and vaguely wondered why. Because he was standing so close behind her that he could smell the fruity shampoo she had used? At his wondering thoughts, he growled aloud causing the rigid Hinata's shoulders to square as she prepared herself for an attack. Instead, he tapped the book lightly against the back of her head her head, and brushed past her, turning to smirk at her.
"You're really short," he teased, the book still against her head. Whether it be Naruto or anyone else, Sasuke liked to tease people. It was amusing to push people's buttons and see what made them snap.
A blush spread across Hinata's cheeks. "Th-that's n-not tr-true! I-I'm only a little bit sh-shorter than y-you!" she stammered, eyes bright and bottom lip bitten red, her hands clenched in determination.
Sasuke snorted and pulled the book back, waving it mockingly in front of her. "And yet you struggled to get this." The corner of his mouth twitched as if her were tempted to laugh as he watched the blush deepening on her face.
"Th-th-th-that..." she stammered, unable to speak coherently anymore. She fell silent and stared at her shoes, tears of embarrassment at the corner of her eyes. It was frustrating having to talk to the Uchiha, especially when he was in the mood to poke fun at her; it was the last thing she needed on this Wednesday morning.
Noticing her embarrassment, Sasuke sighed in aggravation and scratched the side of his head guessing that there was a point where he could no longer tease her without her become overly upset. He turned and headed to the blackboard, tossing the blue book carelessly onto the teacher's desk as he passed it and grabbed the chalk dusters, walking over to the window and proceeding to bang out the chalk out the window. "We should get to work," he mumbled over the sound of the dusters hitting one another.
"O-okay." Hinata walked to the teacher's desk and grabbed the blue book, flicking it open and scanning the page for their duties for the day. Finding work she had to do, she placed the book back down onto the table and headed to the back of the room, to the cupboard that held the textbooks for different subjects and re-ordered them, finding that it was a mess as students had lazily thrown them in.
After she finished, she turned and walked back to the teacher's desk to see what else she needed to do from the book and found Sasuke placing the dusters back into their original places and a medium sized spot of chalk on his face. She blinked and felt a strange urge to laugh as she stared at the chalk mark on the Uchiha's cheek, unusual on such a serious person's face. She couldn't help but smile, the laugh that she was trying to suppress building up in her chest. Sasuke turned, noticing her staring.
"What?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.
Turning away quickly, Hinata decided it was best she not laugh at his expense, lest he bit her head off. It was the morning anyway and Hinata was sure he wouldn't hesitate to do so if she got him mad. "Um..." she began, glancing at the chalk on his cheek. "Y-you have... chalk on your face.."
"Where?" he asked, hand instantly moving to his face.
Hinata raised her hand, pointing at his right cheek. "There."
"Here?" he asked, rubbing near his nose and missing the chalk.
Hinata shook her head. "A little to the left-I mean, my left."
Sasuke rubbed the middle of his cheek, missing the chalk once more that was more near his jaw on the side of his face. "There?"
"N-no, you missed again, it's j-just-"
"Oh for goodness sakes!" Sasuke said in exasperation, letting out an aggravated growl and making Hinata flinch. Yes, the Uchiha was in a bad mood and without warning, he grabbed Hinata's wrist and pulled her hand up to touch his cheek, his scowl never leaving his face.
"Wh-what a-are y-you-?" Hinata gasped, blushing furiously and attempting to pull her hand away.
Sasuke made a face. "Your hand is cold," he noted, making Hinata, if possible, blush even further. "Well, you can see the chalk, so rub it off," he ordered simply, never releasing his firm hold on the Hyuuga's wrist.
Eyes widening, Hinata stared at him in horror as if he had just asked her what the size of her assets were. Shaking her head violently in refusal, she continued in futile to pull her hand away. "N-no!" She didn't want to touch him anymore than she was at the moment. It was too big a step for someone of her demure nature to brush her hand boldly against another person's cheek. It was even too embarrassing for her to think about.
The moody Uchiha's eyes narrowed and Hinata worried that he may hurt her if she didn't obey him. "You don't want to do it?" he asked, studying the frightened expression on her face.
Mutely, Hinata shook her head vigourously. Let me go, please, she thought desperately in a tense moment of silence.
Sighing wearily, Sasuke released her wrist and scratched his head before turning away, walking towards the classroom door. "I'm going to the bathroom to wash my face then," he mumbled, opening the classroom door and stepping out, sliding it closed behind himself.
Once alone, Hinata heaved a loud sigh of relief and leaned against the wall behind her for support. She was trembling uncontrollably, her heart racing madly and she wondered if he had felt her hand shake against his cheek. She placed a quivering hand over her heart, mentally willing it to calm down and wondered why it was suddenly so unbearably hot in the room. Thinking it was because there were no windows opened, Hinata headed over to the side of the classroom and unlocked one of the windows and slid it open, sighing in satisfaction as a cool breeze blew against her face.
The door to the classroom suddenly slid open and Hinata turned to it in surprise. Had Sasuke already finished washing his face? But she stared at the unrecognisable student at the door, cocking her head to the side. "Er... g-good morning...?" she greeted unsurely, racking her brains as she tried to remember if she had met this long dark-haired student before.
The student smiled at her and an involuntary shiver ran down Hinata's back. The person's smile was not welcoming and in fact, it was downright petrifying. His smile did not reach his golden eyes.
"Why hello there." He tilted his head to the side as he studied her, the smile never leaving his face. "You're the new girl, aren't you?"
Is that how everyone knows me as? The new girl or the one with the attention-grabbing assets? Hinata forced on a smile, not wanting to be rude. "U-Um, yes, that would be me..."
He approached her, his leering making her feel uncomfortable and she had the sudden urge to run out of the classroom, away from this person.
"I am Orochimaru, I suppose that would make me your senpai," he introduced, stepping closer. Hinata felt herself go rigid. "So, you're the Akatsuki's new pet?" he asked, an eerie smile playing on his thin lips, sending a shiver down Hinata's spine.
Wanting to pull away from the intimidating senior's presence, Hinata made to step back and manouevre around him to the classroom door yet he grabbed her forearms, preventing her from doing so, the eerie smile widening on his face.
"Aren't you an adorable little thing?" he cooed in a taunting tone, drawing her closer to examine her face, grinning at her stiff body and wide alarmed eyes that reflected his leering face in fear. He lowered his face closer to hers, the smile never leaving his face as she trembled uncontrollably in his hold, malicious intent glinting in his eyes. He spoke softly, his breath fanning her face, making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, "You look so fragile... so... edible..." He moved his mouth slowly down to her ear as he said the last word, sending violent shivers down Hinata's back.
No matter how much Hinata yelled at her body to move and run away as far as she could from him, she felt this paralysing fear which refused to let her move, her limbs unresponsive to her mental cries. Move. Move! her mind screamed, yet her body could not obey, a bead of sweat trickling down her jaw. Her body shook and disregarding her manners, she cursed herself for being so afraid of this person, of the terrifying bloodlust shining in his gold eyes, of the murderous intent lightly coating his words yet undeniably present.
He was going to kill her.
He was going to rip her to shreds with that sadistic smile in place.
"What do you think you're doing, Orochimaru?" came a soft yet threatening voice, snapping Hinata out of her trance and provoking her to turn her eyes that lit up with relief to the dark-haired senior at the open classroom door, who's voice she had instantly recognised. Itachi Uchiha however, was not looking at her but glaring murderously at Orochimaru, his eyes narrowed dangerously.
Orochimaru pulled away from Hinata, releasing her arms as he turned to smirk at Itachi tauntingly. "Oh, I'm just having a little fun, Itachi," he explained breezily, folding his arms over his chest and leaning his shoulder casually against the wall beside him.
"I'm sure you can find something else to amuse yourself with," Itachi said quietly, warning signs ringing in Hinata's ears at his unchanging threatening tone.
Gripping her chin, Orochimaru pulled Hinata's face closer to him, his eyes, lit up with amusement, never leaving the Uchiha's face. "Oh, but she's so much fun to play with," he traced a slender finger along Hinata's trembling cheek. "So small. So fragile." He pulled Hinata close enough to press his cheek against hers, gripping her neck painfully. "I want to break her," he said with a laugh, Hinata's fear overcoming her at his words and she attempted to wrench herself away.
Itachi stepped forward and the atmosphere in the room seemed to change dangerously. "Orochimaru," he began in his dangerously soft voice, stepping towards the two.
Abruptly, the door to the classroom slid open and Rina, from Hinata's year, stared in surprise at the scene before her and froze, her eyes widening as she stared from Orochimaru and Hinata to Itachi, her mind calculating and attempting to decipher what was occurring.
Orochimaru sighed through his smiling lips, and pulled away from Hinata, making his way across the classroom. "What's truly amusing, is that you seem to care, Itachi," he said as he stopped beside the silent Uchiha.
Itachi turned his cold gaze to the other dark-haired senior and Hinata wondered if he were going to knock out Orochimaru's front teeth since he smiled so much. Instead, knowing there was a student at the door observing the situation before her, Itachi spoke coolly, dismissing Orochimaru, "You'd do best not to cross paths with me again Orochimaru. As a former member of the Akatsuki, you should be well aware of that."
Snickering, Orochimaru pushed past Rina and walked out of the classroom. A heavy silence blanketed the people in the room and Itachi turned to direct his cold stare at Rina who jumped in fright before apologising and sliding the door closed, her footsteps heard as she quickly ran away from the classroom. Silence fell once again and Hinata lowered her gaze to the floor, suddenly feeling as uncomfortable as she usually felt around Sasuke.
She heard his footsteps, his shoes tapping softly on the classroom floor as he made his way towards her, stopping just in front of her. She lowered her gaze further to her shoes, her head hanging and allowing her hair to fall over her eyes, feeling his eyes burning into the top of her head as if her were glaring at her. Clenching her fists, she braced herself for a scolding she could sense was burning on the tip of his tongue.
"Where's Sasuke?"
"H-huh?" The question took Hinata by surprise and forgetting that she had been trying to avoid his gaze, she looked up at him with wide surprised eyes, noticing that rather than mad he had returned to his usual impassive look.
"Sasuke," Itachi repeated, eyes scanning her face as he studied her expression, "he's meant to be on cleaning duty with you."
"Oh! H-he went to the bathroom to wash his face. He had some ch-chalk on his..." Hinata trailed off as Itachi's eyes narrowed and wondered what she had said to anger him.
However, he did not seem to be looking at her but appeared to be deep in thought, silence falling upon the two once more. He closed his eyes and it seemed as if he were exhausted to Hinata. "Why did you let him get close to you?" his quiet voice asked, his eyes still closed as if he were murmuring in his sleep.
Hinata's eyes widened at the question and she remained silent, staring at the weary expression on Itachi's face. She bit her lip, unsure of what to say next and Itachi opened his eyes slightly, studying her through his dark lashes.
Without warning, loud talking was heard outside of the classroom and Hinata turned to look at the door, an unmistakable voice coming from the other side of it.
"What are you doing eavesdropping at the door?" came Sasuke's gruff and annoyed voice.
"A-AH! Sasuke-kun! Erm... we were just..."
"Whatever, just get out of my way."
Sasuke slid the classroom door open, Sakura, Rina and Ino standing guiltily behind him, having been caught eavesdropping. Hinata stared at them, blinking repeatedly in surprise. Had they been eavesdropping on her and Itachi?
Sasuke stared at the two in surprise before his eyes narrowed in anger at Itachi. He slowly approached the two, glowering at Itachi, his hate-filled gaze never leaving his brother's expressionless face. "Step away from her," he growled and Hinata stared at him in alarm, wondering why he would be concerned over her. "We have cleaning duty to do and we don't need you harrassing us," he explained, Hinata understanding that he simply needed her help to finish cleaning.
"I had no intention of remaining in this room any further now that you've arrive," Itachi replied coolly, brushing passed his brother.
"What does that mean?"
Itachi paused at the classroom door before he stepped out, walking away without another word.
Sasuke 'hmphed' and turned back to Hinata. "Come on, we should finish cleaning."
Hinata obeyed but couldn't help but feel the members of Sasuke's fan club glare daggers at her. She sighed. She was hated for having such large assets and because she had cleaning duty with Sasuke. All circumstances that weren't entirely her fault. No, not at all my fault, Hinata's mind cried as students from their Homeroom began to file in at 8:30, all of the girls glaring at her.
...
"Hey," Sasuke started, glancing over his shoulder, "are you fine finishing up here?"
It was nearing lunchtime and Sasuke had explained that he had basketball training to go to (which he hated most of the time as girls constantly came to drool over the basketball team, namely him).
"Yes, we were almost finished cleaning anyway," Hinata replied, wiping the teacher's desk clean of dust.
Sasuke paused, tilting his head slightly as he watched her straighten up and move towards the blackboard, grabbing the duster and cleaning the chalk-written words on it. "Are you sure?"
Hinata turned to him in surprise before nodding her head mutely.
Scratching his head and wondering why he had bothered to ask, Sasuke turned and slid the door closed behind himself and headed down the empty corridor. He kicked the floor as he went, scolding himself mentally for being concerned about whether or not she would be fine on her own. The muscle under his eye twitched. I mean, what the hell? he thought angrily, clenching his jaw.
Despite this, he still glanced over his shoulder at the classroom door he had just closed before letting a hiss of annoyance escape his mouth and hurriedly turning the corner, continuing on his way to the sports locker room.
...
"Good job Sasuke," Gai, the school's sport teacher, said with a grin patting the Uchiha's shoulder before turning to the rest of the exhausted basketball team who felt as if they had been through hell and back with the extreme training Gai insisted on giving them. "All right, that should be all for today! Hit the showers!" he said, still grinning, his tooth sparkling as he gave the team the thumbs up.
The team grumbled on their way to the lockers, each knowing that it was better to shower at home as the basketball's fan girls' actions were usually unpredictable and they could be watched without them knowing.
Sasuke sighed, grabbing his sports towel and wiping the sweat from his brow as he headed to his locker. He noticed one of the fan girls talking to a boy from their team as he sat on the bench near his locker and growled in annoyance. Those girls were everywhere and he wondered angrily why Gai didn't notice them slip into the locker room. He opened his locker roughly and yanked out his school bag, grabbing some his school uniform and beginning to shove it into his bag.
"I've heard rumours," the girl spoke softly, glancing around herself.
Sasuke felt the urge to snort. Yes, real inconspicuous, no one would think you're gossiping now, Sasuke thought as he grabbed his school shoes and shoved it into his bag. The girl however, did look strangely familiar. From my Homeroom? Sasuke found himself thinking.
"What kind of rumours?" the guy from his team ask, leaning closer as he spoke in an equally quiet voice.
Shaking his head, Sasuke wondered how even guys could bear gossiping; it was something he thought only girls with petty intentions did.
The girl glanced around and ducked her head closer to her friend's ear. "Itachi Uchiha is after that new Hyuuga girl!" the girl said in a hurried whisper.
Sasuke's head twitched up slightly at her words. He quickly began to pack his bag.
"The Hyuuga girl? You mean the one with the big boobs?"
"No, duh! Who else would I be referring to?"
He had heard enough. He slung his bag onto his shoulders and stomped to the the door, making his presence known. Pushing the sports locker door open he closed it roughly, satisfied when it banged closed.
So... Sasuke thought, smirking to himself as he began to walk down the pathway. Itachi's after the Hyuuga.
And it seemed that even Sasuke could fall victim to such false rumours.
...
Hinata sneezed into her hands and rubbed the tip of her nose. Was it a cold?
"Someone's talking about you, Hinata-chan, hn," Deidara said as he bit into his odangos.
"EHH? Really?" Hinata cried, eyes widening as she turned to stare at Deidara in surprise.
"I said for you not to move!" Sasori growled, grabbing her chin and turning her face back into the position it was in before she had sneezed.
"Don't hog her for so long Sasori!" Tobi whined. "I want to pet her! I want to pet her!"
"Shut the fuck up!"
Hinata watched as Tobi dodged the kick aimed at his head from Hidan and sobbed mentally. I wouldn't blame anyone for talking about me. Look at me right now, hated for my assets and for being forced to be around Uchiha-san and also the pet of the Akatsuki!
"Ah hah! I am too skilled and fast for you, Hidan! You cannot kick m-" Tobi received a kick to the face.
"You fucking moron! No wonder people always get pissed at you!"
Tobi cried, rubbing his face. "Y-you're so cr-cruel, Hidan! When d-did you change...? When did you become... so heartless?" Tobi sobbed, jumping at Hidan with his arms opened wide, with the intention of embracing the foul-mouthed Akatsuki.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? GET LOST!"
"Can you guys shut up?" Deidara yelled as a vein of annoyance popped out on his forehead, throwing a can of soft drink at Tobi's head.
Hinata sighed (and was scolded by Sasori once more for moving as he drew out her portrait). Another noisy lunchtime.
...
End of Chapter 4.
A/N: Erm... erm... (shifty eyes) How terrible! I'm sorry that it was so incredibly long but hopefully you liked it...? D: Sorry if this chapter was so long and maybe a little rushed (and serious DD: ), I was trying to link all the scenes I had previously written and wanted to end on Sasuke hearing the rumour and it ended up this long... DD: (Yes, I write a bunch of scenes and link them together when writing chapters for this story... XD) Thanks for all the awesome reviews for the last chapter! Leave a review-the plot is thickening! :D