That day, Hinata brought an extra bento to the academy.

It was not for Naruto, even though she had wanted to prepare one for him as it had been long since the last time she did. No, this one, it was for Sasuke.

Ever since the fight with Neji, her father had been stricter than ever. Although he used to dedicate most of his time to Hanabi, now he sought her out more often, and had even taught her a few new techniques, drastically moving forward their training. It seemed that Neji knowing how to seal tenketsu had given him the clue that he had to pay more attention to his eldest. Hinata was grateful for it as well as tired, as she had gotten unused to training so often with her father. There was also the mental pressure of having to improve she had to deal with.

For that reason, she did what she always did to keep her mind off things, and that was cooking.

And now, holding two bentos on her arms, she was looking for Sasuke after the bell rang, as he had pretty much vanished from the classroom in order to avoid the girls, most definitely. It shouldn't be difficult to locate him. She had an advantage the other girls didn't with her eyes, and she was used to looking for him from the time her father still gave her bentos for him.

She found him secluded in an empty room on the second floor. By the looks of it, the room functioned as a storeroom, with plenty of implements and other things gathered there. Her heart sank a little when she saw him already eating an onigiri, likely store bought from the looks of it, but she decided not to be discouraged. At the very least, she could still talk to him, right?

She slid the door open, shyly peering inside. To her surprise, there was no one there. How strange, she had been sure that…

"It's you" she jumped a little when she heard Sasuke's voice coming from behind a shelf. Immediately after, he appeared, holding his semi-eaten food on one hand. He was frowning. "I thought you were one of those girls…"

"I-I'm sorry if I b-bothered you…" she said, glancing down. "I-I can leave if you w-want…"

"But you were looking for me, no?"

That made her blush. Was she that transparent? Well, logically speaking, there shouldn't be any reason for her to be here unless she had been looking for him… maybe if she wanted a quiet place to eat but there wasn't a need for her to hide, unlike Sasuke, so it would make more sense if she stayed in the classroom.

Gulping, she nodded, before glancing up. Sasuke was looking at the bentos on her arms with a troubled expression. He pointed at them. "Is one of them for me?"

"Y-Yes…"

"…Is your father telling you to bring me bentos again?"

"No…?" she answered, tilting her head. Did Sasuke really believe the only reason she would give him a bento was because of her father? "I… I wanted to m-make one for y-you… I h-hope you don't m-mind."

"Really?" his tone was surprised, and a bit incredulous. She nodded, and his frown deepened. "But… why? There is no reason for you to…"

"I-It's because you're my f-friend! A-And this is something I like to d-do for my friends…" she said quickly, finally taking a step forward and closing the door behind her. Even though Sasuke had not accepted yet, she placed a handkerchief on the floor and sat down near the window, offering one of the bentos to him, who was still standing a small distance away. "Y-You don't have to e-eat it if y-you don't want… I s-see you already have f-food… B-But! Even if you d-don't eat it now… I'd still like for you to a-accept it… S-So you can e-eat it later…"

He didn't take it, and Hinata started trembling slightly out of anguish. Had she gone too far? Would he start hating her now for crossing a boundary again? She was about to stand up and tell him to forget about it when he finally took a step forward, his hand that was not holding the onigiri reaching for the bento.

Before Hinata could sigh in relief though, he spoke. "…am I your friend?" his tone was… off. Hinata didn't know what to make of it. Under the heavy stare of those eyes that looked bottomless, she started feeling nervous.

However, she has always been honest with him, so she nodded, staring right back trying not to flinch.

"I-I co-consider you o-one, S-Sasuke-kun" she confirmed, hoping he wouldn't get angry. Just to be sure, she added; "b-but I know that d-doesn't mean you have to c-consider me one as well…"

"I don't need any friends" he said, his voice soft, but the firmness in his tone made her flinch. She knew it was possible he would answer like that, but still, even if he didn't want to be her friend, she felt good for letting him know her true feelings.

And, even though he had said that, he didn't leave. Instead, he sat down next to her and accepted the chopsticks she passed over to him, opening the lid of his own bento and eating without a word.

For a while, there was only silence. But then, he spoke, his voice slightly unsure; "so… this is something you do for your friends?"

Hinata blinked, before nodding, watching him take one of the tomatoes into his mouth. The onigiri he had been eating before was nowhere in sight. Maybe he had already finished it while she wasn't looking?

"Y-Yes… I-I think I already t-told you… but I like c-cooking because it reminds me of my m-mother. A-And cooking for my f-friends makes me happy."

"So that's the reason you bring bentos for Naruto too? Because he's your friend?" the question caught her off guard. Hinata didn't expect him to bring Naruto up in conversation. She remained silent for a second, before slowly glancing down at her bento.

"I-I consider N-Naruto-kun a friend, yes" she answered, playing a bit with the food.

"I see."

He didn't say anything after that, and Hinata thought that meant he didn't feel like talking anymore.

For that reason, she was kinda surprised when he spoke again, a few minutes later. "Why do you consider Naruto your friend?"

"I…" she blinked, unsure of why he was so adamant about Naruto. She bit her lip, wondering what to say, before finally settling for the truth, like she had multiple times. "I admire him. W-When I f-first enrolled in the academy… a few o-older children tried to b-bully me because of my e-eyes…"

"Why would they do that?" he asked, clearly taken aback. Hinata shrugged.

"T-They said I looked b-blind… and that it was w-weird…"

"That's stupid. Had they never heard of the Hyuuga clan at all? If they live in this village they should have" he scoffed, frowning.

"I-I know… but they still did. A-And Naruto-kun… h-he defended me. Even though the o-others were more and o-older… and even though they b-beat him up… N-Naruto-kun defended me… without backing away. S-Seeing that, I couldn't help but a-admire him."

"So you wanted to be his friend because he protected you from bullies?" he asked, as if for confirmation, and Hinata nodded. She was surprised when she heard him snort. "How stupid. You said he got beaten up anyway. How is that admirable?"

"I-It doesn't m-matter. H-His spirit…"

"And he's always dead last in all our classes. He can't even use a simple henge" the boy continued, complaining while eating, even though he looked pretty nonchalant while doing it.

"N-Naruto-kun…!"

"Worst of all, he's always challenging me. Even though he loses all the time he never relents. What is that if not stupidity? Stubbornness can only take you so far if you don't have the abilities. Honestly, he's so annoying, and I only want him to stop bothering m-"

"D-Don't talk about Naruto-kun like that!" she suddenly interrupted, raising her voice, unable to take any more. Sasuke jumped a little, his eyes growing wide in response to her shout. "I-It's true Naruto-kun lost… But! Just because he couldn't win doesn't make what he did any less a-admirable. I was feeling so lonely and sad that day… and just that one act of kindness managed to brighten my entire day! A-After that, I continued watching Naruto-kun, and I realized how everybody treats him… but he doesn't let that bring him down! He always strives forward! He has nothing, no family, no friends, only the ridicule and hatred of the villagers. He can't make anything right, true, but… but he still tries. And if someone like him, with nothing at all can still manage to smile and push past the pain, why couldn't someone like me do it as well? That's why he's admirable. I look at him and want to become a better person, someone stronger that, even if the whole world is against me, I'll still push forward! No matter what!"

She panted a little when she was over, and it was only when Sasuke continued to look at her, dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open, that Hinata realized everything she had said.

She panicked. "I-I-I-I'm sorry, S-Sasuke-kun! I-I didn't m-mean t-to…!"

"You like him, right?" he interrupted. The question was so surprising, this time Hinata was the one dumbfounded. She blushed, the heat rising to her ears, and Sasuke, of course, noticed that. "So you do like him. Incredible."

"I-I-I…!"

"You also stutter less when you're all worked up like that. How strange" Sasuke continued talking, not heeding her pathetic attempts to deny what he had just discovered. He glanced down, took a bit of rice and ate it, humming as if he had just discovered something incredibly interesting.

Hinata was dying.

"I-I-I r-really…"

"It doesn't change that he's annoying" he continued, his voice firm. Hinata had to purse her lips to keep her mouth shut. She didn't want to blabber again. "But it… explains a lot of things."

"W-What things?" Hinata asked, curious despite herself. Sasuke shrugged.

"Why you look at him all the time, or prepare bentos for him and eat lunch with him. I'm actually surprised you're eating with me right now. Wouldn't you rather be with him?" he asked rather petulantly. Hinata sighed.

"B-But I w-wanted to eat with y-you today…" she explained, glancing away, playing with her fingers even as she still held the chopsticks. It was actually the reason she had not prepared a bento for Naruto that day. She didn't want to be tempted to eat with Naruto instead of Sasuke.

Hearing her response, Sasuke halted his movements and looked up at her, making her nervous because of his stare, so intent on her. Hinata waited, her whole body tensed for what he would say this time, until, finally, he looked away, allowing her to breathe again.

When the two were done, he pushed the bento aside and leaned against the wall, while a frown formed on his face. Hinata wondered what he was thinking about that made him angry again.

"Hey" he called just when she was about to take his discarded bento box. She halted, glancing up at him, but he wasn't looking at her, his gaze lost somewhere on the wall in front of them. "You can bring me another bento if you want…"

"Huh?" Hinata asked, surprised. Sasuke bit his lip, crossing his arms.

"I mean, you said it makes you happy to cook for… And besides, your food has improved a lot, so…"

"B-But I t-thought you didn't need any f-friends…" she said, blushing at her own boldness as well as his unexpected compliment. Sasuke's shoulders tensed, but he refused to look at her, instead turning his face slightly away. Hinata could still see the redness on his ears.

"I know what I said, but… just for this once; I think I can make an exception…"

There was silence again, in which Hinata simply looked at him, wondering at his contradicting words. For a moment she thought about needling him more, asking him if this meant he accepted her as a friend despite his earlier comment, but after seeing the way he was fidgeting, tensed up like he was expecting exactly that and was preparing himself to either dodge her questions or blown up, she decided on a different approach.

"What other things do you like?"

"Eh?" he clearly wasn't expecting that question, because he turned to look at her, bewilderment clear on his features. Hinata bit her lip to keep the smile that was threatening to break out on her face.

"I mean, I know you like tomatoes, and onigiri, but… is there something else?"

They looked at each other, and it took Sasuke another while to answer, but Hinata was patient. So, when he finally muttered a small, "I like tuna too…" she simply smiled and nodded, promising she would add it to his next bento.

I wanted to clarify a few things about the timeline, as well as the direction of this story, since after reading a guest's comment (thanks, btw!) it has come to my attention that some things might not be quite clear. First of all, the timeline: the story begins in the night of the Uchiha massacre, that here takes places on late June (Itachi's birthday is June 9 and Sasuke's July 23. According to canon, Itachi killed his clan when he was 13 and Sasuke was 7, but since they're supposed to be only five years apart, a compromise was made, thus late June when Itachi's already 13 but Sasuke still hasn't turned 8). Obviously this means the story begins when they're quite young. Right now, Sasuke and pretty much everyone else is 9, except for Naruto and Hinata (and maybe Ino and Shikamaru) who are still 8. Neji is 10, having been born July 3 the year before Hinata's.

Now, we know the story of Naruto begins when they're all 12 (technically Hinata should still be 11, since the calendar on Naruto's room shows they formed their genin teams on October 15) and the chuunin exams are stated to start July 1 of the next year. After five days on the Forest of Death (yeah, Neji passed his birthday there, yikes!), and approximately a week since the beginning of the exams, the Third tells everyone that passed to the third phase that the competition will take place the next month, meaning August. Naruto's calendar shows the day of his fight with Neji is the 11 of the month, thus August 11. Seeing the timeline at this time, where Naruto is still 12 turning 13, and here, where he is 8 turning 9, that means the chuunin exams take place four years from this point in the story.

Now as for where the story is going: in my profile I've said that I plan to take this story until The Last time period, maybe a little farther than that. This story is tagged as slow burn because I plan to get there with no time skips at all, or if there are, they will be of a few months at most (e.g.: chapter 15 took place in early September while chapter 16 happened in late December). I know this means the story will be super long, and for that reason I ask patience. I promise it will be worth it.

Of course, since we began the story so early on in their lives, there will be plenty of changes going down the line, some even very drastic, but we won't see them until much later. As I said before, every chapter I write, even the shortest ones, contribute something to the story and will have a meaning on the long run.

I hope that clarified things. I apologize for the very long explanation. I actually wanted to make it into a brand new 'chapter' so it wouldn't interfere with the flow of this one, but since fanfiction doesn't allow chapters with only notes in them, and I'm a law abiding citizen of the internet (?), I put it here.