A/N: Happy Holidays everyone! I know I am a bit late, sorry. Over 100 reviews, thank you all so much! You're amazing. Sorry for any mistakes near the end of the chapter. I just finished it and it's past midnight. I would submit it tomorrow, but I'm having friends over and I didn't want to wait any longer to submit this. Please enjoy!

Chapter 11

Sasuke's first class was AP Calculus. It was a relatively small class in comparison to others he had in the past. A majority of his classmates had already dropped math, refusing to take more than what was required. Only students who managed to stay on top of their classes or cared enough made it on to AP Calculus.

Sasuke wasn't surprised to see Shikamaru made it. Even though he put minimal energy into his work, Shikamaru proved himself to be one of the smartest students at their high school. Their teacher did not waste time with introductions or any formalities, but began to immediately pass out forms to students already seated. Sasuke took everything in stride, after attending high school for three years, he was use to the flow of things.

At 9:15 the bell rang and as the other students filed out, Sasuke took his time. He had five minutes to get to his next class, which was only across the hall, so he had plenty of time. As he was about to step into the hallway, another student blocked his way. He stopped and looked at her and her wide, startled eyes.

Hinata blinked in surprise, then stepped back, allowing him to pass by her. Sasuke walked on and Hinata ducked past him, entering the class he was leaving. Sasuke glanced back for a moment, wondering why Hinata wasn't in AP Calculus, but then shook the question from his mind. It was none of his business.

Second period for Sasuke was physics and he recalled that this was one of the classes he was suppose to have with Naruto.

"Sasuke! Sasuke! Sit next to me." The obnoxious blonde waved his arm dramatically to attract Sasuke's attention.

Pretending to not hear or see him, Sasuke sat on the other side of the room, knowing well enough that it would annoy Naruto. It didn't take long for the blonde to get up and sit by Sasuke, he was like a needy puppy.

"Jerk," grumbled Naruto.

Sasuke flashed a confident smirk, then the ball rang and their teacher Iruka began to introduce himself to the class.

"Awesome," said Naruto. "We have Iruka, this class will be great!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, knowing that Iruka was Naruto's favorite teacher. Naruto continued to chat throughout the class, but Sasuke paid his attention to the teacher. When the bell rang, Naruto looked around in confusion.

"What, the class is already over?"

Scoffing, Sasuke said, "If you didn't talk so much you'd notice a lot more around you."

Naruto didn't retaliate though, he was already headed out the door to their third period class, anatomy.

"Oh no," mumbled Naruto as Sasuke sat down next to him. They were already in their anatomy class and students were still walking in. "Our teacher is Kakashi. Agh, he's going to fail us all."

Sasuke almost laughed, but he didn't get a chance to when Naruto suddenly pushed him out of his seat.

Sasuke regained his balance and angrily turned to Naruto. "What the hell was that for?" he asked.

But Naruto didn't answer him, he was too busy calling for the attention of Sakura who had just walked into the classroom. "Hey, Sakura! You can sit by me."

Sasuke was tempted to just take his seat back, but he stopped himself. Naruto liked Sakura, of course he would want her to sit beside him, plus, if Sasuke took Sakura's seat he would have to face her wrath. So he shrugged nonchalantly and took one of the remaining seats left in the back of the class.

Just as the bell rang, one last student entered the classroom. It was Hinata.

"Miss Hyuga."

Hinata jumped, obviously startled by Kakashi whom had seemingly appeared from nowhere.

"I am surprised that you were almost late. I hope that won't be habit in this class." Kakashi eyed her coolly and Sasuke could visibly see Hinata shrink under the teachers gaze and the curious onlookers of the class.

"N-No," she replied meekly.

"Good." said Kakashi, waving his hand and dismissing her.

Without hesitation to leave the spotlight, Hinata immediately made her way to a seat in the classroom. Actually, she made her way to the only seat available, the one right next to Sasuke. Now Sasuke wished he hadn't given up his seat at all.

"Alright class," said Kakashi. He stood before them, observing them all carefully before continuing his speech. "Now that everyone is here, I'd like you to look at whom you're sitting next to."

Neither Sasuke nor Hinata turned their heads to look. They knew exactly who they were sitting beside.

"Know who's beside you now? Good. From here on out they're going to be your partner in this class."

A chorus of grumbles arose from the students, but Sasuke could not make a sound. He shot a dirty look towards Naruto, who was currently grinning a very goofy smile at Sakura. From the corner of his eye he saw Hinata glance towards him. She looked so pale and frightful and for a moment Sasuke felt guilty. Guilty for hating her and for a moment guilty about the love note. For the first time, he wondered how she felt. Was she still in love with Naruto?

Hinata quickly redirected her attention to the teacher though and Sasuke lost his train of thought. Kakashi was beginning to hand out papers to the entire class.

"Today I'm assigning you a project that you must work on with your new partner. It will be due next week and I expect both partners to put in the same amount of work."

With a defeated sigh, Sasuke accepted the situation. Okay, Hinata was his partner, so what? They didn't actually have to converse, just work together. And to Sasuke's understanding, Hinata was smart, she could hold her own so she wouldn't rely on him too much.

"This project, like many of the ones I am assigning you will require extra work outside of class. So you'll need to work with your partners schedule. You may stay after school to work on your projects or work at your partners house. It's up to you to decide."

Sasuke furrowed his brow in thought. He did not like the sound of that, it meant he would have to spend more time with Hinata than he anticipated.

Once more from the corner of his eye he saw Hinata glance at him meekly. He could feel the question within her gaze. What would they do? Sasuke pretended to not notice her and instead looked at their project and it's requirements. He couldn't look at her or answer the obvious question because he had no idea what to do. They spent the rest of the class in silence. In his thoughts, Sasuke cursed Naruto and the loss of his original seat. How was he suppose to work with the Hyuga? This was going to be impossible.

Sasuke was grateful for lunch beyond words when it finally came. He had lunch after fifth period which was government, which was also another class we had with Hinata. He hoped it would be the last class he would have with the girl. At least in government he didn't have to sit beside her, or do a project with her. He sighed at that thought. Should they stay after school to work together?

Never mind, that could be decided latter. Sasuke got in line to eat lunch. He could wait until tomorrow to decide what they would do.

When he sat down at the lunch table, mostly everyone was already there. Naruto, Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji, were already talking animatedly amongst themselves, comparing their classes, and who had what together and teachers who had already cruelly passed out homework.

"Yeah," said Naruto. "I have Kakashi and he's already assigned us a project. A project! It's the first day of school, I can't believe he would already give us so much work. But I have Sakura to work with, so I know we'll get a good grade."

"Hey," called Sakura. "Don't you go and leave all the work to me. I'll tell Kakashi and make you fail." Her tone was angry, but the threat was an empty one.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, as Naruto and Sakura continued their banter. He didn't want to be amused by even Naruto's stupidity, he still felt pretty sore about being pushed out of his chair and more over being forced to work with Hinata. Sasuke sighed. Hopefully he wouldn't have another class with her.

Apparently Sasuke did not have any luck. He thought he did until his very last period, English. Yes, he had that class with Hinata as well. He attempted to sit as far away as possible, but she was only a couple seats away from him. Running his classes through his head, he realized he had three classes with the Hyuga. Had he ever have so many classes with her before? He could not recall.

Their teacher Kurenai called sharply for their attention, Sasuke willingly gave it. She sternly looked to particular students, daring them to act out in class. When her gaze landed on Hinata though, Sasuke was sure he saw Kurenai's eyes soften. He had never witnessed such tenderness from her. Kurenai was known to be merciless, high demanding, and strict in the classroom, not caring.

"Class," called Kurenai sternly, dragging Sasuke's thoughts away from the curious transformation of emotion. She was hard and demanding once more and Sasuke wondered if he had imagined it all.

"I expect a lot from my students. You complete your work on time, do not goof off in class, and you do not leave my class early. Even if the bell rings, you stay seated until my lecture is complete, are we clear?"

There was a mixture of nods and "yes ma'am"s but Sasuke found himself doing neither one. Rather he was staring curiously at Hinata. She must have seen him from the corner of her eye, because she timidly turned around to look at him. Without missing a beat, Sasuke redirected his attention to Kurenai instead.

What was going to become of him?

The walk home from school was no different compared to last year. Hinata walked 20 feet in front and Sasuke strolled nonchalantly behind. He mulled over all his classes, recalling the four classes he had with Naruto, and regrettably, the three classes he had with Hinata. Kurenai had assigned homework as well that was due tomorrow and Sasuke wasn't looking forward to the homework that was surely going to pile up during the week. And he also had that project he needed to complete with Hinata. What a pain.

Sasuke's thoughts were suddenly turned over though when Hinata arrived at her house. Instead of going inside immediately, she sat down on her porch, quietly. . . waiting.

Oh no. He knew, Sasuke knew without any doubt in that moment that Hinata was waiting for him. It was about their project, he knew. He almost turned around then to take a different route home, but Hinata would have been able to see him walk away. And another point, it would have been cowardly. He wasn't afraid of the girl. She just wanted to talk about the project. The sooner the better, so Sasuke kept on walking.

He didn't change his pace. He wanted to, but he kept his nonchalant walk, resisting the urge to walk faster. What he did do though, was glance at Hinata as he walked by her house.

She was still sitting on the porch, but her eyes were focused on him. Actually, she looked surprised when he met her gaze. She probably suspected that he was going to walk by without looking at her, she wasn't far off.

"Agh, um, S-Sasuke?"

Sasuke stopped walking. Of course he had been right, she had been waiting for him.

"F-For the project, h-how about we complete it h-here?"

Now it was Sasuke's turn to be surprised. She wanted to work at her house? He thought for sure that she would prefer the school or even the library. But Sasuke nodded anyways.

Hinata breathed a shuttering sigh. Her shoulders dropping their tense posture. "O-Okay, good. We'll work on it tomorrow, here, after school?"

Sasuke nodded again and Hinata smiled tentatively at him before disappearing into her house. Strange. Tomorrow he would learn what her house looked like. He continued walking, feeling a little relieved. He was kinda glad she waited for him so they could settle the matter about their project. Perhaps working with her wouldn't be so bad.