Author's Note: God help me, I made an OC. I hope she isn't annoying; I really just created her to get the Shino plotline out of the way. This chapter is really just to tie up that loose end – the next few chapters will be all Hinata and Sasuke.
Thanks for all the reviews; you have all been very supportive!
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Chapter 7: Make me a match
Shino entered the Yamanaka flower shop, his hands concealed in the sleeves of his coat. He was here to meet Ino for a mission, and headed towards the counter to let her know he was there. There was no one standing there, but he could sense someone near, an unfamiliar presence. A girl suddenly popped up in front of him and shrieked a little when she saw him. Shino stepped back, startled.
"I'm sorry," she said a little breathlessly, her dark eyes wide, "you startled me." She straightened up and patted her hair before smiling at him at little nervously.
"Welcome to Yamanaka flower shop. How can I help you?" she asked formally, her voice sounding rehearsed. Shino didn't reply, studying her. Her cheeks flushed under his scrutiny and she dropped her gaze, biting her lower lip.
She's shy he immediately deduced. Having known Hinata for so long, he was able to recognize the signs quite clearly.
"I'm here to pick up Ino," he said quietly. Her face lit up in recognition as she nodded eagerly.
"Oh yes, sorry, she's getting ready now – she told me to tell you that she'll be back in a few minutes," the girl said. Shino nodded and began to turn away when the girl's quiet voice stopped him.
"Um, excuse me," she said and he turned back to face her once more. She wasn't looking at him, her gaze focussed instead on the counter. He waited patiently for her continue, his gaze never leaving the top of her dark head. She took a deep breath and raised her eyes to meet his.
"I wanted to apologize to you, Aburame-san," she said. Shino blinked, completely confused, but wasn't left wondering for long.
"The other day, my friends and I were in the market, and they said some...cruel...things about you. They were very rude, and I wanted to say that I'm sorry," she trailed off, her cheeks flushing once more as she dropped her head. Shino blinked, his mind thrown back to that day. Honestly, he had forgotten about it in the events that had followed. He stared at the girl, realizing that she did look familiar. He had thought she was fifteen, but upon closer inspection, he realized that she was likely closer to seventeen. Her slight stature and round, girlish face made her seem younger at first glance. He suddenly looked away when he recalled that she was the one who had thought he was cute. No one had ever said that before about him.
"Thank you," he said, for lack of anything else. She smiled at him then, a happy, relieved smile, and Shino's cheeks reddened slightly. He was very grateful that Ino choose that moment to enter the shop, announcing in her usual brassy tones that she was ready.
"All right, Shino, let's get this over with. Don't worry, Hana-chan, you'll do just fine in the shop. Don't forget – you can call my parents if anything comes up, but I don't think it will. Oh, Shino, have you met Hana? She's working part-time for us, now that I'm getting placed on so many missions," Ino said, all in one breath. Shino nodded once at Hana before following the energetic blonde out the door.
Her name was Hana, and she worked in a flower shop. How fitting, he thought to himself.
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Neji sat meditating in his room, trying to dispel the frustration that had been building up inside of him for the past few days. Ever since Sasuke had 'outed' him in the Hokage's office, the rumour that he was gay and currently suffering from unrequited love for the Aburame heir had spread throughout the village. It seemed everywhere he went, people were throwing either sympathetic or disgusted looks. He didn't particularly care for all this attention, especially since it was all based on something that wasn't true. Neji had never come so close to harming Konoha's leader as he had that day in Tsunade's office. She had just stood there and smirked at him, fuelling the rumour and doing nothing to dispel it. Neji couldn't do anything about it either, as no one was suppose to know about his 'mission'. And then there was the matter of the mission itself: he had almost given up any hope at all of finding a girl for Shino, until he had encountered the Yamanaka's new flower shop sales girl.
Hana Takahashi was fairly non-descript, albeit rather pretty, girl. She wasn't a ninja, which could potentially become a serious problem. She was also the only girl he had encountered who seemed interested in Shino. She looked young, and the fact that she wasn't a ninja made her act young as well. In her defence, she acted her age: a seventeen year old girl. However, Shino was a ninja, as was Neji and everyone he knew. Being a ninja meant that you grew up faster then a regular teenager, and Neji wasn't sure if Hana was quite ready for an actual relationship. She was probably still daydreaming of happily-ever-afters and prince charming – such things didn't exist, especially when you got involved with shinobi. Neji wasn't quite sure if she was the best choice for Shino, but at the moment, she was the only choice. He would watch her closely over the next few days, and perhaps try and orchestrate a brief encounter between her and Shino, just to see how they reacted towards one another. He would not force this if it turned out not to be a good idea. Shino was a good ninja and a dear friend of Hinata's – if Neji was going to be forced to do this ridiculous mission, then he would do it to the best of his ability and he wasn't going to pair Shino up with just anyone simply so that he could finally rid himself of this mission.
Having decided on this course of action, they Hyuuga genius rose from his meditative stance and proceeded to the Main House, where the weekly Friday night dinner was being held.
He entered the Main House to find that Sasuke had already arrived. He tensed, his face becoming hard. He still hadn't quite forgiven Sasuke for the comment in Tsunade's office about his sexual preferences, and considering all the grief he had been getting the past few days because of said comment, he was feeling particularly hostile towards the Uchiha survivor. Sasuke took his hostility in stride, however, merely nodding in greeting to Neji. Such a display of civility took Neji by surprise, but the Hyuuga quickly surmised that it was because Hinata was standing next to him. His cousin seemed to have considerable sway over the Avenger. Neji had noticed that Sasuke had changed a little since becoming engaged to Hinata, becoming a little less of a bastard. But then Neji was firmly convinced that given enough time, Hinata could change anyone for the better. She had a way about her that seemed to naturally soften anyone's sharp edges, and in a village of shinobi, such a gift was very precious.
He was interrupted from his musings by the suddenly loud entrance of his youngest cousin. Hanabi entered the room where they were all sitting and promptly glomped him. Neji scowled and pried her off, then smirked as she proceeded to glomp the Uchiha, who looked murderous as he tried to throw her off of him.
"Aw, Sasuke-niisan, don't be like that, you know you love me," she said, grinning at him cheekily when he finally managed to get her off. Sasuke, who looked ready to throttle her, stiffened suddenly at the title, his eyes widening ever so slightly in surprise. Hanabi didn't notice as she was busy ruffling Hinata's hair, her eyes laughing at her sister's quiet protest. Once she was finished annoying everyone in the room – which was Hanabi's way of saying hello – she plopped herself down beside Hinata and her smile turned sly as she looked over at Neji.
"So, Neji," she said, "I hear you've been 'outed', and in front of the Hokage no less. I always suspected something – I mean, you're hair is nicer than mine, that can't be normal for a boy."
Neji scowled and was about to retort when Hiashi entered the room. The effect was immediate, much to Neji's relief. Hanabi's face lost its mischievous look as she became quietly respectful, addressing her father politely.
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Hinata walked Sasuke to the door once dinner had finished. Hanabi would have accompanied them if Hiashi hadn't wanted to speak with her. Neji had disappeared soon after dinner, not in the mood to deal with anyone, and Hinata could hear the faint sounds of him training in the yard. She and Sasuke were silent when they reached the front door, and Hinata watched her fiancée with a little bit of concern. He had been quiet all evening, which wasn't unusual except for the fact that his silence was more pensive than normal.
"Sasuke? Is everything all right?" she asked softly. Sasuke blinked at her, coming out of his thoughts.
"She called me niisan," he said, sounding a bit confused, "why?"
Hinata blinked, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Was that what this was about? Hanabi's comment? She took his hand and laced his fingers together with her own.
"Because in Hanabi's mind, you are as much her brother as Neji is, now that you're marrying me. She cares about you, you know, even if she has a strange way of showing it."
Sasuke snorted and rolled his eyes, but his grip on her hand tightened just a little. His face grew thoughtful as he absently rubbed his thumb along the top of her knuckles.
"I really am gaining a family by marrying you, aren't I?" he said softly, his dark eyes surprisingly vulnerable. Hinata smiled softly, and Sasuke caught his breath at the tenderness in her gaze. She had never looked at him like that before, and it was then that he realized Naruto was no longer a threat. The thought made him a little dizzy, and Hinata just made things worse by cupping his cheek with her free hand and kissing him gently on the mouth. It was the first time she had initiated such a kiss, and Sasuke savoured it before deepening it. When they pulled apart, her face was flushed and she shyly looked at the floor. Sasuke wanted to say something, but suddenly seemed unable to form complete sentences. He was saved from trying when Hinata reached up and kissed him again. His eyes drifted shut and his mind was once more turning strangely fuzzy when a piercing ewwwwwwwwwwwwww suddenly rang in his ears.
Hinata pushed him away so fast he almost fell over. Her face was bright red as she stared in mortification at her little sister.
"H-Hanabi!" she squeaked, "What are doing, s-s-sneaking up on us like that?"
Hanabi just rolled her eyes and made a face, coming to stand beside Sasuke, who wanted nothing more than to smack her. He refrained, however, and wasn't entirely sure why.
"Che, as if I wanted to see that, grossness," she declared, wrinkling her nose. Sasuke glared at her, and Hanabi stuck her tongue out at him. The Avenger then surprised everyone, including himself, when he reached out with one hand and playfully yanked on Hanabi's ponytail. The youngest Hyuuga stared at him, as did his fiancée. He ignored it with practiced ease.
"Don't sneak up on us then, brat," he drawled tonelessly. Hanabi blinked before smiling softly at him, and Hinata looked close to tears. Suddenly very uncomfortable with the two girls, both of whose eyes were getting suspiciously bright, Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets, scowled, and left quickly, calling out a disgruntled good night behind him.
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Neji watched the small tea shop from across the street, carefully concealing all signs of his chakra. He had to take extra precautions in this surveillance mission, as one of his targets was especially adept and noticing things. He suddenly went on high alert as he saw one of his targets sitting down at one of the small tables. It wasn't long before the second one approached, and Neji had to take great care to keep his presence hidden from the Aburame heir.
It had taken no small amount of strategic planning to get Shino and Hana to show up at the same spot. In fact, Neji had to admit it was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do for a mission. At one point he had seriously thought about enlisting Shikamaru's help, but upon reflecting that the Nara was dating Ino, one of the biggest gossips in Konoha, he decided against it. He was sure that Shikamaru wouldn't have betrayed his confidence, but Neji knew it was too big a risk, especially as Ino excelled at uncovering information that was suppose to remain secret.
Neji wasn't expecting much of anything from this 'accidental' meeting. After all, Shino was almost as antisocial as Sasuke (though much less angst-ridden), and Hana, though not nearly as shy as Hinata, was still very timid. So it came both as a surprise and relief when Shino sat down across from the flower shop girl, who blushed but smiled sweetly at the bug user. Nothing more exciting happened after that. Hana and Shino talked quietly about nothing in particular, as far as Neji could tell, and though not entirely comfortable (Hana had yet to look up from her teacup for longer than three seconds and Shino's shoulders were tense), they seemed to be getting along all right. Neji risked getting a little closer so he could hear their conversation, crossing the street and stationing himself in the entrance of the shop next door. Shino and Hana were sitting at one of the tables set up outside, and Neji could hear snatches of their conversation, enough to get a general idea of what they were saying.
Hana and Shino had one cup of tea each before Hana stood, expressing her apologies as she had to get back to work. Shino surprised both her and Neji when he stood as well and quietly asked if she would like to have tea with him again some time? Neji blinked and peeked out to see the back of Shino, shoulders very much tense now, and ears a little bit pink, but it was nothing compared to the cherries blossoming on Hana's cheeks. However, the flower shop girl smiled shyly and nodded, and Shino relaxed. The two teenagers bid each other good bye, Hana heading back towards Yamanaka's. Shino watched her for a moment before suddenly disappearing. Neji blinked, wondering where he went, and then stiffened when he felt a presence behind him.
"What are you doing here, Hyuuga?" Shino asked in a low voice. Neji panicked, wondering how on earth he was going to explain this when an idea entered his head. He winced, but it was the only thing he could think of.
"Stalking the object of my affections," Neji replied, keeping his voice as blank as possible. Shino moved to face him, and Neji was surprised to see the bug user smirking.
"You are not gay. And it is very strange that Hana was at this particular tea shop at this time," he said.
"Convenient for you," Neji said, keeping his voice neutral. Did Shino know...? His question was answered when Shino gave a very slight bow.
"I thank you for your efforts, Hyuuga-san, though I'm sure you disliked this mission as much as I did," he said. Neji blinked.
"How did you know?" he asked.
"I'm not certain, but I believe my father to have been to one to request it," Shino replied and then left. Neji stared after him a moment before muttering something rather rude under his breath and turning to head towards the training grounds. He felt a need to hit something, and wondered absently where Lee was.
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Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!