"Hinata, are you alright?" whispered Sakura, her eyes flashing with a twinge of worry. She abandoned the pencil between her fingers, placing it next to her assignment to lean and put a gentle hand on her classmate's shoulder.
Said girl jumped nervously in her seat, whipping her head to meet Sakura's concerned gaze. Her meek (and, hopefully, reassuring) smile was instant as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, a habit she developed whenever she was feeling nervous.
Hinata shook her head. "I'm fine, S-Sakura-san. I'm just…," she paused, racking her brain for an answer, "distracted. Really, I'm okay."
Sakura's concern morphed into a sly grin as she collected her pencil. She giggled, propping an elbow on her desk and resting her cheek against the back of her hand. "Is it the same distraction from the beginning of school?" the bubbly girl teased. "You know, the one that caused Asuma-sensei to move you away from the window?"
Hinata matched Sakura's hair, lavender irises widening in mortification. "N-n-no," she protested softly, turning her attention to her work, but judging by Sakura's quiet laughter, she could tell that the girl didn't buy it.
Oh, why did everyone have to assume that whenever she spaced out, it was because Naruto had invaded her mind? Even if he was a recurring thought most of the time that didn't mean she thought about him all the time.
Like now, for instance; while it was true she was distracted, it definitely wasn't because of any blond-haired, blue-eyed high school student. It's just… well, Hinata couldn't quite shake the feeling that someone was watching her. At first she thought it was because of her paranoia from that marathon of old detective films she'd watched with her sister yesterday, but brushed the silliness of it all aside.
She'd been feeling that way ever since her run-in with Sasuke. Could it be… Did one of his fan girls see their exchange? Were they hunting her like a bloodhound, sniffing and trailing and poking around to solve the mystery behind their beloved's injuries? She could only hope that wasn't the case.
She'd already apologized to the young Uchiha (despite his unwillingness to accept), and in case he hadn't forgiven her, she slipped him some ointment for his wounds. Hinata could admit, at least to herself, that it was more so for quelling her guilt, but she really did have him in her best interest, even if her methods were sneaky. Why, he even thanked her for returning his backpack, something he never did to anyone, so shouldn't that count for something?
The bell sounded off with a chime, signaling everyone for lunch and jolting her out of her daze. Hinata sighed. Maybe her paranoia really was a result of too many detective movies. As if anyone were out to get her. She hadn't done anything to warrant such behavior.
She said her good-byes to Sakura, who'd ran off in search of her crush in hopes of snagging a lunch date, and pulled out her own lunch. Hinata could only wish she had half the confidence Sakura had when it came to the object of her affections, but the dream was just that - a dream, and a hopeless one at that. Naruto's objects of affection just so happened to be Sakura and, funny enough, ramen. There was no competing when it came to her pink-haired classmate and the idea of the Hyuga heiress competing against something as silly as a bowl of noodles was, admittedly, ridiculous.
She stared down at her bento, chopsticks in hand and ready to dig into her meal; however, instead of eating lunch right away, Hinata stood, this time craving an actual distraction.
And really, what better way to distract herself than to eat lunch in her sanctuary?