Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Please review. It motivates me to write more.

---Tuesday

"Stronger on the inside than the outside"

There was something about the grim, gray steps of the underground station, utterly plastered with gum (Sakura could see Extra, Eclipse, Bubbleicious, and some random conglomeration near the garbage can…gross.) and as filthy as anything that anyone could imagine.

People nowadays weren't exactly concerned with cleaning up other people's trash. Even the high school students looking for valiant community service work to put on their college transcripts didn't dare brave the begging hobos, the drug dealers, and yes, the commuters themselves.

Some of the commuters were really quite scary. Even though most of them worked for legitimate companies, the stereotypes that surrounded the subway made them completely paranoid. Even if you jostled one of the stuffy-looking businessmen (if they could afford Armani, couldn't they afford a Prius? Or even a SmartCar, for heaven's sake!), they would automatically pat their pockets. Many toted around laptop bags or even suitcases, and had the equivalent of season passes for the subway.

Yes, the commuters were the scariest of the lot. Haruno Sakura was pretty damn scary as well. (As Naruto found out yesterday.) Especially when she had woken up too late to get her morning coffee fix, and instead had to settle for the cheap, crappy stuff they sold right by the ticket booth. She should really look into getting a coffeemaker. And one of those season passes.

She could see her future already; a suit-woman with shoulder pads (yuck) and loafers (double yuck), riding the subway every morning. She groaned and leaned her head on the blue pole in front of her.

She obviously was not prepared for the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed hyperness of her newest friend.

"Morning, Sakuraaaa-chann!"

"Haaa? Oh, hi, Naruto-san."

"Don't you look energetic this morning."

"I didn't have the chance to stop by your girlfriend's store and pick up coffee…my alarm clock ran out of batteries. Stopped at like 4:32. I'm lucky I even managed to get my hair brushed before heading out the door."

"You're way too obsessed with coffee, you know? Even though Hinata-chan has an employee discount, I only drink coffee after an all-nighter. I think coffee eventually loses its buzz if you drink it too much. "

Avoiding the last comment, the pink-haired girl (with large undereye circles) asked, "You're not a student anymore, why are you pulling allnighters? You should get at least 6 hours of sleep a day."

"Exactly! I haven't gone without sleeping 8 hours a night for about 2 years now! My doc says that I'm ridiculously healthy for the amount of ramen that I eat."

"Probably because your brain is so small that it doesn't need much energy to upkeep," a mildly familiar voice stated from behind them.

"Uchiha-san?"

"Sasuke?"

"Shut up, idiot."

"Uchiha-san, why are you here?"

"Am I obligated to tell you, Haruno-san?"

"Sasuke, you bastard, don't make fun of Sakura-chan!"

"I'm merely being honest and asking a question, right, Haruno-san?"

"Ah—Yes."

Sakura, feeling unwelcome in so close a vicinity to the dark haired man, turned away and stalked back to her side of the subway, getting out her silver 2nd-generation nano from her one nice purse, a Louis Vuitton that had cost her a week's earnings. Her philosophy in life was that every girl should have one really nice bag, pair of shoes, going-out top, dress, and pair of straight-leg jeans. Other than that, she was perfectly content with shopping at the mall. Just window shopping. Of course.

Her iPod, put up to a pretty high level because of the din of the subway as well as the two young men having a rather low-intelligence verbal sparring match, blasted music into her ears. She expertly scrolled with the clicker-wheel, beginning to play the kind of-addictive Brick. (She wasn't so good though, and the fat man next to her kept bumping her. Damn the city for not installing more seats.)

While she mindlessly played the game, she wondered why the Uchiha really was there. Where did he live anyways? As the CEO of a major company, he probably had a decked-out bachelor pad in the Heights. Pfft, bastard. She couldn't afford a broom closet there.

Sakura contemplated her job and the strenuous surgery that she was sure to have before her. Although she was merely an intern, she seemed to have a natural aptitude for many branches of medicine. The head doctor of the hospital, a woman named sunade who specialized in plastic surgery but was actually a brilliant everything, trusted Sakura to no end.

Of course, this lead to a lot of stress.

The first time that one of her patients had died, she had cried for hours. This was about a year ago, and the pink-haired medic still vividly remembered her patient's wan face and night-black hair. And her last words, "Tell my son I love him."

She was woken from her reverie when her iPod shuffled onto an ultra-heavy metal song, one that she usually saved for her alarm clock. (She was a deep sleeper, and her alarm clocks broke easily because she couldn't afford a really nice one. Sometimes she used her cell phone.)

The girl noticed that the Uchiha had moved to sit next to her, his thinness contrasting with the heavyweight sitting on her other side. She assumed that he had run away from the hyperness of their mutual 'friend', who was now chatting up a youngish-looking adult wearing a plaid shirt reminiscent of lumberjacks. Sakura caught the blonde's eye, and he gave her a huge grin, shouting,"Entertain the bastard for a while, Sakura-chan."

It didn't look like the man really needed entertaining; he had pulled out a state of the art MacBook Air that she wouldn't have even dared bring near the subway. (Pickpockets, after all. And MacBook Airs were tiny.)

"There's no wireless, you know."

"I would never have guessed." A tinge of sarcasm made its way into Sasuke's otherwise flat words. "I'm typing a report, but this piece of crap doesn't even have a floppy disk port."

"I'll take the piece of crap if you don't want it, Sasuke-san. I'm still using the old iBook that my parents bought me before college."

"Hn. I don't think so."

"Why do you need to type a report? I would think that you would have secretaries."

"I don't trust them. The only people that work under me are the idiot over there and Tenten. I knew her in high school, and she is competent enough."

"Ah, ever the self-sufficient type."

"CEOs need to be self-sufficient. There is no one we can look to if we have problems," the CEO said stiffly, still typing expertly without looking at the keys.

"And yet, you don't seem to like flaunting your position or wealth very much." Sakura noted his simple apparel, a blue button up shirt and black slacks. "No fancy designer suit, huh?" Even Naruto had a tie on.

"…" He merely continued typing, deeming the conversation over.

Naruto noticed the end of their conversation, and called Sakura over to him and his new friend (prospective client?)

"Sakura-chan, this is Hatake Kakashi! I know he looks old because of the hair, but he's only 35!"

"Actually, I never thought he was old. When you have pink hair, you learn not to judge people by their hair color," She smiled at the man.

"Hello Hatake-san, I'm Haruno Sakura. I work at the hospital."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes, I'm an intern. Hopefully I'll become a resident soon though."

"That's nice."

Sakura noted the book that he then pulled out of his pocket: Icha Icha Paradise.

"You, you…PERVERT! KYAA!"

The occupants of the subway all turned toward her, even the men reading the stock market readings. Even Uchiha Sasuke looked slightly amused, looking up over the top of his computer.

Sakura blushed, but she felt that she was perfectly justified in her accusation; after all, this guy was bringing porn onto the subway. A lot of minors came on the subway! She could probably have him arrested.

People could practically see the steam coming out of her ears, and Naruto looked slightly scared.

The silver-haired man smiled slightly and said, "Aah."

Sakura fumed. Naruto sighed.

"Sakura-chan, he's the editor of the Icha Icha series."

She whispered back loudly, "Couldn't he edit something more legitimate? Seriously. I'm going to have serious psychological trauma."

Hatake's eyes curved. "Don't worry, Sakura-san. I'm not a pedophile."

"I hadn't even considered that before you brought it up, thanks a lot."

"Anyways, Sakura-chan isn't a minor."

The editor coughed. "I hadn't considered that, Naruto-san."

"Eheheh…anyways. Why are you in town?"

"I'm doing promotion for the next book. Jiraiya-sama is almost done writing it, and data has said that promotion can increase sales by as much as 50 percent. Ah, this is my stop." Kakashi put the book back into his pocket and pulled out a Palm Pilot, muttering.

"See you later, Naruto-kun, Sakura-san. Buy the book!"

"Ew. Naruto-san, you should be careful. That guy could have been a Michael Jackson!"

"I'm the wrong age group, Sakura-chan."

"True."

"So. Are you psyched for work today?"

"To tell you the truth, there isn't that much work involved. Tenten has a huge dartboard on the wall and she uses real throwing knives as darts."

"Wow. Have you tried yet?"

"Not yet, but she said she would teach me today!"

Sakura laughed and dug in her bag. "Here's the hospital's card if you accidentally puncture your hand or something."

Naruto took it from her, holding it seriously. "Maybe I should put it into speed dial."

"911 would probably work too."

"Ahh, Sakura-chan, I'm no criminal!"

Uchiha Sasuke stashed his laptop and walked over to the duo.

"Dobe, I won't be at work until 10, alright?"

"I'm not stupid! And…why?"

"None of your business. It's your stop."

Sakura assumed that he was going to pick up his car from the shop, and followed Naruto with her eyes as he walked off the bus, waving to her.

The two sat awkwardly for 5 more minutes until Sakura stood up and walked to the double doors. She was surprised to see that Sasuke had followed her, because there was no auto shop in the near vicinity. The streets around Konoha were instead crammed with boutiques, restaurants, and miscellaneous shops and museums.

She was even more surprised when he too walked to the hospital.

.snapshots.

A dark haired man walking, carrying a large manila envelope.

A blonde throwing highly sharpened metal knives.

A blue-haired girl on Circle Road with an easel propped near the window.

A pink haired girl going over old medical records.

It was only Sakura, Ino, and Naruto on the subway that evening.

Apparently, Hinata only had art class on Mondays and Thursdays, while Sasuke had to go to a business dinner.

Sakura thought it was prime time to solve a mystery that had been bugging her since yesterday.

Ino happily satiated watching Grey's Anatomy on her brand new iPod Touch, Sakura scooted closer to Naruto.

"So. Why does Hinata-san flinch whenever I mention Hyuuga Neji?"

His face fell. "I was hoping you wouldn't remember. It's a long story, and not one that I really like to tell."

"We've got a while. Tell."

"Okay. I met Hinata my first year of college. So I guess 8 years ago. I'd gotten in on a scholarship, since I was an orphan. Even though I got horrible grades, I still managed to get into University of Konoha, which was surprising. I went to Leaf for High School, but I was never in advanced classes like you probably were.

Hinata, though, was the perfect student in high school. Her family really pushed her to do all of these things, and she went to an elite private school, where the kids were encouraged not to talk and just do their work quietly and efficiently.

If you haven't noticed, Hinata-chan is really shy. If you can believe it, I would say that she was even more shy when I first met her. Hyuuga Neji would constantly be following her around. He's her cousin, and he has a very dominant personality. He completely smothered her. And even though he protected her, he never really seemed to care for her like a normal family member would.

I didn't really know her until sophomore year. We were both in the same art class; it was a requirement. I absolutely sucked at art, I barely passed drawing stick figures and parallel lines that intersected. Hinata was brilliant, and you could tell that she really loved it. The teacher told her that she should definitely consider art as a major. When we declared in junior year, everyone expected her to be an art major, with maybe a Lit minor.

Everyone was shocked when she declared and Economics major with a Business minor. Hinata just isn't that sort of person. You have to be aggressive and strong-willed to do that. And she wasn't. She was taking so many classes that she was starting to pass out in the middle of them. She also didn't have any time for art classes. She really hated it, she really really did. Once I overheard her dorm advisor, Kurenai, talking to mine, about this girl on her floor that had a crazy family member pushing her to do things that she didn't want to do.

Hinata toughed it out until the end of junior year. She had these permanent circles under her eyes and her hair was long because she didn't have time to go out and cut it. Then her cousin graduated, so she didn't have a monitor right there with her. I'm not going to say that she went crazy, but she was definitely a lot happier. She changed her major. She kept the business minor, trying to please her parents, but she changed her major to art.

University of Konoha is really expensive, but her parents immediately cut her off when she changed her major. They had this entire Hyuuga mentality about art being a wishy-washy subject that wouldn't get Hinata anywhere in life. They'd been paying for everything before then, but now she had to pay this buttload of money a year. You couldn't have known how bad I felt, me with my B- average getting a full ride. Hinata started working at a Starbucks near campus to help cover the money. Her childhood friends, Shino and Kiba, also pitched in with some money. She might have gotten a couple merit scholarships, I don't know.

Her family disowned her and moved all of their attentions to Hanabi, her little sister, and Neji, who's a year older than us. He went on to graduate school in America and got a PhD before coming back here to start Doujutsu. He picked up some bad habits, but the Hyuuga clan is up for anything as long as it involves fame and money.

We graduated together…But at this point we weren't going out. Hinata moved into her house on Circle Road, and I moved into my place above Ichiraku. The Ichiraku people are like my family. I worked at my job at Hourglass for a while, but Hinata wanted to go to graduate school. She was a really good artist, and she wanted to be amazing. She got scholarships to go to grad school at U of K, but she still needs to work. She only has very few classes, so at the rate that she's going at right now, she'll take twice as long as average to get her master's degree.

She doesn't talk to her family; the only people she really has are her friends. Even though she was going to inherit the Hyuuga hotel business, they don't bother calling. Her little sister is going to get the hotels, and Neji is sponsored by the Hyuuga family with Doujutsu. Even though we lost touch for a while, one day I saw her at Starbucks and we really hit it off. She's unbelievable, doesn't blame Neji for anything. She'll still defend him if I say anything bad about him, I guess she's grateful.

Neji obviously wasn't happy when he found out that Sasuke had hired me, his cousin's boyfriend. He never liked me, thought I was a bad influence. I didn't get good grades, got kicked out my job, eat ramen instead of caviar. But Hinata-chan has stood by me. I'm going to use this job to help pay her way through school. Her family still hasn't contributed anything."

Sakura was speechless was Naruto finished his story.

"What is Hyuuga-san's phone number?"

As she added it to her cellphone's contact list, Sakura pondered over the slight girl's story. What a dark history.

She was glad that Naruto added a bright spot to Hinata's life.

END

A/N: Wow this story must seem very NaruHina centric at this point, but I need to establish backstory for each of the characters. Sasuke will probably be last, actually.

Reviews are loved and welcomed.

And I'm going to stop with the "start", "end" ,"accomplished" it's too time wasting.