A/N: As a response to a question about the timeline, Naruto and co are still kids, 12-13 years old.

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Chapter 2: The One with the Gift

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"Pleeeaase, Hinata?"

Hinata stared at the box Ino was holding. It was wrapped with glittery purple paper and a yellow ribbon to boot. There was a note, too. She could barely read the writing but she supposed Ino didn't want her to anyway.

"Please, Hinata? Just this one time." Ino looked at her through practiced puppy eyes. Hinata blinked, then sighed. Ino's gift wasn't a problem at all. No. It's the fact that the blonde had asked her to give it to someone, a special someone and we all know who Ino's 'special' someone is.

"All I'm asking is that you just give this to Sasuke-kun. Just a few seconds of handing over the gift, and that's it."

Hinata begs to differ. It was not just it. She could still remember the encounters she had with him the past few days, and she was not, absolutely not going to meet him again if she could help it.

"Please, Hina-chan?" Ino was almost desperate now, she noted. Usually, it would be no problem for her to do a favor for a friend, but this was different. It involved the Uchiha. There was no way she'd say yes.

"If you do, I'll arrange a date for you and Naruto…"

And those were the magic words.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Hinata could not believe it. Right now, she was walking up the street toward Uchiha Sasuke's house, holding the purple box she suspected was sprayed with a heavy flowery perfume. She cursed whoever it was that gave her a gullible personality.

She had asked Ino the reason why she, Hinata, and not Sakura, Shikamaru, or Chouji, had to be the one to hand over the gift to Sasuke. Ino then began a simple explanation of: "If it would be any other girl, they'd try to sabotage my plan." Hinata had asked right then, "And that is?" Ino turned her nose up in the air. "To make Sasuke aware of my 'mysterious' personality, of course." Hinata thought of telling her that the Uchiha would still probably know it was from her, even by sending the gift anonymously, but instead opted to just ask, "And why not the other guys?" Ino then gave her a 'You-Seriously-Don't-Know?' look with a response of "If it were any other guy, they'd probably get jealous and would try to hurt my Sasuke-kun." Hinata threw back an 'Are-You-Crazy?' look. Who cares if Sasuke gets hurt? She definitely knows she wouldn't.

She sighed. Only a few blocks left until she reaches the Uchiha mansion, she began doubting if it would be better to just turn around. She pictured what Ino's reaction would be and decided that it would be much safer to just get on with it. The blonde could be so scary sometimes, even Sasuke couldn't beat her. After all, just as Ino said, it would only take a few minutes…right? Maybe after, she could him ask where he put the photo of her from a few days ago.

When she looked up from the pavement, she was surprised to find herself in front of the Uchiha gates. She began contemplating. 'This is my last chance. Should I continue? Or just leave?'

Once she decided that there would be much more harm if she were to leave and be placed under Ino's wrath, than to meet Sasuke again for a few seconds of giving him the present, she tentatively rang the doorbell.

The echo of the bell continued for a while and still there was no answer. She tried again. Nothing. And again, and again, and again. Still nothing.

Her shoulders slumped in exasperation. Clearly, no one was inside. Based on her luck, it would be a while before Sasuke arrives. Frowning, she pondered on what to do. 'This is not good. I do not want to know what Ino would do if I just leave.' Her legs began to give way from all the walking, so she sat down on the pavement beside the gates and deliberated again. 'I could just leave the box here, but what if it gets stolen or something?'

Hinata, too deep in her thoughts, hadn't seen Sasuke turning up around the corner. It was only when he was in front of her that she finally noticed. She looked up, and squeaked.

Sasuke threw her a thoroughly amused look.

'When did he-?'

"Are you just going to sit there and stare at me all day, Hyuuga?"

Taking hold of Ino's gift, she quickly stood up. Eyes lowered, she thought of what she would say to him. Should she just hand over the box? Peering behind her bangs, she saw him eyeing the gift. She began to speak. Only, Sasuke beat her to it.

"May I know what you are holding, Hyuuga?" She raised her eyes and saw his questioning look. He probably thought the gift was for him. Well, he was right about that. He also probably thought that it was from her, which was very very wrong.

She started to explain, bringing up the gift closer to him. "This is for you, just… not from me."

He eyed the purple box for a moment, then at her. "You're saying that you were asked to give it me."

She nodded.

"Well, tell whoever sent you that I don't accept strange gifts." Then, he turned away.

"W-what?" She lowered her arms, taken aback. She started to panic when he was almost at the gates. "W-wait, WAIT!"

Sasuke turned his head to face her, and let out an annoyed "What?"

Hinata fidgeted, fighting the urge to back away. She was not giving up! She mumbled, "A… a friend asked me to give this to you, so would you please-?"

"No."

Sasuke was opening the gates now. This time, Hinata grabbed him by the arm, to his surprise.

"Listen," She gave him a slightly stern look that almost made him speechless. She unconsciously squeezed his arm. The faintest tinge of pink appeared on cheeks but either Hinata didn't notice it or ignored it all together. She continued, "I'm desperate here. My friend is going to kill me if I fail to give this to you!"

Quickly recovering, he replied with a grunt and a "Why don't you just tell her I didn't accept it then? I'm sure she'll understand."

He had said it so easily, but the reality was Ino most probably would not understand. Hinata only knew how crazy women are because of love. Didn't Sakura almost kill Naruto once just for insulting Sasuke?

"Uchiha-san," She let out a breath that she hadn't known she was holding. "Perhaps you wouldn't understand, but I'm willing to do you favor if you would just accept the gift, please."

He peered at her face for a long while, apparently thinking of what she had just said. Hinata held her breath. She didn't know what to do if he'll refuse again.

Sasuke sighed, a bit hesistant. And then, in a voice that was almost inaudible that Hinata had to strain her ears to hear him, he said, "Alright."

Hinata felt her heart did a whoop but was soon put back in place when she heard his next words.

"I want you to train me."

Hinata took a step back, releasing her hold on Sasuke. "What?"

He closed his eyes and sighed in annoyance. "I'm not going to repeat what I just said. I know you heard me."

"I…I know what you just said! B-but why?!" She nearly yelled in his ear. She didn't think she could be so loud, and apparently so did Sasuke.

"You have excellent chakra control, don't you? I needed someone to train with." Leave it to Sasuke to evade directly admitting his weakness.

Pursing her lips, she carefully deliberated the idea. What harm could it do? She would just have to train with him for a few hours. Besides, it feels good to know that she was better than him at something. Plus, she was going to have a date with Naruto after this.

She gave a nod. "Okay." Then she handed him Ino's gift, which he finally accepted.

He turned to the opened gates and before stepping inside, he spoke without looking at her. "Tomorrow. 6AM. Don't be late."

Before she could utter a protest or even ask him where he kept the picture of her a few days prior, he slammed the gates at her face.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"So? How did it go?" Hinata sat on one side of Ino's bed, with the giggling blonde across from her. Right after Hinata successfully handed the gift to Sasuke, albeit with a few minor setbacks, Ino immediately took the surprised Hyuuga to her house for a few 'questionings'.

"Um, well…" Hinata contemplated on telling her that the Uchiha had only agreed to accept the gift for a favor in return, but decided against it. "He said he appreciated it."

The immediate response was a very loud squeal. "I knew it!"

The dark-haired girl across from her only sighed, certain that her friend had lost her mind to La-La land, if it weren't already. Maybe she'd believe what Sasuke has been trying to say all along. Some girls really are nuts.

She could only look at her friend. Ino was squealing and bouncing on the bed now, giving off boundless waves of delight. "Oh, Hina-chan! I think this would be the start of my romantic life with Sasuke-kun!"

It seemed to Hinata that Ino's squeals were endless. She cringed, fighting the temptation to cover her ears. 'Maybe I should've told her the truth.' But those thoughts crumbled away when Ino said something that made Hinata squeal.

"Tomorrow evening, I'll make arrangements for your date with Naruto."

Lying wasn't so bad after all.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The moonlight shone through the windows of her bedroom. Hinata slept fitfully, twisting and tossing in her bed. After a while, she gave up and tossed her blankets off. She massaged her aching temples and muttered. 'Can't sleep.'

She was too nervous about her training with Sasuke and too excited for her date with Naruto that she couldn't sleep. She carefully thought out everything that would happen during their date. She had considered buying a new outfit but eventually decided not to. She didn't know much about the current trends anyway. She'd just end up making a fool of herself.

On her bedside table, the clock read 3:02AM. That was not good. Only three hours left before she had to train with Sasuke. She pictured herself walking in the Uchiha mansion looking like a zombie, and him looking at her with amusement clearly written on his face, plus that stupid smirk too! Hinata shook her head. She can't let that happen! She had embarrassed herself in front of him far too many times already.

She twisted again and glared at her nightstand that stood innocently on her bedside table, getting more and more irritated. She sighed, straightened, and gripped the sheets surrounding her, simultaneously thrashing her leg on the bed, 'Why is the damn house so quiet?! I can't stand it!'

With a grunt and a few more twisting and turning, she squeezed her eyes shut and brought her blanket closer to her chin. She hoped she'd be able to sleep soon. She had no such luck.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hinata was a strange sight to see indeed as she walked along the street toward Sasuke's house. Fortunately, only very few people were up this early. She considered disguising herself with a genjutsu, but she decided to preserve her energy for her date with Naruto. Why does she care what Sasuke thinks anyway?

She had finally arrived at the Uchiha gates, and then rang the doorbell. She was just on time. Footsteps were heard on the other side of the gate, which opened a few seconds later. It revealed Sasuke already in his training attire.

Slowly, almost deliberately, he eyed her from head to toe, and then…

"You look like someone who had just come back from the dead."

Puffy eyes narrowed at his own amused ones. Clearly, she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Without warning, she walked passed him and into his house. Sasuke only stared after her. If one knew the Hyuuga well, they'd know that this wasn't her usual attitude. The usually shy polite girl had become more like him, uncaring, irritated and snobby.

Not that those were good qualities.

Sasuke decided he liked her better this way.

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A/N: I updated earlier than was intended. Don't get used to it though. I'll be very busy this week. The next update would probably weeks later, just so you know. Please review! I'm open to suggestions.