"Sasukeeeee!" Naruto continued banging on the door.

Both Hinata and Sasuke panicked. Sasuke especially knew that even if he pretended that he wasn't home, his best friend had a spare key. Any moment now, Uzumaki was to unlock the door and come in uninvited, catching Hinata in his home, feeding him.

"We are not doing anything bad." Hinata whispered and walked to the door.

It was inevitable. Even if Hinata hid, Naruto would find her sooner or later. He likes coming into Sasuke's home as if it were his own. As Hinata opened the door, the Uchiha was ready for the blonde to start blabbering about the Hyuga being in his apartment.

"Hello, Sasu-"

At the sight of no one other than Sasuke's 'enemy' or whatever he called her, he was not only surprised but also lost with his words. He was usually the kind to never shut up, but now he was too shocked.

"The dumb Uchiha got sick. He has a fever." Hinata started the conversation like normal.

She just started explaining, like it was something completely normal. And the blonde was actually happy about that but, at the same time, worried for his friend.

"Can I come in?" he asked politely, giving a soft smile.

"Yes, Naruto!" Sasuke barely answered him.

His voice was starting to get weak as well. He could barely lift the spoon of soup up to his mouth. He hasn't been that sick in ages. And it was all because his drunk self decided to sleep naked on open windows.

"You look bad. Baka." Naruto sighed, taking some medicine out of his back. "I know you don't like pills, but if you want...here."

At that very moment, Sasuke thanked him, giving him a friendly hug, which made Hinata look worried. Was Sasuke so sick that he was showing a soft side? Or he just didn't know that he could actually be thankful and HUG in a genuine way.

"I have to go back home. My mother wants me to clean my room. It's a mess or whatever." Naruto said with a sad expression, obviously worried about his best bud."Hinata-chan? I didn't want to ask, but Why are you here?"

The Uzumaki didn't want to sound rude or anything; it was just unexpected. Out of all the people who could come take care of Sasuke, it was the girl who hated him! Which made him not only wonder about her here but also consider that the two are hiding something as well.

"I asked her." Sasuke answered instead. "I didn't want to bother you or Sakura. Especially Sakura, who was... probably heartbroken."

He lied. He straight up lied to his friend just for him not to suspect that the Hyuga came here on her own will, which actually happened. But that would make her look just like the other fangirls of his, which she wasn't. At least not for now.

"I can't cook. So I guess Hinata is the better option. But didn't you two hate each other?" He scanned them both, noticing their nervous body language. Hinata was looking anywhere but at the two boys with her hands behind her back. Sasuke was also avoiding eye contact, looking at his soup, which was surprisingly still very hot.

"We did. But I guess we befriended each other in some way." Hinata answered this time with a smile on her face.

They didn't befriend each other. Not at all. But for some reason, they helped each other. Hinata gave him her scarf; Sasuke took care of the drunk Hinata, taking her under his roof for the night; and now it was again Hinata's turn to take care of the sick Sasuke. All those random acts of kindness made them not hate each other as much, or maybe even start liking each other. They would never admit it, but they constantly had each other on their minds. Since the two never thought they would like each other even as friends, they were confused by their own feelings, desperately trying to shut them down. And for some people, it seemed obvious; for others, it wasn't.

"I see. I really have to go. My mom is the scariest woman in the world!" Naruto chuckled and quickly left Sasuke's apartment.

'That idiot.' Uzumaki started thinking about Sasuke's behavior once again. 'He definitely likes her.'

"Uchiha, just because I said that...it doesn't mean anything!" Hinata looked at him, waving her hands around.

"Then why are you still here?"

"I can't just leave someone sick by themselves. Even if it's you!" She went to the bathroom, trying to find a small towel for his forehead.

Sasuke was still trying his best to finish the soup, but his fever wasn't helping, and it wasn't going down either. He went through the medicine Naruto left on his table, finding one for fever. Just as he swallowed one pill, Hinata came back with a wet towel.

"Can you move to your bed?" she asked, after noticing there was very little of his meal left.

He nodded and finished eating. Just as he stood up, his knees felt weak, which made him fall to the couch again. Hinata sighed, a little irritated. It was not his fault he was feeling that bad, though. So she decided to help him out by landing him a shoulder.

"Come on, hold onto me."

He politely declined. He couldn't just put most of his weight on the fragile-looking girl or get too close to her, or he would make her sick. And then he would probably have to return the favor.

"You have to sweat for the fever to go down, you know?" She grabbed his wrist in anger.

"Ouch!" he growled and got up forcefully. "Fine!"

As Hinata helped him to the bedroom, Sasuke felt so heavy that she could barely walk. But she didn't mind that more than she minded him almost falling asleep on the way.

"Uchiha!" She threw him on the bed. "Now, tuck in yourself."

"Can't. Why don't you tuck me?" He smiled 'innocently' at her.

She sighed, irritated again. Just because she was there didn't mean he should take advantage of her! But he wasn't trying to be disrespectful; he was just trying to make her angry, just like she angered him the day before.

As she tucked him in, she couldn't help but notice a tattoo on his shoulder. It seemed like numbers. Dates, probably.

"What does it mean?" She pointed at it with curiosity.

"Oh, I'm still half naked. I totally forgot that and your embarrassment at my godlike body." He started laughing, remembering how Hinata covered her eyes when she saw him shirtless. Any other girl would die of embarrassment as well, but would continue to look with no shame whatsoever. Hinata seemed like she really didn't want to look, at least in his eyes.

"Shut up." The bluenette grabbed a pillow and threw it on his stupid-looking face, covering his vision.

Maybe she was once again hiding from the embarrassment.

"Those are my parents birthdays. Anyway, why are you still here?"

"Um...do you want me to go?" She took out her phone, noticing it was starting to get late.

As she looked at the screen, a few messages from Neji popped up. All the usual. He was asking if she was okay, if she was out with friends, telling her she was invited to dinner.

"I would like myself some company..." he yawned. "Maybe we can get to know each other."

"We are not friends, Sasuke."

"Okay, Hinata."

She stopped caring if she called him by his name anymore. It wasn't like she was wrong. His name was indeed Sasuke Uchiha. Even if they weren't close, his brother and her cousin were. Eventually they would have started calling each other by their first names, or it would start a confusion when the two families gathered.

"Grow up." She said, rolling her eyes as she walked towards the entrance door, ready to leave.

Just as she was about to open the door, a hand appeared in front of her, stopping her.

"Weren't you in bed?" She almost screamed. "Are you pretending?"

Sasuke did indeed scare her. She did not expect him to get up from the bed any time soon. He was fed, he had water, and he was just about ready to doze off.

"Admit you wanted to kiss me on New Year's, and I will let you go. Or you can stay the night, your choice."

What an ass! He can't just lock her in her apartment; she can always call Neji for help. He would always come to the rescue, and if she threw a lie or two, he would probably consider not talking to the Uchihas ever again.

"You can't make me stay here! And I won't admit that, because it wasn't true."

"Hinata, you've been on my mind since then. And even before that. You are...not like Sakura or any of the girls at school. You are not crazy over me, which makes me the crazy one!"

"You sound stupid." Her face now burning, she avoided his dark eyes, which were staring right through her soul, trying to make her talk.

"It's true. Why would you give me a scarf? Why would you come today to check on me? I didn't come to school today; you must have been happy to not see me. Why come then?"

All of this was way too much for the Hyuga. She did not know what to say to him, and he was now starting to push his body against hers at the door. Even if anyone wanted to come in, they wouldn't be able to.

"I-"

"Yesterday. You looked like you wanted to impress Itachi. Is it all because of him?"

"I wanted to piss off Neji."

"And just because you wanted to piss off Neji, you dressed up yourself in...that dress?"

He didn't want to compliment her by accident, but it was so hard to not tell her how beautiful she looked and how angry he got back then because she was dancing with anyone but him and talking to anyone but him. It was always the others. That made him angry and confused.

"Yes, Uchiha. Neji has been pretty annoying lately. We made a stupid bet...whatever. Can you let me go?"

Sasuke was now so close to the Hyuga that he could barely restrain himself from not kissing her right there, finally admitting his feelings. But was it the right time? His head was still hurting from the fever, and he was barely holding on. His legs were about to collapse, but he was still trying his best not to fall down at any moment.

"Admit it."

"Okay, yes, fine, whate-"

Her sentence was interrupted by his lips. His lips touched hers, making her lose her sentence along the way. As he continued the kiss, Hinata gave in. It felt good; it was her first kiss. It was with the person she used to hate most at school, but at the very moment, he seemed like the strong, soft-hearted man he always was. And she knew it. She knew all of that behavior was an act; he was probably still fragile and hurting inside, and how gently he kissed her showed it. The heat of the moment made them totally forget where they were or what terms they were on. As they continued on, their soft kisses turned into way more hot ones, their tongues twirling around each other, making the two barely catch their breath. As Sasuke instinctively bit Hinata's lip a little too hard, she stopped and moved away, pushing him by his shoulders.

"Fuck..." she whispered, noticing his cheeks redder than ever.

It couldn't be just the fever. He was embarrassed! He was shy; he was being a softie! And that not only made her wish they didn't stop, but at the same time made her realize what she was actually doing with none other than Uchiha fucking Sasuke.

"I gotta go." She barely spoke out, opening up the door, grabbing her shoes on the way. She quickly closed the door behind her and put her shoes on her small feet.

Hinata hasn't had a run like that to her own home in...who knows, the last time it rained like hell? She was breathing hard, her face completely under her pillow, maybe trying to hide herself from God. She was all alone and still felt like Neji could come in at any moment, or even Sasuke! But he was too sick to follow her home. Since Neji was stupid enough (in Hinata's opinion), he told both Uchiha brothers where she lived just in case something ever happened. Speaking of the devil, he called her phone, probably sick of her not replying to his text messages. It was 9 p.m.; they probably already had dinner; why would he call her then? She decided to hang up and reply with a text instead.

Hinata H.:

I'm home. Don't worry. I was with some girl friends. I'm going to sleep now. Good night.

Neji smiled at the message. Girl friends? His Hinata finally found herself some friends! He didn't think much of it; he was just happy to hear his cousin was okay, so he just locked his phone and went back to his doings.

Sasuke, on the other hand, wanted to text Hinata as well, but unfortunately for him, he didn't have her number. Naruto did, but it would seem suspicious of him to ask. And people finding out about his feelings about Hinata was something he didn't want. Even if the boys already knew, he didn't know that they knew. And that kiss...

He touched his lips while lying down on his big bed, rolling around in happiness. He finally realized what he wanted from Hinata and why he was feeling all these strange things! He was in love with her. And him kissing her today, her returning the kisses made him...not just happy. Lust grew in him. He wanted more of her. And not just her body, of course, but her in general.

Hinata was still lying on her bed. Her heart was pounding from what happened. She hated to admit it, but she liked it. She liked Sasuke's lips on hers. And not just that. When he put on his manly dominance over her, she felt weak. But not in a bad way. She felt like she was about to be owned. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Should she just forget about what happened? Or speak to the Uchiha about it? Were they about to become a couple? No, they can't. Can they? It was all too much for the blue-haired girl; she had to go to sleep. And that's what she tried doing for the next 2 hours, when sleep finally got to her.

The next day at school

It was in the middle of class when Sasuke realized that the student rep was announcing a school festival. Each class made either a maid cafe, a play, some kind of contest, haunted houses, etc. It was the only fun thing Sasuke liked about this school. It usually lasted just two days, but it was pretty fun when his fangirls weren't around, of course. He usually doesn't do much on these festivals other than help with the decoration, but this year...

"Most votes are for...a PLAY!" the teacher, Kakashi, stated in excitement.

He never expected his class to do a play since, in previous years, it was always a haunted house and the boys were very good at it. But a play—what a drag for Sasuke! But his classmates were actually happy. It was just one vote difference, which made the Uchiha mad. Now, he had to either sew, which was annoying, paint decorations, which was fine, or, worst of all, take part in the play. He used to sometimes take someone else's place so they could take a break from the haunted house, but the play was a lot more complicated. It depended on the play they chose, of course.

"Romeo and Juliet!" Sakura suggested.

All the girls squawked in excitement, agreeing. Sasuke was okay with anything but that one. He knew he was probably going to be chosen to be Romeo. First of all, he didn't like acting; second of all, he couldn't handle all the attention.

"Can we take one person from the other class?" Ino asked Kakashi.

"Are you thinking Temari and Shikamaru?" Sakura smiled with her hands together, showing off her fangirling over the couple.

"I don't think I would be a good Romeo." Nara stated, pointing at his hair. "We need a guy with better-looking hair and more determination than me."

Sasuke was praying by now that they would choose Naruto. Sakura grinned, looking at...Naruto!

"I can!" Uzumaki nodded, making the girls put their thumbs up. "Juliet..." he looked around.

Any girl could be Juliet. And all of them wanted to be Juliet, in fact. Sasuke thought of Hinata as Juliet. Only then would he agree to be Romeo. The fact that the girls in his class already knew he didn't want to be a part of it was a good thing. Even working on the costumes was fine for him.

"Let's just decide it with rock, paper, scissors."

Sasuke looked through the window. He didn't care much. He was only interested in what Hinata's class was preparing and if she would participate. He hoped for a maid cafe so he could see her in a maid uniform. Damn, what a pervert! He felt his nose about to bleed, so he shook off the thought as fast as he could.

"It's Ino!"

Ino grinned, hugging Naruto in excitement. Two blondes for Romeo and Juliet. Why not?

Hinata's class was arguing about their project this year. Hinata was very uninterested in the festival. She always participates, though. And since it was her last year in high school, she had to.

"How about a maid and butler cafe? Boys will be butlers, and girls will be maids," she suggested through all of the screaming and yelling that was happening between her classmates.

"Wonderful idea!" Temari yelled, making everyone look at her and Hinata, who were sitting next to each other. "Maid and butler cafe!"

Everyone looked around at each other and nodded silently. They had finally calmed down. That was nice progress! And Hinata sighed in relief. All the noise was finally gone.

"Thanks, Temari-chan!"

"Anything for you, Hina!" She gave a chuckle and scanned the room. "We can't all be participating, though!"

"I think we should just make two groups. So everyone can!" Kiba scanned the room as well.

When the two decided to form groups so they could be equally full of girls and boys, Hinata was happy to find she was with Temari! And Kiba, sadly. That guy still hasn't apologized for hitting her with a volleyball. He didn't hate him as much as Sasuke, but... well, she probably didn't hate anyone at this point. Since the kiss yesterday—or shall we say multiple kisses? Hinata's mind was still full of Sasuke's lips and hair. Was he feeling better today? She didn't see him this morning at the school gate or anywhere, but she heard Naruto say he was back at school. The girls from his class gossiped in the corridors before class started about him and how his hair had gotten too long. Hinata almost laughed out loud, thinking about how he used to say her hair was too long, but his was getting in his eyes as well.

"You can start today by preparing things for the festival. And after the festival, you have lots to study! So don't get too careless." Their teacher announced, which made them all go crazy and gather in groups to talk about the costumes and the interior of their cafe. Some people from other classes came to ask about their project, so there won't be too much repeating.

"Hinata, dumbo."

Hinata shivered at Sasuke's voice, looking at him, trying to hide how scared she got from him suddenly calling out her name.

"Hyuga." she reminded him in annoyance. In school, they had to act like they still hated each other. At least in her opinion. "What do you want?"

"To ask about your project, my class sent me."

"Maid and Butler Cafe."

"Hn. Okay, we are doing a play. Since we are doing different things, it's all good. I'm going to go ask the other classes."

"I didn't ask what you were going to do," she said, rolling her eyes.

"You should go as well." Temari shared, grinning at them.

Shikamaru has told her about his suspicions about the two. So she couldn't help herself from teasing them without them even realizing it.

"But they already told us, didn't they?" Hinata protested.

She didn't want to go around the classes with Sasuke. It didn't feel right.

"Nah, they mostly come to ask and run away in an instant to other classes. I don't know, it's stupid." Temari laughed and continued to write some ideas about the cafe in her notebook.

"I won't wait for you, Hyuga. Let's go." Sasuke hid his blush by turning his back to them.

He couldn't thank Temari, even if he wanted to. Some time with the girls he is in love with sounded great, even if they were to be surrounded by so many other students.

She gulped. Who was he to act like that? Yesterday, it seemed like he was crazy about her, and now he is acting like nothing happened. Maybe nothing really happened.

They walked around, asking the other classes. After they finished gathering their information, they stood in the corridor, which was full of students walking and running around. They didn't know what to say! They just stared at their notes, pretending to read them. They were both waiting for the other one to say something.

"About-" Sasuke gathered courage to start a conversation.

"Let's go back to our classes and start helping." Hinata turned around and started walking fast towards her classroom.

The Uchiha wanted to talk to her. To explain why he did what he did. But he, Uchiha Sasuke, felt shy. For the first time, he feels that embarrassed. And because of a girl. He decided to just go back to class as well; they didn't have too much time to prepare anyway.

"Hinataaaa!" Temari flicked her fingers in front of Hyuga's face.

She was distracted. Too distraced.

"Sorry."

"The menu is finished, but we need to make a few for the customers to read. Are you going to please do that? My computer is broken."

"Sure, Temari-san!" Hinata smiled softly, looking at the list of items she had to put on the menu. "By the way, how was the date with Shikamaru?"

"Um..." Temari started looking around to see if someone was listening to their conversation. "It was fine, but he isn't much of a romantic."

"You are not too romantic either." Hinata chuckled at the image of the two on their date that popped into her mind.

"Well...um." She hid her blush from her classmate with her hand. "He is a great kisser, tho."

At those words, Hinata both smiled and got nervous. Her friend just shared with her about her first kiss, when the bluenette felt just too unsure if she should say anything yet. About hers. Was that thing that happened between her and Sasuke serious?

"Oooh? You kissed?"

Temari nodded and pointed at her watch.

"It's time to go home, isn't it?"

The girls looked around. All their classmates were preparing their bags and exiting the classroom.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto startled her as she walked out of the school's yard.

This guy never learns.

"Hey, Naruto!" she waved at him. How you feelin?"

"Better, better!" he smiled proudly. "I think I'm slowly getting over...you know who."

Hinata smiled back, noticing his friends coming up to them, including, goddamn, Sasuke Uchiha.

"Sasuke is feeling way better after you took care of him yesterday. He said, You are the best."

"H-he said that?"

Naruto nodded, noticing the redness on Hinata's face. And he wasn't the only one to see that.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked when he walked up to them with the others.

"Nothing much. Hinata and I were just talking about how you got better because-"

The Uchiha covered his mouth, giving him a dead look straight into the eyes. The girl felt like laughing but decided to hold back. It wasn't her place to laugh. But it was true—the Uchiha indeed looked way better. Because of her? Not because of her kisses. At that thought, she sneezed hard. Oh, shit. Hopefully, it's just a sneeze.

"Bless you, Hyuga." Sasuke looked at her, removing his hand from Uzumaki's mouth.

"Shut up." she hissed at him.

Even if she didn't want to be around him because she felt too embarrassed, she still had to look like she didn't give a fuck about him. They couldn't raise suspicion, could they? But it seemed the raven-haired didn't care as much about that. He cared more about talking to her.

"Are you getting sick, Hinata?" Ino walked up to them, who had just heard her sneeze from afar.

"Hopefully not," she chuckled in response. "I have to go home. Wanna walk together, Ino-chan?"

The blonde girl nodded, and a smile to her ears appeared on her face. She started liking Hinata so much. Hinata always listens to whatever she says without interrupting her like most people, which makes her a great listener. And not only that, the Hyuga was a good friend as well, always helping when she had the chance to.

"Fuck." Hinata was lying down on her bed, freezing.

Her body shivered; it was too weak. She couldn't make herself get up to make herself something to eat. It was getting worse and worse. Her eyes hurt when she tried looking at her phone or at the TV, so distracting herself by watching a show was a no-no. Now her only choice was to force herself to go to sleep very early or call Neji for help.

Hinata began to shut her eyes, but the only thing she could focus on was her head, which was about to kill her. Sleep was impossible. At least not for now. She had to call her cousin. Just as she was about to reach for her phone to dial him, a few knocks on the door stopped her.

"Come in!" she yelled.

It probably was her cousin; Sencing Hinata wasn't feeling well! At least that's what she hoped for. But her hopes were crushed when Sasuke let himself in.

"What are you doing here?" Her instincts made her grab a pillow and throw it at the front door.

"I came to return the favor, I guess."