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Best Friend

He was deeply in love with her; she had no idea.

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Chapter 1: Hi, Hyūga

5 years later...

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On the road of life, as his mentor would say, he met new people; some wanted to be his friend, a lot of them because of shallows reason, which of course were discarded quickly, but there were some people he found tolerable. One of those was Sakura Haruno, she was smart, and she had a strong temper, when he was not around, which was weird. But, she was tolerable nonetheless. He met her during college, and for some reason, she didn't look like the type to be an engineer, but who was he to judge?

"Sasuke" the girl in question called.

He let out a hum in response, his black eyes focused on the computer. A position he has been accustomed to since he was writing his thesis for the last 5 weeks. He's been living solely on black coffee, four hours of sleep, and his computer. Every once in a while his left eye trembled in stress.

"Can we walk around?" the pink-haired girl said. "I need fresh air." she slightly pouted.

"Sakura, you know I can't." he frowned; a little bit irritated that he lost his train of thought for his current paragraph.

"I know, I'm sorry..." she walked over to him. "But you've been holed up in here forever..." she reasoned. "You need to eat at least something decent."

He exhaled loudly. Mostly because he was right, apart from coffee he's been eating protein bars and instant ramen noodles. "I'm fine," he grumbles; regardless he relaxed a bit when he felt her slim arms around his neck.

"I'm meeting Ino and Naruto..." she started. "...we should go on a double date..." she encouraged.

His headache demanded to grow at the thought of those blondes. It was a recipe made for disaster. "Sakura..." he started.

"I'll go ahead and meet you there," she said. "... you can stay thirty minutes; I just want you to eat something decent."

He thought about it for a minute, concentrating on the single curse line waiting for him to finish the rest of his document.

"Where?" he asked.

The Haruno suppressed a squeal. "Cesarios." she said.

Italian did not sound bad, it was one of his favorites, there was a possibility Sakura pulled all the stops to make him go out and stop being a hermit. "I'll meet you in an hour."

Sakura almost screamed at her victory and went to kiss his cheek.

Sasuke evaded and looked at her with a warning.

She quickly realized.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. I forgot," she said, she hoped she didn't mess up the outing. "See you soon?" she asked.

He said yes in an affirmative nod, again focused on his thesis; he heard the lock sound in his apartment door and he immersed himself in the document.


He took an hour to pull himself out of it and that was because he needed to go to the bathroom. Cursing a bit, he took a shower to freshen up and really put some real effort towards himself after five weeks of pure neglect. If his mom ever found out about this part of his life, he would never live it down.

Using a small towel to dry his hair, he looked in the mirror for a moment, he had bags under his eyes, his cheeks were sunken and not in an appealing manner, and his cheekbones looked deadly. He concurred that he needed to eat something and fast.

Checking his phone he realized he had messages from Sakura and Naruto, the last one sent him a picture. He noticed the closeness between his friend and girlfriend. Ino and Naruto were crazy with explosive energy, but he could admit in the privacy of his thoughts that they were good for each other. He also wondered if Sakura was expecting something like that from him. He wasn't sure if it was going to happen. He did like her, but there was something that did not let him fully commit to a relationship with her.

A flash of midnight hair and kind eyes flashed through his memory.

He grunted. There was not a day in which he didn't think about her. Always immersed in the deep loop of questions of If she's ok? What was she doing now? and was she ever going to forgive him? Using his knowledge of her, she probably forgot about that. Or maybe forgot about him altogether.

They were friends, best friends, but he ruined her when he cursed her out. He sighed without realizing it. He hasn't known anything about her in a while. Now, he was trying to move on and see if he could date Haruno Sakura. But they were stuck;it was mostly because of him, she was so patient in this more but not quite yet situationship.

Sasuke picked a black hoodie and joggers, put on some sneakers, adjusted his Uchiha fan necklace, and ruffled his head one more time, the spikes in the back of his head were wilder than usual. Then without another thought, he was out. He thought about taking his car, but he preferred walking, he was already late a couple of more minutes wouldn't hurt.

These last couple of weeks had been a nightmare, and he was sleepwalking through all of it since then. He just wanted to graduate find a job and continue on his journey, he realized he had poor personal goals. Traveling would be nice, sleep in should be better, but other than that his life was about to be pretty monotonous, he was fine with that a first. But then Sakura appeared in his life; what he thought was adding, it just didn't. He did not know if he wanted to formalize with her, in truth, he was waiting for the right moment.

He'll know, hopefully.

Cesario's was really a good restaurant, and he loved it. His stomach sounded at the thought; he really was starving. It was small with dimly lit lights and some Italian décor. It felt a little warm but not hot, which he did not mind, apart from their friends there were just a handful of couples.

"You asshole, we waited two hours for you!" Naruto accused as soon as he got there.

He ignored him as usual by taking a seat beside Sakura who looked happy to see him.

"Don't worry Sasuke-kun, we haven't ordered yet." the blonde girl smiled reassuringly.

"Yeah man, you know I have a fast metabolism, I need to eat." the Namikaze said.

"Babe, you should do intermittent fasting, is good to evade bloating..."

"I'll die," he said dramatically with an exaggerated gesture making Sasuke roll his eyes, he took his phone and scanned the QR Code under the vase in the middle of the table.

"You big baby," Ino said smiling at her blonde.

"Your big baby," the boy corrected while throwing an arm around her and meeting her for a peck.

Sakura had a longing look in her eyes while noticing the couple; for a second he felt guilty, but he shook it off quickly while deciding on pasta fagioli al Forno, which had a generous portion. He thought about drinking but he needed a clear head still, besides he was never a big fan of alcohol. The waiter came and took their order, leaving behind a complimentary garlic bread and filling their glasses with water.

"Oh, my god..." Ino squealed while dropping her phone on top of the table. "I can believe I forgot..."

"What?" Sakura was the first to ask the question in everyone's mind.

"Miss Universe Japan..." she exhales in excitement. "They are going to reveal the candidates for the crown."

Sasuke lost interest, focusing on the few platforms he had on social media to see what little he missed.

"Oh yes..." Sakura's big eyes opened in realization. "I haven't seen that in ages."

"Wait, is that the competition where they model in swimsuits?" Naruto asked with a glint in his blue eyes.

"Yes..." Ino said suspiciously, side-eyeing her boyfriend, but let it go to get into the gossip. "Is about to start in a few minutes, and it's a tradition that I see it live every year." the Yamanaka explained.

"Babe, but we are about to eat," Naruto said. "You can see it when we go to my house..."

"No, thank you, I need to live tweet my reactions..." She stood up looking for a waiter.

Sasuke second-guessed coming here, he should've considered takeout. He just needed his food to get here so he could eat and go back to his thesis.

A forgotten T.V. in the restaurant alerted everyone about its presence. Luckily his back was towards it.

"Remember guys..." the blonde came back with a big smile. "Ino Yamanaka gets what she wants." she seated.

"Ino, this competition is not that important."

"Excuse me?!" the blonde opened her eyes in disbelief. "This is the modern representation of global ambassadors."

"No..." said Sakura crossing her arms. "In order to do that you need to use your brain," she said diplomatically.

"You sound like a pick me..." the Yamanaka said shaking her head. "Intelligent people use their looks to get world peace..." she said while typing on her phone.

"Whatever." the pink-haired girl murmured rolling her jade eyes. "Sasuke, what do you think about it?"

He just shrugged his shoulders. In reality, he couldn't care less. He did not have a lot of interests, and if he had, he wouldn't be talking much about them.

"Hey, Sasuke..." Naruto called.

He looked up.

"Do you think you could lend me money..." he whispered.

His reaction was a scowl. "No.."

"C'mon man, Ino always picks the most expensive thing on the menu..." he pleaded.

"You owe me a fortune already." he debated.

"And I always pay..."

He frowned

"For the most part.."

His expression didn't change.

"Ok, more or less I do..."

His frown deepened.

The blonde visibly gulped. "I pay with my unwavering friendship."

"Shut up, idiot," he said. "It's on me tonight." He talked to the rest.

Naruto exhales in relief, "Thanks, man."

Sakura and Ino smiled. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun, next time is on us." said the blonde. "Right, babe?"

Naruto panicked and laughed nervously. " Yeah, sure."

"This year's candidates include a brand new representation from the small town, Konoha..." a brunette actress that served as host for the pageant.

"Hey, aren't you guys from Konoha?" Sakura has recognized, looking mostly at her love interest.

"Yeah!" the blond exclaimed excitedly. "We probably know her, everyone knows everyone back home..."

Sasuke nodded confirming what his friend said.

"That's so cool," Ino exclaimed.

The waiter appeared with everyone's orders and refilled some drinks.

"And now, let's see them..." the actress on the TV said.

"There's a lot of plastic surgery going on," Sakura commented while looking at some of the models presenting themselves and their town. She took a bite of her Caccio Pepe.

"Nothing wrong with that..." the blonde defended taking a small portion of her Shrimp Scampi.

Sasuke thought the pasta didn't have enough sauce, but he had been hungry, with a capital H. His plan was to take some of it home, but he soon realized he was going to eat the whole thing.

"Man, this is good," the blonde commented while taking wolfing a big bite of his Lasagna.

The Uchiha was too hungry to tell him about his manners.

"Oh, there's the Konohan girl." Ino said. "She's really pretty, guys..." she elbowed her boyfriend.

Sasuke should've been curious from the way his friend's eyes widened.

"Hyūga Hinata. Konoha." the girl said hearing a second afterward the cheering.

Sasuke's neck had never turned so fast in his life. Through the outdated TV, there she was. The blue-haired girl walked with such confidence in a blue royal dress and high heels. She smiles at the camera while finishing her catwalk, and then the camera moves to the next girl.

"No way Man!" Naruto looked too excited.

"You guys..." Sakura's eyes looked between the two boys. "Know her?" she focused on the Uchiha, really surprised seeing that sort of reaction from him. She grew more concerned when

"Yeah, that's Hinata-chan..." said Naruto."Sasuke's Best friend."


The clock on his nightstand read that it was 12:34 am. But he laid awake on top of his bed, just looking at the ceiling, concentrating on finding sense. When he came back from the restaurant, he stayed on his laptop just seeing without really doing much. His concentration had been compromised, and not in the best possible way.

The thesis is dammed, along with his head.

'Sasuke's best friend...'

That haunting expression from Naruto came back in full force while he close his eyes rapidly as if dissolving the words. Was she really his best friend? He doubted it. Friends maybe... He hasn't heard anything from her in a while, there was a ball of anxiety in his stomach, he never could deal with that, if he was being honest. Feelings were not his forte; and the guilt. That last time he cursed her out, that was his real punishment, always reminiscing clearly on the way her moon-like eyes crystalized with tears.

At that moment, he felt like the biggest scumbag in the world.

Hinata was, well, the sweetest, most caring human in the world, and she didn't deserve that, but that day when she confessed to Naruto, he really was heartbroken and then got mad when the blonde rejected her because of his immaturity and called her weird and that's when he lost it. That happened in High School, and honestly, he wasn't sure if he got past that. He would never, not even in his wildest fantasies think that Hinata would be in a pageant, she just didn't seem like the type. She was beautiful of course, but the truth was that she was shy, and did not like showing off. He was confused, curious, and a little bit turned on...

"Stop..." he murmured to himself. His thoughts were a little too much for today. He had to stop Naruto from speaking more than usual when Sakura was looking for some sort of information that he wasn't ready to give out. Hinata Hyūga was a sensitive topic, he was not ready to share that info with the girl he has been since last year. It felt wrong having impure thoughts about another besides his non-official girlfriend.

He turned to his left side; the clock in red numbers signaled that it was past midnight. His thesis laid forgotten after he came back from dinner, and he should probably focus on that. But his body neglected to obey him, almost as if making him face the chaos in his mind. Locating his phone, he ignored the notification from social media, the news, and some messages from Naruto that were, probably, corny memes.

Opening Instagram, he quickly typed 'Hyūga Hinata.' Her profile was the same as he last checked, which was almost nine months ago. Her followers increased by almost 55 million, he lifted an eyebrow at that. There were pictures of her in Teuchi's Ramen shop, his spike was recognizable. During that era, he heavily despised the camera and therefore did not like to have his picture taken. There were pictures with family, and some festivals in school. Looking at her tagged pictures, they were recent ones thanks to Hanabi, he clicked on a picture in particular where Hinata faced the camera with her profile accompanied by a fierce look, and a small smile in black and white. The caption said, 'Queen Aesthetic'. Along with the caption, there was the name of the pageant organization. He clicked on it following the rabbit hole.

He looked at some pictures of recently presented candidates for the crown, he didn't look much just focusing on the one he wanted to know more of. There was a sole picture of her with not a big smile like her peers, she posed with naturally her pearled eyes looking bright with her long lashes and light makeup, she was downed in a red sparkly dress from the waist up wearing a sash with 'Konoha' engraved on it.

She was stunning; for a second he forgot how to breathe.


The morning after he woke up feeling a little relaxed; he opened his computer, located his thesis, and left it there while making a mug of coffee, he put bread in the toaster and wrote a sticky note for his future self remembering to buy some tomato juice. He smile discreetly remembering all the pictures he saw deep into the night of his childhood friend. Taking a sip and enjoying the feeling of the warmth in his stomach he sat down, cracked his neck, and concentrated. For the next 2 hours, he was deep in thought, looking for information, correcting, and retyping in a steady flow.

His phone vibrated and even if he was a little annoyed at the interruption, but corrected himself when he saw that it was his mother.

"Sasu.." she breathed in a happy way.

He quickly knew she was excited. For what he did not know, he wanted to diligently listen to his mom, but he also wanted to get this over and done with as fast as possible so he could focus.

"Hi, Mother..." he said.

"How are you? I've been missing my boy, have you forgotten our Sunday Brunch?"

He rolled his eyes. "I don't think I can go..." Konoha was a 2-hour ride from Tokyo by train; he could work on his thesis during that time, and he promised to visit his mom two times a month, which he knew he had been neglecting, but this was really important so he was sure his mother could understand.

"Oh, but you must." she giggles.

He raised an eyebrow but he was resolute. "I'm finishing the thesis, I have a good flow I can't miss it." he knew his mother was very empathetic.

"Okay, Sasuke... I understand," she said making him breathe easy, but quickly concerned, his mother would not let him go without a good fight so that made him suspicious.

Nonetheless, he didn't let it show. "I'll go next time,"

"Fine," she replied. "But next time, Hinata-chan won't be here," she said in a sing-song voice.

He felt his eyes widened.

"You must've seen her..." the woman continued. "She looked so beautiful, and she's already so popular..." she continued.

He hummed while opening his fridge.

"You know she's in the Miss Universe Pageant, right?"

"I saw something..." he shared not willing to give the version he was stalking about it until dawn.

"I decided to invite her to our house to celebrate this achievement. I thought she was going to say no, but even her family is coming just like in old times. Why don't you reconsider?"

"I've told you, I have stuff to do," he said taking a bite of a baby carrot.

"But wouldn't be good to reconnect, you were adorable when you used to hold hands and climbed trees together,"

"We were six, mom," he said. "We are different now; I haven't spoken to her since..." 'five years' his mind whispered. "...school."

"That's not too long," his mom said, "Just reconnect, and it'll be like old times," she said as if it wasn't a big deal. "Itachi's going to be here, you haven't seen your nephews in a while, they missed his favorite uncle."

'Those little demons...' He did love Itachi's kids, but they were insufferable as toddlers. "I don't know, mother,"

"I'll prepare my tomato salad just for you..." she commented.

"Fine," he grumbled. It was better to let his mom know that he was convinced to go thanks to one of her culinary confections than let her even suspect that a mention of a certain someone made him leave his initial plans behind. He would've gone regardless of the mention of his nephews and the salad. Breathing loudly through his nose, he heard his mother mention something about bringing napkins, and then he hung up.

He gave a look at his laptop; finishing his thesis on the train will do then.


Two hours, a rushed purchase of napkins and an almost permanent frown on his face led him to his mother's house who was waiting on him as if she knew her master plan was successful.

"Aww my baby," she felt the crushing hug from Mikoto Uchiha.

"Mom," he groaned a bit.

"You're a little late, but I'm just glad you're here." she smiled. "You look pale," she touched his face. "You need to get some sun," she frowns.

"I'm fine," he said while kissing her hand before pulling it away. "Here you go," he handed the napkins. "Thank you dear," they walked into the house.

"Uncle Sasuke!" the three gremlins came running, making him almost lose his footing.

"Hey," the kids were little replicas of his father and his brother alike. "...Makoto, Daisuke, Fuzaku." he names the mischievous trio. They were five, four and three respectively.

"Dad told us you would be here," said the middle one, who tended to be the more extroverted one.

"Yeah!" the little one Fuzaku said, he tended to follow his brother's outburst cheerfully. Kinda reminded me of him when he used to follow Itachi around and overly praise him.

"And grandma too.." said Makoto, who was pretty much the calm nature of Itachi, and the oldest of the three. "Come play with us?" he asked earning a cheering response from his siblings.

He was about to agree when he noticed a girl by the gardens who was talking to his sister-in-law. He thought he wouldn't be nervous, but seeing her, laughing and just having her so close was enough to make him stop in his tracks. What was he supposed to say? They haven't talked at all, what if she didn't want to talk to him let alone see him? He never experienced any sort of rejection, but he did not want her to be a first. His heart was beating so fast, his palms were sweaty and he couldn't look away.

As if feeling his eyes the girl in question looked towards him.

"Hinata nee!" Daisuke called her, ignoring his uncle's turmoil.

Hinata excused herself and walk towards them with the biggest smile. Her pearled eyes were kind, and he did not know how to take that reaction from her. "Boys, your mom is calling you, we are about to eat,"

"Yes, Hinata nee!" the three boys obeyed like little soldiers, after giving a respectful bow they ran towards Izumi.

They stood silent for a few minutes, his black eyes passed over her frame discreetly. Her hair was longer, her skin unmarred and pristine, her cheeks had a pale pink on them, and her lips were full and glossy.

"Hi, Sasuke," she said.

He gulped, and after checking his emotions he just said. "Hi, Hyūga,"

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Message from the Author:

I plan for this to be at most 13-15 plus Epilogue chapters, I suck at long-term fics. Besides this plot is not to dwell on it more than necessary. I'm not going to do Hinata's POV, because since Sasuke is a complex character, and I want to challenge myself. Also, English is my third language, so is probable that I make mistakes, but I can take care of those.

Thank you for the reviews, I'm so excited that you guys enjoy this ride.

Edit: Some corrections on June 14, 2023.

-LaCrazyWriter