Hinata gulped, hugging the small bag to her chest, careful not to squeeze it too hard. That morning, as she had prepared her bento for the day, she had taken the time to make some extra onigiris; but, this time, they weren't for Naruto, or even for Sasuke.

They were for Neji.

One of her New Year resolutions had been trying to mend her relationship with her cousin. At first, she wasn't sure what she should do in order to bridge the gap between them. After thinking about it for a while, she had realized there was something she could do. Cooking food had been the reason she had managed to get closer to both Naruto and Sasuke. While it had taken time, she had befriended the two boys. So, why not give it a chance and see if it would help her mend her relationship with her estranged cousin?

The onigiris were simple, with no filling, as she didn't really know what Neji liked. Some were wrapped in nori, while others had been sprinkled with furikake. There were five in total, and while it might seem a bit too much, she knew how hard her cousin liked to train. Having the food readily available when he was tired after a long training session would be convenient for him, no?

Despite having gathered the nerve to cook for him, Hinata still wasn't brave enough to face him and see the disgust in his face when she tried giving him the food. So, like the coward she was, she had instead decided to leave it in front of his bedroom door, with a small note attached so he knew it was from her.

She contemplated knocking like she had once done when she had to give bentos to Sasuke, but finally decided against it, knowing that, unlike Sasuke, Neji had the Byakugan, and while it was normally forbidden to use it while inside the compound, it wasn't like people usually followed that rule strictly.

When she arrived at the academy she still felt her heart throbbing. She could barely concentrate in class and was immensely relieved when lunch time arrived.

"Wow! That looks really good, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata smiled at Sakura's praise. Although it wasn't the first time they were having lunch together, it was the first she had ever commented on her bento. She guessed it made sense. Normally, she would pack a simple lunch of rice with a side dish of steamed vegetables and some meat, but for today, Hinata had decided to make a cuter bento, decorated with nice colors and smiling faces. It was her way of cheering herself up and calming her heart for what she knew could happen when Neji found her small offering.

"Thanks… Sakura-chan" she said, as the other girl opened her own bento.

"I like the colors, they're pretty. I wish my mom would prepare my bento like that too" Sakura sighed, plucking a bit of rice out of her undecorated lunch and eating it with a pout. Hinata stiffened, fidgeting slightly. "What?" the pink-haired girl asked, blinking with confusion at her friend's reaction to her comment.

"I…" she started, gulping. "I don't… have a mother… anymore" she confessed, glancing away. She heard Sakura gasp and couldn't help but wince.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know!" she apologized quickly. Hinata shook her head, trying to smile reassuringly.

"Don't worry, S-Sakura-chan. It happened… a few years ago."

"But…" at Hinata's insistence, Sakura sighed and let the matter drop. As something occurred to her, she frowned. "Then, who makes your lunch?"

"Mm, I… I do it myself" she explained bashfully.

"No way! That's amazing! I only know how to make rice and tea, but I don't think I could prepare anything like you do" Sakura exclaimed, looking at her and her bento with admiration. Hinata blushed. Being praised so blatantly like that… it always embarrassed her even though she was also secretly delighted.

"It's not so… so difficult…" she started saying, wondering if she should offer to teach her as a way of spending some time outside of the academy together, but before she could do it, someone interrupted them.

"Well, what do we have here? Isn't it Sakura? It's been a while since I've seen you spend time with someone else ever since Ino dumped you" a girl that Hinata didn't recognize approached them, followed by two others, one of which she remembered sharing classes with the previous year.

Sakura got an annoyed expression as soon as she saw them. She raised her chin, huffing with defiance. "You got your facts wrong, Rika. I dumped Ino, not the other way around. Now leave us alone before I get angry."

Rika snorted, placing her hands on her hips and looking at Sakura with superiority. "You were always following Ino around like a puppy. Do you really think I would believe you left her? Please. I bet she got annoyed by your clinginess and now you're just making up lies to save face. How pathetic."

"That's not it!" Sakura yelled. Hinata bit her lip, glancing from the trio of girls to her friend, and noticed that her hands were trembling. That surprised her. Even though she was putting on a front of anger with those girls, could it be she was actually scared?

The other three didn't seem to notice Sakura's effort to appear strong, and it was obvious they were just looking for trouble; to rile her up. But… why? Hinata didn't understand it, and she didn't like it either. So, placing a hand on Sakura's, that was fisted against her bento box, she whispered; "L-Let's go, Sakura-chan. Don't… don't give them what they w-want."

"Hinata-chan?" she asked, blinking, before glancing again at Rika and her friends. She nodded, gathering her things and standing up along with Hinata. "You're right. Let's just leave. They aren't worth our time" she sneered.

Rika huffed, crossing her arms, and her eyes fell towards Hinata's figure, frowning upon being unable to recognize her. "And who is this supposed to be? She looks like a ghost."

"She's my friend! And she doesn't look like a ghost!" Sakura yelled, stopping in her tracks just as they were about to leave. That's when the only girl Hinata had recognized before spoke.

"I know her! She was in my class last year! I think her name was… Hyuuga Hinata?" she said, tilting her head to the side, as if trying to remember. Hinata stiffened, surprised she had been able to recall her name. She thought no one ever paid attention to her.

"I didn't know there was a Hyuuga in our year! Dad told me they are a very important clan" the other girl said, catching the attention of her friends, as well as Sakura's, who looked at Hinata with a small frown.

"An important clan?" Rika asked. The other girl nodded.

"Yes! They have powerful eyes… or something like that."

"Her eyes do look very weird…"

"They do! All milky like that. Everyone always stayed away from her because they're so creepy! Like, she looks blind but she isn't. How weird is that?" the girl that had been in Hinata's class last year said, laughing afterwards. The other two nodded.

"I don't know about them being powerful, but I wouldn't want to have eyes so creepy for sure!"

"Yes! So ugly!"

Hinata shrunk, her gaze falling to the ground. It was like that time, when those older boys had made fun of her just before her first year at the academy. Were her eyes really that creepy? Sasuke had told her people that didn't know about her clan's doujutsu and made fun of it were just idiots she should not bother with, but that didn't mean she couldn't be hurt by their words.

Just then, as she was feeling the tears starting to cloud her vision, she heard something being thrown at the girls, followed by their screams of surprise. When she looked up, she was shocked to find them covered with food, Sakura's bento lying at their feet, half-empty.

"Does it amuse you to make fun of other people? You are the creepy ones! Hinata-chan's eyes are just fine! They're like… like…" she struggled for a word, glancing just for a second at her, before facing the trio once more, a fierce expression on her face; "like two moons! They're pretty like the moon! So stop saying stupid things! Come on, Hinata-chan!" she turned around, taking her hand, and ignoring the other girls' complains, she ran away, dragging Hinata with her, who was too astounded to say anything.

Only when they were a good distance away, near the edge of the academy grounds hidden behind a building, did Sakura stop. The two panted, with Sakura bent over, her hands on her knees, and Hinata clutching her bento to her chest. When the two calmed down, Hinata glanced at Sakura, touched but also confused at the turn of events.

"Mm, Sakura-chan…" she called. When the other girl looked at her, she faltered, but trudged on regardless. "That's… I mean, I'm… thankful, for… because you defended me, but… why did you…?" she wasn't sure what exactly she was trying to ask. While it was true she was happy Sakura had stood up to those girls for her sake, the way she went about it was just a little…

"You were going to cry" Sakura said, straightening her back and sighing. "They're always like that. They don't care about how you'd feel as long as they can have fun. They specifically look for things they know will bother you, and… and they take advantage of it" her voice lowered, and she looked away. Her eyes seemed a bit misty, then. "I saw that it hurt you, and that you were about to cry, so… so I got angry. Why do they always have to do that? I don't understand what's so fun about mocking someone for how they look."

Hinata simply stared at Sakura. Her face felt a bit hot, and she knew she was blushing. Because… because Sakura had worried about her and how she felt when those girls made fun of her eyes. And she had gotten angry on her behalf. Had anyone ever done that for her before? She could only remember one other person doing the same, and, just like when Naruto defended her that snowy day, Hinata felt something stirring in her chest.

She smiled, walking closer to Sakura so she would look at her. When she had her attention, she fidgeted, this time being her turn to glance away. "I… I understand, Sakura-chan, and… this…"

"Yes?" the pink-haired girl asked. Hinata blushed more.

"Do you really… think my eyes are… are pretty like the m-moon?"

This time, it was Sakura that blushed. She chuckled, a bit shyly, and scratched the back of her head in a nervous gesture. "Did it sound weird? I do think your eyes are pretty, Hinata-chan. They're very unique."

"It's… it's not weird. I'm happy" she said, feeling extremely so. She let her eyes wander over Sakura's face, wanting to tell her she also thought she was pretty, and that she liked her eyes and hair too, but before she could say anything, Sakura gasped, startling Hinata. "W-What's wrong?" she asked, worried at Sakura's distressed expression.

"My bento box! My mom's gonna kill me when she finds out what I did with it!" she cried. Hinata felt a drop of sweat on the back of her head. Now that she had no idea how it was going to go down. She could only try to comfort Sakura, while sharing a bit of her lunch with her because she had nothing to eat after her stunt.