sorry this chapter is so short. I wanted to get it done and posted before I go to another camp for another three days. I'll be back on Sunday (Hong Kong time). This is short build up for chapter 5: Truth or Dare. Which will be a good, nice, chapter, with a very upsetting ending. Har har. oh the SUSPENSE!! hope you can wait for three days (I'll make chapter 5 extra long to make up for the lateness of this chapter/the shortness of it. don't worry. I'll come back with a juicy, long chapter). Anyway, enjoy what little there is written here, and please remain patient. It's just started to get interesting.

Chapter 4: Growing into you

Over and over in Hinata's head that night, replayed the soft, warm fell of his lips brushing over hers, contrasting with the cold of the steel lip ring. She tossed and turned, once waking and going into the bathroom to splash cold water over her heated face.

'This is r-ridiculous!' she growled to herself, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Water dripped down her chin and onto her night gown. Hinata reached out and grabbed a towel, dabbing at her face to get rid of the water before trudging back into her room to try and get some more sleep. She knew she was going to need it, if she was ever going to be able to face Hidan again.

Hinata stayed in all day on Saturday, turning Sasuke down. She slept for most of the day – after all, she had been up for almost the whole night on Friday. Later on Saturday night, as she dozed away in front of the T.V, she couldn't help but fell bad that she had turned Sasuke down. She almost picked up her cell to call him but thought better of it. If Itachi knew, he might try to throw Hidan into the equation as well, and Hinata still wasn't sure she was ready to face him yet.

Sunday crawled around and again Hinata slept for most of the day. Her father briefly thought she was coming down with a cold, but she ensured him that she was merely tired, and needed to rest. By Sunday night, she couldn't close her eyes at all.

'I-it'll b-be n-nothing. I c-can j-just walk u-up to him and i-it'll b-be like it a-always was. B-but what if that doesn't happen? W-what if h-he t-tries to -! Ugh! S-stupid Hinata! D-don't t-think of h-him like t-that?'

She buried her face in her pillow and finally fell asleep.

--

Hinata was a nervous wreck before even arriving at school. She wouldn't stop smoothing out her uniform or tugging at her pony-tail, or thinking "do I look nice? Am I presentable?"

'What am I w-w-worrying for? I... I d-don't like him d-do I?!'

She slumped at this thought. Her math class – one of her better subjects – could do nothing to keep her mind from wandering to other topics. She sat up in her chair, determined to be distracted by math.

'Focus,' she told herself, 'just focus.'

She managed to focus on school work all the way through to lunch, although she almost fell asleep in English – they weren't doing anything that day because Shizune was sick, and the sub just wanted to jabber on and on and on about Shakespeare's play "Othello".

Hinata nibbled on her lip when she realized that at lunch there was a high possibility that she would see Hidan. She took a few steadying breaths – which caused Sakura to give her some odd looks – before instructing herself to act like nothing had happened, that it had just been a friendly touch.

'F-friendly... very far from friendly,' her intelligent side informed her, but she ignored that voice. Sakura nudged Hinata with her elbow, "are you okay, Hina-chan?"

"H-hai Saku-chan. I'm all right."

Sakura didn't appear convinced as the two girls sat down at their usual table. They ate their lunches in silence for several minutes, until Sakura, after taking a hearty gulp from her milk, started a conversation, "so, what did you think of Ino's party? And I'm still surprised your dad let you wear that outfit."

"W-well the party was f-fun. I had to p-pull a few s-strings about the outfit though. Father was v-very against me w-wearing it..."

"So what's the reason he let you wear it?"

At this Hinata blushed, "I t-told him H-Hidan and S-Sasuke would p-pulverize anybody w-who tried to d-do something to m-me," which wasn't entirely true, because Hinata hadn't mentioned Sasuke to her father at all. Sakura's eyes widened briefly and she took a sip of her drink. Hinata bit into a carrot.

"Your dad likes Hidan, huh?"

"H-hai."

"How did your dad meet him?" Sakura inquired, propping her elbow against the table and resting her chin in her palm. Hinata blinked at her, 'quick! Say you just so happened to be eating at the same place and bumped into him!'

"H-he was eating l-lunch at the same restaurant w-we were. I g-guess it was coincidental."

Again, Sakura's features reflected her inner thoughts. Hinata subtly bit the inside of her cheek, 'please d-don't p-press.'

She released a mental sigh of relief when Sakura asked, "how are you and Sasuke getting along? I mean, it seems to me that Hidan is quite interested in you."

Hinata frowned at finished her carrot, before staring down at her hands, "I d-don't know... S-Sasuke h-hasn't really t-talked to me s-since Wednesday..."

Sakura gaped, "are you serious?!"

Hinata hung her head, "yes."

Sakura remained silent. Hinata looked up at her and was about to speak when a hand came down on her head, "hey, Hinata."

She whipped her head around rather quickly, blush following her movements, "Hidan!"

His eyes widened in surprise, "wow," he pressed a hand to her forehead, "you feeling okay?"

Hinata successfully hid her blush, "yes I-I'm all right."

She dared to make eye contact with him again. The uniform suited him well, the beige color combined with white and dark brown were a perfect contrast for his gorgeous violet eyes. He was wearing the large jacket, though one sleeve had slipped off his shoulder. His tie was a little loose and Hinata reached out instinctively to tighten it. Hidan stared at her in surprise, a pink tinge coming to his cheeks.

Finally realizing what she was doing, Hinata pulled her hands away, "s-sorry. Raise to d-do that..."

"Ah, I see... well, uh," he glanced over at Itachi who was waiting by the cafeteria door, tapping his foot impatiently, "I gotta' go. I'll catch you later, seriously," he informed Hinata with a sly grin. Hinata watched him as he left and breathed an inner sigh of relief, 'thank g-goodness that w-was n-normal.'

Sakura leaned over the table and stared at Hinata, "hello? Hinata? I'm talking to you."

"Eh? Ah! S-sorry..."

After an awkward moment of silence, Sakura stood and stated, with a small smile, "you like him."

Hinata quickly turned her eyes up to the pink haired girl, "w-what?"

Sakura began walking away after restating, "you like Hidan."

--

By the end of last period Hinata was in no mood to see or talk to Sasuke. He had been indirectly cold, and so she had avoided him altogether. Kisame sought her out after school and was leaning against the locker next to her. The two chatted idly.

"So how you been, princess?"

"Well, I-I've been g-good. And you, K-Kisame?" she bit her tongue so she wouldn't add "-san" to the end of his name. None of the Akatsuki boys seemed to like that, and if Konan didn't like it the older girl didn't make it noticeable.

"Bored, mostly. Not really anything to do. It ain't all that fun when you aren't around."

Hinata giggled a little. She liked being around Kisame; he was a funny guy.

"So, w-what are you implying?"

"That you hang with us more. Though, that won't make Sasuke too happy now would it?" he grinned in a friendly way as Sasuke walked over, then pushed away from the locked, "well, I'll see you around, princess."

After Hinata had said good-bye, Kisame walked away. Hinata turned to Sasuke and the two stared at each other. He looked like he didn't know what to say.

"Call me. Later. I'm going," Hinata told him. He nodded and frowned then smiled as if to say "sorry but I don't know what to do right now". Hinata just nodded her head and then turned and left the school.

She was in no hurry to get home. She wanted time to think, now that she was away from school and other people. She stopped at a crosswalk and watched the cars drive by. She closed her eyes briefly.

It had only been two days since Hidan had almost kissed her. Hinata knew that Sasuke was suspicious now because of the way he had been acting. He must be feeling very threatened, she reasoned, but a certain part of her just didn't care.

The light changed and Hinata crossed the road. The familiar wood fence of Sakura's house provided Hinata with a small amount of comfort. She was not the only one who had gone through emotional change. Out of all the girls, Sakura was the first one to have her feelings alter themselves.

'S-Saku-chan w-was convinced that she was in l-love with Sasuke. And n-now... now she's with the b-boy I thought I loved...'

Hinata released a small sigh and ran her fingers over the wooden fence as she passed.

Ever since last Friday Hidan had taken over Hinata's mind. Ever since last Friday Hinata began to see herself with Hidan more and more and with Sasuke less and less. This revelation made Hinata frown and she walked around the corner of the fence, her hand falling back down to her side.

She stopped dead in her tracks, staring unblinking at the person standing next to the sign for the bus that stopped near her home.

At school, she was surrounded by people, so nothing would have ever been bound to happen. Nothing too serious, anyway.

'No! T-this is too s-soon for me t-to be...' she glanced over her shoulder; nobody was around, 'a-alone with him...'

Her heart won her over and she found herself staring at him again, wondering what she should do: wait for him to notice or say hi. She heard her own voice say, "hey," and those glorious violet eyes turned to her. His face brightened immediately as he replied, "hey."

Hinata swallowed and clasped her hands together, "s-so, uh, how has your week b-been?"

Hidan chuckled lightly, "not the best, seriously. I mean, I managed to get a freaking uniform and all but eh..." he averted his eyes then sighed, muttering, "I'm not doing so well. I guess I can tell you, seeing as Itachi already told you enough. Seriously."

Hinata did not like seeing that saddened expression on his features. She hurried toward him but suddenly felt a sharp, shooting pain up her leg. Her gasp caught his attention and his bag hit the ground at the same time as her knees.

"Hinata!" he exclaimed. She heard his quick footsteps as she grasped her ankle with one hand.

'Ow, ow, ow... d-did I put my f-foot down at a b-bad angle?' she wondered. A strong hand gripped her shoulder and Hidan's forehead touched hers, "hey, Hinata. Are you all right?"

"I – I think so – ow!" she had released her ankle and it throbbed with pain. She fell forward against Hidan's chest, causing him to go from a crouched position to a kneeling one. He had both hands on her shoulders now. Hinata wondered if she should grasp her ankle again, but the throbbing had stopped and her hands were already on his chest. She took a steadying breath.

"You fucking sure you're okay?" she heard him ask, his breath sending shivers down her spine.

"Y-yes. J-just a small sprain I-I t-think – oh," her breath caught in her throat.

His face was very close to hers and she couldn't help glancing down at his lips. The lip ring wasn't present, and she allowed herself to be a little dismayed by this truth. He appeared to be contemplating something, and her brain processed the meaning of his actions too slowly.

He tilted his head to the left, his arms wrapping around her shoulders and neck. She moved her left hand and trailed her fingernails over his cheek in an innocent caress. His breath was warm and sweet over her face and she closed her eyes. The hand that she had on his chest clenched into a fist.

When Hinata finally opened her eyes again she found that Hidan was staring at her with half-lidded eyes. His expression was unreadable, his gaze intense. Did he feel guilty? Or was he pleased with himself?

More importantly, how did Hinata herself feel? She was unsure, her thoughts a muddled mass of murky water. Hidan leaned toward her again, his nose brushing against hers. He was hesitating.

Hinata's hand combed through his hair and pressed against the back of his head. He need no other invitation, and he tugged her closer to his body.

Cute, neh? Well, hope you liked that. Some HidaHina romanc0r for youz0r. Yeah. Until next chapter!! love to all my reviewrs :) oh. And please check out VAMP if you have to time xP