Hinata sneezed.

Oddly enough, she had a cold on that bright, sunny morning. Maybe she should have thought better than to kiss someone coming over a fever.

As the two stood before the front door of the apartment, Sasuke yawned. He had shadows under his eyes, and his hair was sticking out in ways – more oddly than usual. He was tired, confirming this by muttering something about going back to bed.

Kakashi either hadn't noticed that Hinata had spent the night, or simply didn't care, for he walked about the house engaged in his usual morning routine. With the tail of a fish protruding from his mouth, he poked his head out of the kitchen and peered at the duo standing in the living room.

Looking down whilst pressing her pointer fingers together, Hinata mumbled something inaudible. When Sasuke asked her to repeat the question, she requested a mask.

The Uchiha, though inwardly smirking, shook his head apologetically as he opened the front door.

With a sigh, Hinata nodded, before doing the only thing she thought to be appropriate. She stood on her toes and kissed Sasuke on the cheek.

When Hinata stepped onto the porch and looked back at him-

Was he...blushing?

Her findings went unconfirmed, for Sasuke quickly slammed the door shut in her face.

Turning around, Sasuke sent Kakashi a death glare, as if daring him to comment.

The older man would have very well chuckled, had he not remembered the fish in his mouth at the last moment. He only managed to produce vile choking sounds.

Sasuke headed back to bed.

He and Hinata were...

They were...


This was...all right. It would let people know.

In fact, maybe nobody would even notice.

Even as Hinata walked home that morning, in what should have been complete and utter humiliation – she was floating on air.

Her clothes from the previous day had gotten worn and dirty, which meant she was stuck wearing…

She swam in his clothes; they were like pajamas on her. The shorts were far too long and baggy, and the top was just – uncomfortable. The collar was too high for her liking, and the Uchiha fan on her back would surely get her into trouble as the heir of the Hyuuga house. The worst thing about it was the fact that Sasuke seemed to like having her wear his clothes. He had kept staring her, mouth twitching every now and then. Maybe he was just sadistic!

Hinata kept her eyes on her toes, but it didn't seem to be working that day.

But even as people gasped, gaped, whispered, pointed, sometimes blushing or giggling at her, whispering things behind their hands, and as Yamanaka Ino burst out of her family's flower shop and gawked at her before dragging her inside, asking why on Mars she was wearing Sasuke's clothes, which she couldn't deny, because there was an Uchiha fan on her back for crissakes! – even as some of her former classmates joined in, and cornered her in the tiny shop, which was growing more and more crowded by the second-

She was in a state of bliss.

She was snapped out of it by her interrogators. Kiba's head was on the verge of exploding. "When-? How-!? WHAT THE HELL!"

"What's going on, Hinata?" said Shino severely.

Shikamaru (who had suffered in his own sexual escapades in a village called Suna) happened to be picking up Ino, as had Chouji, for training that morning. They sighed in unison, seeming all but interested in the matter. Chouji opened a bag of chips.

"What is Sasuke-kun to you?" Ino demanded. She looked almost as frightening as Kiba. "Tell me!"

Hinata was amazed and alarmed by the attention she had drawn. She glanced away, fidgeting. "Ano...he's..." she said, deliberating. "He's a comrade...who I-"

Hinata halted as someone grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the crowd. She stumbled as the person dragged her out of the store and down the road, snaking an arm around her shoulders in the process. Hinata glanced back at the shop to see Shikamaru, Kiba, Ino, and Chouji poking their heads out the door, their faces pale. She slowly looked up at her captor.

Neji.

As her cousin pulled her closer, Hinata walked quickly to keep pace with him.

"What is the meaning of this?" Neji said.

Her breathing thinned. Neji was a human lie-detector and could read her perfectly. "I – w-we-"

"Why are you wearing his clothes? Did you sleep with him?"

When Hinata saw that they weren't going in the direction of the Hyuuga compound, she began to panic. Was Neji walking her to her grave?

"Answer me."

"N-no," she managed. "We d-didn't s-sleep together."

He surveyed her. "You're lying."

So she was lying, in a sense. She had technically slept with Sasuke, she just hadn't had sex with him. Hinata wanted to articulate this, but was too distracted by her impending murder; too caught up between the concepts of explaining, apologizing, and escaping.

"What is he to you?"

They had reached an apartment building, which both relieved and confused Hinata. She had assumed they were headed to the forest, where the earth was soft; pliant for digging. "He's..." She felt warm, more embarrassed about Neji's inquiry than she was about wearing Sasuke's clothes. She knew the question had to be answered at some point, but things had evolved so recently, it was hard to explain it. "He's my-"

They stopped in front of an apartment, Hinata pausing to watch Neji knock on the door. It opened shortly afterwards to reveal a surprised-looking Tenten.

"We need some clothes," said Neji, as Hinata twiddled her thumbs.


"Special person?" Sasuke asked with disinterest. "Boyfriend?"

Hinata nodded, her cheeks tinted pink. "Un, that's what...that's...ano..." Upon reaching home the previous day, she had mumbled a hasty excuse about having to stay over a sick friend's house. Her father had accepted it, only because he had been busy hunting down Hanabi, who had apparently run away again.

Neji, meanwhile, had let her off surprisingly easy, simply saying he didn't want to catch her hanging around with Sasuke. He had truly saved her life, ironic as it was, because if her father had caught her wearing the Uchiha fan, she didn't know how he would have reacted.

Sasuke and Hinata stood outside of Naruto and Sakura's hospital room. A nurse had informed them that Naruto's condition had stabilized, to Hinata's immense relief. While Hinata gave her thanks to Kami, Sasuke silently blamed a certain fox.

At present, he seemed interested in her proposition. "Does that mean I get...certain...favors?"

Hinata reddened. "Is that all you want?" she blurted out. She couldn't believe she had said it aloud, but it had been bothering her since meeting him. She smoldered under his thoughtful gaze.

With Sasuke's full attention focused on her, Hinata had no choice but to elaborate. "Do you just want me for s-s-"

"Sex?"

"That!" Hard as she tried, she couldn't meet his eyes.

Sasuke merely gave her an once-over, before nodding, and asking what else she could possibly be for.

Hinata felt like crying. She wondered why she had fallen for Sasuke in the first place. He was mean – and stupid – and-

...Wait...this can't be right... Hinata thought, a second later, when Sasuke wrapped his arms around her. He took a breath of her hair, before releasing her, and entering the hospital room as though nothing had happened.

Hinata was left completely baffled. She didn't know why she followed Sasuke into the room. Maybe she was a masochist! She scratched her head in confusion.

"They're still unconscious," Sasuke mentioned, now standing at Naruto's bedside. He was turned away from her.

Wait...was he...

It probably would have done Hinata better to just stand there and ogle him, but something made her ask, "Are you..." She approached him, failing to take any notice of Naruto. "Are you...blushing?"

"Hinata..." Sasuke threatened.

Hinata reached his side, and looked up at his face. Faint as it was, Sasuke had a blush on his cheeks.

She tried to stifle her giggles – she truly did. It seemed that Sasuke was just as shy as she was.

She blinked when his hand covered her mouth.

"Stop," he seethed.

Hinata nodded, but when her lips were released, she couldn't help but smile again. As Sasuke shifted his attention to Naruto, she continued to allow herself to be engrossed in his oddness. Holding her breath, she grabbed one of his hands.

He stiffened at the contact.

"You lied," Hinata mumbled. "What you said – you want more than that."

When Sasuke pulled his hand away, he reinforced all her insecurities about him. Maybe he really did just want her in hopes for sex. Maybe she was stupid to ever think otherwise.

Hinata started to bring her hand to her eyes, frustrated that they had begun to water. She froze as Sasuke caught it, then closed the space between their bodies.

"What ever you say, Hinata."

Her eyelids sank as he lifted her chin and kissed her. She didn't know why she didn't run away from him. But if she wanted to be with Sasuke, maybe she would have to deal with everything he couldn't say, everything that made no sense about him, all of his inconvenient quirks – the fact that he was sort of mean sometimes, and irrational, and how he was-

She gasped.

-perverted.

Sasuke's kisses had trailed to her neck, and were steadily reaching her collar.

His hands, meanwhile, were being far worse, for they had found their way underneath of her jacket, and then her top. From her hips, they slowly slid further and further up her bare abdomen.

"Very nice," he mentioned huskily.

"Sa-Sasu-" Hinata whimpered, blushing. She released an unintentional moan. "No – don't-"

"Come now, I know what you're hiding." Her color deepened. Just before his fingers could breeze her breasts, Sasuke's hands withdrew. He pulled his lips away from her shoulder, instead kissing the top of her head. Who's blushing now? he wondered, as Hinata hid her face in his shirt.

Sasuke didn't mind. "Sorry," he mentioned, without a hint of sincerity. "It was an accident."