Hinata flinched as the rolled-up magazine hit her shoulder. Once, twice, three times. She closed her eyes and stood as still as she could to keep her father's temper to a minimum. It hurt, but the pain wasn't physical.

"How many times will you insist on disappointing me?!" Hiashi asked calmly. She almost rather he'd yell.

Hinata opened her eyes, looking down and bowing her head. "I'm sorry, father."

The roll hit the top of her head, the corner spine right on the crown of her head. That one did hurt.

"You can not even get top place over the Uchiha's second son?" Sasuke took the top place on another exam this week. Even with Shikamaru's book, she came in second place. She didn't even know why she was trying. Sasuke didn't study. He was just smarter than her.

The paper roll hit her face. She flinched. That one hurt too.

"Do not give me the look of defeat!" Hiashi commanded.

Hinata lowered her head. "I'm sorry, father."

Hiashi sighed. "Find me something to not be embarrassed by the end of the week, dismissed."

Hinata bowed, heading to her room.

She knew what he wanted. There was an event next week, and he wanted something to brag about. She didn't know why he insisted on her bringing him something to be proud of. Her father only ever talked about Hanabi if he could help it anyway.

When Hinata got back to her room, she wiped her face of a tear on her way there and winced. She looked at her hand and found blood. Paper cut.

Sasuke waited in the library, looking at his phone. Hinata soon sat down across from him with her normal stack of books and notes.

Hinata didn't pester him when he didn't look up at her. She just went to work. She had a bandage on her cheek and a frown on her face.

"What happened to your face?" Sasuke frowned.

"Paper cut," Hinata answered flatly.

"How do you get a paper cut on your face?" Was she that stupid?

"I fell asleep on my notes," Hinata flipped through her notebook. "Some of us do have to study." A quiet ding made Hinata react to her phone and message someone back.

Sasuke nodded his head toward her. "Who are you texting?"

Hinata frowned at him. "Shino-kun asked where I was."

"What does it matter to him?" Sasuke leaned forward, trying to look at her phone.

Hinata turned off the screen, glaring at him. "He wanted to bring me something. What does it matter to you?"

"It's cutting into my project time." Sasuke gave her a smart-ass smile.

Hinata sighed. "We would finish faster if you didn't make it so hard to add points."

"Stop suggesting dumb points." Sasuke countered.

Hinata pressed her lips together. "Hinata." She waved at Shino as he came over with a bag from a convenience store. He must have already known where she might be if he showed up that quickly. He set the bag on the table. "I brought you some more coffee and some cut fruit. And a new bandage, so you can change yours out."

"Not usual study snacks," Sasuke commented.

Hinata ignored him. "Thank you, Shino. I appreciate it."

Shino gave her a smile, a nod, and a wave before he went.

Hinata took the coffee but only picked at the fruit. After a while, she slid it toward him. Sasuke didn't question it and popped one of the fruit pieces in his mouth as she continued to sip her coffee.

Hinata waited for her father to be done looking through her phone.

"Why is the Uchiha boy messaging you regularly?" Her father asked.

"I have been assigned a group project with him, a large portion of our grade. We have been meeting after school." Hinata explained with a low voice. She actually deleted some of his more curt messages for this exact situation. The last thing she wanted was for her father to think that she made relations with the Uchiha bad because of a few cranky text messages.

"You may actually have a chance at the highest grade, then?" Hiashi seemed unimpressed, setting her phone down. "Dismissed."

Hinata took her phone, bowed her head, and left. She held the phone to her chest and wondered if she would ever feel like she had control over her own life.

Sasuke watched from the door as Itachi sat on a bench in the backyard. His eyes were closed, and his face was turned toward the sun.

Sasuke turned himself inside. Rubbing his face. He didn't understand how Itachi could be so content. The doctor's made it clear that his surgery was only lengthening his life. It wasn't going to make it not terminal. Sasuke pressed his face to the door frame. What was he going to do without his brother?

"Sasuke?" Itachi wondered, looking vaguely behind him.

Sasuke composed himself. "Yeah, I'm here."

Itachi put out his hand. Sasuke crossed the yard to sit down beside him. Itachi laid a hand on his shoulder.

"How did you know it was me without your glasses?" Sasuke wondered.

"I'm not deaf." Itachi reminded him. "Mom wears heels."

Sasuke did see how that answered his question. They weren't the only ones that lived in this house.

"Don't dwell on me. Spend your time enjoying your youth." Itachi smiled in a way that made Sasuke mad at the world. "How's Hinata doing?"

Sasuke groaned. "I'll be happy when this project is done."

"I'm sure she feels the same with that attitude." Itachi scolded him. "The Uzumaki boy. Does she still like him?"

"As far as I know." Sasuke flicked a wood chip that came off the bench. "Why are you so interested in her anyway?"

Itachi shrugged with a knowing smile. "She's an interesting girl."

"She's a scam," Sasuke grumbled.

Itachi took a deep breath, but it was cut short by a muffled cough. "Don't judge her too harshly. Growing up in the Hyuga, I am sure, was not pleasant." He looked back up across the yard, though it probably just looked like colors without his glasses.

"She's not as innocent as you make her seem," Sasuke grumbled.

Itachi waved his hand and closed his eyes. "You two are not that different."

Sasuke was sick of hearing him say that.

Sasuke tapped his finger against the library desk and waited. Hinata was late, and every minute she was, the more irritation built.

Hinata came in a rush, setting her things down and quickly righting herself. Her hair was still damp from a shower after fencing. She changed in a hurry. Her uniform jacket wasn't buttoned. She set out her things and took a moment to flatten her hair and button the jacket.

Sasuke sighed loudly.

Hinata bowed her head and dug in her bag for change. "Sorry, I'm late. I'll be right back."

Sasuke huffed his disapproval as he watched her scuttle back toward the door. From the window, he could see her at the drink vending machine. He rolled his eyes. More coffee. He leaned his head back, letting out an annoyed huff. When he looked back out, she was gone.

Sasuke's eyebrows knitted together, and he sat up. He waited for her to reappear, but when she didn't, he felt the need to get up to look.

He pushed his way out and looked down.

Hinata laid flat on the ground. Her hair splayed over her face. A flash of another's black hair hit his mind.

"Hey." Sasuke leaned down and shook her. "Hey, this isn't funny." He uncovered her face. Hinata was limp and completely unconscious. His hand sprung for his pocket, but his phone was once again dead, and the library was unmanned at this hour. "Damn it." He scooped her up. Her head flopped onto his shoulder.

Sasuke ran toward the next building, but the lights were out. Same with the next. He gave up on the school buildings and ran down the empty street to the clinic around the corner.

He arrived out of breath and moved inside and to the front desk. "I need help, she collapsed."

The nurses and the front desk sprung into action, pushing him to put her on a cot that moved to get out of the lobby. Only once he let her go did he notice he was shaking. He clenched his hands together and didn't follow them. He sat down in one of the lobby chairs and clenched his fist together to try to get the shaking to stop.

When he closed his eyes, he could still see Itachi lying on the kitchen floor, his pills scattered around him, clutching his chest. It was still fresh in his head, even though it was three years ago.

"Excuse me." A nurse appeared in front of him. "You're the one that brought the girl in?" Sasuke stood up and nodded. "Do you know who she is? She doesn't have anything on her."

"Oh, Hinata Hyuga. She's a classmate. We met to work on a project." Sasuke shoved his shaking hands into his pockets.

"Age," She wondered, writing on her clipboard.

"She's 18," Sasuke answered.

"Do you have a number for her family?" She asked.

"Uh…" Sasuke shook his head.

The nurse nodded. "Was she drinking?"

Sasuke looked at her ludicrously. "No, but I have seen her faint before, but she's never been out this long."

"Do you know what she was doing before she fainted?" She wrote down her answers. "Did she hit her head?"

"She came back from fencing. She went outside to get a snack. I didn't see her fall." Sasuke felt more anxious by the questions. "Is she going to wake up?"

"She should soon. Her blood sugar is low. Have you seen her eat today?" The nurse relayed.

Sasuke shook his head. "Maybe that's why she went to the vending machine."

"Since she's an adult, and it's not serious. I don't need to call her family. Do you want to wait for her?"

Sasuke sighed. "Yeah, I'll wait." He sat back down as rage started to boil in his veins. Was he sitting here worrying about her when she just wasn't eating?

She was inconveniencing him with her vanity, making him relive watching his brother deteriorate.

He was going to make her life hell.

Hinata was confused by the cold white room and the nurse shoving a cookie in her face. She was more confused by the angry-looking Sasuke sitting by the bedside.

She answered a few questions while she nibbled on the cookie and was giving a lecture about eating enough before and after having an extraneous physical activity. She ate fine. She was just exhausted. She knew she was stretching herself thin. She just didn't have a choice to stop.

She took the wagging finger from the nurse, but Sasuke's glare from the corner felt much worse.

Once she was released, she asked for the time. There was no way she was going to make it home on time if she went back to the library for her things, but her father would be furious if she didn't have her phone on her, that is, if she hadn't already missed a message from him.

Sasuke sighed loudly and crossed his arms. "Maybe dropping an activity or two. You might have some time to eat." Hinata gave him a look as she signed the clipboard before leaving, walking out of the clinic without answering him. He followed her out closely, not letting her get away without his own lecture. "Or have you decided that the reason you didn't win the pageant last year was because you weren't skinny enough?"

Hinata threw a nasty look at him. He didn't know anything. "Sasuke-san, I don't want to talk about it!"

Sasuke seemed unsurprised by her outburst and just glared at her with everything she already knew. He hated her just as much as she hated him. "I should have left you on the concrete."

Hinata stopped, turning to him and bowing her head. "Thank you for taking care of me." She paused for only a moment before continuing her trek to the library. She knew it sounded insincere, but she really didn't have the time to argue with him. She was just praying that the library wasn't locked.

Sasuke stopped her again when they got to the door, holding it closed.

Hinata jerked on it, but he was stronger than her. "What?"

"You lost because people see through your innocent act." Sasuke lowered his head to her level.

"Thank you for informing me." Hinata spat back. "I need to get home!" She shoved him back, opening the door and dashing to gather her things. By the time she was done, Sasuke had caught up with her and grabbed his own bag. She didn't stay to get another lecture. She would get it when she got home.