Hinata's feet touched the wet grass below when the boys put her down. She cringed at her damp socks.
"Here," Shino presented her school loafers and set them down before her.
"H-How?" How had they bypassed the Hyuuga guards so easily?
"For once, his lack of presence was a good thing," Kiba said and good-naturedly threw an arm around Shino's shoulders.
Her heart was still beating hard after jumping out of her window. She trailed behind them as they led her to the backyard and into the garden.
"We aren't going through the main gate are we?" she said with a sinking feeling in her gut.
"We're hopping the fence around your garden,"
Hinata looked skeptically at the ornate spiked fence surrounding the garden. She peered through the bars and her jaw dropped.
"Oui, Monsieur Neji is the maman, grandfather, and uncle of my unborn children!"
Lee was wearing a blonde wig, a dress, and a pillow under his dress that he stroked lovingly like an expecting mother. He had his finger pointed in the Hyuuga guard's bewildered face as he screamed, "Do you le understand, Monsieur?"
"Lee's been into his TV dramas a little too much," Kiba explained.
"W-Why is he French...?"
"Just go with it," Naruto said cheerfully as he climbed up the fence and easily hopped over the spikes.
Kiba followed suit. Shino knelt and boosted her up. Hinata yelped before finding foothold on a horizontal bar. From there, she pulled her leg over and dropped. She clenched her jaw tightly to stop from screaming. Kiba caught her and set her down. Lastly, Shino hopped over.
Naruto whistled two sharp notes in Lee's direction. He looked at them and said, "Now book it!"
They ran until they reached the last block of the residential area. Her heart and adrenaline were going at breakneck speed in her body when they finally stopped.
Naruto bounced on his toes excitedly and asked, "How about some ramen before we go?"
"We had that last week," Kiba grumbled, leaning against a streetlight.
"We had Korean barbeque last week," Shino corrected.
"And before that week we had fucking ramen. How are you even alive, man? Isn't your blood pressure higher than a Super Saiyan's?"
The blond crossed his arms. "I'm perfectly healthy! How about you, Hinata?"
"M-My health is fine,"
Kiba chuckled. "Good to hear but we were asking about what you wanted to eat,"
She blushed. "Oh. I-I'm not picky,"
"Spend enough time with us and you'll get sick of ramen and meat before you know it,"
She stared at her shoes. "Um, then I-I like sweets,"
The bespectacled boy made a thoughtful sound. "How about dango then?"
Kiba's eyes lit up. "Hanami dango! That settles it,"
Hinata smiled in agreement, thinking that the pink, white, and green hanami dango were perfect for the occasion.
"Wait for me, s'il vous plait!"
Lee ran to them with his blonde wig flailing behind him. His pillow baby was spilling out from his shirt. He readjusted it fondly it when he reached them.
Hinata stared at Lee in horror. She hoped that Neji would never hear of this.
"Greetings, sister! You look different,"
She had been lounging around in her home clothes; a worn gray slip dress with a sweater over it. It was strange to be out of uniform, now that he had pointed it out.
She was still staring. "I-I could say the same for you,"
Kiba looked between the bowlcut and the Hyuuga. "Civilian clothes and drag. Nice."
The sun was setting and the sky was dimming to a soft periwinkle with gold streaks. Chinese lanterns lit the storefronts as the party walked through the streets of Konoha.
Despite the nice atmosphere, Hinata was on edge. She looked to Shino, who was walking next to her.
"Um, Shino-kun?"
"What is it?"
"I-Is Uchiha-san going to join us?"
"I believe so," he said. He paused, then said, "I imagine you were angered by his words and actions today,"
Angered, grossed out, amongst other things. She nodded. "How did he know all of that?"
Shino kept his face forward, the lights bouncing off of his shades. "Sasuke was once the informant of Orochimaru,"
Hinata raised her fingers to her lip, pearly eyes wide. "The yakuza? H-He worked for the yakuza?"
And that yakuza boss of all people? Her stomach shifted and tightened. There were rumors about Orochimaru's...preoccupation with young boys. Goosebumps prickled her skin.
He gave her a solemn nod. "That was back when his brother first left, at the beginning of junior high school if I remember correctly. He has evidently kept his habit of collecting information."
Two could play at that game even if he did have more experience.
Hinata didn't like to think of herself as a spiteful or vengeful person. She was the first to admit that her heart was as soft and gooey and teeth-rottingly sweet as a marshmallow. It didn't hold grudges and it forgave too easily at times. Stray cats could scratch and hiss all they liked but Hinata wouldn't leave them alone until they got their cans of tuna. Neji could treat her the way he did back when his father had to leave the country indefinitely on a diplomatic mission because of her but Hinata had still welcomed back the sweet and doting Neji-nii from her childhood once he overcame his hatred for her.
However, she could not let go of the feeling of being wronged by Sasuke. She had the unfamiliar and overwhelming need to put him in his place.
The cats and Neji had their reasons for lashing out. They were easy to forgive because Hinata cared about them and understood them. Who was this virtual stranger to speak to her in such a disrespectful way? A voice in her head that sounded startlingly like her father's said that no Uchiha would get away with humiliating a Hyuuga.
If he wanted to throw around personal information like that...well, it wasn't like she lacked her own sources.
"How awful to see you useless bottom-feeding rugrats again," The dango shop's owner said with a sparkling smile. She noticed Hinata and said, "Did you finally dump your boyfriend Naruto?"
"What are you talking about? Me and Sasuke will be together forever and ever!"
Kiba placed their order while they found a table. Hinata sipped her green tea as she watched Shikamaru and Chouji slouch their way in.
"Yo," Shikamaru said and sat down. He was carrying a bag with him, which he set down under the table. "I found one,"
Lee looked excited (moreso than usual) about the content of the bag. "Much appreciated!"
"What is that?" she asked, peering into the bag.
"Karaoke machine," Shikamaru answered, muttering his thanks when a waitress slid him a cup of tea.
"I thought you said you didn't have one," Naruto said.
"I borrowed it from Ino,"
"Y-You know Ino-chan?"
Thin eyes shifted to her."I'm guessing you know her too,"
Hinata beamed. She now felt that she shared a strong sense of kinship with the lazy boy. "Isn't she great? She kicks butt in kendo and she's always understanding and patient with me a-and she always helps me and she has pretty hair and I don't deserve her at all but she still wants be my friend. She's the c-coolest!"
"I hear enough about how great she is from herself," Shikamaru said sourly.
"You're only Ino's second biggest fan girl," Chouji said, delicately folding his napkin.
Hinata's face fell. "W-Who's number one?"
"Ino,"
She blushed with indignation. "R-Rude."
Their dango arrived and Naruto and Kiba came with it. The exasperated waitress dragged them back to their table by the ears.
"He's my bestie. I can't believe she thinks he has stupid hair!"
Kiba glared. "I coulda got her number if you hadn't started arguing with her grandma. Cockblock,"
"He spends an hour blowdrying it, you know. That's devotion."
When they left, she saw an indigo sky outlining the cherry blossom trees, and the glow from the stars and the moon making the soft pink petals look translucent. Hinata marveled at the nighttime scenery, something she missed due to her tight curfew of "Come home before sunset or else Neji will find you."
Hinata heard the roar of an engine before she saw a black blur zoom across the road. It came to a stop at the park entrance. Before the figure could take off his helmet, Naruto launched at him and swung around his neck like a particularly annoying human necklace.
"Gimme some sugar, you bastard!"
Kiba coughed. "Gay,"
Naruto stuck his tongue out."You wish!"
Sasuke ignored his best friend's puckered lips and clingy-ness, and calmly removed his helmet. He shook his hair out as the blond shifted to having one arm around the Uchiha's shoulder. She felt his dark eyes on her and pointedly focused on Naruto's mischievous fox-like face.
The Rookies leader silently started walking into the park. They followed his lead, though Hinata was dragging her feet. She thought he wouldn't be interested in anything involving fun, so she had bet on his absence despite Shino telling her otherwise. The sights were very pretty, at least. She quietly "ooh"-ed and "ah"-ed, much to Kiba and Shino's amusement. She found herself naturally falling into step between the two boys. Strange how just yesterday, Shino freaked her out to the point of making her faint. She was beginning to see he was thoughtful rather than creepy.
She looked over with a smile and saw him muttering to his sleeve.
No, he was still creepy. But nice.
"Our intentions were not pure."
Maybe, but maybe she was using them too.
Her ears perked up when she heard someone humming a tune.
"That's...Britney Spears?"
Kiba frowned. "Damn it,"
"I only recognize classical music," Shino admitted.
"You would," Kiba muttered.
She chuckled at their banter. Her attention wandered to the lone Uchiha leading the pack with his hands in his pockets. His white dress shirt was still neat and tucked in, though it was rolled up at the sleeves. The muscles in his forearms tensed under silvery pale skin. She averted her gaze.
"Here we are," Naruto said, spreading his arms out grandly.
Warm golden light from the lamps hanging on the string of lights strewn over the circle of trees brightened the clearing.
Then the boys started pulling their blazers off.
She stared red-faced and scandalized. "W-Why are you stripping?"
"No blanket," Kiba said, tossing his blazer onto the grass and flopping down.
"Sister, please sit with me,"
"I wanna sit next to Hinata-chan!" Naruto pouted.
Kiba sniffed the fussy blond's blazer and cringed in disgust. "You still have ramen broth on it from two weeks ago,"
"That was an accident,"
"You're an accident,"
Chouji arrived with an armful of sodas. Shikamaru considered them and said, "I think we can reach a decision here, fair and square,"
Naruto scrunched his brows. "How's that?"
He grabbed a soda can. "Drink the entire thing and whoever burps first loses,"
"Hella!"
Lee looked crestfallen. "But I have acid reflux,"
"You'll live," Shikamaru said dryly. "Bottoms up,"
Hinata sat on her heels and watched. They sat with their legs crossed in a circle. She watched in fascination as they cracked their soda open and started drinking. They were so...sloppy. She had only ever seen her father and Neji dining with exemplary manners and grace afforded by a cultured Hyuuga upbringing.
They wiped off their mouths with their sleeves.
Her inner Hyuuga was offended.
The only one drinking in a familiarly elegant manner was Sasuke.
Hinata narrowed her eyes.
There was something wrong about that observation.
She would rather sit next to Principal Senju with alcohol withdrawal than sit next to him.
Shikamaru kept watch while Chouji started on his next soda, seemingly uninterested in competing.
She covered her giggles with her hand at the sight of Naruto and Lee's puffed red cheeks as they suppressed the gas from the carbonated beverages.
Kiba had his eyes closed, eyebrow twitching.
Shino sat calmly.
Sasuke drove his elbow into Naruto's stomach.
"Man down," Naruto gasped. "I threw up a little," he added miserably.
Lee whooped at his rival's defeat and promptly burped.
Kiba burst out laughing and lost.
Shino gave her a sympathetic look before shyly covering his mouth.
Hinata sighed. The look on Sasuke's face assured her that he wasn't interested in being chummy with her.
"Let's go," he said abruptly, looking off into the distance aloofly. When she sat there and looked at him, he snapped, "I want snacks,"
"I'm going with," Chouji said. He dusted off his shorts and scowled. "You never get the type of chips I want,"
Sasuke kicked Naruto's side. "Move your ass, dobe,"
He squinted blue eyes up at him, harassed. "Why the hell do I have to go?"
"Because it's my treat and you like to fill your trash body with processed garbage,"
Naruto nodded and stood. "I hate you but you're right,"
With that, the quartet headed off to the convenience store.
Chouji walked ahead of the party, taking up most of the sidewalk, which left Naruto squished between Sasuke and Hinata. She smiled at Naruto in apology when she bumped arms with his, but he good-naturedly brushed it off. Sasuke, however, glared like she'd murdered his family, set his house on fire, and kicked his dog when she brushed against him.
If this was the most popular boy in Konoha, then likely his entire fanbase collectively had extensive and irreparable brain damage and daddy issues. Though when it came to daddy issues, she thought grimly, she wasn't one to talk.
Luckily, the uncomfortable situation resolved itself when they reached the convenience store. Naturally, she gravitated to the packages of baked sweets.
"Hello," she cooed happily at a cinnamon bun, with its frosting smeared to the inside of the plastic package. "I shall call you Bun Bun and you will go into my digestive system."
She looked over to where Naruto was arguing with a sleepy-looking college student over the right to microwave five bowls of ramen. Chouji was eating a bag of chips in one hand and had a plastic bag full of chips hanging from the other. She sighed, feeling strange at seeing them being so normal. She wanted to see the bad, the violence, everything that should push her away from her sick fascination with them. Her conviction that she didn't want to be the group girlfriend and that she wasn't that desperately lonely that this was the best she could do were faltering at best.
Suddenly, someone snatched her cinnamon bun away.
"Ah, Bun Bun!"
"This is just sugar and fat," Sasuke looked down at her with a frown. "There are healthier ways to eat your feelings,"
Hinata flushed angrily and tried to grab it back. Predictably, he raised his arm and smirked at her struggle.
"B-Bully!"
"Yeah," he agreed. "What are you going to do about it?"
She stopped and smartly said, "Buy another one,"
His frown deepened.
"You shall be Bun Bun II," she murmured solemnly to the cinnamon bun she clutched to her chest. She boldly lifted her gaze to his and said, "I-I liked it better when you were trying to get rid of me,"
"I am still trying. This method is more entertaining for me," He juggled Bun Bun and Bun Bun II.
Hinata gnawed her lip irritably as she grabbed another one. "Bun Bun III,"
And then he was juggling three cinnamon buns. She was admittedly a bit impressed. Shaking her head and narrowing pearly white Hyuuga eyes at him, she said, "I-I know things about you too,"
"Hm. Did Kiba tell you about the jellyfish incident? He's lying, you know,"
"Jellyfish...? N-No, not that," She made a mental note to ask about that.
His eyes were half-lidded and his face impassive as he raised a brow inquisitively.
A shark. Or a reptile. That's what his eyes reminded her of. He had mean, cold, eyes like something cold-blooded.
"J-Just that you're lactose intolerant," she mumbled, intimidated.
Sasuke snorted. "Cute, if you were aiming at giving me the shits,"
Hinata opened her mouth (to retort or to gape like fish, she was unsure of) just as Naruto and Chouji approached them. She moved a few steps away from Sasuke, her face growing hot at not noticing how close they were standing. She didn't want to give anyone any ideas. Naruto bounced up to Sasuke and beamed.
"Wow, are you having a civil conversation with Hinata-chan? Good for you, teme,"
"Eat a dick, dobe," he muttered.
"I'm forgetting something," Naruto declared. He scrunched his nose and whiskered marks, balancing his stacked bowls of steaming hot ramen in one hand.
He caught sight of someone and grinned. "I'll be back in a jiffy!"
Hinata spotted Naruto talking to a man with long gray hair and a deep gravelly voice, then, "Thanks, perv!"
Naruto had a bag and a gleam in his eye that promised trouble.
llllll
"About time," Kiba grumbled.
They were sitting in a circle with a fire going. Shikamaru and Lee were conked out.
"What happened to Lee-kun?" Hinata said, poking the sleeping boy's arm with the tip of her shoe.
"He took a nap, thank Buddha," Kiba ruffled his hair.
"I didn't think he got tired," she mumbled thoughtfully.
"Yeah, you woulda thought. Gee, you've got a hell of a sweet tooth," He said, grabbing a bag of sweet bread out of her shopping bag. "At least it's not fucking ramen,"
"Hey, fuck you! This is all for me!"
"Whatcha got there?" Kiba reached for the bag Naruto had tucked behind him.
"This is for later,"
"Oh. Oh shit, better not let Lee get into this,"
Shino materialized in front of her. "I don't mind sweets," he told her.
Hinata was still talking her heart down from having a heart attack from shock while Shino fished out a box of candy for himself.
"It's karaoke time! Lee will freak if he misses out. Wake up, bushy-brows!"
"Okay, everyone!" Naruto had wrestled the mike away from Lee, who had woken up fresh as a daisy and enthusiastic as ever. The blonde lifted a fist up and said, "This one is for Sasuke's mom!"
Hinata winced at the thump of Sasuke's shoe hitting Naruto square in the face.
"Idiot," Shikamaru said, rubbing his eyes after being woken up by the mike's volume.
"I trust none of you to wanted to hear him sing anyway," Sasuke said, elbow on his propped up knee.
"Lee's not any better," Kiba remarked, wincing when said boy whooped into the mike.
Lee and Naruto started fighting again. Kiba growled and got up. "Alright, break it up, ladies!"
Hinata hunched her shoulders. There was a cooler breeze now that it was well into the night. The stars were bright, the cherry blossoms were beautiful, the company was...
"WILL THE REAL SLIM SHADY PLEASE STAND UP?"
It was more exciting than doing homework, she supposed, taking a bite out of Bun Bun IV.
"Hinata,"
She stiffened and slowly turned around. She could only make it to his shoulder before she refused to look further. Sasuke pointed to the ground. "Sit there,"
At her silence and lack of movement, he crossed his arms. "I didn't burp," he explained. He smirked. "Those losers actually drank it,"
"Y-You mean you cheated?"
"Never said I couldn't or wouldn't,"
"It's implied," she said with an edge in her voice.
"Okay," he tilted his head, catching her eyes. "Then I didn't get caught,"
She shifted her weight. "I-I won't sit next to you,"
"Why?"
She gave him a look of disbelief. He was asking? "You make me uncomfortable,"
"Good,"
"W-What?
"If you won't sit, then let's take a walk,"
Hinata narrowed her eyes. She had no doubt that was code for "Let's go somewhere isolated so I can put you in a drum full of cement and drown you in the ocean."
Sasuke started walking without her. He glanced behind him and said, "This would be a good opportunity to interrogate me. Or maybe I can remind you of the time you asked Neji to pretend to be your mother so that you could skip PE so your slow ass didn't have to run in the sport's festival in middle school?"
"...You know too, too, too much,"
"I have pictures too,"
Damn Neji for pulling off red lipstick and pumps so well.
He bared his teeth at her. "Wouldn't you like to level the playing field?"
She had wanted to do just that, but not on his terms.
He turned all the way back to her and headed back. Sasuke opened the mysterious bag that Naruto had bought and started pulling out cans of beer.
"Underage drinking!" Hinata hissed.
He rolled them towards where Naruto and Lee were singing an emotional duet. Sasuke stood and walked back to her.
He looked at her sagely. "Do you think it would be a good idea for you to be here when they drink?"
It would still be a better option than walking off alone with him.
She turned her head and saw that Shino was leaning against a tree. He nodded and gave her a thumbs up. There was some comfort in that, oddly.
Hinata looked at him from the corner of her eye with a petulant lip. "You are buying."
lllll
"Your parents live in Hong Kong,"
"Common knowledge,"
"Your brother was in a gang,"
"Yeah,"
Hinata rolled her coffee can between her hands to cool them off. "S-So your parents tried grooming you in his place,"
"Anything with more brain cells than Naruto could deduce that," He shook his hair out of his eyes. "Naturally the title would go to the second born in the event that the firstborn isn't viable,"
She flinched a bit at that. It had hit close to home and she suspected that he knew it. Hinata had been diligent about keeping a safe distance from him, preferably one where he couldn't stab her or shoot her kneecaps without giving her a chance to escape. He had other ideas. He took a step forward and rubbed his chin as he sized her up.
"You would be a shitty informant. You need to ask the touchy questions if you want something worth selling," He took another step towards her. She was also diligent about keeping her back to the open so she couldn't be cornered. "Of course, you need to know how and when to ask them and if you can defend yourself when you push the right button,"
Sasuke stopped and glared at her cowering. "Stop backing away,"
"S-Stop cornering me,"
He leaned against the vending machine. Fluorescent light cast shadows on his face. "Girl, boy, whatever, if you can put up a fight then I'll fight. You though...first, your reflexes suck,"
He chucked his empty can at her shoulder.
"Ow!"
"You don't have much muscle either," He grabbed her bicep and pinched, unimpressed. He pulled her to him to study her face, his other hand holding and tilting her face at different angles. "Your looks aren't intimidating," His gaze flickered to her gentle eyes and briefly to her full lips.
She blushed at the scrutiny and close proximity. His fingers and body heat were unexpectedly warm, as she had convinced herself that he was in fact a cold-blooded creature of some sort.
"Is the Hyuga heiress – ex-heiress – rebelling? Joining a gang because maybe then daddy would care?"
Her blood boiled. With quickness that was long underutilized, she broke away and distanced herself from him. He watched her not with his usual disinterest but with something that unsettled her more; interest, the kind that put a twinkle in his eye that was purely wicked, a corner of his mouth curled up in an abominable hybrid of a smile and a sneer. Her nails tore into her palms, calm white eyes now blazing like hot white sparks.
"Your actions are no different than mine,"
"Exactly," he said. He pushed off the vending machine and stood close to her once again. "The more I look, the more similarities I find,"
"Do not compare me to you based on your research," The adrenaline seared through her, her heart ramming into her ribs and punctuating each word. "You and I have never held a proper conversation yet you think you can make these kinds of assumptions about me? That would make you a child who wanted his father's attention so badly he would turn to a well-known criminal and pedophile for it,"
A response. If she hadn't been glaring craters into him, she wouldn't have caught the twitch in his jaw or the tension between his brows. That look in his eyes, like she was something to spectate or play with, had vanished. In its place was something worse; dilated eyes, his stare a black void that raised every hair on her body on end. Expressionless as his face was, his anger rolled off him in waves. In hindsight, angering a gang leader was not her brightest idea but she couldn't help the feeling of satisfaction it brought her even if it – and her – was short-lived. She didn't feel that anything she said was undeserved.
"Sasukeeeeeeeh!"
Naruto came barreling out of the park and onto Sasuke's back. His black gaze stayed on hers before moving to the other boy. Hinata stepped back, finally breathing her own air. She hadn't liked that he had gotten so close that she could feel his breath on her face.
"Hina – hic! – Hina-chan's 'ere too! Were you have a civi-civili- a conversssation –hic!- again?"
"What the hell is Shikamaru doing?" Sasuke said, growling when Naruto pulled his hair.
"Not being his damn babysitter," Shikamaru appeared, glancing between him and Hinata, who was nursing her lukewarm drink.
Sasuke dragged Naruto along with him back to the park without sparing her a look. Hinata's stomach squirmed – she dared not to call it fluttering – at the feeling that she'd won something.