Warning: Shameless, sickening fluff ahead.
On the idea: This was inspired by some app my friend found where people at our school could post stuff anonymously into a feed. And most of the stuff being posted was pretty pathetic and not unlike the examples mentioned. I simply couldn't help myself.
Konoha High Anonymous
Konoha High Anonymous: a bully's greatest opportunity to inflict pain, every hopeless, unrequited love's outlet.
"I just found it last night," Naruto was saying, an idiotic, excited grin on his face as he handed Sasuke's phone back to him. Sasuke snatched it back with perhaps more force than was necessary, but he didn't care. Sasuke resisting Naruto's first attempt to take Sasuke's phone (without any explanation, of course, because asking nicely would just be too respectful and normal) had been followed by an intense wrestling match that only ended when Naruto gave Sasuke a wet willie.
Rolling in mud, getting his lights punched out, his bones breaking-all of this he could handle. But when Naruto started jamming his spit in Sasuke's ear, he drew a line.
And lost.
And now he had this stupid app downloaded on his phone.
Needless to say, Uchiha Sasuke was in a foul mood.
"People say the funniest things," Naruto chatted as leaned over and tapped on the app and opening it. "People worried that it would just be used to bully, but people just use it to talk about crushes." He began to snicker. "Look at this one!" Naruto crowed and said in a high pitched, mocking voice, "'Oh, Shikamaru, I wish you'd look at me!' It's totally Ino," Naruto added in a normal voice.
"How do you know that?" Sasuke snapped, just to be contrary. "It's anonymous."
"Well, yeah, but you pretty much know who everyone is," Naruto said. "Hey, there's another one about you!"
Sasuke felt his lips curl into a disgusted sneer as he read. It was more or less the same line that girls had been shouting at his back and leaving on sticky notes in his locker for years. Some bull crap about how unbearably hot he was and how desperate this girl (or guy) was for him to say something other than 'hn'. "This is a waste of time," Sasuke bit out, exiting the app.
"No! It's really cool!" Naruto insisted, grabbing Sasuke's phone back and opening the app once more. Sasuke only let him because that was just how pissed he was. "And funny! Sasuke, you love laughing at people. Well, this is a goldmine!"
"I don't laugh at people," Sasuke hissed, but he scrolled through just to humor Naruto.
'Sasuke doesn't even know I exist.' Probably true.
'Temari is so fun!' If she was, this was the first Sasuke had ever heard of it. She'd probably posted it herself.
'I wish Kiba would talk to me.' Why?
'Like if you think Chouji is super sweet~' Sasuke lost interest and scrolled onward.
'Does anyone know if Ino's single?' Would it make a difference?
'If only Sakura knew how perfect she was.' Sasuke snorted at that. She almost certainly did.
Then he froze and looked up at Naruto who suddenly looked very interested in his own phone.
It clicked.
Sasuke leaned forward and cuffed Naruto in the head roughly, resisting the urge to snarl. "Dobe! That was so obviously you!"
"What?" Naruto protested. He'd always been bad at lying, too over the top obvious. "I-I would never—"
"Don't even start," Sasuke interrupted savagely. "This app is stupid."
"Oy! Teme, I went to a lot of trouble to download that, and—"
"Trouble because I didn't want it in the first place—"
"Bastard—"
They didn't look at their phones again for quite some time.
"Did you check the app?" Naruto asked eagerly as he set his tray down in front of Sasuke's.
"No," Sasuke snapped, biting his tomato rather pointedly. "I told you I think it's a waste of time."
"But someone took the time to write something really cute about you!" Naruto protested. "It's like, an acrostic poem with your name. S for sexy, a for animal—"
"Shut. Up," Sasuke snarled, massaging his temples.
"S again for sensuous—"
"Never say that word like that again—"
"—U for untamed—"
Sasuke slammed his fist on the table in wordless rage. Was his only contribution to the world an attractive face? Was that all his worth amounted to?
Blast them all!
Naruto ignored Sasuke's wordless expression of rage and continued gleefully. "—K for…" Naruto faltered. "Korean."
Sasuke froze. "…What?"
"I…I don't know. That's what it says," Naruto said, as lost as Sasuke. "That's…not true, right? You're not Korean?"
"What do you think?" Sasuke snapped.
Naruto pouted. "Oh, come on, man! Half the time your fan girls know way more about you than I do. What do I know?"
Sasuke scoffed in disgust. "Just tell me what E is and leave me alone."
At that, Naruto grinned roguishly. "Oh? You're not curious, are you?"
"I could care less," Sasuke said flatly. "But you won't stop until you've told me, so just spit it out."
"Likely story—" Sasuke pointedly turned back to his food, and hurriedly Naruto added, "E is for electric!"
The plastic knife in Sasuke's hand snapped. "What is wrong with the girls at this school—"
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto interrupted brightly, waving at someone Sasuke couldn't see. Sasuke felt his heart spasm painfully at the name, and though he was certain he hadn't reacted visibly, Naruto still cast him an infuriatingly knowing look. "What's up?"
There was a painful gap of inactivity then, of agonizing indecision and anticipation on Sasuke's part. And then he heard her voice, so soft and sweet, stammer, "N-N-Naruto-kun."
Sasuke felt sick. She couldn't even coherently do anything but say his name?
Blast it all.
"Come over here!" Naruto said with a big grin, waving impatiently. "Come on! What's been going on with you, Hinata-chan? I haven't seen much of you since the new school year started."
"O-oh," he heard Hinata say, and this time her voice was closer. She hesitantly came to stand in the space beside Naruto and Sasuke (who were sitting on the end of a long, rectangular table), but she wasn't looking at Sasuke.
She never was.
"Um, I…I guess I've been applying to colleges and stuff," Hinata said uncertainly. "What about you, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto grinned. "Keeping this bastard in line, of course," Naruto said, not so subtly directing Hinata's attention towards Sasuke.
Hinata's eyes flashed towards him, but after a fraction of a second, they were gone. Either she was terrified of him or…
She just didn't think he was worth a glance.
Sasuke glared moodily at the wall over Naruto's head. It was agony, living like this. He wanted to say that he wanted her gone, wanted her to leave him and Naruto alone. But the truth was that he hadn't been able to say that honestly since he was maybe five, and blast it he hated that but it was still true.
"I-I see," Hinata said, looking so nervous she looked ill.
"But at least we don't have physics this year, right?" Naruto said brightly. "Sure made my life easier."
"But you were g-good at physics, Naruto-kun," Hinata protested softly.
Sasuke scoffed, and Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, not really," Naruto said awkwardly. The truth was that Naruto had cheated off of Hinata shamelessly until Sasuke finally let Naruto copy off of him. He'd rather be a cheater than let Naruto take advantage of Hinata's naivety and compromise the girl's integrity. "Sasuke's the real genius here."
"T-that's right," Hinata said, glancing at him and trying to smile at him. She quickly gave up and looked back at Naruto, gulping visibly as she did so.
Sasuke ground his teeth together and glared hard at the spot above Naruto's head.
"What colleges have you applied to?" Sasuke bit out, desperate despite knowing better, knowing that even if she looked at him for three seconds more she'd never see him there, not really, and he was just cutting himself up by trying anyway.
He just wanted her to look at him.
Hinata seemed to have to force herself to drag her eyes from Naruto towards him, and it almost made Sasuke laugh how even though she so obviously didn't care about him, no, obviously hated him, he still thought she looked breathtaking.
"U-um…I tried the community college of course, and the nearby university…" She licked her lips, and Sasuke had to force his eyes back up to meet hers. Her cheeks were growing red. "…A-and I thought I'd reach a bit and apply for…K-Konohagakure…I p-probably won't get in…" Her eyes fell immediately, her head bowing a bit.
Was it that painful to talk to him?
The thought nearly knocked the breath from his lungs, and pain made him callous and bold. "What are you talking about? You're brilliant. Konohagakure was made for people like you." Sasuke jerked his head towards Naruto. "It's idiots like him that you should worry about."
"I'll make it in, believe it!" Naruto protested, and Sasuke noted with some pained chagrin that Hinata visibly relaxed when he pushed the conversation back towards Naruto.
"You say that," Sasuke said, ignoring the hollowness in his chest, "and yet you also admit to being one of the laziest bastards at this high school. Why would the most prestigious college in Japan—"
"You're applying there too, right, Sasuke?" Naruto interrupted, apparently losing interest in this age old argument. "Konohagakure?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Obviously." As a child, he'd often felt it necessary upon introducing himself to add that he would be attending Konohagakure soon. When people started asking him if he'd be applying soon, because he was an Uchiha and a bloody prodigy and freaking Itachi made it in when he was twelve, he'd stopped saying it out loud.
He still thought it, though.
"So we'll probably all be together in college!" Naruto said enthusiastically.
Sasuke gritted his teeth. "How many times have we had this conversation? You will not make it—"
"Well, anyways," Naruto interrupted loudly and grinning at Hinata, "I hope you get in. You deserve it."
He said it in that painfully sincere and sensitive way of his that Naruto was occasionally capable of, and Sasuke felt his stomach drop. If he was Hinata, if he was Hinata and in love with Naruto (as she almost certainly was), then that complement would undo him.
Or her. Whatever.
"T-thank you, Naruto-kun," Hinata said in a breathy voice. Yup. Definitely affected. "I probably won't get in, though…"
"Didn't you hear this bastard?" Naruto pointed at Sasuke with his knife, and Sasuke gritted his teeth but did not give into the impulse to slap the plastic knife from his hand. "He thinks you can do it, and he's the one who thinks that it's nearly impossible to get into. If Sasuke thinks you can, you'll definitely make it in. Believe it!"
"I…" Hinata bowed. "Thank you, Naruto-kun!"
Naruto smiled, looking entirely too amused as he watched Sasuke's mask slip and reveal just how much Hinata's exclusion of him pissed him off. But Sasuke quickly neutralized the expression. Hinata was terrified of him as it was; he didn't need to give her an actual reason to fear him.
"I think Sakura-chan is having a fit because I've stolen you," Naruto said with an understanding smile. "Thank you for coming over and saying hi, Hinata-chan! We should all hang out some time!"
"I…t-that would be fun," Hinata said, bowing again. "Thank you, Naruto-kun." Sasuke expected her to leave and resumed glaring at the cafeteria wall and waited for Naruto to begin mocking him. To his complete astonishment, however, Hinata bowed towards him and squeaked out, "Sasuke-san!"
And then she was gone.
Sasuke looked away from the spot where she'd been standing just a second before towards Naruto, and he realized too late that he hadn't composed his face, that his eyes were too wide, he was too unguarded and not pissed enough—
Naruto's fist flew to his mouth, his own eyes widening as he attempted to bite back his laughter. "Sasuke…san…"
Sasuke felt his expression drop into a scowl. "Shut. Up."
Naruto dissolved into quiet laughter, and Sasuke forced himself not to reach over and slap the blonde upside the head. That was what the dobe wanted.
So he made himself take another bite of his tomato and not think about the way her eyes had widened with nearly palpable fear when she'd looked at him.
Blast it. Blast it all.
He'd first seen (and consequently fallen in love with) Hyuuga Hinata when they were both five years old.
He knew that biologically speaking, children weren't supposed to like each other like that at that age. Actually, he was well aware of that fact because Itachi had him convinced for years that his feelings for Hinata were unnatural and wrong and downright creepy (of course the bastard had been "Ku, ku, ku…"ing himself sick whenever his younger brother wasn't looking all the while).
But even then, with her hair at that unfortunately short length (he liked long hair; so what if his fan girls had found out? He still liked it), even clinging to Hyuuga Hiashi's leg like a disorientated koala, even though she'd cried for a solid hour after Hiashi extricated her from her side and abandoned her at that forsaken daycare, he'd still thought she was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen.
It was the eyes. He'd thought the violet color was beautiful, and though others thought them too large for her face, Sasuke had known instinctively that she would grow into them beautifully. In them, Sasuke had seen innocence and sincerity…something to protect, something to value.
He'd patiently waited for her to stop crying before engaging her in some inane game that Sasuke had for some reason loved at that age (stacking and un-stacking blocks. There was no creativity allowed in this game. Nope. Sasuke had insisted that the only objective was to perfectly align each block on top of the one beneath it. When Itachi would attempt to shake things up a bit or make the game a bit more palatable to anyone not Sasuke, Sasuke would only glare with altogether too much gravity for a five year old, slap Itachi's hands reproachfully, and fix the 'mess' Itachi had made).
She'd been confused, but she was sweet tempered, and Sasuke had known, even through the fog of selfishness and inexperience that clouds every small child's mind, that she humored him partly just to be nice.
But the next day, when he arrived at the daycare slightly later than usual, he found her stacking the blocks just like he'd shown her, entirely of her own volition.
He'd known right there that she was perfect.
She wasn't annoying and loud like other girls. She respected her parents (unlike that blonde freak who screamed every time someone tried to tell him what to do; he would later know this 'freak' as Naruto). She learned to make her own lunches and Valentine's Day chocolate. She was sweet and compassionate and soft spoken and those eyes—
Of course, Sasuke became so disturbed by his own admiration of her (Itachi's work. The bastard had thought it cute to tease him, but it had very nearly traumatized him) that he'd systematically attempted to cut Hinata out of his life from the second grade onwards. They were in the same class every year, fortunately, so he never really lost her. But he refused to talk to her, to accept any obligatory chocolate on Valentine's Day, or even do much more than stare at her from across the room.
And the distance should have fixed the problem. He should have forgotten all about Hyuuga Hinata, should probably have fallen in love multiple times with one of his fan girls.
Except that for Sasuke, feelings weren't that simple. All his life he'd loved people from a distance, yearned for things he couldn't have. How was loving Hinata any different from desperately missing Itachi when he went away to college (at twelve freaking years old) or wishing his father would give him the time of day? Sasuke's heart just didn't know how to 'let people go'. When people wormed their way past his defenses and became precious to him, well, they pretty much stayed that way.
And so he never saw a reason to discard the feelings that became progressively more and more painful to bear. To admire someone for years on end and never say a word to them, to crave another's presence above any other and yet never find relief in proximity was torture.
But what could he do? Hinata deserved his admiration every bit now as that day over thirteen years ago. She was patient, compassionate, considerate, painfully honest and sincere. And as if that wasn't enough, she also became heartbreakingly beautiful, the kind of beautiful that stole the breath from his lungs and made him dizzy when she smiled.
Blast it all! She'd turned him into an absolute mess, had stamped her name permanently on his heart. And what kept him up some nights was that even though she didn't feel the same (blast Naruto), even though she would never look at him (or really look at him at all) that way, he didn't know if he knew how to stop how he felt. How could he unlearn over a decade of longing and admiration? How was he supposed to succeed now at what he'd failed to do for years now?
His time with Hinata was fast coming to an end. The two of them attending Konohagakure together would only prolong the agony; inevitably they would go their separate ways.
But if she left him, she'd take something of him with her. And Sasuke was honestly terrified that he'd never get it back.
Sasuke wanted to go home.
"No, it's a really cool app!" Naruto insisted. For once, though, he wasn't harassing Sasuke over the stupid app. No, this time, it was Hinata. "Here, let me see your phone."
"Ah…um, okay." Out of the corner of his eye he saw her hand the phone to Naruto hesitantly, and Sasuke began to massage his temples. Another tension headache.
"Sasuke-kun~"
Sasuke's temple throbbed painfully, and Sasuke didn't even try to stop himself from scowling. Hinata wouldn't look at him anyway.
It was Japanese, and he'd had this class alone with Hinata for most of the semester until Naruto decided to drop some AP math class (why had he thought AP math was a good idea?), and rearranging his schedule had landed him in this class with Sasuke.
Sasuke had not been pleased.
"What do you want?" Sasuke growled, trying not to glance towards Hinata and Naruto.
"Oh, don't be so grumpy," Sakura pouted. "The day's almost over, and then you can go home."
Sasuke tried not to be too irritated that she'd been able to deduce that he wanted to go home. Then again, who didn't the last period of the day? "I'm running out of patience, Sakura."
Sakura rolled her eyes, but it was without any real irritation. "Did you get my text last night?"
Sasuke had. "I'm not interested."
Sakura pouted. "Oh, don't be lame, Sasuke-kun. It's just one date. Naruto already agreed to come."
Sasuke felt his lips curl in disgust. "Am I his babysitter? I think Naruto can handle a date without me."
"That's not what I meant," Sakura said with another roll of her eyes. "Come on. Hinata needs a date, and if it's not you, then we have to bring Shino."
Hinata. His heart stuttered painfully just at the sound of her name, and then the implications of her words sank in. If he went on this group date, then his date would be…
Swallowing, he forced himself to demand, "What's wrong with Shino?" Just be contrary and your normal pissed off self, and they won't find out.
Sakura didn't look amused. "Don't pretend to be dense, Sasuke-kun. It doesn't suit you."
"Oh, look at this! Someone posted about that bastard again!" Naruto crowed, and Sasuke ground his teeth together. No one needed to ask who 'that bastard' was. "Sasuke looks so hot today…" Naruto read in a high pitched voice.
Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Shut up, dobe."
Hinata was staring down at the desk.
Why won't you look at me?
"Oh, you've just discovered that silly app?" Sakura flipped her long hair over her shoulder, nonchalant.
"I swear, every other post is about this bastard," Naruto said cheerfully, jerking a thumb towards Sasuke.
"Oh, he must love it, then," Sakura said, meeting Sasuke's glare with a grin of her own. "Been checking his phone nonstop I bet since you showed it to him."
"Oh, you know Sasuke," Naruto said with a wry smile. "Just can't get enough of his fan girls."
"Will you both just shut up?" Sasuke burst out. His head throbbed painfully a half second later, and he winced into his hand.
"Aw, does Sasuke-kun have a headache?" Sakura cooed.
From where he clutched at his head, Sasuke glared murderously at Sakura.
"Well," Sakura said, voice sickeningly sweet, "I'll be happy to give you some ibuprofen if you're willing to give me a little bit of time this Friday night."
"Oh, you're asking him on the group date, Sakura-chan?" Naruto realized before turning his excited grin on Sasuke. It made him almost physically sick to look at. "Come on, teme! Weren't we just talking with Hinata and saying that it would be fun if we all hung out?"
"You said that," Sasuke corrected flatly.
"Don't be such a stick, Sasuke," Sakura pouted. Sasuke looked at her incredulously. These were not the words of a girl who liked him.
Sakura had always been annoying, but since when had it been intentional?
Sakura began to rummage about in her purse, and Sasuke watched her warily. Finally she took out a bottle and rattled it like a bag of treats might be shaken to excite a dog. Sasuke scowled at her. "Hear that, Sasuke? It's the sound of sweet, sweet relief. And all you need to do is take Hinata on a date."
Sasuke's glare didn't waver. "You realize that in about thirty minutes I'll be home and able to take my own ibuprofen?"
Naruto slapped him upside the head. "What is wrong with you?"
Sasuke winced. What with his headache, the blow actually hurt more than it was probably intended to. "I'm not a child to be bribed with candy," Sasuke said flatly.
Naruto wasn't quite as good at glaring as Sasuke, but he gave his best effort to scowl at him as he said, "Hey, Sakura-chan, I think I know what to post next on that app. Like if you think Uchiha Sasuke is an—"
Naruto abruptly cut off, and when Sasuke looked at him, Hinata came into his line of sight. Hinata, that is, and the hand extended towards him.
"H-here," Hinata said, voice barely more than a whisper. Sasuke's brows rose as he held out his hand to take whatever she was giving him, and into his hands dropped three pills that looked distinctly like ibuprofen.
Sasuke's chest tightened, and Sasuke could hardly breathe as his fingers closed over the pills.
"How can you not want to take her on a date after that?" Naruto burst out. "She's so sweet! I'm gonna get a cavity just looking at her! Agh!" Naruto looked at Sakura imploringly. "Can you believe this bastard?"
"Sasuke never did like sweets," Sakura said thoughtfully before her eyes narrowing at him. "But this is low, even for you, Uchiha. Didn't your mother ever teach you basic manners?"
Sasuke wanted to snap at them that he wasn't stupid, that he knew perfectly well what game they were playing. Sakura would go with Naruto to get Sasuke on a date, and Hinata would go with him just to get Naruto on a date. Naruto would think he was helping Sasuke with Hinata, and Sasuke would spend a night with a front row seat to his heart being cut and torn to shreds.
"Fine," Sasuke said, voice flat and emotionless. It was the best he could do when the words were coming out completely not of his own volition.
Sakura and Naruto paused. "Did he…just say 'fine'?" Sakura asked, bemused.
"…Maybe we heard him wrong," Naruto said thoughtfully. He leaned over Hinata's desk to get his face in Sasuke's, blue eyes narrowed. "Oy, teme. Did you finally agree to go on a date with Hinata this Friday?"
Sasuke glared at him. "Yes, I did! Will you get off my back?"
Naruto began to laugh, and Sasuke shoved his chair back and got to his feet. He tried not to let it bother him that Hinata visibly flinched when he did so.
"Oy, teme!" Naruto called as he began to stalk towards the classroom door. "Where are you going?"
"I'm getting some water so I can swallow this," Sasuke called back, holding up a closed fist.
He heard Sakura and Naruto begin to snicker like small children.
"What, so Sasuke can't just swallow them dry like a real man?"
"Nah, Sasuke was never allowed to learn how," Naruto snorted. "He's coddled like a baby at home, and Sasu-chan is too precious to be allowed to choke on common pills."
Sakura laughed loudly at that, and Sasuke slammed the door hard behind him.
'Is it just me, or is Sasuke more pissed off than usual today?'
'Shut up. His rage is at least half of what makes him so hot.'
'Ur just jealus'
'Is this Kiba who's complaining about Sasuke?'
'Lol. It was totally Kiba. He's always been 'jealus' of Sasuke-kun.'
Sasuke growled and exited the app. He'd started checking the app periodically to distract himself, but he didn't know why he bothered. It only made him angry.
"Dude, you waited!"
Sasuke looked up from his phone to see Naruto finally making his way out of the principal's office. What he was discussing with the old pervert, Sasuke didn't want to know. It would be nice to think that it was just Naruto being punished for some childish prank, but, unfortunately for Sasuke, he knew better and that that was rarely the case.
"I'm your ride home," Sasuke said, adjusting his leather jacket and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "What was I going to do, leave and then come back later?"
"Aw, didn't know you cared~" Naruto elbowed Sasuke roughly in the gut with a big grin on his face and quickly darting away to avoid the inevitable retribution.
"Naruto—" Sasuke's growl was cut off by Naruto spinning around, and the livid expression on Naruto's face froze the words on his lips.
"By the way, what the heck was what you pulled earlier?" Naruto demanded, walking backwards and jabbing a finger accusingly at him. "Sakura-chan and I worked hard to get Hinata-chan agree to go on a group date with us! And then you made such a huge show of not wanting to go on a date with her? What the heck is wrong with you?"
"I—"
Naruto plowed on, past actually needing a reason. He just wanted to yell at him, apparently. "You could have hurt her feelings! And she even gave you ibuprofen because you had a headache! You should have been grateful, not a freaking—"
"You said it yourself, she doesn't want to go on a date with me," Sasuke interrupted, furious. "And what makes you think I wanted to go on a date with her?"
"Oh, I don't know. You've only been in love with her for years—"
"Shut up!" Sasuke lunged forward and slapped his hand over Naruto's mouth. When the blonde actually licked him, Sasuke recoiled in disgust.
"One, you should know better than trying that," Naruto said. Sasuke had to clench his hands into fists and then fold them to keep from punching Naruto in the face. "And two, nobody is here, and nobody heard. Your stupid secret is safe, okay?"
"Naruto, if anyone overheard that, I'd kill you," Sasuke hissed, wiping his hand on his jeans and shuddering.
"Yeah, well, nobody did," Naruto said dismissively. "And anyways, you didn't answer me. Why were you such a jerk about going on a date with Hinata?"
"I did answer you," Sasuke said icily. "She doesn't want to go on a date. She can't even look at me. She'll spend the entire date scared stiff and looking at—" Sasuke stopped, swallowing hard. "Down. She'll be looking down."
If Naruto knew that hadn't been what Sasuke was going to say, he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he said, "Of course she's scared of you!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his hands up in disgust. "You're probably the most intimidating guy at this school to a girl like Hinata-chan, and all you do when she's around is scowl and look pissed. Would it kill you to smile every now and then?"
Sasuke gritted his teeth. "I don't…" He looked away from Naruto, furious at having to admit this weakness to his friend. "I don't know how to smile like you do, okay?"
Naruto rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to snap something when he paused and refocused his eyes on Sasuke. When he saw the flush beginning to creep up Sasuke's neck, he began to gape. "Wait. Are you serious?"
Sasuke sighed impatiently even as he felt his cheeks begin to redden. "It's freaking Itachi's fault, alright? He always made such a big deal when I smiled when I was younger, and when I smiled, I lost. So I stopped smiling. Is it that hard to believe?"
Naruto didn't stop gaping. "…You know you can't blame Itachi for everything, right?" Naruto said, sounding just a bit desperate. "Please tell me you know that. Because if you don't accept some responsibility, you are going to lose Hinata even if she follows you around for the rest of your life."
That hurt, and for a moment Sasuke honestly couldn't breathe as those words reverberated through his skull. You are going to lose her even if she follows you around for the rest of your life.
Sasuke swallowed. "I…" He couldn't hold Naruto's eyes and looked down. "I know that."
The hallway was quiet, and Sasuke finally found the courage to blurt out, "How do you do it?"
Naruto ran a hand through his hair, looking bewildered. "Do what?"
Sasuke met his eyes and asked, willing the blush not to return, "Be so honest. In the app, what you posted…I could never have done that."
Naruto smiled wryly at him. "You're wrong. That wasn't honest. It was me being a coward. When you feel like you can't tell her any other way, it seems like the only avenue left, shouting at her back while she walks away towards someone else. And it makes you downright pathetic, but at least you're still sane."
Sasuke looked away. "I couldn't even do that," Sasuke whispered. "I…I had to be begged before even consenting to being ignored on a date."
Naruto's smile was so knowing then, so painfully understanding, and Naruto reached forward and clapped him on the back. "It just means that you're not quite as pathetic as I am."
Sasuke snorted. "Yet."
Naruto barked out a laugh then. "I can buy into that," Naruto said. Abruptly he glanced at his watch and said hopefully, "Hey, if we hurry, we can hit up Ichiraku's before happy hour ends…?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You know what? Why not. I've haven't watched you attempt to eat yourself in a coma in a while."
"Yes!" Naruto shouted before pausing and eying him hopefully once more. "I don't suppose you'd be, uh, willing to...?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "What are filthy rich friends for if not to finance the gluttony of all?"
When Naruto wrapped him up in a bone crushing hug, Sasuke almost regretted his generosity.
Almost.
He'd just gotten ready for bed, his black hair damp and clinging to his neck as he picked up a towel and reached for his phone. Itachi usually sent him some inane message that, while never as amusing as Itachi hoped, served to let Sasuke know that he hadn't been forgotten in the wave of success that Itachi had been riding practically his entire life. Maybe it was pathetic, but he looked forward to those messages.
To his surprise, he found he had a voice message. It was…from Naruto.
Frowning, Sasuke held his phone up to his ear and listened.
"Oy, teme!" Sasuke's frown deepened. The disrespectful greeting was expected, but his friend sounded oddly…worried. Desperate. "You were right about the app, yeah? It's super dumb. Please never check it again. Ever. I—"
"Baka!" Sasuke blinked in surprise. Was that Sakura? "If you tell him not to check, he'll definitely check!"
"Just trust me, Sasuke—"
The line abruptly went dead. Sakura must have smacked the phone out of Naruto's hand.
Sasuke gritted his teeth against the sensation of dread chilling his blood, and Sasuke slowly removed the phone from his ear.
What could possibly be on the app that was bad enough to make Naruto sound so worried? Did it have something to do with Hinata?
Maybe somebody speculated about Hinata liking Naruto, Sasuke thought, grimacing as his heart clenched painfully at the reminder of Hinata's true feelings. Or…or maybe Hinata posted about Naruto, and everyone's called her out on it.
If that's the case, Naruto's a moron. I knew when Hinata fell in love with Naruto before she did.
Steeling himself, Sasuke opened the app and began to read.
'Like if you think Sasuke and Hinata would be super cute together!'
Sasuke frowned. What…?
He ignored the comments and scrolled on. Naruto wasn't mentioned anywhere. It was all about…Sasuke and Hinata…
And then he found it.
'BIG NEWS: I just heard from Uzumaki Naruto's OWN LIPS that UCHIHA SASUKE LIKES HYUUGA HINATA!'
Sasuke dropped the phone.
He couldn't bring himself to pick it up for a long time.
"She hasn't heard anything, Sasuke!"
Sasuke didn't lift his head from the desk. His cheeks had been perpetually flushed from the humiliation of it all, and he didn't want Haruno Sakura of all people to know just how mortified he was.
"Tch!" Sakura grabbed his hair and forced his head up. If his pink cheeks surprised her, she didn't show it. "I mean it! I deleted the app from her phone, and she hasn't heard anything. She's been working on learning Korean lately, and she's had her headphones in all day. She literally hasn't even heard a whisper of it."
Sasuke glared at her murderously and, after tearing her hand forcefully from his hair, slammed his head back on the table. His head immediately began to throb with a headache, but he didn't care. His point was made.
"He's been like this all day," Naruto said worriedly. "Do you think—"
"Baka! This is your fault!" Sasuke heard the sound of a slap on flesh, but he couldn't even smirk in satisfaction. Hurting Naruto (even if the bastard deserved far worse) wouldn't fix anything. "What possessed you to scream it at school?!"
"Hey, I've kept it a secret for years!" Naruto protested. "Are we really going to ignore that track record because of one slip up?"
Another slap. "Yes!"
Sasuke shut his eyes and wished that English would never come.
When he got to class, Hinata sat with headphones in and her brows furrowed in concentration. She didn't seem to notice him come in. Or the people in the class who began to conspicuously whisper their names to each other as he settled into his customary seat next to her.
"See? She's dead to the world," Sakura said, a hand on his arm. He tore his arm from her grasp, but she only sighed and did not attempt to touch him again. That was new. And oddly respectful of her.
Huh.
"You know, I thought he'd be more pissed," Naruto said thoughtfully. "He did threaten to kill me if anyone heard."
Sakura clucked sadly. "He's too embarrassed to even be mad."
"How…un-Sasuke-like," Naruto mused.
He couldn't handle it anymore. "Shut. Up," Sasuke growled.
"…If I were you, I might try to be a little less annoying than usual," Sakura told Naruto patronizingly. "If that's, y'know, possible. It is all your fault, after all."
Naruto groaned. "I know that, Sakura-chan! When are you going to let it go?"
Sakura's eyes widened incredulously. "You ruined everything less than twenty four hours ago! You'll be lucky if I drop this in a month, never mind the rest of your life!"
"Sakura-chan—" Naruto began to whine.
Sasuke slammed his head on the desk and wished to disappear.
If Hinata ever heard a word of Sasuke's confession, she didn't act like it. She treated Sasuke with the same indifference mingled with fear as usual. If she'd known, Sasuke knew for a fact that she'd probably go beet red every time she saw him, and it was her nonchalance, if nothing else, that persuaded him that his secret was safe.
That didn't stop him from worrying that she'd find out.
"She said she wouldn't check the app," Sakura said. "And Hinata-chan never breaks a promise."
It was true, so he dropped it.
But he didn't really stop dreading that he'd find her in English flushed red with mortification, eyes full of the secret he'd been desperately hiding from her for years.
Sasuke stared at the mansion before him and swallowed hard. How did a low key group date turn into picking her up at the Hyuuga mansion? It was hard enough to face her in English, but showing up at her mansion to drive her to the date with a bouquet of wildflowers in hand felt too…real.
And Sasuke knew that this date was anything but that.
Gritting his teeth, he kicked open the door and grabbed his leather jacket. Sakura tried to tell him to ditch the 'vampire costume', but Sasuke had just glared at her venomously, and she'd dropped it. If Hinata didn't know what she was getting into by not backing out of this date with him, he'd shove it in her face and make it obvious.
It was like Naruto had said: he was probably the one of the most intimidating guys Hinata would probably ever meet. But he wasn't about to dress up in those fruity Hawaiian shirts that Naruto and all the other 'in style' guys at school wore. If ripped jeans and a leather jacket were too much for Hinata, well, she could just lie at the door and tell him she felt sick.
Sasuke slammed the door shut to his Mercedes and tightened his grip on the flowers. This part he hadn't run by Sakura or Naruto, and part of him wanted to crawl into a hole and die before knocking on that door with them in hand.
But his mother told him years ago how to take a girl who mattered out on a date, and even if everything after this was a lie, even though Hinata would be staring at Naruto the entire night long, at least he'd do this much right. At least he'd do this much honestly.
He forced his leaden legs to move, and soon he was ringing on the doorbell.
Almost immediately the door opened, but only enough for Hinata to stick her head out the door. Her eyes were wide and cheeks flushed bright red.
His heart began to pound, and he tried to tell himself that there was no way Hinata could have heard anything. She'd been fine in English that day, and who could have told her once she left school that wouldn't have told her days ago when it first happened?
No, she was probably just nervous over the date or embarrassed because of what she was wearing.
Sasuke didn't know why she would be. He'd think she looked perfect in a potato sack if that's what she'd chosen.
"I…Sasuke-san!" Hinata squeaked. "You're e-early!"
Sasuke's brows raised, and he glanced at his watch. It read 6:59.
Oops.
Well, too late to not seem overeager now. "Sorry," Sasuke said, rubbing his jaw in an attempt to relax it.
Sorry? Sorry? Couldn't he think of anything else to say besides sorry?
"I-I…" Hinata's eyes fell to the ground, and it finally clicked for Sasuke.
So she was going to cancel on him.
"I didn't…have a choice in what I'm wearing," Hinata blurted out, and her cheeks flushed a darker pink. "I'm sorry! If it looks stupid, I'll go back and change right away!"
It was the most he'd ever heard her say at one time directly to him. And it was also the stupidest thing he'd ever heard in his life.
He frowned. "That's ridiculous, Hinata," he said flatly. "I'm sure you look fine." What kind of bastard did she think he was?
Hinata's eyes widened. "H-hai!" She extricated herself from the door and slowly pulled it back to reveal…quite possibly the most simultaneously painful and beautiful sight he'd ever seen.
Sakura must have designed the outfit because it was exactly to his tastes. The way Hinata had cowered behind the door, Sasuke had thought she'd been dressed in something edgy or ugly, but this dress was elegant. It was a pale lilac that brought out her eyes (he'd go insane looking at those eyes), and though it did not hide the figure that she spent so much time trying to disguise, it was long sleeved and high necked. Conservative except that—
Those legs.
Sasuke swallowed, forcing his eyes away from her entirely. It wasn't scandalously short, but blast it he'd never seen her bare legs before. She always hid in baggy jeans and hoodies. Which he was fine with because he didn't need to be taunted by something he couldn't have, and if he couldn't have her, at least nobody else saw anything either.
How did Sakura know I like legs? Sasuke thought numbly. Curse her. Curse her to Hades!
But she'd played it safe. It hung only an inch or two above Hinata's knees, and he'd really be a bastard if he sent her back to her rooms to change for those two inches.
Alright, Uchiha. Quit being a coward and look at your date like a normal human being.
Sasuke forced his eyes back to meet Hinata's, and he realized that he hadn't noticed it before, but her hair was down. Normally she tied it back out of her face, but it appeared that Sakura had curled it or something because it hung in soft waves down nearly to her waist.
Blast it all! Someone needs to kill Sakura for this. This is cruel, even for her.
Forget the legs. He'd probably go insane looking at her hair and trying not to touch it for the rest of the night.
That probably made him a pervert, but he didn't care. He'd called himself worse names over the years.
"S-Sasuke-san?" Hinata asked, cheeks reddening more by the second. Sasuke hadn't noticed it before, but it looked like Sakura hadn't put any makeup on her. Good. Makeup couldn't have done anything but detract from her beauty. He didn't want her to be anything but herself. Ever.
He couldn't speak, so he just said, "Hn?"
Hinata stared wide eyed at him for a half second longer before hiding her face in her hands. "I'm sorry! I'll change right away!"
She turned to flee, and he acted without thinking. He lunged forward and grabbed her wrist. "Hinata!" Hinata twisted to face him, looking very much like a deer caught in the headlights. She didn't seem able to speak, so he forced himself to instead. "Don't. You look…beautiful." He swallowed again, but his throat was dry as sandpaper. She didn't react, so he said again, a bit more strongly this time, "You're beautiful. Don't change."
Hinata's eyes opened a fraction wider, her cheeks going beet red, her mouth falling open to say something when—
She fainted, going completely limp and falling towards the floor.
"Hinata?" Sasuke caught her under the arms, and he stared helplessly at her unconscious face.
Though he shook her and repeated calling her name, she didn't wake for several moments more. He'd laid her down on the foyer floor, and it wasn't until her eyes fluttered open that he realized what a jerk move that was. He was no gentleman, but was it so hard to find a couch to lay her down on?
"S-Sasuke-san?" Hinata mumbled, obviously disoriented.
"Hinata," Sasuke said, voice thick with relief.
Abruptly Hinata's eyes widened. "Sasuke-san!" She sat up quickly, and Sasuke only barely moved his head out of her way. "I-I'm so sorry! Did I faint again?"
Again?! "Do you do that often?"
"I'm sorry!" Hinata's hands flew up to hide her face. "I-I'm so embarrassed! I'm sorry! Were you worried?"
Sasuke ran a hand through his hair, disgruntled. "Never mind. I should have known better." Now that Hinata wasn't dying, he could afford to think over the interaction.
Complementing her, being honest, had been a mistake. She'd been so afraid of him, so…so disturbed and creeped out by him calling her beautiful that she'd fainted from fear. She'd done it when she was little, fainted when something scared her. Back then it was strange men in suits and big, barking dogs.
Now, it was apparently Sasuke.
"Sasuke-san?" Hinata asked hesitantly, her beautiful eyes wide and worried.
Sasuke gritted his teeth and looked away. "We should go meet up with Naruto and Sakura."
"R-right," Hinata said, her cheeks pinking again as her eyes fell. Sasuke wanted to laugh at that. Just mention the dobe's name, and she couldn't even look at him.
Sasuke got to his feet and held out his hand for her to take and, after hesitating a moment longer and blushing deeper, she placed her small hand in his. He allowed himself to notice how soft and smooth the skin was before pulling her quickly to her feet and dropping the hand quickly.
He'd known this date would be painful. But he hadn't known it would be painful like this.
"W-what are these?" Hinata asked, and Sasuke turned and found, much to his chagrin and growing embarrassment, that he'd dropped the bouquet to catch Hinata when she'd fallen. He'd completely forgotten about it in the following panic.
Why had he thought a bouquet was a good idea?
"Nothing. Just throw them in the trash and come on," Sasuke said gruffly. Flowers weren't as obvious as staring at her legs and calling her beautiful, but it was still evidence of his feelings towards her. And he already knew how she felt about those feelings (frightening, disgusting, creepy—).
"They're beautiful!" Hinata exclaimed, burying her face immediately in them and breathing deeply. When she pulled back, her eyes were wide with disbelief as she protested, "I-I couldn't throw them out! I love them!"
Her fervor stunned him, and he stared stupidly at her, wishing his heart wasn't so dang happy, that he couldn't feel the euphoria singing through his veins. This was just another dimension to the torture tonight.
Hinata likes flowers, he reminded himself forcefully. This doesn't mean that she accepts your feelings. She's scared of you, disgusted by you. Remember that.
He looked away from her, unable to hold her eyes. "Do what you want with them, but we should be leaving soon."
"O-oh, of course!" Hinata said, as if surprised by his response. "Just…wait a moment please while I find water for them. I-I'll only be a moment."
Sasuke jammed his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket and turned away in a show of waiting and listened to the sound of her heels clicking on the tile as she hurried away.
Wait. Heels?
Sasuke's head spun back towards Hinata, and to his chagrin, he saw that on her feet were possibly the sexiest heels he'd ever seen in his life. Sasuke cursed mentally as he watched her round a corner and leave his line of sight. How could she walk in those?
It's funny. Even in heels that tall, she barely came up to his shoulder.
Sakura deserves a slow, painful death for this, he thought, running a hand over his face. Why dress her up like this when he was already perfectly convinced of her beauty? It was just senseless cruelty at this point.
It occurred to him then how odd it was that Hinata would be dressed in something so perfectly to his tastes. Wasn't Sakura trying to get his attention tonight?
Maybe Hinata was really dressed up tonight for Naruto. He'd probably have wanted something sexier, but maybe Hinata hadn't been able to work up the courage for something more daring.
It wasn't the best explanation he could think of, but, well, it was the only explanation he could think of.
When Hinata returned, she had a soft smile on her face ready for him. "S-sorry for making you wait, Sasuke-san."
"It's just Sasuke," Sasuke said with a sigh, jamming his hands a bit deeper into his pocket. "Skip the honorifics."
Hinata's eyes widened. "H-hai! Sasuke!" She looked like a soldier saluting her superior like that. It would have been funny if it hadn't been so painful.
He led the way out to the car, and when he opened her door for her, she'd stared like a deer caught in the headlights. But before he could feel too stupid, she quickly ducked inside. He felt like he was kidnapping her or something.
His mood beginning to tank, he walked around to the drivers side of the car and got inside.
It was going to be a long night.
Look at me.
"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata protested, covering her reddening cheeks with her hands.
"No, I'm serious!" Naruto said with a big, cheerful grin. "You look hot tonight! Bet that bastard just gaped stupidly when he saw, huh?"
It was too close to the truth, and Sasuke growled wordlessly while Hinata exclaimed, cheeks growing redder than ever, "Naruto-kun!"
Lest she faint again at the reminder of that disastrous exchange, Sasuke quickly said, "Let's go inside. It's cold."
Naruto snorted. "Hear that, Hinata-chan? See, Sasuke seems like a tough, cold hearted bastard, but in reality, he gets cold faster than a baby."
"I've noticed that," Sakura said thoughtfully while Sasuke scowled at them. "That's why you always wear that scary leather jacket, right, Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke glared furiously at them and stomped into the restaurant.
They were seated and ordered their food. Though she looked at him long enough to convey her terror when he informed her that he'd be paying for her, for the rest of the time, she kept her eyes studiously focused on Naruto beside him.
Look at me.
They talked about college again, and Hinata seemed to make it a point to avoid his eyes even when he spoke. When she did look at him, her cheeks would flush bright red.
Was she remembering earlier when he'd slipped and called her beautiful? Was the thought of him thinking her beautiful that mortifying and unwelcome to her?
Look at me.
Naruto retold an unfortunate escapade with their principal, Jiraiya. Sakura and Hinata laughed so hard that they both cried.
Look at me, he begged her silently. Please.
"Hey, did you guys see what's going on in Konoha High Anonymous?" Naruto asked brightly. Sakura looked at him sharply, but he ignored her. "It's hilarious! Ino's been whining about Shikamaru nonstop!"
"That's not funny," Sakura said with a frown. "Ino's my friend."
"She's my friend too, but it's still funny," Naruto said callously as he pulled out his phone and snickering at what he saw. "What the heck! Someone just posted 'My acne medication sucks!' That's probably the most honest thing anyone's ever posted. I bet that was Jiro. He's been breaking out bad this week…"
"Naruto-kun," Hinata said reproachfully.
Look at me.
"Ooh, look at this post, Hinata! Read it to Sakura! It's funny, isn't it?"
Look at me, blast it!
Sasuke could not feel his hands move. He only knew that they did, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
You feel like you can't tell her any other way.
Typed in the pass code.
It seems like the only avenue left, shouting at her back while she walks away towards someone else.
Pulled up that stupid app.
And it makes you downright pathetic, but at least you're still sane.
And began to write.
'I wish Hinata would look at me.'
And pressed send.
It was practically word for word the first thing he'd heard sent on this app. It had been Ino's words really, but he'd thought them a thousand times before then. He just hadn't wanted to admit it.
He'd admit it now. If only she'd just look at him!
"Ah, Naruto-kun, the message is gone. It's…" Hinata's voice trailed off, and he saw her cheeks go a bright, mortified red.
He didn't care.
Please look at me. Please stop looking at him, at that phone. I'm right here.
His phone vibrated as people began to comment.
'Who?'
'Oh gosh. Haven't we heard enough of this crap from Ino?'
'Lol. Is this Sasuke?'
Blood pounding in his ears, he typed the confession quickly, carelessly.
'Yes.'
The waiter arrived with their food then. Naruto had retracted his phone to discover what had stunned Hinata. Sakura was asking what was wrong. But Hinata wasn't looking at them.
She was looking at him.
He slid out of the booth and held his hand out commandingly towards her. "Come," he commanded. It wasn't very gentle or respectful, but he didn't have time for that now.
"H-hai," she whispered, sliding quickly out of the booth and placing her hand in his with a surprising lack of hesitation.
His fingers closed over her hand, and he pulled her through the crowded diner, ignoring Naruto's exclamations of astonishment as he read the online confession and the confused stares of patrons of the diner. He ignored the slight chill of the night, ignored that he'd left his phone back at the table, ignored the fact that their food was getting cold, ignored that probably the last place Hinata wanted to be on this earth was alone with him.
But he dragged her into the darkened alley besides the diner anyway and pushed her up against the brick wall, rested his arm above her head and got too close, much closer than should be allowed when she was disgusted by him.
But he didn't care. He wanted to forget the rules and the boundaries and make sure that she didn't look away because it was intoxicating having her eyes finally on her.
"Hinata," he whispered, stroking his fingers across the soft skin of her cheek. He didn't care anymore if she hated him, didn't care if her heart was back in the diner with Naruto. She would give him this, would allow him one kiss before finishing what she had started over a decade ago: breaking his heart.
But her eyes froze him, and he stared down at her, suddenly confused.
She didn't look afraid. Or disgusted. Or…or even reluctant.
She looked expectant. Impatient even.
Sasuke recoiled back. Did she just want this to be over with as soon as possible? Or…or… "Why are you looking at me like that?" The words came out in a tortured whisper.
"Like what?" She whispered. But she didn't look away.
He stepped away from her, running a hand over his face. "Like you wouldn't hate me if I kissed you." He met her eyes then, a stupid move. But he couldn't help it. She was finally looking at him.
"Sasuke…" She stepped away from the brick wall. Stepped towards him. He'd never seen her so…sure before, so determined.
Her hands were hot against the skin of his cheek, and he felt his eyes flutter shut as she pulled him down. "Hinata, why…" The question died on his lips as her warm breath fanned across his face.
And then her lips were on his.
He'd never done this before, but his hands moved of their own accord to rest on her waist, pulled her closer because suddenly the dam was broken and he couldn't resist her pull for him a second longer. He didn't know what he was doing exactly, only that he couldn't get enough of her. He felt his lips moving against hers, felt his tongue sweep across her lower lip and his teeth nip, oh so gently, on her lower lip, and then he felt her lips part in a gasp. He didn't capitalize on the weakness, only moved a hand up to cradle at her base of her neck, tangling his fingers in that gorgeous hair.
And then it occurred to him that this was Hinata, and Hinata had probably never been kissed like this, had probably never kissed. What the heck was he doing to her when he didn't even know how she felt?
He pulled away abruptly, and to his mortification he realized he was breathing heavily. He didn't seem to be the only one, but he wasn't certain yet if that was a good thing. She might be hyperventilating with terror. But, no. She'd kissed back.
She had kissed back, hadn't she?
What kind of bastard didn't even know if a girl had kissed him back?
"Hinata," he groaned, letting his forehead fall against hers. "What was that?"
They'd somehow ended back at the brick wall, and Hinata seemed to sag against it as blood rushed to her cheeks and her eyes widened. "I-I'm sorry! Was that not good? I'm sorry! I don't r-really have an e-experience, but—"
"Neither do I," Sasuke interrupted. "And it was fine." Understatement of the century.
Hinata's eyes widened. "You…you don't? But—"
"That doesn't matter, Hinata," Sasuke interrupted, frustrated. "What was that? Was that out of…of pity, one kiss to tide me over before you go back to Naruto? Or was it to satisfy me so I'd leave you alone? A thank you for that ridiculous confession, or—"
"None of that!" Hinata interrupted, shaking her head almost frantically, eyes wide and earnest. "I…none of that, Sasuke!"
Sasuke felt his mask slip, and he said brokenly, "Then tell me, because I'm running out of reasons for you to have kissed me like that. If…if it was all in my head, and I went too far, I—"
"I like you!"
Sasuke stopped, staring stupidly down at her. "I…what?"
Hinata's hands flew to hide her face, but she didn't look away. It wasn't without effort, but she still looked him in the eye. "I know! It's stupid! You have a lot of girls who like you, and I'm a nobody! And I know that I a-annoy you by being too timid and slow and stupid, but I r-really do like you, Sasuke!"
Sasuke shook his head, dazed. "I have never been annoyed by you, Hinata." That truth slipped out more easily than others.
"But you l-look so angry at me sometimes!" Hinata squeaked.
"Because I'm immature," he said, trying to explain. "I just…I wanted you to look at me." Sasuke shook the daze from his head, confused. "Wait. You can't like me. You like that…that moron in there. Naruto." The name burned on the way out.
"Naruto?" Hinata repeated, as if she could actually be confused.
"Yes, Naruto," Sasuke repeated, raking his fingers through his hair. "Did Naruto tell you to do this? Or Sakura?"
Hinata shook her head, eyes widening again. "N-no! I swear I only did it because I like you!" She paused. "Um, Sakura did…um…help encourage me…" She began to poke her pointer fingers together as she was wont to do when nervous. Suddenly she looked up at him, eyes growing wide as she blurted out, "It was Sakura who dressed me! I'm so sorry if it's not very pretty or if I've embarrassed you tonight by wearing it, but she i-insisted!"
Sasuke shook his head, brows lowering. "I already told you that it looks fine. Why are you apologizing?"
"B-because you're too nice, Sasuke!" Hinata said emphatically, and Sasuke gaped stupidly down at her. "Even if what I wore embarrassed you, you wouldn't have said anything!"
"Hinata…" Sasuke shook his head, dazed again. "Did you just call me too nice?"
Hinata nodded again, firmly.
Sasuke shook his head. What? "How on Earth did you get the idea that I'm nice?" His fan girls were quick to call him sexy, but Itachi was probably the only one delusional enough to call Sasuke 'nice'.
"You took me on this date even though you didn't want to!" Hinata explained, and it stunned him to see that she seemed serious. "A-and you always buy Naruto ramen even when he annoys you! And you care for your family a lot! And you never play with a girl's feelings! Except…for, um…" Hinata bit her lip, and suddenly she looked away, suddenly ashamed.
"Except for?" He repeated through numb lips.
"Maybe…um…mine?" Hinata squeaked. Her eyes flew back to his, and she began to babble. "I-I know I initiated the kiss, and t-thank you for not pushing me away. I'm sure I wasn't very good, and S-Sakura said it just takes practice. She tried to tell me how, but I know that it probably didn't help much. I—"
"I already told you that I've never kissed anyone before," Sasuke interrupted. "Didn't you hear that? That was my first kiss."
Hinata's eyes widened before narrowing slightly, as if suspicious. "R…really?" She searched his eyes as if expecting for some sign of his lying to magically manifest there.
He shook his head. "I've only ever been looking at you, Hinata," he said, and it came out sounding much more helpless than he'd intended it. "How could I have learned to kiss with someone else when all I could see was you? I…" He stepped away and ran his hand again through his hair. "It's me who should be apologizing. I shouldn't have kissed you like that." Sasuke cursed softly. "I shouldn't have been so—so rough. I just—"
"No, please don't apologize! I-I asked for it by kissing you!" Hinata's eyes fell, and she covered her face once more. "I…I liked it. It felt like you…wanted…me. It was a…a good dream to lose myself in."
Sasuke couldn't have stopped himself from drawing closer to her again if he'd tried. "Weren't you listening? I do want you," he whispered roughly.
"Y-you do?" Hinata whispered, her voice just a breath.
"I've loved you since we were five, Hinata," Sasuke said wryly.
"You have?" Hinata blinked up at him, and he watched her cheeks flush red. "O-oh!"
"I thought you hated me," Sasuke whispered, and it was embarrassing how broken his voice sounded. "I thought I…disgusted you. Frightened you. Blast it, Hinata. I thought you loved Naruto, that you only agreed to this to go on a group date with him."
Hinata lifted a hand, and her warm fingers brushed against the skin of his cheek. A shudder rippled down his spine at the gentle touch, and in spite of himself Sasuke found himself leaning into her hand. "I-I've never thought that about you," she said softly. "You…you said on the app that you wished I'd look at you. But you're all I've ever seen, Sasuke."
"Really?" It was a stupid question, but he couldn't accept it after hearing it just once.
Hinata nodded, eyes firm and unwavering. "I…I've liked you for a long time. Almost since the beginning. But you were so…so popular, and you lost interest in being my friend. I thought you…wouldn't want someone so plain and timid to like you, so I tried to…to hide it."
He pulled her closer, whispering roughly, "You're beautiful, Hinata."
"I…really?" Her eyes were beginning to glaze, but he didn't let her go. He probably couldn't let her go if he tried.
"I only avoided you because I liked you." Sasuke realized too late that this made no sense unless he brought up Itachi, and Itachi was the very last thing he wanted to talk about just then. Freaking Itachi. "Whatever. Tell me why you seemed to like Naruto." Inwardly he winced. Blunt. Nice.
Hinata didn't seem to mind. "If it seemed that way, i-it was only because you were so…intimidating!" She covered her face again. "You've just become s-so attractive, and it's so h-hard to think when I look at you. And I d-didn't want to annoy you by liking you like your…your other admirers. And N-Naruto-kun isn't as scary. If I talked to him, I could be…be near you without annoying you."
"You've been afraid to look at me because I'm too attractive?" Sasuke asked incredulously, wondering if he should be amused or curse his father for marrying a beautiful woman who had passed on her looks to her sons.
"I-I'm sorry!" Hinata exclaimed, bowing her head as she covered her face.
He reached up and grabbed her hands and pulled them away. "Stop that," he said irritably. "I like to see your face."
"H-hai!" She resolutely met his eyes, and Sasuke found himself beginning to smile. She was so…earnest.
"So…you think I'm…attractive?" Sasuke said, searching her eyes. Though she gulped, Hinata nodded. "Handsome? Or…" He leaned in and placed a kiss on the corner of her mouth, and he felt her begin to shake beneath his touch.
"Sasuke," she whispered, and Sasuke smiled against her skin.
"Sorry," he said as he pulled away. "I never imagined that I could have any effect on you. I've never cared about my face, but now…"
Hinata nodded though she looked distinctly daze. "I…I think I understand." He felt her hands twitch against him like she wanted to cover her face again, but she thankfully refrained. Her eyes did move downwards as she mumbled, "I…I wish that I were prettier for you. It's very nice of you to make me feel wanted, but I still wish you could feel the way…the way I did, but—"
"Hinata," he interrupted, his words a soft growl in her ear. "You're ridiculous. When I first saw you tonight, I could hardly breathe. So don't. Apologize. You are not in any way, shape, or form inadequate." He planted a kiss on the skin by her ear, and when he pulled back, she looked utterly dazed again she nodded slowly.
"H-hai," she whispered.
He couldn't stop himself any longer. Her words and her actions were all in perfect agreement: she liked him. And so, there was no reason to stop himself from leaning down and reclaiming her lips in his.
He was gentler this time, careful not to lose himself as he had the first time. He'd been frustrated and confused then. This time, he thought only of her, of the way she'd apologized for being plain and offered to change and had said it was 'nice' of him to make her feel wanted. He would prove to her just how desperately he wanted her, how every kiss and every caress would never be enough because she was beauty incarnate, everything desirable to him both on the outside and inside.
When Hinata's knees buckled and her body went limp against him, Sasuke ended the kiss with a sigh. He should have known. Frankly, he was surprised she hadn't fainted much earlier if just an hour or two earlier a complement had been enough to knock her out.
She's trying very hard, he realized. That was what he'd seen in her eyes when he'd first leaned down to kiss her. Determination to be strong, to be bold and let him take would he would of her because she wanted desperately to give everything.
While he'd dreaded this date like a coward all week, she must have been working up the courage to tell him how she felt.
So Sakura did dress Hinata up like this for me, he thought with a shake of his head. It was an uncharacteristically selfless move on the pink haired girl's part.
"S-Sasuke?"
Sasuke looked up to find that her eyes were fluttering open. As before, she'd only been out for a few moments. "Hello," he greeted softly, a small, amused smile beginning to tug at his lips.
"What…happened?" Hinata glanced about the alley in apparent disorientation before her eyes widened and darted back to him. "Oh! We were…" Her hand flew to hide her face. "I'm so embarrassed! Oh, I'm so sorry!"
He pressed his lips to her forehead, gently and carefully. "The last time you fainted, I thought you'd collapsed because you were disgusted by my complement and terrified of the implications of my offering it. I think I'll take your fainting because you got lost in the moment any day."
Hinata's hands fell away to reveal a very dismayed Hinata. "T-that wasn't it! Sasuke, how could you even think that?"
Sasuke looked away, uncomfortable. "I…I don't know. I didn't ever think you'd see me this way, Hinata. I already told you. I thought you hated me."
"Well, I don't," Hinata said firmly, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Well, I know that now," Sasuke said with a small smile down at her. "Well? Did it work?"
"Did w-what work?" Hinata asked, brows lowering slightly in confusion.
"My kiss. Did you feel just how utterly irresistible you are to me?" His hands found her waist, and he pressed her harder into the wall. "Did you get a sense of just how desperately I want you?"
"I…" Hinata stared up at him, cheeks flushing pink in the dim light. "Yes?" She squeaked.
He laughed softly and pressed his lips against hers. It was a short kiss, a chaste one, and then he leaned back and rested his forehead against hers. "Good."
Epilogue:
Sasuke shook his head. "No. I can't believe it. I refuse."
Naruto only laughed, turning towards Sakura and picking her up by the waist and twirling her.
"Naruto!" Sakura protested, beginning to laugh as well. That laugh was cut off by Naruto dropping her to the floor and beginning to kiss her passionately.
"Sickening," Sasuke sneered, tightening his arm around Hinata's waist. Mostly just to remind himself that she was there. "I can't believe I didn't notice that they'd been dating."
Hinata leaned her head on his shoulder, moving just a bit closer to him. "I think it's sweet," she sighed.
Sasuke rolled his eyes at the predictable response from her but couldn't resist kissing her forehead while Naruto was busy. It was best to do most of their PDA when the blonde wasn't watching.
"I can't believe we'll all be going to Konohagakure together," Sasuke said to her, shaking his head. "That bastard Jiraiya must have helped him. Blast him!"
"W-we don't know if I've made it yet, Sasuke," Hinata protested.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Don't pointlessly debase yourself, Hinata. If you don't make it, I haven't got a prayer."
"S-Sasuke! That's not true!" Hinata protested.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Never mind."
Hinata probably would have pressed the issue (pointlessly, he might add), but then her phone began to vibrate in the jean pocket next to his leg. She leaned away to fish it from her pocket, and he shook his head with wry amusement as he read the alarm there.
"You set an alarm to help you remember to study Korean?" Sasuke asked.
"I-it helps!" Hinata said defensively.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Why did you even start learning Korean anyway?"
Her cheeks abruptly went hot. "I…I just like it is all!"
Sasuke frowned. "…Why are you blushing?"
"I-I'm not blushing!" Her hands flew to cover her cheeks as usual, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her.
"Hinata," he said warningly. He pulled her hands from her face and replaced them with one of his own, forcing her to look at him. "Why did you start learning Korean?"
"I…" Hinata stared at him before shutting her eyes and exclaiming, "I read that post on the app that said you were Korean!"
Sasuke stared at her, aghast. "What app…" And then it clicked. "The acrostic poem?"
"I'm sorry!" Hinata exclaimed, rather irrationally in Sasuke's opinion. "I saw it, and I was so desperate to get you to like me that I started to learn Korean! I thought that your family would never accept me if I didn't know it, so—"
A stunned laugh escaped his lips. "What? Hinata, you know I'm not Korean, right?"
Her cheek grew hotter beneath his hand. "W-well, I know that now!"
Sasuke laughed again, shaking his head. "You're ridiculous. Well, now that you know, why are you still trying to learn it?"
"I…I like learning Korean!" Hinata protested, eyes wide and earnest as she tried to convey her sincerity. "It's really fun! I—"
He silenced her with his lips. He'd resisted for as long as he could, but she was just too cute.
How absurd, he would muse to himself later. I was so sure she wasn't looking at me. But in reality, she was so focused on me that she completely missed what over half the school didn't.
We've always been looking only at each other.
It was ridiculous. She was ridiculous.
...Somehow, Sasuke thought he could live with that fact.
A/N: Yeah. I don't know what I was thinking towards the end of the reconciliation scene between Sasuke and Hinata. Some of that fluff makes me want to gauge my own eyes out or make a dentist check me for cavities. Ugh.
Please leave a review though! I'd love to hear any reactions or comments you have!