Mshinata: -evil grin-
Sasuke: -twitch- Run everybody, she's planning something!
Mshinata: champylin-taicho gave me an idea! –Sparkly eyes-
Sasuke: Does it have to do with torturing me?
Mshinata: Luckily for you, no. But, I won't tell anyone what it is. Hehe. OMG, I got grenades…-evil grin-
Sasuke: -twitches again-
Mshinata: Thank you, Airbender01!
Ino: Mshinata-chan doesn't own Naruto…or Kantarou from Tactics.
Mshinata: That's too bad. –Sad face and hugs Kantarou-
"Why don't you like chocolate?" Ino pouted as she spooned some of her chocolate ice cream and put it in her mouth.
"I just said it wasn't my favorite." Hinata nervously smiled.
"But you're so kawaii! To like vanilla that is." Ino waved her spoon in the air as Hinata blushed from embarrassment. The two girls were at the nearby ice cream shop and eating their favorite ice cream. "Vanilla is such a pure flavor…" Hinata smiled back in response.
"Onee-sama!" A familiar and high-pitched voice cried as the person slammed open the ice cream shop's door.
"Oh gosh…she's one of those rich, snobby kids." Ino whispered to Hinata. Hinata twitched a bit. The young girl scanned the ice cream shop as looking for something…or someone.
The young girl's expression changed to a happy one as she saw what she was looking for. She started to run towards Ino and Hinata.
"W-wait…why is she coming towards us?" Ino muttered under her breath.
"Onee-sama!" The young girl clasped her hands together and giggled.
"I'm not your sister!" Ino replied.
"Not YOU." The young girl stuck out her tongue and looked at Hinata with an innocent look.
"H-Hinata-chan?!" Ino said, surprised. "You don't have a sister! Or…do you?"
"Hanabi-chan." Hinata muttered as her hands trembled in her lap.
"Ah! I'm so happy that Onee-sama remembers her own sweet little sister." Hanabi said happily, her lavender eyes obviously full of joy.
"A-ah…" Was all that Hinata could manage to reply.
"Onee-sama," Hanabi took Hinata's right hand and clasped it in her own, "I'm so happy I found you! I hope Neji-niisan hasn't caused you any trouble."
N-Nii-san…? Ino thought to herself, obviously interested in what this over-excited girl had to say. If this little girl is Hinata-chan's little sister then that means-
"Hey little girl!" The loudest blonde on the block shouted as he slammed open the ice cream shop's door with his two best friends by his side.
"Eh? You three again? You stalkers!" Hanabi said, letting go of Hinata's hand and pointing to them.
"Oi, oi…it's rude to point!" Naruto said as he pointed back. Sasuke and Gaara sweat dropped.
He just pointed. They both thought at the same time.
"S-Sasuke-sama!" Hinata immediately stood up from her seat and so did Ino. She ran towards him. "W-what are you doing here?"
"That little girl…she said she was looking for her sister when she barged into our high school." Sasuke said plainly.
"Hanabi-chan," Hinata said firmly, turning to the young girl.
"Hai, Onee-sama?" Hanabi replied with sparkling eyes.
"Please learn to not barge into places without knowing what you're doing." Hinata sighed. "It's not polite." Hanabi crossed her arms and pouted.
"But…I wanted to see Onee-sama so much that it was on instinct to barge into places!" Hanabi retorted.
"Instinct?! What sort of instinct is that?!" Naruto shouted back.
"A very good one, blondie!" Hanabi yelled as the two started glaring at each other. Gaara sighed and turned to Hinata.
"This…she's your sister?" Gaara asked, getting straight to the point.
"A-ah…hai." Hinata sighed in defeat.
"Why is she here?" Sasuke asked. She didn't answer. Sasuke didn't want to try to ask her again since he didn't know if Hinata knew the reason why Hanabi was here or not.
"Onee-sama," Hanabi stopped glaring at Naruto and turned to her sister, "I'll be staying with you and Uchiha." She smiled an innocent smile.
"Ah! It's cute little Hanabi-chan!" Mikoto gushed as she let Sasuke, Hinata, and Hanabi into the house.
"Okaa-san…you knew that this brat was going to stay here?" Sasuke whispered to his mother.
"Iie. But…it does have something to do with Hiashi-sama's plans. Just play along." She whispered back. "Anyways Hanabi-chan, just make yourself comfortable! Sasuke, be a dear and carry her bags in the other guest room." Sasuke simply obliged and carried Hanabi's bags to her room. Hinata felt weird about
that, because Sasuke didn't usually just…oblige to carry something that didn't belong to him somewhere else. The two sisters sat down on the couch in the living room.
"Tadaima," Itachi called out as he slipped off his shoes and entered the house.
"Ah! Welcome home, Itachi! You remember Hanabi-chan, ne? Well, she's staying here for a while." Mikoto said, practically skipping to greet her eldest son. He raised a brow.
"Why?" Itachi asked. Hinata finally figured out that bluntness ran in the family. Mikoto lightly nudged Itachi. "A-ah…gomen. Please enjoy your stay." He said. Even Itachi was obliging with Hanabi. This was starting to freak Hinata out.
"I would like to see Onee-sama's room! Can we go?" Hanabi said, bouncing up from her seat.
"H-hai." Hinata said as she and her sister walked to her room. Hanabi was the last to come to her room as she closed the door and locked the door without Hinata noticing.
"Onee-sama…" Hanabi started out as she slowly walked around the room, observing everything in it, "why are you living with Uchiha?" Hinata twitched as she lightly sat on her bed.
"They…took me in." Hinata answered carefully.
"Hm…" Hanabi put a finger to her lips as she glanced at the picture with the Uchiha family and Hinata, "…without something in exchange? How weird."
"What do you mean?" Hinata asked worriedly.
"Well…since you're living here, don't you have to pay them back for taking you in?" Hanabi turned to her sister. Hinata's eyes widened. "I know the Uchiha family well enough to know that they aren't that generous."
"Y-you don't know anything about the Uchiha family." Hinata immediately stood up and raised her voice.
"Gomenasai, Onee-sama…was that offending to you?" Hanabi asked. Hinata's hands fisted at her sides.
"Gomenasai…Hanabi-chan." Hinata looked the other way. "You have no right to say such things about the Uchiha family."
"They were our rival in the business. You knew that. You were…no…you are the heiress to the company." Hanabi said seriously.
"No I'm not. I got disowned." Hinata said firmly.
"That's not true. Otou-sama decided to give you another chance. Now, you're all he's talking about. All you have to do…is come home. And you'll get everything that you lost back." Hanabi said with a softer tone now. She weakly smiled. "I miss you…Onee-sama."
Hinata didn't know what to say. Their father would never look twice in her direction. All he would do was scold her and tell her to do better when she would do her best. It just didn't make sense.
"Neji-niisan misses you too. You are his princess after all." Hanabi said half-jokingly.
She had to make a decision…it was no time to be a child anymore.
Sasuke paced around in the hallway, thinking about Hinata. He didn't understand she why she was disowned in the first place…nor did he know why she didn't tell him all this. Maybe she wasn't ready? He knew her well enough to know that she didn't want to trouble him with her business nor did she want to pry and know his business.
He'd only known her for a short time…he wanted to know more about her. Deep down inside, he wished that he had more time to open up to her. Tell her about him.
"I wonder what they're talking about." His annoyance of a brother walked towards him with his hands stuffed inside his pockets. He was staring at Hinata's door.
"…probably wanting to back to the Hyuuga family." Sasuke muttered, turning his back on his brother.
"Ah…Sasuke, you're so negative. She might stay…she might stay specifically for you." Itachi said positively.
"Right." Sasuke replied as he rolled his eyes.
"You just rolled your eyes, didn't you?" Itachi said. Sasuke turned around again and glared at his brother. Itachi brushed it off, already used to the glares. "Neji and Hanabi Hyuuga…Hiashi-sama really is desperate, isn't he?"
"For Hinata to be nervous about this, she probably didn't get the best father in the world." Sasuke said as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. Itachi smiled…err…smirked. It was in the middle of a smirk and a smile.
"You do whatever you want to, aniki," Itachi said, curtly waving to him and returning to his room. Sasuke twitched at the last word, "after all…the Uchiha family is precious to her."
It had been a few days since the encounter with Hanabi and she had been living with the Uchiha family since then. Hanabi and Hinata acted as if the little talk didn't happen. Actually…they acted too natural for Sasuke's eyes. Maybe it was because he didn't know how two sisters acted, but…he was pretty sure it was strange anyway.
Hanabi had walked Hinata to school to see her school again. Seriously, did that girl go to school?
So, Sasuke walked to school alone.
"Sasuke-kun!"
Or not.
"Nani, Ino?" Sasuke turned around as he was confronted by a panting Ino.
"Hinata-chan…" Ino finally caught her breath and continued, "Did you know she had a sister?"
"Yeah." He said it as it was really obvious and kept walking.
"Ne, ne, Sasuke-kun…" She started to walk with him, "…will Hinata-chan stay here?" She suddenly asked.
"That's really all up to Hinata." He replied as she stopped, but he kept walking.
"How can you be so heartless? Be her knight in shining armor and lock her in your estate!" She said as she ran to catch up to him. He sweat dropped. She worded things so weird.
"Look…I can't control a woman-" She glared at him, "okay…I know I've done that before, but she's different. She's a timid and fragile girl."
"Exactly! So…if you just say a few things, I bet she'll stay for you." She nudged him and winked.
"Funny," He smirked, "Itachi said the same thing."
"Well then, Itachi-senpai is smart." She said. He just had a mini-barf there.
"Yosh! Lunch time!" Naruto said as he excitedly opened up his bento.
"…did you skip breakfast again, rich boy?" Gaara sweat dropped as he noticed the sparkles in his eyes. Naruto shook his head and smiled his idiotic smile.
"This is my first bento! I usually have to buy lunch in school or I get a luxurious lunch! This is so exciting!" Naruto exclaimed.
"It's not all that great, Naruto. You're going to get disappointed." Sasuke said as he leaned back in his chair.
"Nani? Just because you get bentos all the time doesn't mean you get to judge what I eat." Naruto said, pointing his chopsticks at Sasuke.
"Naruto, you're going to poke someone's eye out, pointing that thing everywhere." Ino scolded as she also opened up her bento.
"Aha…gomen." He said nervously. Hinata giggled. Everything seemed to return to normal…
A guy who looked almost like Sasuke walked in the classroom, scanning the classroom. He seemed to be looking for something.
"Eh? Sai?" Naruto said with a mouthful of rice.
"Naruto-kun…that's rude, you know." Sai said as he walked towards the group.
"Sai-kun, what brings you here in our classroom?" Ino asked. Sai dug into his pocket and handed a letter to Hinata.
"Only Hinata-chan gets to read it. Please read it as soon as possible. Reading it right now would be best." Sai said as he winked at her and walked away smoothly.
"What a player." Ino rolled her eyes.
"Mm…he does look like Sasuke-teme after all…" Naruto said as Sasuke glared at him.
"Is it a love letter?" Gaara asked.
"I d-don't know…" Hinata said. She'd never receive a love letter before! Especially…with someone she didn't know.
"Well, well, read it!" Ino said excitedly as she put her head on Hinata's shoulder.
"Sai said only Hinata could read it." Gaara said.
"Aww…" Ino lifted her head off of Hinata's shoulder, "you kill the joy out of everything." As the two conversed about Gaara being…a smart ass, Hinata slowly opened the white envelope.
It was not what she expected.
"UGH!!" Hanabi groaned as she flipped through channels on the T.V. while she was lying down on the couch. She sluggishly switched to each channel with the remote.
Everyone had gone to work. Actually, Hanabi had not seen Fugaku since she had stayed at the Uchiha estate. She guessed he had to work late and came home when she was asleep with her sister. Itachi had school while Mikoto excused herself to go to the shopping district. She said the market had a big sale or something. Hanabi didn't want to go, knowing she'd be shopping with the Hyuuga family's rival…err…ex-rival.
There was someone knocking on the door. Since Hanabi wasn't a little child nor was she a scaredy-cat, she stood up and decided to open the door.
Luckily for her, it wasn't a thief or a rapist.
"Hanabi-sama," The serious tone which annoyed Hanabi the most said.
"Nani, Neji-niisan?" Hanabi said, poking a finger in her ear. An angry mark appeared on Neji's temple. He cleared his throat, clearly offended by her rudeness. "Anyways…don't you have school?"
"I can skip whenever I want to." Neji said, letting himself inside the estate. "Besides…it's lunch break." He scanned the house to see if anyone was home.
"Don't worry. I'm home alone." Hanabi said as she returned to her spot on the couch.
"Hanabi-sama," He said seriously as he sat down next to Hinata, "why did you follow me?"
"Why?" She replied. "Because I didn't know Otou-sama sent you to fetch Onee-sama. I would've gladly agreed to go." She pouted angrily. He sighed out of frustration.
"I don't need a child's help." He replied.
"I'm not a child! I understand more about Onee-sama than anything else! What I've learned for the past few days is that Uchiha and Onee-sama have some sort of a mutual relationship! She ALWAYS makes him breakfast. She brings him snacks when he's studying. It's like she's his maid!" She said, waving her arms in the air.
"She is his maid." He replied obviously.
"NANI?!" She freaked out. "You knew about this?!"
"Yes…" He said, "Hiashi-sama knows too."
"W-wait…then why did Otou-sama agree on the pact with the Uchiha family?" She asked, finally calmed down. He shrugged his shoulders.
"Hiashi-sama is just planning to get back his daughter…for whatever selfish reason." He said. She looked at him with the utmost seriousness.
"…and you're helping him in return for your own selfish reasons." She replied seriously. His eyes widened as he looked at her in shock.
"Iie! That's not true." He stood up and raised his fists. She shifted her eyes to another place with unbelief.
"You wouldn't have been so offended if it wasn't true, Nii-san." She said.
"Mm…I feel like cake today." Ino said to herself as she and Hinata walked down the hallways to go home.
"You love sweets, don't you?" Hinata giggled.
"Of course! If you only eat sweets, they say that you, in return, will be sweet." Ino said, waving a finger in the air. Hinata giggled again.
"What kind of logic is that?" Hinata asked.
"Um…everybody knows that!" Ino replied with a raised brow.
"U-um…I have something to do today." Hinata replied with an apologetic smile.
"Gosh, again?" Hinata nodded while Ino sighed.
The two walked out to the front entrance of the school. Ino said her good-byes to Hinata as she smiled and waved in response.
"Ready?" The pale-eyed Hyuuga said right after a good distance where Ino couldn't see the two. He was leaning (hiding) against the wall. Her smile soon fell when she heard his voice.
"Hai, Neji-niisan." She replied.
"Blondie!" Hanabi managed to find Naruto, Gaara, and Sasuke walking home together. She seemed like she was running all over town with her sweatiness and her panting. She raised a finger and was about to exclaim something else, but she was too busy catching her breath.
"Nani? You again? Gosh…just leave us alone, you stalker!" Naruto said rudely, his arms crossed behind his head.
"I…you…wahh…" Hanabi said, still trying to catch her breath.
"Why did you run all over town to find us?" Gaara asked, reading her thoughts.
"She ran all over town?" Naruto asked dumbly.
"No, Naruto. That's why she's sweaty and panting." Sasuke said sarcastically as an angry mark appeared on Naruto's temple.
"Onee-sama…!" Hanabi said after she caught her breath, "you have to hurry!"
"Why?" Sasuke asked with a hint of worry in his tone.
"Just go back to the high school quickly!" Hanabi said, running past them and signaling them to follow her.
Hinata…whatever has happened…wait for me. Sasuke thought to himself as he and his friends ran and followed Hanabi.
"Your week is over. Sai gave you your letter right?" Neji said plainly as he leaned against the gated fence around the basketball court. She nodded in response. "What's your answer, Hime-sama?"
"N-Neji-niisan…I…I don't know." Hinata merely replied. He had a bit of irritation on his face but brushed it off.
"I gave you a week. You've ought to have said your good-byes by then." He said coldly.
"H-how do you know I'll agree to come back?!" She retorted, shocked by his cold response.
"Hinata-hime…" He took a step closer to her and put his hands on her shoulders, "…not only will you gain back Hiashi-sama's respect, but you will be the heiress again. Hanabi-sama has been worried…no…everybody has been worried about you. Think about their worries. You'll get everything you have back."
"So…" Sasuke turned to look at her again, "if it was a person who hurt you. You wouldn't go back?"
You're…you're wrong, Sasuke-sama. Hinata's fists clenched at her sides.
"To forgive or be forgiven that doesn't matter." He walked closer to her and stopped right in front of her. "If that person hurt you, you would want nothing to do with that person."
But…he's my Otou-sama. I can't disrespect him. Then again…everything that he has done to me… Hinata thought to herself.
"Neji-niisan…I…"
Hinata…
"I bet they're at the basketball court again." Gaara said while he was running with Hanabi, Naruto, and Sasuke.
"Eh? Why?" Naruto asked.
"Because they were there last time." Gaara replied.
"We don't have much time! Hurry!" Hanabi yelled at the guys behind her. They all quickened their pace.
Hinata…
"I'll be good…I'll…I'll be obedient…I'm…I'm sorry…" Hinata kept saying.
Hinata…!
Sasuke quickened his pace and past all his friends, including Hanabi. He slammed the school door open.
"I'll go home, Nii-san." The words hit Sasuke like an arrow piercing an apple on someone's head. He stared wide-eyed at the two cousins. She had finally made her decision.
The person who made him feel important…was gone.
Mshinata: Awww…I didn't know the past few chapters were sad…-sad face- That's why I made Hanabi really childish! I wanted some humor.
Sasuke: Ugh. You're just doing this because you miss Tactics.
Mshinata: -sniff- S-SHUT UP! –Misses Kantarou-
Sasuke: At least that girl died.
Mshinata: Omg, you're mean. She was okay.
Sasuke: Whatever.
Mshinata: Give me reviews and I promise I'll update!
