31 December

There were about 6 hours until midnight, when the New Year was going to come. Hinata was sitting on the couch at Neji's house, watching TV, trying to keep her mind away from all the things going through her head. Tenten and Neji announced they were going to another country for New Year's at the last moment. The bluenette told her cousin that she was invited to a party anyway, so it wasn't a problem for them two to go on their little vacation.

But she already told Sasuke and Naruto that she wouldn't go. She spent all her Christmas vacation with Neji's family. Shopping with Tenten, taking care of their kid, and helping around the house. But it felt like it wasn't her place. Maybe that's why they took their son with them on their vacation. Usually they would make her take care of him, but now she was all alone in their house with just a TV and some food. Her phone vibrating made her almost jump; she didn't expect a text from Neji this soon.

New text message

Naruto U.: I heard from Sasuke that you would be spending New Year's by yourself. You can still come to our party; we haven't started yet. If you want!

Well, it wasn't Neji. Hinata felt like God was giving her another chance to not spend the night by herself, but still...how did Sasuke find out?

"Probably my stupid cousin told his brother." Hinata said it out loud and decided to agree to go to the party.

She got up, ready to get dressed in the cutest outfit she had. She confidently left the house, locking the front door.

She felt kind of nervous about all this. She didn't know these people as well, so it might be awkward for her to just spend New Year's with them, but maybe it was a good opportunity to get to know them. Especially if they get drunk, she might even find out a lot more than she needs to know about their personalities.

Hinata stood in front of the mirror in a white short top and a black skirt. She looked way more than cute. She looked like a woman. A luscious woman. She added her scarf, since it was still cold, and a leather jacket. A car stopped in front of Hyuga's house with Naruto in the driver's seat, hitting the horn and making the girl get to the door.

She put on a pair of black heels, grabbed her purse, and walked out the door. Her face was covered in light make-up, but it was good enough to make her beautiful eyes stand out. As Naruto saw her, his mouth dropped. He would never imagine her looking that beautiful. He knew the New Year's party was like a model show for the girls, to show off their clothes and how their bodies looked in them, but Hinata looking like that was a first for both him and the other two people in the car.

And those two were none other than Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. They were both shocked by Hyuga's appearance, but the only one able to give her a compliment was Sakura.

"Hop in, beautiful! Time for partayy!" she yelled, opening the door to the empty seat and showing her where to sit.

As Hinata sat down, she was surprised to see Sakura dressed more casually.

"I haven't got my outfit on yet. But my makeup," she pointed at her own face. "Is ten out of ten."

Hinata nodded in agreement when she noticed how good Sakura's makeup was.

"The party will be at Sakura's this year. She has the biggest house anyway!" Naruto said in excitement, putting in first gear and starting to drive towards Haruno's house.

"I won't say the biggest. Just enough to get all of us in there!" She laughed and tousled the blonde's hair. "Stop telling people that I'm rich!"

"But you are! Your parents are full of cash."

"And they are so busy...I would prefer having them around, if you ask me!"

Sakura crossed her arms, looking out the window.

"Sorry, sorry."

"At least you have parents." Sasuke said, making the mood of everyone else in the car both sad and a little awkward.

Hinata, especially, didn't like what he said. Even if it were true, he shouldn't just say things like that randomly; it makes other people uncomfortable.

"By the way, Uchiha...how did you know Neji is going on a vacati-"

"Itachi told me," he interrupted her while wearing his evil smile on his face.

Sakura noticed his unusual smile. She never actually smiles in front of her, so it felt weird for him to smile in any way in front of the Hyuga, whom everyone knew he hated.

"See, Hinata? You make Sasuke smile. Even if it looks like a very suspicious smile..." Naruto laughed.

Both Hyuga and Sasuke decided to not comment but just blush and look through the windows of the car. It was true that Sasuke hardly ever smiles; Naruto was one of the few to see him smile or laugh. But at least now Naruto is more motivated after seeing this interaction between them.

Both Sasuke and Hinata wanted to say something sharp to each other, but something made them prefer not to speak. Usually by now, they would have called each other stupid a few times, but for some reason, it didn't happen. It wasn't like they liked or tolerated each other; they wanted Naruto off of them, that's all.

"We are here!" Sakura broke the silence.

The car stopped, and the four students got out of it. Naruto grabbed Sakura's hand, taking her to the front door. They were both excited about the party, especially Sakura.

After what happened with Sasuke, she wanted to change. She realized that she might have been too obsessed with him and needed to get him away from her thoughts. At least romantically. Jealousy was still filling up her heart when she saw him talk to other girls. Especially now that his smile has been revealed to Hinata.

'Who knows how many other times he smiled at her...And he is supposed to hate her!'

She thought when realization hit her head. Maybe they secretly liked each other. She had to find out. Tonight, she will get them drunk.

The four of them walked into the big house. It looked modern and full of electronics—everything was brand new. There were even big speakers in the living room. The house looked perfect for the party.

"Everyone is here! So...let's drink and have fun!" Sakura yelled, holding up her glass of liquor , turning up the volume of the music.

Everyone cheered and dried their glasses. As the bottles of alcohol passed between all the high school students, Sasuke refused to fill his glass a second time before midnight. He knew that if he got drunk before then, he would probably forget all about it. It's not like he was excited or anything; he just wanted to have some fun and remember it. Or at least try his best.

"Come on! You won't get drunk from two glasses!" Naruto yelled through the music.

He was usually loud enough for anyone to hear him, but for some reason he decided to yell now. Sasuke got annoyed and gave his glass to his friend to fill up. A big smile appeared on Naruto's face when he filled it with straight whiskey.

"And...where is the coke?" Sasuke asked, taking his glass back from Naruto.

Uzumaki laughed and pointed to the kitchen. He really wanted to make the Uchiha boy drunk, but he would probably be the one getting drunk first.

The kitchen had fewer people in it than the living room. It was a little bit quieter, the perfect break for Sasuke. He walked to the table, looking for any kind of non-alcoholic drink to drink with his whiskey.

"Looking for the coke?" Hinata said, holding an empty glass in her hand.

He nodded, noticing one of her hands was behind her back.

"Do you have it?"

"Maybe if you say the magic word...I will give it to you," she laughed, taking a step towards him.

Now that they were just one meter away from each other, it was easy for Sasuke to just grab it from her hand, but there was something more interesting than that.

"How much did you have to drink?"

Hinata smiled and passed him the coke.

"That's not the magic word. But I can give it to you...and you can give it back to me later!" She laughed and started running in excitement towards the living room, where a group of girls were dancing.

'Jesus.' Sasuke laughed. 'This will be an interesting night.'

30 minutes before midnight

Hinata was drinking and dancing even more now. It seemed like she was having the time of her life, Naruto walked to her, taking her attention away from the dancing.

"Hinata-chan! Ya having fun?" He raised his glass in the air.

She nodded, raising hers as well. They winked at each other and dried their glasses. Hinata's head started spinning a little bit more now, but she felt like she could go on.

"You look kind of dizzy! Why not take a break and get some fresh air?" he suggested, offering her a hand.

She smiled and took his hand. As Naruto helped her outside, the both of them almost fell down on the grass from being drunk.

"Naruto-kun!" she started laughing.

"Ah, we shouldn't drink more before midnightttt!" he said, sitting down on the driveway.

Hinata preferred to stand up rather than get all dirty.

"You look gorgeous." Naruto, who was still holding her hand, decided to kiss it.

That was the very first time a guy gave her a compliment. She got shy about it and looked away from him, trying to hold in her excitement from his words. Hyuga didn't want to seem desperate.

"We always play truth or drink at these parties." Naruto continued on talking, not even noticing Hinata's embarrassment. "Can you ask Sakura if she likes me?"

Hinata smiled and nodded. She was even more drunk than him to even try and put sense into him. Besides, whatever Sakura answers, it probably won't hurt Naruto more than her actually being obsessed with his best friend for years.

"Sasuke is a nice guy, but...he always gets the girls."

"Not all of them." Hinata winked and pointed at herself. "Come on, we don't have much time; let's go back in."

Naruto stood up, feeling even more dizzy, full black in front of his eyes. Thank God Sasuke was just getting back from a short walk when he was able to notice his best friend about to pass out.

As Sasuke helped him back into the house and sat down with him on the couch, he looked angrily at Hinata.

"What? What did I do?" she hiccuped.

"Getting even more drunk than Naruto. He is an idiot, but...I didn't expect you to be drunk as well. Look, your legs are shivvering."

"I'm just cold," she admitted, looking at Naruto, who was about to fall asleep.

"I'm going to take care of him." Sakura came to the three of them, looking worried, holding a glass of water. "Just have fun, guys, okay?"

Haruno wanted to see if something would happen between Hinata and Sasuke tonight. But not because she wanted them together; more like she wanted to move on from him faster.

As the two of them walked away from Sakura and Naruto, Hinata tripped on an empty bottle on the floor, making Sasuke get his fast reflections working and catch her by the waist with his two hands in time.

"Thanks, dumb Uchiha." She blushed as his hands were still touching her.

Even if she didn't like him, he was still nice enough to do that, and she appreciated it. Besides, she was not even close to sober to just tell him off. She kind of even enjoyed his touch.

Sasuke was able to save both of them from falling down this night because he overheard their conversation and noticed how drunk they were. Something in him made him take Hinata outside again to talk to her.

"I overheard what Naruto said to you."

"Oh? That I'm gorgeous? I know! Isn't he nice?"

Sasuke's nervousness grew. He wasn't sure how to continue the conversation.

"I mean...he likes Sakura, so don't get your hopes-"

"I know, Sasuke."

That was the first time she called him by his first name without adding "dumb" after it or something. And it made him lose his words and thoughts. Even if she wasn't sober, he felt like it meant something. Uchiha took her hand and kissed it, just like Naruto did.

"What are you doing, dumbass?"

She got her scarf off and threw it in his face. She wasn't prepared for any of that and acted automatically without thinking.

"You will get even colder without that thing on you." He got the scarf in his hand and put it on himself. "I kissed your hand to show you I can be nice like Naruto."

"Hmph..." She looked right into his eyes, gathering all her confidence. "Then kiss my lips."

Before he could even react, fireworks started appearing in the sky. Everyone went out of the house, yelling, hugging each other, and wishing each other a happy new year. While Hinata and Sasuke were still staring at each other, she realized what a stupid thing she said and turned to look at the sky, but then back to his eyes. But for Sasuke, it was the first time he felt his heart skip a beat at a girl's words. He would usually just ignore a girl saying that to him, but now he couldn't stop looking at her. The fireworks weren't even interesting. Not even the slightest. Even if that was a really awkward situation, making them both freeze and stare into each other's eyes, Sasuke felt a new emotion.