A few days into summer break, Hinata was still pondering how to apologize to Sasuke. She had thought of simply going over to his apartment to say sorry, but after the experience at the Uchiha district, she realized a less… intimate place might be better for this. Granted, the reason Sasuke had reacted so badly to her entering his clan's district was because of the date; regardless, she didn't want to risk invading another personal place of his, especially if he was still as angry with her as on that day.

She knew she had to apologize, one way or another, and the more time she wasted doubting and stalling, the worse it would be in the end. She didn't want Sasuke to believe she didn't care about him at all. That was not the case, and his silence and constant dismissal hurt her in a way it had only hurt when coming from her own family.

But, where to talk to him? It had to be a place that wasn't intimate, but at the same time somewhere not many people frequented. The answer came to her that very same night, as she was preparing her stuff for her late night training.

When she arrived, she found the place deserted. Activating her Byakugan, she began looking for him, training field after training field, but much to her misfortune, he wasn't anywhere.

Maybe he hadn't arrived yet? With that thought in mind, she decided to wait for him, sure that he would come sooner or later. If he didn't arrive that night, she would look for him the next day, and so on until she finally found him. In the meantime, she started practicing her gentle fist. After a few minutes, she would rest and search again.

When the dummy was almost unrecognizable, she halted, breathing heavily. Her hands were bleeding again, and she pursed her lips. This exercise wasn't meant to maim her; she was just supposed to burn time until Sasuke appeared. Besides, she never knew when her father might call upon her again to spar. She had to take care of her hands so when the moment came, her hits would be effective.

I should stop for now she thought, ready to turn around and look for the boy again.

"So it was you."

Hinata squeaked, turning around abruptly as that voice reached her ears. She was surprised to find Sasuke standing there, looking as stoic as ever at the edge of the training ground. What was he doing here? Why was he talking to her? He was angry at her. He should be avoiding her. That's what he'd been doing since the day of the massacre's anniversary. That was the reason she was now here, ready to search earth and heaven for him if necessary so she could apologize.

Hearing no response from her, Sasuke frowned and clicked his tongue. "Don't look at me like that. It bothers me."

Look at him like what? Hinata didn't know, maybe her surprised expression got on his nerves or something. She couldn't be sure. Trying to school her features into a more neutral mask, she cleared her throat, unconsciously bringing her hands together to play with her fingers. "S-Sasuke-kun… i-it's a s-surprise to find you h-here…" she said lamely. Sasuke's frown deepened.

"Why? You know I come here at night, too."

"T-That's n-n-n-not…!" she bit her tongue. For whatever reason, Sasuke was no longer ignoring her. Taking note of that, she quickly realized this was her chance to apologize for her behavior last time they spoke. Without waiting for him to say anything else, she bowed; her back forming a perfect ninety degree angle. Because her eyes were fixed on her shoes, she could not see his expression, but she imagined he was still frowning, in that way he did when something he wasn't expecting happened.

She was partially right. He was frowning, but he had also taken a step back, mouth slightly open at her sudden action.

"S-S-Sasuke-kun! I-I-I-I'm so sorry for intruding l-last time in y-your f-f-family's district! I-I-I'm an idiot, and inconsiderate, I-I should h-have thought better a-about how you would f-feel…!" she took a breath, aiming to go through this to the end. "I'm n-not asking for you to f-forgive me… but know that I am deeply s-sorry for w-w-what I did… and that I understand if you n-never want to t-talk to me a-again…"

"Stop that!" he shouted, an anomaly these days. Hinata yelped, her head snapping towards him, confused at seeing him with bared teeth, fists tightened at his sides. He looked angry… did she just make everything worse by apologizing? Maybe she shouldn't have brought that event up again… It was her fault, she had made him angry again. Her father was right, she was no good and… "Why are you apologizing about that? I am the one… I am…" he sputtered before glancing away. Hinata blinked, slowly straightening as the boy continued to grapple with his words.

What was going on?

Finally, Sasuke seemed to have reached a consensus with himself, and he sighed, relaxing his shoulders and hands. "Listen, that day… you caught me in a bad moment, ok? It wasn't like… that is… I didn't mean to scare you like that. I didn't expect anybody to be there when I… and it's not your fault, I overreacted, so stop looking so scared all the time, alright? It's annoying."

Hinata blinked, absorbing his words one by one, unable to completely understand what he was trying to say. Was he… apologizing for shoving her and screaming at her that day? But… he really didn't have to… she was the one who did wrong. She was the one who intruded upon him. However, that was only a part of what confused Hinata. The other was wondering what he meant when he said he scared her and to stop looking so scared?

When she didn't say anything even after a while, Sasuke huffed, turning dark, hooded eyes to her. "So? Say something. Or are you still scared of me?" he tried to give his voice a tone of nonchalance, but it sounded heavier than he intended. Hinata opened her mouth, but closed it soon after.

Scared… of him?

"W-What do you mean, S-Sasuke-kun? I am n-not scared of you…" she said, almost in a whisper, but he heard her anyway. Sasuke blinked, staring at her with confusion.

"What? But…" he pursed his lips, and Hinata was almost as lost as him. She decided to push further.

"I am not scared of you… was it because of t-that, that you didn't… you didn't a-approach me anymore?" she asked, immediately grimacing when she realized how preposterous she sounded. But Sasuke didn't look offended, only pensive. Hinata wanted to know what he was thinking about, but she didn't want to risk saying the wrong thing again, so she waited.

After a while, Sasuke spoke again. "You looked… you looked like you didn't want me to approach. I thought it was because I scared you after what I did in my district, but…"

"I… I was nervous b-because I knew I had m-made you angry… I thought you d-didn't want me close, so I-I was giving you space…" Hinata explained.

"Then, that's the reason you stopped bringing me bentos, and have been sending your servants instead?"

"Eh?" Hinata tilted her head, before shaking it. "I told f-father what happened… he… he s-said it was my f-fault for not being considerate…" more or less, he actually was disappointed she couldn't form any kind of friendship with him, but she felt loath to say that. "So he told me to s-stop, and that he w-would send o-others instead…"

Sasuke stared at her, making her nervous. She couldn't stand his eyes on her, so she started to fidget, looking anywhere but at him and playing with her fingers. Then, after what felt like an unbearable amount of time, he talked. "I don't care about the bentos. You can tell your father I don't need his pity" he said, somewhat harshly. Hinata winced, and Sasuke softened his tone, "or I'll tell him myself. But I do miss… I mean, the onigiri they give me doesn't taste like yours" he commented, glancing down. "They don't put any tomatoes in it… it's not the same."

Hinata looked at him again. He had his hands in his pockets, and his eyes remained on the ground, his mouth pursed as if embarrassed. She wondered what he meant by that. Was he asking her if she could prepare more onigiri for him? But she thought her cooking wasn't that good compared to the cooks in her house… or maybe he was asking her to tell the cooks to put tomatoes on his onigiri. Ah, but he just said he didn't want bentos anymore. Then what…?

"Well, I better get going" he said suddenly, turning around. "I have my own training to do. Don't overexert yourself again, ok? I saw your hands."

And without further explanation, he disappeared, leaving Hinata a little befuddled at the whole exchange. He had come, talked to her when she didn't expect him to. She had apologized, he had rejected her apology while giving one of his own, and then said he didn't want her father to give him more bentos but that he missed her onigiri…

She shook her head, dispelling any confusing thoughts. If she started now, she wouldn't stop. She pondered going back to her training, but upon seeing her hands and remembering what Sasuke told her, she finally decided to stop for the night. There was no more she could do in this state, and she didn't feel like throwing shuriken and kunai.

With a small sigh, she grabbed her things and left.