It took Hinata exactly five seconds to realize what she'd just done and by the time she stood to apologize, Sasuke had overcome his shock and was glaring daggers at her. If she thought the Uchiha genius was scary before, it was nothing compared to how she felt now! It was almost as if the very essence of his stare would pierce her soul and tear it to shreds!

"Shit!" he cursed loudly, causing Hinata to flinch. He cupped his cheek, narrowed his eyes, and grit his teeth in pain. "What the hell was that for?!"

"I'm sorry!" was her immediate response as she bowed. "I-I didn't mean to h-hit you! It was an a-accident!"

"You call this," he barked, pointing to his steadily reddening cheek with a scowl, "an accident?"

Sasuke watched as she pulled at her skirt with nervous hands, peeling her gaze from the ground to flash him an apologetic, albeit frightened look. "Y-you scared me!" she defended, unable to hold his gaze for another second, because if looks could kill, she'd be dead three times over. That was the same look he gave Naruto when the blond had slapped him in the butt after mimicking a football player in junior high!

Sasuke grunted in response. "You shouldn't have been following me then. You girls don't know how to take 'no' for an answer. I'm not interested."

Confusion etched across Hinata's face like an artist's messy scrawl on paper until it suddenly dawned on her what he really meant. She went red in the face, her cheeks burning in embarrassment at his accusation - he thought she was his fan girl! She immediately felt the need to defend herself; however, she could only form a choppy, jumbled mess of words, her humiliation clearly having an ill effect on her speech. "I-I didn't… I d-don't… what I m-mean is… I'm not-"

"Hn." Sasuke clearly looked uninterested in hearing anything she had to say, because his expression, which had screamed pure and unadulterated anger minutes before, had melted into a stoic mask. He snorted at her quivering speech, side-stepped her, and prepared to make his journey home. "Whatever."

Hinata watched him, lavender eyes glued on his back as he stuffed his hands in his pockets until she was finally able to regain her composure. "W-where are you going?" she asked, more concerned for his well-being than his accusation. Her punch really did a number on his face.

"Home," he bit out nastily. "And don't follow me or I'll report you for sexual harassment."

Hinata bit her lip, cheeks staining red - yet again - at his statement, but she ignored it. "B-but, you're bleeding… and your cheek… i-it's…," she trailed off, ashamed that she was the one who'd caused his injury.

"I don't care. Go away," he answered gruffly, still maintaining his brisk pace and not at all caring if she tripped after him. He could feel a headache coming on from her punch and aside from the thorns irritating his skin - which would most likely cause an allergic reaction later on - his ego was bruised. To be punched by a girl was like a kick between the legs. And the fact that it actually hurt didn't make it any better. He needed to get away from her.

Unfortunately, Sasuke wasn't counting on her jumping in his way, her arms widespread as if she wanted to embrace him and her creepy, opal eyes practically boring into his own, dark ones.

Sasuke grimaced; this was the second time she caught him off guard. Before he could say anything - or at least shove her out of his way - she'd nearly invaded his personal space, hands clasped in front of her like an angel of death. This caused him to take a step back.

"P-please, Sasuke-san, I'm r-really, really sorry!"

He opened his mouth to tell her to move, to piss off, anything to get her out of his line of vision, but she spoke again, taking yet another step forward. He took another step back. "I-I want to make it up t-to you."

"You can help by moving out of my way," he snapped, turning his head away, thoroughly annoyed. They'd ended back at square one - in front of that damn rose bush.

"But you're hurt," she pressed.

"I'll live. Move."

Hinata could do nothing more than stare at him, lavender eyes flashing with something akin to hurt, but it left as quickly as it came once she began rummaging through her backpack. Sasuke took this as his chance to escape, patience already worn thin at her stubbornness, and walked around her once more. Hinata caught on to this just as she pulled out a container of ointment for his wounds and opened her mouth to call after him, but someone beat her to the punch.

Her cousin, in all his tall, dark, and intimidating glory stood before her and Sasuke, arms crossed and white eyes narrowed slightly at the young Uchiha in cold calculation. He flashed her a brief look before directing his gaze back towards Sasuke.

"Uchiha," he acknowledged, tone blank, yet harsh, "care to explain why you're in the school's garden, alone with Hinata-sama with a bruised face?"

note1: Special thanks - khateelynn and Bottomless Pit of EMOTIONS