Hinata's hands were sweating. She almost never got permission to leave the compound, and even when she did, it was always in company of her guard, Ko. Never before had she been able to walk the streets of her village alone, unattended, and with such a heavy mission upon her shoulders.
It was still afternoon, the sun in the sky not even close to hiding. Hinata had been given instructions and then thrown into the wilderness all on her own. Although she had thought of it, she knew refusing was not an option, not when it was her father who asked her to personally do this. But even so, that didn't mean she couldn't be nervous.
And nervous she was. Absolutely so.
After what felt like an eternity, she arrived at the small apartment complex where Sasuke now lived. It was a fairly new building, two stories high not counting the ground floor. The white paint was pristine and ACs could be seen from the outside of each apartment, functioning in the heat of early summer. Hinata wondered for a second if Naruto, being an orphan who was taken care of by the Hokage, lived in a similar apartment complex.
Hinata located the stairs that would guide her to the second floor, and she slowly made her way upwards, all the time taking deep breaths to calm her heart. Obviously that did not work, and by the time she was in front of the last door at the end of the hallway, she was practically hyperventilating.
She closed her eyes, hugging the bento to her chest, and steeled her nerves before raising her hand. Her index finger hovered over the doorbell, but she did not press it. Her hand was trembling, just like the rest of her.
She pulled down her hand and sighed in defeat, knowing there was no way she could do this. She glanced sadly at the bento box in her arms, once again disappointed in herself and her lack of courage. Thinking over her options, she looked hard at the door, before placing the bento on the floor. Chiding herself and before she could back down again like a coward, she pressed the doorbell, and then ran, hiding on the corner where the hallway connected to the staircase.
She placed a hand on her chest, feeling her heart beating erratically while waiting for the sound of the opening door. Her father told her to try and befriend Sasuke if possible. That meant that unlike giving the bento, it was not an order, and, quite honestly, for Hinata it was not possible to talk to him or even look at him at the moment. She was sure she was going to faint and that would surely only bring her more shame.
Finally, she heard the sound of the door opening, and still feeling like a coward, activated her Byakugan to see what he was doing. He was just standing there, looking at the bento box without any sort of expression. Hinata's heart fell when she saw how devastated he looked. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was in disarray. His skin was pale and his clothes all crumpled. He looked so sad…
He looked like someone who had no reason to live anymore.
After a few more seconds, she saw Sasuke turning on his heels and leaving the bento behind, entering his apartment and falling against the floor of his living room, doing nothing else but stare at the ceiling all the time.
Hinata could not take it anymore. She ran away, holding back tears of sorrow for the poor boy who was only a few months older than her, but who had lost everything he ever had, even his will to live.
When she returned home after crying in a seclude corner of the park, she expected her father to punish her for being unable to do what he asked of her, but instead, when she told him Sasuke didn't accept the bento and she just left it there before coming back, he was understanding.
And he also told her next time maybe things would go better.