Cupcakes

"Try doing it this way."

"I look ridiculous."

She pouted at his refusal. He glared. Outstretched in her hands was a sling and a bowl full of unmixed vanilla batter.

"Please."

Hinata watched as his eyes narrowed in opposition but she knew she had him. Despite how hard Sasuke pretended to be it wasn't that difficult to wear him down. She had to keep her grin from being too big when he stooped down low enough for her to put the sling over his head.

Once secure she had to admit that it did look a little ridiculous on him but appearances came second today. She couldn't make a hundred cupcakes on her own! With one hand on her hip, she handed him a wooden spoon which he reluctantly accepted.

"Thank you."

"Hn."

Turning away from the disgruntled but obedient Uchiha, Hinata moved on to make a bowl of chocolate batter for him to mix when the vanilla was completed. Smiling she grabbed a bag of sugar and started to measure out the cups she would need.

"That's a lot of sugar." Sasuke sniffed from over her shoulder.

"Well, cupcakes are supposed to be sweet."

"That's going to kill a person."

"It won't."

She turned around, grabbed the spoon that he was using to mix with, and held it up to his lips.

"Try it. It's not that sweet."

Sasuke's nose wrinkled in disgust but she continued offering the batter. If he just tried it he might like it or at least acknowledge that it wasn't that sweet. Unfortunately, she held the spoon a little too close to his face and white batter coated his nose.

"Sorry Sasuke." She snickered though she wasn't really sorry.

"Very funny Hyuuga." He replied, grabbing a paper towel and wiping his nose.

"I'm home!" Naruto called from the front door.

"We're in the kitchen!" she called back and returned to preparing the chocolate batter.

"We? Who is we- Oh Sasuke!"

"Naruto." The Uchiha replied in his usual monotone as he placed the bowl of vanilla on the counter.

"Are these the cupcakes that the rest home wanted?" Naruto asked, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing the top of her head.

Hinata nodded but wriggled out of his grasp, embarrassed by his affection in front of other people. He moved to lean against the counter beside her with his arms crossed over his chest and a mischievous grin on his face.

"The mighty Uchiha is making cupcakes. Cute." He chuckled before turning his attention back to her. "I ran into your father today at the tower."

"Really?"

She hadn't seen her father in far too long. He and Hanabi were out of the village so often strengthening ties with other clans that she hadn't had a chance to visit them. Naruto nodded and scratched the edge of his chin.

"Yes, he and the rest of your elders are wondering about the date of our wedding."

Hinata froze, the cup of flour she had poised just over the bowl. The wedding. How could she have let it slip her mind these last few months? Her clan had every right to pester Naruto about the details of their wedding since they'd done little more than make their engagement official.

"He said something about enjoying the cherry blossoms but that doesn't make any sense. Those don't bloom for another four months at least…."

Naruto continued to ramble on about his meeting with her father but she tuned him out. She knew exactly what her father meant about cherry blossoms. It was a deadline. A thinly veiled nudge to marry by Spring. It wouldn't be that difficult to plan a wedding. Her clan would do most of the coordinating. She just needed to say the word. She'd been putting this off for far too long anyway.

"Alright." She said finally and Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion. "We should talk to my father sometime this week."

"So does this mean…" he said, his eyes brightening with understanding as she nodded her head.

As exuberant as always, Naruto wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. His lips smiling lips pressed against her cheek as he held her close. When he pulled away from her, she turned to continue making cupcakes with Sasuke but found that he had slipped away.