"So you… liked Hinata this whole time?" Naruto asked, walking from their last class. "But you also knew she liked me…" Sasuke nodded. "But why would you wait until she got hurt?"

That was a valid criticism of their story. "I wanted you to have your chance. I don't want any lingering doubt in her mind," Sasuke told him. "Now, whatever is between us is just between us."

Naruto thought about it, rubbing the back of his head. "What about Sakura?"

"What about her?" Sasuke asked flatly.

Naruto winced. "You know how much she likes you."

"And her feelings mean nothing to me, just like Hinata's meant nothing to you." Sasuke gave him a pointed look. "You didn't go comforting Hinata when you rejected her. I'm not going to go comfort Sakura after I have told her so many times I'm not interested."

Naruto considered it. "Yeah, that makes sense, I guess."

"You can comfort Sakura but don't give her false hope in me. I have what I want now. I'm not letting go of it." Sasuke finished as he looked up to see Hinata waiting by his bike. Hinata hesitated a wave at the two of them. "She's not mad. Give her some time."

Naruto grimaced.

"See you later." Sasuke walked ahead while Naruto split off. Hinata's eyes trailed after him. "He's fine. He's just processing to give him a max of two days. He'll be back to his irritating self."

"Have you heard about Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked.

"Ino said she went to her classes and disappeared," Sasuke explained. "She'll get over it. It's not the first time she's been mad at me. When I didn't ask her to Senior prom, she thought not talking to me for a month was a punishment. The quietest month of my life."

"You didn't go to our Senior prom." Hinata gave him a confused look.

"You think that mattered?" Sasuke asked. "She was upset that I didn't go with her. She didn't care if I was even interested in going."

"It was… alright," Hinata mumbled.

"You didn't get your dance?" Sasuke guessed.

Hinata avoided what he was actually asking. "I spent the whole night sitting with Shino because Kiba was too sick to come, and Shino doesn't dance."

"I would have asked the wallflower to dance," Sasuke told her.

Hinata shook her head. "Never. There would've been an uproar."

"Not in front of everyone. The music carries outside." Sasuke said before pooping her helmet on her head. "Let's go."

Hinata wasn't surprised when Sasuke didn't take her straight home. She sat with him in the same spot they made their deal in the park, eating. Sasuke offered her his fries. She gladly took them. Sasuke wasn't a fan of french fries. He would eat them. He'd rather have a second burger. She, on the other hand, would gladly eat any potato.

"We should talk about your dad." Sasuke started.

Hinata sighed. "Yeah."

"What do you think of his reaction?" Sasuke wondered.

"I… think he's given up on me. Fully." Hinata frowned. "I think he would be glad to get rid of me at this point, even if it meant me becoming an Uchiha." Their families didn't take dating lightly. If you were in a relationship, there would be talking about if you were a good fit for the family. Hinata wasn't even sure if she would have gotten away with dating Naruto, even if he did accept her feelings.

"Yeah." Sasuke agreed with a sigh. "It makes this easier, but I'm sure it feels awful."

"It kinda feels…" Hinata wasn't sure if she could put it into words. "On one hand, he's stopped acknowledging me, which hurts, but… it's like this is what should have happened when I made decisions he didn't like." Sasuke was confused. "He's always told me what I will do or what I should have done. Him having no opinion was freeing. I don't think he's ever not given me his direct opinion before." Hinata explained. "He doesn't want to talk about it. That means… he doesn't care, right? He is not going to make an effort to stop it?"

"That is an awful way to twist it to be positive, but if it works, it works." Sasuke relented. "As long as he's not locking you in your room and chasing me off with a broom. If he just lets it happen, the sooner we can both be happy."

Hinata nodded. "This is going a lot better than I thought it would." Sasuke smiled. "What were you going to do if he did come out upset about it?"

"Declare my love and throw rocks at your window, asking you to elope until you agree," Sasuke smirked as her face turned red.

Hinata whined. "I meant seriously."

"No, I mean it," Sasuke told her. "You already agreed to marry me. We could do this the easy way or the hard way." Sasuke laughed at the look she gave him. "Come to think of it, maybe just eloping would have been easier. Everyone would have no choice but to accept it before long, as the deed was already done, and there was no question about it."

"Don't get any ideas," Hinata warned.

It was starting to feel normal. Sasuke picked her up. They went to class. They talked with their friends. They went somewhere like the park or a coffee shop to finish schoolwork. Then he took her home. Her father didn't mention it. He even barred Hanabi from asking about it at the dinner table. It didn't stop nasty messages on her phone. Now there were just new words. Where did she learn these words? Hinata certainly never taught her to speak like that.

Hinata was just glad Neji was studying abroad. She was sure he would be waiting for her at the door every evening.

Sakura returned to lunch as usual but would only glare at her if she caught her eye. Luckily, Sakura avoided looking at her. It looked like Ino was wearing her down when it came to the tension between them, though.

Sasuke held her hand under the table until Hinata fought him for it when she needed it to eat, then he put his hand on her waist, pulling her seat toward him. He got a look for that one.

Hinata waved as Sasuke's bike left but got a call before she made it into the house. Itachi's caller ID stared back at her. Hinata hesitantly answered the phone.

"Hinata." Itachi greeted. "How have you been?"

"Good," Hinata mumbled into the phone.

"Turn around," Itachi told her.

Hinata found an awaiting car with Itachi waving at her. The phone fell away from her face. She momentarily looked back at the house but decided that he must have been there for a reason. It wasn't late. She didn't have an excuse.

Hinata walked up to his car. Itachi reached over to open the passenger door for her. He took her to a coffee shop, talking mindlessly about little things along the way, trying to make her less nervous, but it made the knot in her stomach grow.

"My little brother has been courting you," Itachi stated. Hinata fiddled with her cup. I wasn't a question, so she didn't know how to respond. How had he found out? Sasuke said they weren't talking to each other, and surely her father didn't tell him. "I don't approve."

"I… why is that?" Hinata wondered.

"My health is declining," Itachi stated plainly. "I'm not sure if Sasuke's mentioned it. It's not public knowledge yet. As heir to your family, I am sure you know what that entails."

"I am sure Sasuke understands that." Hinata started.

"Do you?" Itachi snapped.

Hinata flinched at his tone. "What…?"

"Do you think he knows what that entails?" Itachi clarified harshly. "Do you think he would be fooling around right now if he did?" Itachi was always protecting his little brother, but this… seemed extreme. "Hinata, he doesn't need this kind of distraction. This is going to end badly."

Hinata stood up and bowed her head. "I'm sorry, but I'm not the one you should be talking to. This is a conversation you should be having with Sasuke." Itachi stared at her ludicrously. "Thank you for the coffee. I'm going to go."

Hinata headed out the door. She got down the street and looked at a street sign before she dug out her phone to call Sasuke. Her hand was snagged. "Don't tell him about this," Itachi's eyes pierced hers before he let go of her hand and headed back to his car.

**Author's Note**

For updates and asks my tumblr: lavender-long-stories