After that, the day passed quickly. When classes were over Hinata waved Sakura goodbye and walked back home. She supposed at this time Sasuke would still be in his clan's district, and she didn't want to bother him in his private time.

Later, she made her way to his apartment, passing under the attentive stare of her father on her way out of the compound. She had nothing with her, had thought it would be of bad taste to bring him something like a bento, and hoped that her presence would be welcomed in this day in particular.

He opened the door almost immediately after she knocked. He looked tired, dark bags under his eyes, but before she could ask anything he stepped aside to let her in, and she did so carefully.

To her surprise, there were two tea cups waiting on top of the short table in the middle of the living room, a kettle between them. She looked at Sasuke questioningly.

"I assumed you would come" was all he said, before sitting down. Hinata felt herself getting red, torn between shame because he knew she would come to impose on him, and warmth because he accepted it nonetheless. With a small sorry for intruding she sat down as well, and took it upon herself to pour both of them a cup.

They drank in silence for a while, Hinata observing Sasuke out of the corner of her eyes. She didn't know what to say, but, thinking better of it, maybe it was better not to say anything at all. Sasuke wasn't someone for superficial conversation, and in this day even less so. If he wanted to talk, he would surely do it on his own.

And he did, eventually. In the way he always did. Surprising her by his choice of words.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" he asked, putting down his cup. Hinata blinked, imitating him, before looking at him curiously, folding her hands on her lap.

"Ask… what, Sasuke-kun?"

He snorted. "How am I feeling, what did I do today… I don't know."

Hinata thought about it. She hadn't asked because he didn't give her the time, but in that moment she realized those questions might be a bit too redundant. Of course he wasn't feeling good, that was obvious. And she assumed he had gone to his family's district just like last year. In that case, what could she possibly say? Anything she came up with was either too dumb or too insensitive.

Finally, she settled on simply saying, "do you want to talk about it?" because it was the one thing she didn't think would trigger any negative emotions from him. Give him the chance to say something if he felt like it.

Sasuke frowned at her question, obviously having expected something else, but he didn't refute her or threw an angry comment at her. Instead, he seemed to think about it, grabbing his cup back but not taking a sip, simply staring at it. After a while, he sighed, putting the cup back on the table and letting his head fall forward, his bangs covering his face.

"I don't" he said. Hinata waited, feeling this wasn't the end of it. "I don't want to talk about it, but…" he sighed again. "It's been two years Hinata. Two years. But it feels like less. It feels just like…" he took in a sharp breath. Hinata fidgeted nervously, her body moving on its own wanting to comfort him, but she stopped herself. Sasuke wasn't one for physical displays of affection. He wouldn't appreciate her disrupting his personal space, even if it was because she wanted to hug him to make him feel better.

"I went there, and walked around and… I can't get over how empty everything is. There's no one, and I know logically it's because they're all dead, but…" he placed his elbows on the table, one hand cradling his face that Hinata still couldn't see. "But I keep expecting them to be there. I keep expecting to see the aunty from around the corner sweeping her front lawn, smiling and asking me if I'm already leaving for the academy, or the girl from the bakery down the street waving at me as I walk past… I keep expecting seeing my mother making lunch, or father coming home from the police station…"

He didn't talk anymore, and Hinata didn't know what to do. She had not expected him to open up like this, and, without the option of physical comfort, she had no idea what to say to try and make him feel better.

Eventually, she stood up, and, without saying a word, sat down again, this time at his side. Sasuke moved, noticing her presence, but he still didn't look up. A few more minutes passed like this, before the boy finally raised his head again. His eyes were red-rimmed, but his cheeks were dry. He took his cup of tea and drank, finishing everything in one go and standing up, taking the kettle with him.

"The tea is cold already. I'll go warm it up" he explained, leaving her behind with barely a glance in her direction. Hinata sighed, glancing down and playing with her fingers. Once again she wondered why, why did this happen to him? Why did his older brother have to kill everyone? Why leave only him alive?

At the last thought, she frowned. Why indeed. Why would Itachi kill everyone in his clan, his parents included, but leave Sasuke? It was strange. And, although she had never really talked a lot or been with the former heir enough to get to know him, Itachi had never struck her as the kind of person that would simply one day snap and do what he did. A single memory gleamed from the very back of her mind, that of two brothers walking around Konoha, the older carrying the younger on his back.

What had happened to that?

"Here" Hinata gasped, surprised by Sasuke's sudden arrival; so lost in thought was she. The boy frowned down at her at the same time as he placed the kettle back on the table, before sitting down once again next to her. He didn't ask, but his eyes said enough.

Hinata blushed. "I… I was lost in thought…"

"I can see that" he said, pouring himself another cup. "You don't have to think too hard about what I told you… I don't even know why I said all of that" he scoffed, blowing slightly on the hot liquid. "It doesn't matter what I feel… the fact is, everyone's gone, and there's only me left. Only me… to avenge them" he pronounced, slowly, seriously, clenching his teeth and clutching his cup until his knuckes turned white. Hinata saw the process taking place, from the defeated sadness that enveloped him prior to the pure hatred that suddenly took over his features, and it scared her. It scared her because she knew what it meant.

And yet, she could not blame him at all.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun…" she said, settling for that for lack of anything else that could make him feel better. She had just realized that, no matter what she said or tried to do, what he felt wasn't going to change. She didn't like him sad but she definitely didn't want him full of hatred, but it was too late for that, and so, the only thing she could do was show him how much she lamented his loss. She just hoped he didn't take it as her pitying him, as it seemed he hated it when people did that the most.

"What are you sorry for? Nothing of this is your fault" he responded, closing his eyes. "It's just something I need to get used to… sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get used to it…" he whispered the last part, covering his mouth with his cup as he took a sip, so Hinata was sure he didn't intend for her to hear it. She said nothing, instead simply glancing down, clutching the fabric of her pants. After a while, she heard him sigh. "Hinata, drink your tea."

"Ah! Y-Yes…" she grabbed her cup and drank her cold tea all at once, causing the boy to raise an eyebrow, which in turn made her almost choke on the liquid.

At least her clumsiness seemed to have lifted the mood a little bit. Sasuke wasn't quite smiling, but the light twitch on the side of his mouth he got every time he made fun of her was there, so she took it as a good sign.

Definitely worth making a fool out of herself, in her opinion.