Chapter 5 Social Interacting

Hinata had received the box successfully the next day and to avoid further embarrassment Itachi had written a letter explaining to her about the birth control in the box. The contents had been disguised as underwear and undershirts which had been placed on top so if anyone took a glance they would see what was inside, but underneath laid the feminine products she desperately needed.

She was feeling pretty crappy that day but what girl doesn't on the first day of her period. She just prayed she could make it through the day without any mishaps. They were discussing chapter 19 from Weathering Heights but Hinata was not listening, to focused on her inward pains. The rest of the day was a blur. Hinata was too engrossed at her luck of being a girl to really notice anything other than the chocolate pudding at lunch.

When it finally came to study hall Hinata decided she needed to produce something productive for the day, so she worked on her math homework that was due tomorrow. After all she could not really give the excuse that she had cramps. During study hall just as Hinata finished the homework Itachi rapt on the board to get everyone's attention. When he had it he said, "As you all know the Halloween dance is the last Friday of this month. And as tradition stands the Suna Academy ladies will be joining us..." Hinata did not hear the rest of what Itachi said (something about being on their best behavior). Her mind went into panic over drive, Suna Academy? She thought slowly, Th-they m-may rec-recognize me. This could be a problem. "…the theme this year is masquerade. So you are encouraged to dress up as a character that requires a mask. You don't have to obviously, but it would make the dance more interesting to play along with the theme, not mention there will be a reward for those who do dress to the theme." Itachi sat back down at his desk to finish grading the papers he had.

"He he, this means I will get to see Sakura-chan again," Naruto said with glee dripping from his voice.

"Like you stand a chance with her dobe," Sasuke said nonchalantly.

"You shouldn't be saying anything seeing as how you won't give her the time of day. Which I personally don't understand, because honestly she is a total babe," said Kiba.

Hinata sighed of course Sakura would be the girl they all think of. Last year the dance theme had been Angels and Demons. You could go as anything you wanted; they usually offered you some incentive to dress with the theme though. Hinata had not gone last year because she was sick. But she heard the stories from the other girls of what had happened that night. THAT WAS WERE SHE HEARD OF UCHIHA. It was from Sakura going on and on about a guy named Uchiha, and from the sound of it Sakura had been lying about the encounter. Hinata thought maybe she should stay in, but she actually wanted to go. Not to dance or be social, but to see everyone in their costumes and having a good time. You could say she wanted to live through them in a 

way. And since they were encouraged to wear masks and she was not really popular, maybe, just maybe she could allow herself to go.

The bell rang signaling the end of class. Hinata grabbed her things and headed for her room, she really wanted a nap. When she got into the room she took off her uniform and was left in the white under tee and boxers she normally slept in and got into bed. Sasuke came in just moments later and gave Hinata a questioning glance.

"Don't tell me you're into Haruno as well," Sasuke said bluntly.

"Huh? Ah…no," Hinata said quietly.

"Good. I don't see why any of those guys like her. I mean she's beautiful, but more annoying than it's worth." Hinata thought about what he said and how much did she agree with what he said. Hinata did think that Sakura was beautiful, but Sakura was also nice most of the time. Hinata really didn't talk to her but it was a known fact that Sakura was boy crazy and did some pretty extravagant things to get their attention, which was hardly ever, and that was annoying to some extent.

"Yeah," Hinata whispered.

Sasuke seemed to be brought out of his brooding over the girl and his disdain for the memories he had of her by his roommate's soft agreement. "Are you alright? You seemed to be sluggish all day."

"I-I am fine. J-just t-tired. That's-s all."

"You don't stutter so much when you're tired," Sasuke noted.

"N-no I th-think it's f-from b-being c-c-comfortable," Hinata said drifting off.

"Well whatever it is keep doing it. The stuttering is annoying." With that said Sasuke left the room to find some other form of entertainment since his roommate was not into it.

Three weeks went by really fast. Between finishing the book they were reading in English, the shopping weekend for costumes, and Naruto giving everyone the cold, Hinata barely noticed the time flying by. Hinata had decided to go as a kabuki performer. She felt that the costume required so much of her to be disguised that no one would recognize her. Naruto was going to go as the phantom of the opera; Kiba was going to go as the scream phantom from a few years back ("Maybe I'll bring back the trend?" "As if. That costume is so over done. Tch.") Sai was going as a ninja, Neji was going as a highway man, and Sasuke…well no one knew what Sasuke was going to go as; he didn't buy a costume, but had said that he was going. Either way Hinata 

was excited to see everyone dressed up, so when the Friday morning rolled around, she was up before everyone.

They had been given the day off so that the guys could get ready for the dance. This was a very important event for the school after all. The administrators of the school feel that it is important for the boys to interact with girls. Under the premises of a necessary skill in life the Boy's and Girl's academies combine certain social events so that the sexes can interact with each other in a social atmosphere. And to make everything fair the schools alternated which event each was hosting. There were four events each year. The first was the Halloween dance, the second was the Christmas dinner party, the third was the Valentine dance, and the last was the summer carnival. Each one represented a different type of interacting atmosphere. The Halloween was for fun, the Christmas one was a formal dinner, the valentine was a formal dance and the carnival was supposed to be for behavioral circumstances. This year the Boy's Academy would be hosting the two dances.

The girl's would be arriving before dinner was served, which meant that the dining hall would be packed. The day went normal aside from having no classes. Hinata's suite mates played soccer for the first part of the day. She sat on the side lines watching the three on three match. Neji, Lee, and Kiba made up one team and Naruto, Sai, and Sasuke made up the other. Hinata did not mind sitting on the sides. This was a great opportunity to watch Naruto and not arouse suspicion. Getting to know Naruto had to be Hinata's favorite part of the whole experience. Yes, it was a love-at-first-sight thing, but after learning a little bit about the blond boy Hinata's initial attraction became a genuine admiration. She liked her other suitemates, but Naruto was who she truly idolized. Granted he was not the smartest of the bunch but he was the most sincere and supportive of the group. He never made her feel like she was stupid or that she could not do certain things. But speaking of suitemates…Hinata's eyes drifted to the Uchiha that she had to share a room with. He was confusing to say the least. He was helpful one minute and the next he told you you're annoying. She couldn't figure him out. He saw his brother everyday but never acknowledged him. It made Hinata sad every time she saw Sasuke walk by Itachi without so much as a glance at him. She sometimes wondered what could have happened that caused those two to behave that way.

"Look out!" Hinata came out of her contemplations to see a ball headed for her face. Luckily instinct kicked in and she held her arms up to protect her face; however that did not help because it hit her stomach. Hinata doubled over trying to breath.

"Hiro! Are you ok?"

"Hiro, how many fingers am I holding up? OW!"

"You idiot he was hit in the stomach not the head."



Hinata looked up to see a concerned sea of faces; she had regained most of her ability to breath and was now waiting for the pain to subside.

"Let's call it a day for now. We should get some lunch and then get ready for the dance." Neji moved to Hinata's side and said," You ok now Hiro?" Hinata smiled with a reassuring smile that said she was fine, and started to follow the others to the cafeteria.

The suite was bustling with movement. Instead of an all boy suite you would think that they were girls. Sasuke was not present though. He had been the first to take a shower and then he left saying he would see them at the dance. But between the five it was probably for the best that Sasuke was not present. Between fastening hooks, finding lost socks, tying things up, and trying to keep Neji from killing Sai, it took two and a half hours for them to be done.

"Dinner starts at 4:30 today guys. We should get down there so we can get a table before the girls come," Kiba said.

So the rag tag group went down to the dining hall and waited for the food to be set out. The girls arrived at 4:15 and started to fill cafeteria to the break point. Two girls made their way over to Hinata's table. One was Sakura, instantly discernable from her pink hair. She was wearing a geisha's kimono with the painted face as the mask. The other girl was Tenten. She was wearing a pretty little black dress with a bit of sparkle and wore a simple black mask.

Neji stood up and embraced Tenten. "Neji-kun! It's so good to see you! By the way why isn't your cousin at school this year?" Hinata panicked though no one noticed because right then Naruto gave Sakura a very loud welcome which was met by a very hard hit.

"OW! Sakura-chan, you've gotten stronger since I last saw you."

"Don't shout in my ear baka. Where is Sasuke-kun?"

"He's going to meet us at the dance," Kiba replied.

Sakura seemed disappointed by this news but quickly picked up her mood. They spent dinner having a very lively conversation about what has been going on since they last met, how was school, etc, etc.

Hinata did not really participate because she didn't want to be recognized. And besides, considering her shy nature she really didn't have much to say anyways. When dinner was finished they made their way to the gym entrance doors where the dance was to be held.



The doors opened at 7:00 pm sharp. The gym had been transformed. Complete with black and orange streamers, a fog machine and bowls of candy set out at each table that lined the parameter of the room. One wall had the punch and snacks and there was a stage at the far end of the gym. Hinata immediately moved to one of the tables.

"You girls can leave anything with Hiro over here," Neji said to Tenten and Sakura. That was when the girls finally took note of Hinata's presence.

"Who is he?" They both asked Neji before the approached the table.

"He's one of my cousins," Neji stated simply.

The girls accepted what Neji said no questions asked. They approached the table and introduced themselves. Hinata did really have to answer since they already knew her name and only asked if they could leave their stuff with him at the table, Hinata only had to nod.

Everyone seemed to be having a good time. Hinata was even enjoying the whole thing just sitting there watching everyone. Every now and then someone from the party or their other friends would come and sit with Hinata for a dance or two recovering from the dance floor exertions.

There was nothing really exciting happening throughout the evening. Naruto tried to get Sakura to dance with him and she continued to refuse. Hinata could not understand Sakura. Naruto was handsome and nice and a funny guy, why does she ignore him? Hinata would feel herself getting jealous of his attentions on Sakura and feeling a little upset that Sakura would treat him like that. But after Sakura once again hit Naruto over the head Hinata decided that getting a drink form the punch bowl would calm her down.

Hinata started to feel a little woozy after the two and a half hours she had been trying to stare at someone else other then naruto which is why she missed Sasuke's entrance twenty minutes ago. She tried to think of what she could have eaten that made feel like this but the suddenly she realized what it was. Someone spiked the punch bowl. Hinata had been going back and forth between the table and punch bowl for an hour now. Hinata knew that she could not hold alcohol. The last time she had had it was for a New Year celebration when one of her aunts gave it to her without her father's permission. Hinata could not walk a straight line after that. Needless to say she and her aunt got it to big trouble with her father. So now that Hinata was not feeling well, she figured she should go to bed before it got worse. She saw Neji and Tenten by the drink section of the snack table. She wobbled over there to tell Neji where she was going, but right as she got to the couple someone bumped into her a spilled their drink on her.

Hinata inwardly groaned because now she would have to shower before going to bed. She approached Neji who asked about the stain. Hinata waved her hand ignoring the question. Instead she said," Th-the punch w-was spiked. S-so I-I a-am go-going to sh-

shower a-and go to b-bed." Neji nodded that he understood and so Hinata headed off to the suite.

Sasuke's patience was wearing thin at this point. He had arrived at the dance forty-five minutes after the group had gone in wearing a traditional samurai costume and had been avoiding a certain pink haired girl for the last hour and a half. He had spotted Naruto by the punch bowl and made his way to him when he heard it.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura came up to him and gave him a small hug in greeting. Sasuke did not really like Sakura except for one thing, she knew when to back off and stay away. However her greeting brought on the notice of other girls who immediately started to flock to him. And this is why he goes to an all boy's school.

"Sasuke-kuun!" They all seemed to say in unison. Sasuke was able to evade them and throw most of them off. But the rest of the night was spent between trying to have a good time with friends and dodging all the girls. And Sakura didn't help too much either. She spent her time between hitting Naruto, avoiding Lee's advances and getting his attention. It's not that Sakura was not a nice girl, she really was, but she was dramatic and theatrical, which annoyed the hell out of Sasuke. Sakura was also a little on the possessive and shallow side when came to him in particular. Sakura did not treat other girls that liked him very nice at all, although thanks to her most of the girls left him alone.

But her trying to cozy up to him when he made it clear he did not like her like that was the last straw. The dance was scheduled to end at midnight, but at the half way point Sasuke decided to call it for the night. He had been jumped on four times, groped at least ten (he stopped counting after that), and someone had gone for his crotch. Not to mention if had to listen to Sakura bad mouth one more girl, he was going to wring her neck. He said good bye to Sakura and told Naruto he was going back to his room. And with that Sasuke made his exit.

Sasuke entered the suite and made for the room where he took his costume off. He had waited until today to get the costume since Itachi wanted to take the opportunity for them to have a little quality time. Sasuke decided that since they hardly acknowledged each other he agreed (well it was mostly Sasuke ignored him so he was quilted into it).

He undressed down to his boxers and headed for the bathroom to take a shower to get all the perfume off of him before he went to bed. He opened the bathroom door and saw something he did not expect. There was his roommate, in a towel, except there were other things there that did not belong there, like…boobs.

Hinata spun around to see who was at the door cursing herself for forgetting to lock the door when she saw a very stunned Uchiha staring at her…boobs.



"What the hell?" Sasuke said in the calmest tone Hinata had ever heard him use. But that did not stop her from fainting.