Author's Notes: Sorry 'bout the delay in updating, folks. Here's the next chapter, just some random moments, and a bit introducing what will be the (hopefully) amusing side story to offset the romance and angst.

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Chapter 5: The In-Between Moments

Sasuke's nightmares calmed down somewhat after his discussion with Neji. He thought about it, and decided that there was some wisdom to be had from the Hyuuga genius' words. He let the engagement stand, and stepped up his training, working with Kakashi, Naruto, and Gai. Sasuke believed that these three could help him develop the skills he needed to defeat his brother more effectively than any of the other shinobi.

Unfortunately his new training schedule cut into his old one, and he found that he could no longer spend the mornings training with Hinata. He was disappointed, and scowled when he told her. Hinata just smiled, amused at the look on his face.

"I understand, Sasuke," she said softly, and impulsively took his hand, "besides, Tsunade wants me to increase my hours at the hospital, so it works out all right."

"When will we get to see each other then?" Sasuke asked, his scowl lifting into a slight pout. Hinata refrained from giggling, knowing Sasuke wouldn't appreciate it, and instead squeezed his hand once before dropping it.

"Oh I don't know, but there are always Friday night dinners," she teased softly. Sasuke grimaced at the thought. He didn't particularly like the idea of only getting to see Hinata when in the company of her family. He didn't mind the dinners – if he was honest with himself, he could admit that he was even beginning to like them. Sure, Hanabi was annoying, Hiashi mildly intimidating, and Shiro was a pain in the ass, but…they were a family. And in a year's time, they would be his family.

This thought intimidated him. He didn't know how he felt about suddenly having a family once more, and he usually tried not thinking about it. He told himself that he was only marrying Hinata, not her whole family, but it was difficult to keep that thought in his head when he was dodging Shiro's enthusiastic doggy kisses while scowling at Hanabi's latest insult or cheeky remark.

Sasuke was not pleased at the prospect of only ever seeing Hinata on Friday, so he developed that habit of seeing her after her shifts at the hospital. Whenever she got off, he would be there, and the two of them would head off somewhere to eat. They were both hungry at these meetings, as Hinata just got off work and Sasuke had either finished a mission or training, so it was the logical thing to do. It wasn't entirely logical to stay up as late as they both did, talking and just being together, but neither of them complained, so it just went on.

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Double-date

Sasuke knew this was a bad idea. He glared at the blonde across from him, who was currently trying to get his fiancée to laugh by shoving chopsticks up his nose and pretending to be a sea lion. It didn't help that Hinata was encouraging him by giggling softly into her hand. Sasuke's scowl deepened and he turned his gaze towards the restroom, silently willing Sakura to reappear ASAP.

After a few moments, he was relieved to see a familiar head of pink hair, and smirked as Sakura smacked her boyfriend before sitting back down.

"OWWWWWWWW! Sakura-chaaaaaaaan, what was that for?" Naruto whined as she took her place beside him.

"You were being an idiot. This is a nice restaurant, Naruto – you're going to get us thrown out, again, and then what will Hinata and Sasuke think?"

Naruto scowled, but thankfully took the chopsticks out of his nose. Sasuke was relieved – he really liked that food at this place, but if Naruto had kept up his antics, he didn't think he'd be able to eat any of it. He felt a soft, slight touch on his hand, and looked over to see Hinata smiling at him, her eyes shining. This double date had been Sakura's idea, and she had mentioned it to Hinata, who was just as enthusiastic about it, but much more subdued. The two had no problem convincing Naruto about its merit, but Sasuke had been another story. All three of them had cornered him and told him about it, and then Sakura wisely pulled Naruto away to let Hinata work her charm on the Uchiha.

Sasuke had scowled at his fiancée, and told her in no uncertain terms that a double date between the two couples was never going to happen. His resolve crumbled when Hinata looked up at him from beneath her bangs, wringing her hands and saying with her soft, breathy voice Please Sasuke. He caved.

As he watched his betrothed smiling, relaxed and happy, he realised that maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

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Carrying a torch

"It's nice to see them so happy," Hinata said softly, walking quietly beside Sasuke. Sasuke glared at her. Somehow, their once-in-a-lifetime double date with Naruto and Sakura had become a once-a-week ritual. That, and Friday night dinners, meant that Sasuke was being more social than…well…ever. It was annoying actually, but for some reason he grudgingly submitted to the ritual.

"He's loved her for so long, ever since we were genin," Hinata mused, her eyes distant, "can you imagine anyone loving someone for so long without encouragement?"

Sasuke stiffened suddenly beside her, and Hinata turned to him, her eyes questioning. He avoided her gaze and continued forward. Hinata wondered what was wrong – something was bothering him, she could tell from the set of his shoulders and tenseness in his jaw.

"Sasuke?" she questioned, curious. He picked up his pace and Hinata almost had to jog to keep up. She let him plough ahead for a few moments before reaching out an arm to stop him. He turned his body to face her, but his eyes still didn't look at her, and Hinata was startled to see that Sasuke wasn't upset, he was…embarrassed. There was a faint flush on his pale cheeks.

"Sasuke," she said again. It wasn't a question this time so much as a soft demand. She wanted to know what was causing this strange behaviour.

"Do you know how old I was when I first noticed you?" he mumbled, looking down now and shoving his hands in his pockets. Hinata blinked, and then answered honestly enough, "No."

"I was twelve. I didn't like you at first," he hastened to add when he saw her surprised look, "but I noticed you. You were always following Naruto around, and I wanted to know why. Then I realized that you had a crush on him, and couldn't figure out why, so I started watching you even more. And then, after a time, I couldn't seem to stop…" he trailed off and stared past her shoulders. Hinata waited patiently for him to continue.

"I liked you before I left Konoha, Hinata," he said softly, "and I still liked you when I came back. I thought about you, when I was with Orochimaru." He fell silent once more, his face clouding over as he thought of his years with the snake sannin. Hinata reached out and took his hands in hers, and Sasuke watched her small hands gently caress his larger ones. She stepped closer to him them, resting her head on his chest, and he breathed deeply, closing his eyes.

"I think I must've loved you, even then," he murmured into her hair. Hinata choked back a soft gasp at the quiet revelation, and then wrapped her arms around his back before lifting up her head to kiss him gently. They embraced quietly for a few moments, before breaking apart and continuing on their way.

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Mission: Matchmaker

Neji glared at the scroll lying in front of him. This was ridiculous. He was the genius of the Hyuuga, he ranked among the top shinobi of the village, and the Hokage had him playing matchmaker to his little cousin's team-mate. Matchmaker. To a guy who had a host of bugs living inside of him. So far, in his research of the females of Konoha, he had yet to encounter one single girl who hadn't gone ewwwwwwwwwwwwww at the sight of a bug. How was he supposed to find one who would willingly marry the heir of the bug wielders?

Neji tucked the scroll away, deciding to ignore it for now. After all, he had five years. He could find a girl for Shino in five years, right?

Neji sighed and put the scroll in his uniform. Perhaps Hinata would have some insights into the rather enigmatic member of her team.

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Coming-out

"Hinata-sama," Neji spoke quietly. Hinata looked up from her work to see her cousin standing in front of her, his face set in the deliberately blank look she knew so well. Both Sasuke and Neji used it when they were unsure about something. She hid a smile and stopped cutting up her herbs for a moment. She wiped her hands on her apron and smiled at him.

"Yes, Neji?" she asked politely.

"Do you think Shino is handsome?" he asked abruptly. Hinata gaped at him. She was pretty sure her mouth was hanging open slightly, but she seemed unable to do anything about that right now.

"I beg you pardon?" she finally managed to ask politely, surely she heard wrong.

"Do you think Shino is handsome?" Neji repeated the question as if it was a perfectly reasonable thing to ask.

"Uh, I'm not really sure," Hinata said softly, not sure what was going on. Neji let out an exasperated snort.

"He's tall, dark, and mysterious. He has a nice voice, good manners, is very intelligent and skilled. Why wouldn't you find him attractive? Surely you think Aburame is handsome, Hinata-sama," he said. Judging from the mild irritation lacing his voice, he was getting annoyed. Hinata decided to just answer his question.

"Yes, I suppose Shino is handsome," she replied honestly enough. Of course, Shino was her friend and team-mate, so her opinion on the subject might be a little biased.

"Do you still find him attractive, despite the bugs?" Neji asked next. Hinata turned back to her herbs, glad to have something sane to do. She was also glad to have a knife in her hand, in case her cousin became unstable.

"I don't mind the bugs. They don't seem so bad, because they are Shino's bugs, and I like Shino," she said quietly, watching Neji out of the corner of her eye. He seemed upset at something. Why was he asking these weird questions about Shino anyway?

"Hmm. Do you know what Shino finds attractive? Would he prefer someone with dark hair?" was the next series of inquiries. Hinata stopped cutting once more and stared at her cousin. He had a contemplative look on his face now.

"I really don't know," she said softly. Neji nodded, his face in its typical stoic mask once more.

"Very well, thank you for your help, Hinata-sama," he said, bowed, and left.

Hinata didn't return to her work right away, instead musing over the conversation. Why was Neji suddenly interested in what Shino liked? And what was with the speech about Shino's good qualities? A sudden idea came to her then, and she flushed. Surely that wasn't it…was it? Neji had never indicated an interest in girls, so it maybe he wasn't interested in girls. Maybe all these questions came about because he was interested…in Shino? Hinata gasped as she stared out the window. That must be it; it was the only logical explanation.

Neji was gay.

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I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter, but am not sure why. Anywho, hope everyone who reads it enjoys it.

Thanks for reading!