When her hands were good enough, she began her gentle fist practice anew, this time being more careful with them. Little by little, time kept passing, and soon enough, the end of June was approaching again.
Soon enough, it would be a year since the Uchiha Clan Downfall.
Hinata pondered if she should do something different for Sasuke. It was obviously going to be a hard date for him to face, and she wanted to help him in whatever way she could. She also wanted to thank him for that one time he taught her with the shuriken. However, when she thought about her options, she came up blank.
Her father kept giving her bentos for the young boy, though the schedule was greatly reduced compared to last year. Then, she brought bentos to Sasuke at least every two days. Nowadays, it was once a week.
Not that she minded, and she believed Sasuke didn't care either. At least, she thought so, seeing as he never complained about it. But that also meant preparing a bento for him was out of the question. It wouldn't be something special, after all. Then, what about some sweets? Everybody liked sweets.
But that was giving food again. And if she gifted him something? She didn't know what he liked. And then came the biggest problem: what if he took offense by her trying to do something for him on that day?
She suddenly remembered the conversation she heard between him and Naruto last year. Sasuke had reacted violently at Naruto trying to sympathize with him and be his friend. I don't need your pity, that's what he told him. Since then, the whiskered boy always found ways to get into fights with the raven-haired, and challenged him continuously whenever they had training. Hinata didn't like it, and she didn't like that Sasuke always went to great lengths to humiliate the other boy, even though he always looked so indifferent about it. If she tried doing something for him, would he have the same reaction?
She shuddered just thinking about it.
In the end, Hinata decided not to do anything special. If it was her, she would want her friends (that she didn't have) and other loved ones to be with her and comfort her, but somehow, she could not see Sasuke wanting the same. Not with her at least, who was almost a stranger. Despite her resolution, the day of the massacre's anniversary, her father decided to change forward the date for the bento, and Hinata almost fainted when, before going to the academy, the typical bento box that now belonged to Sasuke made its way to her backpack along with hers.
To her good, or bad, depending on how you saw it; luck, Sasuke didn't go to the academy that day. That meant she would not be left feeling bad when he inevitably blew his top with her when she tried giving him the bento in the academy, no doubt after being harassed by all the girls in class (and other classes) in this day in particular. But, that also meant she had to go find him, not knowing in what state he would be and how to deal with it.
Her heart was pounding heavily in her chest when the bell rang and class was over. Ko was waiting for her, but when she told him she had to find Sasuke because he didn't go to the academy that day, instead of accompanying her like she expected him to, he actually told her to go look for him alone.
"I'm sorry, Hinata-sama, but Hiashi-sama surely wouldn't want me in the middle of your conversation with him. Today is… special, and for that reason, maybe it would be better for someone he's already used to, to be the only one to approach him."
The meaning was clear: go look for him and take your time conversing with him after giving him the bento. That was why Ko wouldn't accompany her. He had his own duties to attend to and waiting for her while she 'conversed' with Sasuke would not be wise, at least not for him. Feeling defeated, Hinata nodded her head, and slowly made her way to the boy's apartment. All the time she could feel Ko's eyes on her back, encouraging her.
Once in front of his door, Hinata activated her Byakugan out of habit to evaluate his state before ringing the doorbell. To her big surprise, he wasn't there. Hinata bit her lips, finding herself in trouble.
Where in the world was Uchiha Sasuke?