Chapter 9

"Wow." Hanabi said smiling excitedly at her sister. She was sitting cross legged on Hinata's bed watching Hinata get dressed for school. She was already dressed and had her things ready for school. "Is there something special going on at your school that everyone else doesn't know about?"

"Not that I can think off." Hinata answered as she pulled on one of her newest jeans. "You're going to crush your uniform if you continue sitting like that."

"YOU are going to give dad a heart attack." Hanabi said with a laugh before moving so that her uniform would be crushed more. Hinata blushed slightly but continued to get dressed. "Do you have some boyfriend you're not telling us about or something?"

"I'm not doing this for boys." Hinata told her and she was telling the truth. It was her confidence issues that she was doing this for. Her mind slipped back to the day before at the thought of boyfriends.

FLASHBACK

Sasuke looked at her with an absolutely serious face. "Would you be my girlfriend?"

"What?" Hinata asked shocked at the sudden question.

"Would you like to go out with me regularly preferably as my girlfriend?"

"What?" she asked again and he frowned. Was he not being clear? "I mean, really? Are you serious about this? We hardly know each other."

"You date to get to know each other better." Sasuke told her. He watched her flounder for a moment. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't like something about you. I'm not telling you that you're going to be pampered or anything like that either. I'm not telling you I have some unhealthy crush on you or anything either. I'm asking because you are one of the few people I actually like."

"I understand." she told him. He gave her a calculating look.

"And I'll understand if you're not ready for that sort of thing." he told her before adding with a frown. "But don't think I'm going to be waiting on you."

"I wouldn't. You're not that kind of guy." she said and she honestly believed it. It wasn't that he was trying to be mean but he had already had enough of girls trying to get him to be at their beck and call and be waiting on them forever. He didn't believe in half the things people said about love either. He wasn't into being a simpering idiot for anyone even if he liked them; he didn't love them. If he wouldn't do it for his family; he wouldn't do it for anyone else. "You're not a friendly person Sasuke."

"Glad you know." he told her and looked back at the screen to allow her to think without staring at her.

Hinata watched as the glow from the screen cast itself onto Sasuke's face as she thought about it. Was she ready? Could she date Sasuke? What would happen if she did? What would Sakura do? Could she manage Sakura if anything went wrong? What would Neji say? What would her father say? Did she want this? There was one question she knew the answer to already: her would father be angry. He was angry about Naruto and that was before the break-up. She thought for a minute as she stared off not really seeing that around her the movie had come to an end and people were leaving.

When she finally came to an answer she focuses in on Sasuke who was waiting patiently on her as he texted. She assumed it was Itachi because they seemed to find something to complain or argue about just to text each other often.

"Yes." she said and he looked up at her with a raised brow. When it registered he nodded before standing with a hand held to her. She allowed him to help her up before she remembered something and smiled. "By the way Sasuke, I think I actually like this movie."

END FLASHBACK

The whole point of this wasn't to look the part of Sasuke's girlfriend or anything like that. She had planned this before he even thought to ask her. She'd been thinking about it even before that time he kissed her... That had been a surprise.

"Hinata!" Hanabi called bringing her back from her thoughts. She blushed lightly at her lapse but she had been moving on auto pilot so she was fully dress except from her shoes. "Neji is ready. He's been calling."

"I-I'll be there." Hinata told her. Her nerves were catching up to her now. If Neji saw her it would be over before it started.

"Don't worry, you look great. I'll take care of Neji." Hanabi told her before disappearing out the door. Hinata quickly pulled her shoes on before grabbing her bag and leaving the room.

Downstairs Hanabi stood watch at the door way to the kitchen with her digital camera in hand. She smirked slightly when she saw Neji come into the house from his car outside.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked and Hanabi gasped instantly.

"Crap Neji! What the hell is that?" she exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" he asked with a frown.

"That! You've got stuff smudged on your face." Hanabi lied pointing at his perfectly clean face.

"No I don't." he said subconsciously moving a hand to his face.

"Yea you do. All over here." Hanabi told him and motioning to one side of her face. "You better go wash it off."

"Really?" he muttered and she nodded. He began walking to the downstairs bathroom. "Watch your language and don't point."

"Whatever mess face." she teased and watched him leave. Drama classes paid off. No sooner had he disappeared down the hall than Hinata came down the stairs. Hanabi rushed her quickly out the front snapping a quick picture in the process. Neji returned from the bathroom with a glare and Hanabi smiled at him brightly as she found the most recent picture that was taken.

"It's still there." she told him and she could detect his brow twitching in irritation.

"Out or I'm leaving." he snarled before storming out the door. Hanabi smirked and proceeded to the kitchen to complete her mission before skipping out to the car.

Hinata was in the backseat behind the driver's seat and out of Neji's sight. The drive to Hanabi's school passed easily with relative silence and Hanabi's usual comment about her hated uniform and wanting to go to high school soon. With one final comment about high school being fun and a pointed look to Hinata that Neji missed, she was out of the car and heading up the school driveway.

When Hinata and Neji finally got to school, Hinata took a deep breath and stepped out of the car before her nervousness could prevent her. Neji shut the car off before grabbing his bag and stepping out. When he turned to close the door he saw Hinata for the first time that morning. Sure he saw her in the rear view mirror but he hadn't seen her fully and that was a shocker.

"Hinata?!" he sputtered. She looked up at him with a raised brow. He looked her over again. If she hadn't come out of his car he wouldn't have thought that she was his actual cousin. This was so far from her usual style of baggy and dull clothes. She had on a pair of black skinny jeans that fit perfectly, a form fitting yellow shirt, black short sleeved black jacket that was left open to show of the shirt underneath and black and yellow converses. He could hardly do more than stare as she started towards the school building. At the sound of a wolf-whistle directed at his cousin Neji snapped out of his stupor to glare at the underclassman that had the audacity to do it. The kid made an instant U-turn at the ferocious sight. Neji locked the car quickly before moving to catch up to Hinata.

"Why?" he asked once he had caught up to her. She looked at him with a blank stare that betrayed none of her fear, nervousness and self-consciousness. They were like a rioting turmoil in her but she didn't show any off it.

"When father was teaching Hanabi how to swim when we were younger he threw her into the lake, didn't he?" she answered and Neji nodded not getting the point of the question. Hinata's indifferent expression faltered for a moment with a shaky breath. "I'm teaching myself to be confident."

"You do know Hanabi could have drowned by that method right?" Neji told her. They were almost at the doors. "You can drown and cave under the pressure and come out worse than before."

Hinata faltered for a moment but pressed on. "I won't. I'll make it." she said and Neji pulled her to a halt gently just before the doors. She turned to look at his frowning, clearly conflicted face.

"Just remember I'm here... if anything and I'm sure Temari and Ten-ten will be too." he said awkwardly with a hand resting on her shoulder. He had faith in her and her conviction was something new to him but he'd still be there for her. He extracted his hand and Hinata gave him a small smile at the attempt. She knew he would be. With one last glance at her Neji pushed the door open and held it for her. So began her day at school.

XX

The class was in its usual clamour as it awaited the appearance of their teacher for the session. The noise might have rose or might have fallen throughout the many and varied conversations but Sasuke ignored the noise altogether in favour of zoning out as he stared out the window he was seated beside. He'd never admit it but he really was zoning not that anyone could tell. He had perfected the art of masking zoning out as brooding instead. Looking zoned out was for drooling idiots. That was his opinion anyway.

He was brought from his floating thoughts by a sudden shifting beside him. He looked over and quite literally felt his jaw drop.

"Hinata?" he managed to question after taking in her attire from her perfectly combed hair to her black and yellow converses. He had to look her over again just to be sure. She turned her gaze to him when she heard her name and provided a small smile.

"Good morning." she answered calmly.

"What happened to your clothes?" he blurted and she gave him an amused look.

"I felt I needed a change." she told him.

"Why? Not because of yesterday?" he asked frowning. If that was the reason then this would end before it started.

"It wasn't because of you." she assured him having a vague idea of what he meant. He didn't want people out to impress him. It was shallow. "I had this planned before that or... the stuff before that too." at the pause she blushed. If Sasuke hadn't been side-tracked by everything else he might have found it, dear he say it, cute. "This is the surprise I was planning for Monday. I told you about that, didn't I?"

He thought about it for a moment before leaning back in his seat and pulling his eyes away from her to look at the rest of the class. It seemed that the topic of everything was now Hinata. Many were analysing her and talking in hushed tones about her. Some were giving her appraising her and some were outright staring. Among the analysing were a few of the girls that were really of no importance to him. Kiba, Suigetsu and a few others were admiring her figure. Naruto was staring so hard his eyes looked ready to explode. The only persons not on the topic were Shikamaru who was sleeping and Gaara who was never fazed by anything. Not even the time Gai, their gym teacher, burst through the door of their chemistry class dressed in a tiny green speedo and a yellow duck floater in search of the pool party they were supposedly having. Evidently it had been a contest between himself and Kakashi to see who could get to the pool party first in their swim gear. Obviously that was a prank. Kakashi had later apologised but 'it had been damn funny.'

"Yea. You did." Sasuke stated turning his attention back to him. "This is really a surprise."

"That's good then."

"You didn't tell me why."

"Confidence sink or swim style." she answered with a small smile.

"Oh. You look good by the way." he told her giving her one more look before looking away. "Very attractive. The style fits your attitude."

"T-thanks." Hinata stuttered blushing at the compliment. Sasuke glanced at her, taking note of her blush.

"Don't go back to before." he told her. It would be nice. She really was attractive.

"I wasn't going to." she said with a small smile. It was at this time that their teacher entered the classroom. Sasuke didn't say anything for the rest of the class choosing to stare out the window lost in his own thoughts. That was fine with her but she could practically feel Naruto's stare burning into her from across the room. It was uncomfortable to say the least.

XX

"It's true!" Temari exclaimed the moment she saw Hinata in the crowds heading for lunch. Ten-ten was right behind her sporting a wide grin that matched Temari's perfectly. They swept her into a hug the moment they were close enough to catch her.

"This is the highlight of my day!" Ten-ten exclaimed pulling away to examine her carefully. Temari backed away as well.

"This is one great surprise." she commented as she eyed Hinata along with Ten-ten. The whole surprise thing had been bothering her for a while but now she was happy about it.

"You like?" Hinata asked with a small blush. Both girls grinned again before pulling her to them again. This was a pretty good surprise.

"Of course! We have been trying to get you to do this for years." Ten-ten supplied. It was true of course. They had been buying clothes to stock up Hinata's closet for years. She just never wore any of them until now.

"What made you do it?" Temari asked curiously and began leading them into the cafeteria. They had tried to get her to do it for a while and she never did and now suddenly she was.

"For confidence." Hinata answered truthfully.

"We're so proud of you." Temari said. She was still smiling and she couldn't stop looking at Hinata. She already had ideas of how to dress Hinata up: what to buy, what she most definitely had to buy for the girl to wear and what would look good on her. She was going to have so much fun with this.

"I'll buy lunch." Ten-ten offered before disappearing into the crowd to the lunch line. Hinata and Temari turned to start looking for seats. They had just found one when Ino approached them followed by Sakura and Karin.

"What's with the get up?" Ino asked pointedly examining Hinata with a disgusted look. Karin sneered at them over her shoulder while Sakura seemed more distracted by looking around the room. Hinata could only guess what, or rather who, she was looking for.

"Just a change Ino." Hinata answered calmly though she was already getting irritated by the blond. Temari was silent but matched Karin's sneer with a glare that made the girl look away for a moment before stupidly looking back.

"Change? A change of clothes won't change you from what you are." Ino said harshly catching Temari's attention immediately. "A pathetic little girl."

"Feeling threatened Ino?" Temari asked with a smile too sweet to be good. She cracked her knuckles and the smile became a small sadistic smile as she continued. "Because if you're not, I can help with that."

Ino watched her wearily. She knew a warning when she heard one. Temari was clever enough to make an assessment that she didn't want Hinata to even come close to her position of THE top girl of the school. She was even smart enough to turn it from a taunt into a threat. Ino knew for a fact she would never win if Temari decided to throw down. She swallowed uncomfortably. Temari was smarter than people gave her credit for.

"That won't be necessary." Ino told her with a plastic smile that she had perfected. Temari's eyes narrowed on her speculatively. "Though I suggest you find another table."

Ino walked away and Karin followed behind pulling Sakura with her. True enough they would have to find another table. It had been occupied while they had been occupied with Ino.

"Is it me or does Sakura look like she's cracking?" Temari commented watching the little group go. Hinata didn't particularly care.

"You didn't have to do that." she told her friend. Temari looked at her with a raised brow. "It was nothing I couldn't handle."

"Of course I did. That was three on one. Well two on one since Sakura wasn't here. Karin's an idiot but she has moments when her tongue is sharp. I couldn't just desert ya." Temari told her with a laugh. "You're my friend."

"I'll handle her when the time comes." Hinata told her determined. Temari smiled.

"You will. I'll be sure to teach you how to completely destroy her." the blond said as a dark smile stretched across her face.

"Uh. No thanks. I don't want to end up doing what she does." Hinata told her

"You're such a cute, caring Bunny." Temari cooed hugging Hinata again. Hinata blushed at the statement. She just didn't want to be like Ino in anyway.

XXXXX

Some time that morning, at around 8, Hiashi Hyuga came down from his room well rested from a long sleep. He made his way languidly to the kitchen to prepare his customary cup of coffee before the maid arrived. He was midway through his morning ritual when he noticed Hanabi's camera sitting on the counter by the coffee machine. He frowned at her carelessness before picking it up to move it. As he was moving out of the kitchen to put it away he noticed that it was on and had a picture on display. He glanced at the picture but disregarded it since it could be neither if his girls though the place did look familiar. He was just passing through the kitchen door when it struck him. The place was the very same staircase he was now facing. He looked back at the picture and his eyes widened as he took it in. That couldn't possibly be his Hinata! It couldn't be! It looked like her but it couldn't possibly ever be! It simply couldn't be! But it looked so much like her!

He stared at the picture for a few more seconds in horror. He realised all too suddenly that the picture had been taken just about an hour before he saw it.

"Where did I put the whisky?" he grumbled turning back to the kitchen.

Hanabi's mission was a success. Hiashi was officially peeved by his kids.