Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

-thoughts-

A SURPRISE GUEST

It was another late night at the café for Hinata. The last of the staff had left over 2 hours ago, but Hinata still had some work that she needed to get done as the new owner of the business.

With all the lights in the café off and just a few medium sized candles on the center of the table to illuminate the room, Hinata was seated in a rather comfy grey armchair with her chin rested on one hand and her elbows rested on the table in front of her.

With a tap of her pen and a deep sigh, Hinata looked down at the jumbles of paperwork spread over the table and tried her best to make sense of them. She had never owned or ran a business herself before, and so she wasn't quite sure on how to work out the budgeting with orders, bills, and of course the pay rate for her employees. She had tried looking over previous book keepings of Neji's, but they had varied with calculations and other businesses that they had sourced supplies from.

It was not something she could so easily wrap her head around, but she would be damned if she didn't try her hardest to get it right. Hinata owed this to Neji; she had to prove to him that she was able to do this. Neji had left it to her for a reason, and she did not want to dishonor his final wishes. She would not disappoint her dear cousin, and she would not let a business that he built from the ground up and loved dearly to fall from its grace. No, Hinata refused to let a few piles of paperwork and calculations beat her.

Of course, Hinata could have easily taken all this work back to the hotel and done it there instead of sitting in a dark empty tea and coffee house, but she was worried that the hotel's staff might accidentally mistake it for rubbish and throw it out. It was a silly thing to be worried about, but you can never be too careful when it comes to something so important.

'Knock, knock' the sound of something tapping on glass had Hinata jumping in her seat with her pen being sent flying from her hand and landing on the floor, rolling underneath the table.

Curious as to what the sound was caused by, Hinata stood up and slowly made her way towards the direction of the front door where the noise had originated from.

With a raise of her brow and a confused, yet surprised look on her face, Hinata turned the lock of the door and opened it wide. "Sasuke?" she questioned, staring at the dark haired man who stood in front of her, "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke raised his hands to reveal a bag of what looked to be food containers, and Hinata could tell from the steamed insides that it was hot food. Her stomach growled, making her turn a crimson red.

With a small smirk from the noise Hinata's stomach had made, Sasuke moved past Hinata and through the door way before turning to face her. "I walked past here earlier on my way to grab some food and seen there was a light on," he shrugged "figured if you were here so late that you probably wouldn't have eaten."

A smile grew on Hinata's face as she flicked the latch of the lock and closed the door. "That's nice of you, Sasuke." She said as her hand touched his shoulder tenderly and made her way back over to the table she was seated at previously, she gestured for him to come and join her as she began to pull the files in to one pile. "You didn't have to do such a kind thing, but I appreciate it."

Sasuke who was now on the opposite side of the table looked down at the paper work she was trying to tidy up as he took a seat. "It's the least I can do."

Normally this wasn't something Sasuke would ever do, and he had surprised himself by doing just that. It wasn't until he was at the counter and making his order that he realized he had made more than one.

Hinata had certainly gained his attention more than he would care to admit. On his way to the food joint he had caught himself staring into the café as he walked by, his eyes drawn in by a faint glow of a soft orange light to land upon the blue haired, fair skinned beauty. The image reminded him of a face illuminated by street lights, and another basking in the soft glow of his lounge room.

The next thing he knew, he was knocking on the glass door and feeling a slight tightness in his throat.

"Oh, rice balls!" Hinata beamed as she opened the bag and began to pull out the plastic containers.

Sasuke reached over and grabbed the containers containing cooked fish and pickled vegetables, opening the lids and placing them in the middle of the table besides the flickering flame of the candles, his eyes once again drawn to the pile of paper work that was now placed on the table to the right of them. "What are you working on?" He asked as he passed her some chopsticks.

With a snap of the wooden sticks to break them apart, Hinata's eyes followed Sasuke's gaze before fixating back on him with a small frown on her face, "budgeting for the business… I-I'm not too certain of it."

Using one of the container lids as a plate, Sasuke began to focus on piling food in front of him. "Did you want me to look over it?" he said casually without looking up at her. Sasuke worked in finances, so he was more than sure he could handle a little businesses budgets, he had seen more than enough paper work to do it with his eyes closed.

The frown on Hinata's face disappeared as she looked at Sasuke, this man who she barely knew and had already done so much to make her feel welcomed and comfortable. A warm feeling washed through her and she felt a tug at the corners of her mouth. "You would do that?"

"After we eat I can." Sasuke said simply, gesturing his chopsticks at the food for her to help herself.

The two ate in a comfortable silence, enjoying the food and one another's company without the need to have a conversation. Both seemed to prefer it that way, as neither one was very talkative in general.

A smile remained on Hinata's face as she ate, stealing an occasional glance up in Sasuke's direction and finding herself relieved that he didn't look like he was stuck in an awkward or tiring position. He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't frowning either. Sasuke had a neutral look to him, a cool and relaxed look.

Once they had both had their fair share of food, Sasuke began to close the containers and piled them back into the bag before placing it on the floor. He reached over and grabbed the pile of paper work from the other table as Hinata stood up and moved behind the counter of the café, the coffee machine coming to life.

Hinata was still surprised that someone who she had only known for a few days now was willing to help her out as much as they were, especially when that person was Sasuke.

As she steamed the milk to make them both a coffee, she watched him shuffle through the papers.

Sasuke had been in and out of the café over the last five days with Naruto, mostly in the mornings to pick up a coffee on their way to work, dressed smartly from head to toe in suits. They had both always been so polite and would always nod or say hello in the brief moments they had come by. Hinata was usually rather busy and struggled to find the time to have a conversation or join into the one that Sakura would have with them over the counter as they were served, but knew that once she had settled into her job that she would be able to make the time to wish them a good day at work.

"I think I've got it." Sasuke said aloud as he looked around for a pen to write down the solutions.

Hinata walked back over and placed a cappuccino in front of him and a chai latte on her side of the table before she remembered the pen that had rolled under the table earlier when he had startled her. She kneeled down and hesitated before moving her hand in between his legs to grab the pen behind his heels.

Sasuke looked down at her on her knees between his legs, feeling a little tense with the sight of her in such position. As she stood up, he took the pen from her hands slowly. It took him a moment to reconnect his thoughts; he shook his head and focused on the paper in his other hand. Moving pen to paper, he began to jot down calculation after calculation, stunning Hinata who now sat across from him once more with her hands hugging a warm mug.

Hinata took a mouthful of the warm liquid which felt like velvet on her tongue, watching him with a stunned and impressed look on her face as she stared over the top of the paper. She couldn't believe how easy it came to him, he had managed to perfectly budget the earnings from the business enough to pay all the employees, calculate the orders needed to replenish stock, pay for the bills and even take home a nice little profit.

Sasuke slid over the work, inwardly impressed with himself as he looked at her blink in disbelief and astonishment. He took this time to enjoy the cappuccino that had slightly cooled from the time he had finished writing down everything.

"You make it look so easy," Hinata looked up at him, "I wish I could do that."

"It's what I do for a living." Sasuke shrugged with a small smirk on his face.

With a new sense of relief and weight having been lifted from her shoulders, Hinata felt herself sink down into the comfort of the armchair she was seated in. "Really Sasuke, thank you for tonight. You've been an amazing friend to me, someone who you barely know. You didn't have to do any of this, but I'm really happy you have." The smile on her face remained as the rest of her face began to feel warm.

Sasuke had almost missed the redness that appeared in her cheeks, and welcomed the sensation of pride that grew as he continued to impress her tonight. He gave her a nod of acknowledgement and agreement, "I am too."

Hinata took in the sight of Sasuke across from her, his jagged onyx hair, his deep charcoal eyes that reflected the flicker light of the candle flame and the slick smirk that tugged at the edges of his lips. He certainly was a vision; she could see why the ladies who worked for her as well as customers seemed to fawn over him. And he's such a gentlemen, she smiled at the thought and wondered if many people got to witness the side of him that she was seeing tonight, most of the time she had seen him he kept to himself and would prefer a nod over speaking.

"I'm a little nervous for tomorrow," Hinata spoke up, her fingers squeezing around the mug of her latte a little tighter, "meeting your friends, as well as Naruto's and Sakura's."

Sasuke felt his smirk fade a little as he remembered that tomorrow night his house would be filled with a large group of people having drinks and a barbeque, Naruto's idea of introducing Hinata into their group of friends. Ah yes, a large group of idiots for hours on end, he internally sighed. "Don't be, they're idiots but they're good people." He placed down his now empty mug onto the table, "did you want me to meet up and walk with you tomorrow?"

Hinata shook her head slowly, "No, it should be alright. Naruto has offered to meet me here at 5 o'clock tomorrow."

Damn that idiot, he's too interested in her. Sasuke found himself thinking, wondering if Naruto was up to anything at all.

"He's such a nice guy." Hinata smiled, "you really have yourself a wonderful friend."

"Tsk." Sasuke scoffed, though he didn't disagree that Naruto was a nice guy, he didn't want to openly agree either.

"Naruto has so many dreams and ambitions, it's rather inspiring." Her eyes traveled up to the ceiling in thought and memory of their conversation from the night he had walked her back to her place, the night that she had met Sasuke and him.

Sasuke's eyes slightly narrowed as he watched her and observed the way she talked about Naruto. Naruto is 'inspiring'? He has the mental capacity of a child. Why is she's so interested in him? When did he even get the chance to offer her company tomorrow?

Hinata finished off her latte and took his empty mug in her hand and stood up, moving back behind the counter to rinse them and place them in the dish washer for tomorrow morning. "How did you and Naruto meet?" she asked out of curiosity as she looked at his slumped figure in the arm chair from across the counter.

Sasuke swung his chair around to look at her leaning over the counter at him with that small smile spread across her soft pink lips. "We went all the way through school together."

"What was he like? Has he always been the same as he is now?" She asked.

With a small pause in conversation, Sasuke's eyes narrowed once more and he raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so interested?"

Hinata, taken a little aback by the response chewed the inside of her cheek gently, her smile fading slowly. "Well, I'm not too sure. He just seems to always see the bright side of things in life. I envy that in a way."

"Do you like him?" Sasuke asked suddenly, not too sure as to where the words came from himself, but found himself impatiently expecting her answer.

Blinking as if she hadn't understood or heard him properly, Hinata's expression changed to shock. "Eh?" she squeaked, before shaking her head profusely and laughing nervously, waving her hands in front of herself as to gesture a no. "N-No!"

"Good." Sasuke said quietly but firmly under his breath.

"What was that?" Hinata's ears perked up, she hadn't heard what he had said at all, but seen his lips move.

"Nothing" Sasuke said, grabbing the bag of food from earlier from the floor and standing up.

Hinata frowned as she observed his actions. "Are you leaving?" she asked in a tone just above a whisper.

Sasuke nodded.

"Oh…" Hinata's voice trailed, "was it something I said?"

"It's getting late." Sasuke said simply, all the talk of Naruto (despite not being much), had turned his mood upside down. He wouldn't dare admit that he was feeling a little tender and jealous from the way she had shown interest in the blonde, loud-mouthed idiot he called a best friend. He didn't understand why he was so interested in Hinata, or why on earth she'd have any interest in his friend. Usually Sasuke was the one being fawned over, and it didn't feel nice to have someone he had an interest in – having an interest elsewhere.

Hinata let out a sad sigh, unhappy that such a lovely night was coming to an end, but did agree that it was getting rather late. Sasuke had really shown her a side of himself that she felt he didn't express to others often. It made her feel a sense of privilege – and then she had to go and ruin a perfectly good night by asking too many personally invading questions.

"Come on, I'll walk you half way." Sasuke gestured towards the front door with a point of his thumb over his shoulder.

Hinata, now confused raised an eyebrow. "Half way?" she questioned him, unsure as to how he knew where her place was.

Sasuke nodded, "Naruto told me you live a couple blocks from us" he watched as she grabbed a cardigan and a bag and came out from behind the counter, "figured we'd just walk until we need to split."

With a gentle blow, Hinata watched the candle light die down, the wick still burning a bright orange before fading down with a sizzle of smoke. She collected the paper work and went back behind the counter to place it into a locked drawer before making her way over to Sasuke, "That sounds nice." She offered him a warm smile, partially relieved that she could avoid him finding out that she was still in a hotel instead of the house that Naruto had walked her into. However, they were in the same direction either way.

Sasuke led the way to the front door, and watched as Hinata unlocked the door and gestured for him to walk out as she swung it open. Complying with her instruction, he moved out of the door way and heard the lock click behind him.

Hinata had quickly turned on her heels and found herself bumping into Sasuke's back before stablizing herself back onto her two feet behind him, "Sorry!" she clutched onto the sleeve of her cardigan.

Looking over his shoulder and down at Hinata, he felt a small smile cross his face. Sometimes he had noticed she was clumsy, and other times she was very attentive. He wondered if he made her nervous at all. "Come on."

"Y-Yes" Hinata mumbled as she moved to the left side of him, following him down the street and around the bends, their feet moving in perfect unison. It was something silly that Hinata had noticed that made her smile.

She had come to realize that she rather enjoyed spending time with Sasuke, although quiet and on some occasions a little nerve racking or confusing – she found herself perfectly comfortable and content.

Sasuke reminded her of Neji in a lot of ways, but with his own unique personality entwined between. Despite feeling rather strange for comparing the two, it also helped her to feel grounded, and she longed for that feeling to remain in place.

more coming in due time!

I hope you enjoyed this little chapter here! Feel free to review or provide me constructive criticism. :)

~ Maixxy