Going back to the academy was a weird experience.
Not weird in the sense that something out of the ordinary happened, but because, looking back on it, it was weird how she had ended the last school period believing Sasuke would never talk to her again, only for them to be closer now than they had ever been.
She had been invited to his house once, and they had even trained and sparred together. They had shared tea and a meal. That was more than she ever believed possible, back when all of this started.
Her father, true to his word, never gave her another bento for Sasuke, but, Hinata realized that, even if her father didn't tell her to, she wanted to prepare one for him. The same way she did for Naruto.
Well, not exactly like Naruto. But she still wanted to. Because he was her friend.
He seemed receptive to the onigiri she gave him at his birthday, but she didn't know if it was because it was his birthday present that he had accepted it. Would he accept a bento given by her, by her own choice and not because of an order of her father?
"Sasuke-kun loved my present! Why, he didn't talk about yours at all!"
"He didn't talk about yours either!"
Hinata blinked, turning her head to look at the group of girls gathered behind the school building. She was on her way to a seclude place to eat her lunch on her own, when she heard voices arguing loudly. The main subject was, unsurprisingly, Sasuke.
"I gave him a book of poetry! Sasuke-kun is a profound and intelligent person. I'm sure he really appreciated my gift!" proclaimed Ino, hands on her hips and a proud look on her face. Hinata winced. If only Ino knew what had become of the book she had so enthusiastically given Sasuke…
"You're an idiot! Who cares about poetry? Sasuke-kun probably just gave away your stupid book because poetry is boring" another girl from class made fun of Ino, who puffed and huffed, offended.
"Repeat that if you dare!"
"I gave him a box of mochi."
The soft voice interrupted what was obviously escalating into a fight. Haruno Sakura, despite having grown more confident in the past years, still had a few lapses where her voice wouldn't be as loud or her words as sure. These lapses were growing scarcer each time, but they still popped up from time to time.
"What was that?" a girl asked, frowning.
"I gave him a box of mochi. The other day I heard him say he doesn't like sweet things, so I gave him unsweetened mochi. I'm sure he liked my gift the best because of that."
Her smile was sweet, but there was obvious pride in her eyes, and maybe a tiny bit of smugness. Even more so when she looked at Ino, who clenched her fists with anger.
"Really? He doesn't like sweet things?"
"But I gave him chocolate for his birthday!"
"Why didn't you tell us this before, Sakura?"
The girl shrugged, clasping her hands in front of her demurely. "It must have slipped my mind."
"Slip your mind? Don't make me laugh!" the one who spoke such harsh words was none other than Ino, who looked at Sakura with fierce eyes. "You withheld the information on purpose because you wanted to see the others fail! You wanted to see me fail, right? But you lost, because my gift wasn't sweets, and you can bet Sasuke-kun loved what I gave him!"
"Not everything has to do with you" Sakura retorted, also clenching her fists. The other girls remained silent, watching the exchange taking place. Hinata also held her breath, looking on from her vantage point hidden behind the corner. "And who cares about your gift? Ririna is right, a poetry book is boring and Sasuke-kun probably hated it."
"Watch your mouth" Ino hissed, taking a step forward. Sakura pursed her lips, involuntarily taking a step back, but held her ground otherwise.
"Then you watch yours."
The two glared at each other. Hinata was astounded seeing them like that. Sakura and Ino used to be friends, right? They went everywhere together; the small pink-haired girl always like a shadow behind the confident and strong-willed Ino. But that had changed with the beginning of the new school year, around six months ago. Hinata wondered why. They seemed so close. She had always felt a slight bit of envy of their friendship whenever she saw them together.
And yet now they looked and acted as if they couldn't stand each other.
"But this isn't the first time Sakura hasn't told us something she knew about Sasuke-kun" one of the girls suddenly said, shifting their attention to her. "Remember the thing with the long hair? Sakura only told Ino that time."
"Yeah, that's right!"
"I had forgotten that!"
While the other girls agreed, Hinata tilted her head, confused. Long hair? Whatever did they mean with that?
"Ino told us later, but Sakura, she's right. If you know something, then tell us!"
"Exactly! Don't be so stingy, it's not nice!"
"Why do you want to keep all the information you get of Sasuke-kun to yourself? It's not like you have a chance in the first place."
"Um, that's right" Ino said, emboldened by the other girls' words. "With that big forehead of yours, who would ever want you? Well, of course except for that loser Naruto. He's always following you around, isn't he? I suppose is fitting, since he's the most you can do."
This time it was Hinata who clenched her fists, angered on Naruto's behalf. He had never done anything to them. Why was Ino badmouthing him like this?
"I don't want him following me around!" Sakura shot back, angry too but for a different reason. "And he doesn't want me that way either! He's just annoying and likes making me miserable for some reason! You pig!"
"P-Pig?!" Ino gasped, horrified. Sakura nodded, while some of the other girls laughed slightly at the insult.
"You look like a pig, with your pale skin and even paler hair!"
"I do not!" Ino stomped her foot. Sakura imitated her.
"You do too!"
The tirade continued, but Hinata no longer felt like listening. In the first place she never should have. Hearing Sakura saying that about Naruto bothered her, especially because she knew it wasn't true. Naruto liked Sakura so much and wanted to get closer to her, but she thought he wanted to make her miserable. Why?
Sighing, she reached a tree a little off from where she had found the girls, and settled down to eat. When she was finished, she fished out the box of mochi Sasuke had given her the night before from the pocket of her jacket, and took one to her mouth, chewing happily on the dessert.
She sputtered but thankfully managed to keep the mochi down when a taste she wasn't expecting reached her taste buds. Looking down at the box on her lap, she was surprised when she read the words Unsweetened Mochi.
Sakura and Ino finally made their first large appearance! Little by little we're introduced to more characters of the manga. In fact, next one Kiba will appear too! Curious as to how Hinata views him before she was placed in the same team as him?
Also, I know Ino seems to speak with words a little big for a child under ten, but let's pretend it's because as heiress of the Yamanaka clan, her vocabulary is a little more extended than that of your average kid.