Chapter 12

School the next day was uneventful for Sasuke. Only the freshmen at school appeared excited. All the other students who were use to school had already calmed down. The excitement was gone now and students now were griping about their classes and teachers.

First and second period were uneventful. And third was entirely boring. Kakashi had them read out of a large textbook all through class. Some students spoke amiably among themselves, but not one word exchanged between Sasuke and Hinata. From where they were sitting Sasuke could hear Naruto and Sakura talking. (Which wasn't hard at all, they were both very loud people.)

For a moment Sasuke glared angrily at his dumb friend and then simply sighed. He guessed he was glad his friend was able to sit next to the girl he liked and Hinata was not annoying. At least she never tried making conversation. Out of curiosity, Sasuke glanced at her to see what page she was on in her physics book.

Sasuke noticed Hinata was inaudibly mouthing the words as she read. He watched her curiously. Hinata abruptly stopped reading, Sasuke could tell because her lips stopped moving. She stared fixedly at the page she was reading and then glanced fleetingly at Sasuke. Then she stared at her page again, her lips tightly pushed together. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk, realizing Hinata must feel embarrassed at being caught mouthing the words. Flustered by such a silly thing.

Without his noticing, Sasuke felt the smirk on his face soften into a smile. Damn, the Hyuga's such a meek person.

"So," began Naruto, leaning over his lunch tray. "What are you and Hinata going to do?"

Sasuke stopped chewing his food, giving Naruto an odd look. "Do . . .?"

"For your project!" declared Naruto. "Are the two of you staying after school or going to each other's house?"

Involuntarily Sasuke cleared his throat, feeling foolish. He thought Naruto had meant something else, though he wasn't exactly sure what or why he thought that. "We're going to her house," he clarified.

"Oh?" asked Sakura, butting into the conversation. "Her house, really?" Sakura looked as surprised as Sasuke had felt yesterday. Sasuke eyed Sakura warily, wondering why it was so strange to her that he was going to Hinata's house.

"Hey Sakura," said Naruto enthusiastically, "why don't we do the project at your house as well?"

"No!" said Sakura, turning her attention to Naruto. Sasuke surveyed her for a moment longer and then shrugged it off.

"Oh come on," whined Naruto. "I'd rather work at your house than stay after school."

"No! Naruto, deal with it. I don't want you coming to my house and making a mess."

Sasuke sighed.

In Spanish IV, Sasuke listened to Sakura and Naruto continue their argument from lunch. The day was winding down quickly and Sasuke did not want to admit it to himself, but he was anticipating working with Hinata at her house. Whatever that meant. Yesterday he felt surprised by Hinata's invitation because he thought Hinata would prefer working at school. Her home felt too . . . intimate. A place he was sure that she would want to keep free of strangers. Sasuke wasn't a stranger though, was he? Good gosh, they did go on a "double date" together once.

Sasuke thought back to that night so long ago. It had still been summer then.

During English, the last class of the day, Sasuke did not look towards Hinata. There was no reason for him to look at her. Everyone was quietly focused on their assignment, writing a ten-minute journal on whether they thought everyone deserves to be loved.

Sasuke didn't think so.

"Okay," said Kurenai. "Ten minutes are up, place down your pencils."

A rush of last written words sounded on the papers throughout the class. Students deliberately placed down their pencils and glanced anxiously at each other. Sasuke gazed over his journal. It was short and angry. His response to the question had been much more aggressive than he intended it to be.

Kurenai walked around the classroom collecting the papers. Sasuke handed his over wordlessly.

The rest of the period Kurenai lectured about passive voice and then assigned the class their first paper. It was an opinion paper, she said it could focus on any opinion or issue the students wanted, or at least one she approved. In two days their topics would be due.

One minute before the bell rang to dismiss school Kurenai allowed to students to gather by the door in anticipation. Sasuke hung back, preferring not to cram together with his enthusiastic classmates. Hinata wordlessly stood near him. Sasuke finally turned his head to acknowledge her presence.

To Sasuke's surprise, Hinata smiled at him. It was polite and slightly forced he noticed, but nonetheless she smiled at him. When the bell rang they left side by side, not needing any words to explain or clarify the fact they would be walking home together. Well, walking to Hinata's home precisely.

Another thing that surprised Sasuke was the fact that their walk was not awkward or strained. Or at least Sasuke did not think so, but Hinata appeared a little tense. She walked stiffly, nibbling on her bottom lip, glancing at Sasuke every now and then curiously. Sasuke felt his lip twitch in amusement at the sight of her discomfort. He was content to walk to Hinata's home is silence while she nervously agitated, but Hinata apparently did not share this same thought.

"S-So," she began. "What did you w-write for your journal?"

A scowl crossed Sasuke's face and he shrugged in response to her question. He didn't really want to talk about the dumb journals they wrote for English.

"I wrote that I thought everyone deserves to be loved," said Hinata not deterred by Sasuke's shrug. Sasuke scoffed in response.

"Do you not agree?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "No," he said curtly.

Beside him Hinata's steps faltered and she had to quicken her pace to catch up to Sasuke. "W-Why?" she asked.

Sasuke stopped walking and turned around so Hinata and he were standing face to face. What he was about to say, he did not want the Hyuga to forget it.

"Because there are some terrible people out in the world. They hurt people, people who hate and love them alike. Those worthless scums do not deserve to be loved if they're only going to hurt the people who care about them."

Sasuke turned around and began walking again, not waiting for Hinata to respond or even absorb his words.

This time Hinata had to run to catch up to Sasuke's angry stride.

"B-But what i-if love would ch-change those people?" Hinata's voice was slightly breathless and desperate. "D-Don't they - doesn't everyone - deserve a ch-chance to ch-change?"

Change? Do people seriously change? Sasuke kept the rest of his dark thoughts to himself, not desiring to continue this conversation with Hinata anymore. He set his jaw firmly and kept his quick pace. Hinata did not say anything more. She watched him for a while, expecting him to respond, but when he continued his silence she looked away. The remainder of their walk was tense and uncomfortable.

Sasuke only slowed down when Hinata's house came into view and he knew he would need to drop his anger if they were to get along and work on their project. So he sighed and allowed all the tension in his shoulders to relax. He glanced at Hinata, but she would not meet his eyes. She simply stared at the pavement in front of her, her shoulders slumped forward and her hair obscuring her face from view.

Guilt. That's what Sasuke felt when he looked at Hinata. He opened his mouth to say something. Perhaps even apologize. But he couldn't summon up the words so he closed his mouth.

Arriving in front of Hinata's house, Sasuke stopped, watching the girl beside him. Hinata finally looked up, her pale eyes sad and guarded, adding all the more to Sasuke's guilt. He did not mean to hurt or insult her, he just honestly did not believe everyone deserved love.

They walked up the steps of the front porch and entered the house. Hinata's house was really clean. That was the first thing Sasuke observed when he walked inside. All the walls were a pristine white and the floor carpeted. Sasuke followed Hinata's lead, taking his shoes off at the door. It would seem like a sin to track dirt into such a clean house.

"Would you like something to drink?" asked Hinata politely. Sasuke shock his head.

Hinata looked at him for a moment and then nodded. She guided him through the house wordlessly. Sasuke did not mind the silence; it gave him the opportunity to see Hinata's home. She had a nice home, not large, but certainly roomy. He followed Hinata to the staircase where she began to climb up the steps. Sasuke paused at the first step, looking around the house.

Where were her parents? Her sister? Sasuke gazed around for a moment, taking in the tidy and quiet house. It felt extremely lonely here.

Hinata paused, now near the top of the stairs and looked down at Sasuke. Sasuke followed quickly up the stairs after her, looking around again. Maybe everyone was upstairs, but the silence told him it was only he and Hinata.

That thought made Sasuke suddenly very uncomfortable. He was alone with Hinata. Alone and inside her house and that seemed wrong.

"Where," began Sasuke, his voice a little thick from not talking for a while. He cleared his throat and spoke again. "Where is your family?"

Hinata hummed softly in reply, a thoughtful expression crossing her features. "My father is still at work and Hanabi is at a friends I believe. And Neji is away at college. So it's just us right now."

Sasuke nodded, not feeling very comfortable, but grateful he would not have to deal with Hanabi.

Hinata opened a door, leading Sasuke into what he assumed was her room. He stopped short, standing awkwardly in the doorway; Hinata glanced his way and smiled at him for the second time today. Her smile was shy and a little embarrassed, but it was reassuring and Sasuke knew he had permission to enter her room.

Hinata's room was like the rest of the house. It had white walls and a white carpet and was extremely tidy. To Sasuke's eyes it was rather empty. It had a bed, a dresser, a desk, and a closet, the usual furniture found in any bedroom, but it seemed uninhibited. There were hardly any personal effects in the room, the desk was bare and the dresser only displayed a few meager grooming items like a brush. It looked like a guest room.

Sasuke observed all this while he stood not so awkwardly in the middle of the room. Hinata seemed a little shy having someone in her room, but she mostly ignored Sasuke's presence. She began pulling out items they would need for their project. Scissors, paper, and tape.

The project assigned by Kakashi was to make a paper bridge. They were suppose to create a paper bridge that could uphold the weight of five toy cars and their only resources allowed for the project were scissors, paper, tape, and one popsicle stick.

Once Hinata gathered all the materials they would need she sat down on the floor and spaced out the supplies in front of her. After a moment Sasuke sat down on the floor across from her. The two of them forgot their conversation from earlier completely and focused on the project at hand. Sasuke was grateful about that concerning Hinata. She did not stray away from the task at hand or allow herself to be distracted. Her stutter would arise in her speech occasionally and it was as annoying as hell, but other than that, Hinata was all right as a partner.

Starting the paper bridge was difficult, but once they formed the base, Sasuke's and Hinata's task became much easier. They mostly worked in silence, only talking when they needed to discuss the structure of the bridge. But the arrival of Hanabi broke their quiet and peaceful working atmosphere.

The sound of the front door slamming shut automatically made Sasuke and Hinata lift their heads and look at each other. Sasuke held his breath. Was it Hinata's father or the dreaded sister that just arrived home? The sound of rushing feet up the stairs answered Sasuke's question. He remembered Mr. Hyuga from the lake. Hiashi Hyuga was undoubtedly too dignified to run up stairs.

"Hey sis," called Hanabi, entering her sister's room without so much as a knock.

Both Sasuke and Hinata stared at Hanabi with wide eyes, as if they had been caught doing something dirty. The shock on Hanabi's face seemed as if she actually had walked in on them doing something terrible.

First Hanabi gaped at Sasuke, then at Hinata, then at their incomplete bridge. No one said anything, no one moved. So Sasuke cleared his throat, wanting to break the awkward atmosphere.

"Hi," he greeted. Hanabi gaped at him like a fish. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. Then finally she shook her head and pointed dramatically at Sasuke.

"You jerk!" She glared accusingly at him before running out of the room.

Sasuke huffed. Why did that brat hate him so much? He only said hello, how did that make him a jerk? He knew that wasn't really why she called him a jerk, but why did she always act so hateful?

Hinata's eyes were wide and horrified. She was staring at the door after her sister. Sasuke watched her unmoving expression and felt inside his chest a sudden rumble of laughter. He fought it back for a moment, but Hinata's face was so humorous to him for some reason and he caved in to his laughter.

The look of horror did not leave Hinata's face when she heard Sasuke laughing. Instead she redirected her gaze to him, her eyes growing even wider (if that was possible). Sasuke laughed harder, doubling over and nearly laying down on the floor.

After a moment he quickly tried to compose himself. Hinata seemed frozen, her expression still aghast. Sasuke covered his mouth, muffling the dying laughter and finally hiding the amused smile on his face. He was rather surprised at himself as well. He wasn't sure where that laughter came from, but it had felt good to laugh.

He breathed in deeply, now in full control of himself. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, now embarrassed about his outburst.

When Sasuke met Hinata's eyes, he thought for sure she was going to cry. He opened his mouth to apologize again and clarify that he hadn't meant to laugh at her, but his words cut off by Hinata's gentle laughter.

Sasuke stared at Hinata in bemusement. He realized he had never heard Hinata laugh before and it was a very soft and feminine laugh. It was kind of infectious too, because a moment later he was laughing again as well.

Their laughter ended all too quickly though and the light air that had surrounded the two of them disappeared instantly. Hinata smiled softly at him, her eyes bright and tender, but Sasuke only frowned feeling awkward and wary. He pulled his phone out to check the time and felt surprised to see it was already past six.

"I should go," said Sasuke. Standing up he noticed the smile on Hinata's face immediately faded. She looked disappointed.

"Oh," she said, standing up as well. They both looked down at their incomplete bridge.

"I'll come over tomorrow to help you finish it," assured Sasuke. Hinata nodded slowly in reply.

Seeing no other reason to stand in her room, Sasuke walked toward the door. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said, lifting his hand in a curt wave as goodbye.

Downstairs Hanabi was in the kitchen, rummaging through the refrigerator. She stopped when she heard Sasuke and glared at him as he made his way for the front door. Sasuke glared back, almost tempted to stick his tongue out at her, as she had once. But he wasn't a child and thus kept his tongue inside his mouth.

Stepping out on to the front porch, Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. Too bad they hadn't finished the bridge today; he would have to come over again tomorrow. As Sasuke walked down the porch steps a car drove into the driveway. Hiashi Hyuga stared at him through the windshield, looking as if he wanted to murder Sasuke. Sasuke stared back, unsure how to react. Should he say something, explain he had come over to work on a project with Hinata? Or perhaps Hiashi already knew. Sasuke didn't know and he didn't want to stay any longer at the Hyuga's than was necessary so he continued walking, avoiding the dangerous glare of the older man.

A/N: Does long chapter make up for long absence? I think not! One of my longer chapters, 161 words short of 3,000 words. Urgent! I need a beta reader! I have looked for one and haven't been able to find someone willing to beta read Sasuke/Hinata. So if any of you are willing to beta read my story or know someone who would, please send me a message! I believe I would update chapters much more quickly if I had a beta reader. I know I have already taken too long writing this story and I really want to crack down and finish it.