"I've been thinking…" Sasuke started one night, after they were done with their training.

Hinata looked at him, her chest still heaving slightly from their activities. Though it had been a while since they coincided during their clandestine training sessions, that night they had, and soon they managed to fall back to their usual routine without a hitch. She believed she was truly getting better with all the spars they've been doing. When her father called her over to test her, there was no longer disappointment marring his face. There wasn't pride either, but compared to how it was before, she thought it was pretty good progress.

She only had Sasuke to thank for this. Because he pushed her so much, and made her stop holding back, she was able to advance instead of just staying stationary like she used to in the past. Maybe, after all, she wouldn't be such a burden to her clan or a failure as an heiress.

"What is it, Sasuke-kun?" she asked when he didn't continue. He was fiddling with his water bottle, not nervously, but as if he needed to move his hands.

"I was thinking… this year you don't need to give me anything for my birthday" he said. Hinata frowned.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke's birthday was next week. She still hadn't decided what she would give him. She wanted something a bit more thoughtful than just the onigiri she had quickly scrambled last year, but this put a hamper on her plans.

Sasuke snorted, putting down the bottle and hanging an arm over his knee, the other leg extended in front of him. "I don't want presents. It's a superfluous date anyway. You don't need to waste your time picking something for me."

Hinata frowned deeper at this. "It's… it's not a superfluous date" she countered. Sasuke sighed and leaned his head back back against the trunk of the tree they were sitting next to.

"Yes it is. It's just the day I was born. I don't see the reason people have to make such a big deal out of something so common. Even animals have one."

Hinata shook her head. Sasuke always came up with the strangest things. But at the same time, it fit with what she knew of him. He didn't look like a person prone to celebration or that put special meaning into these types of things. He was always so serious… when he wasn't brooding, of course.

Was he always like that though? Or was it just an effect of everything he had gone through?

She tried to imagine a younger Sasuke, the one from before the massacre. To her mind came the image of the little boy that would enthusiastically volunteer in class when it came to demonstrations or just answering questions. The one that would stay a little later to practice with shuriken after everyone else was gone from the academy. She tried to imagine this little boy eagerly waiting for his birthday, and her heart clenched painfully when the image was superposed with the one of the boy right in front of her.

"Maybe… maybe for you it isn't as important… but that doesn't mean it's not important at all" she glanced at him to see his reaction, but he remained with his gaze elsewhere. "The day you were born… is an important one. It's the reason you're here now. And the people that appreciate you only want to celebrate it, because of how important you are to them. Please don't call a day like that superfluous."

She heard him snort, and she looked at him, feeling almost insulted. "I should have known you would think like this" he said, not minding her grim expression. "I get it, ok? I still don't need any presents" he insisted, before adding in a lower voice; "and I'm telling you this because you're the only one left that actually thinks I'm important or whatever."

Hinata bit her lip, feeling her face becoming a bit warmer at his last words. He wasn't wrong. She did think he was important. More than that. He was important to her. But she knew she wasn't the only one that felt that way towards him. However, Sasuke wouldn't accept this, so instead of trying to argue, she asked, already feeling her face getting even redder at her little bit of cheekiness; "that means you don't want my onigiri?"

"I didn't say-!" he shut his mouth when he saw the little smile curving her lips. With a click of his tongue he took his water bottle again and opened it forcefully. "Do what you want" he grunted, sipping at the water and avoiding looking at her.

Hinata couldn't help a small laugh, and with a nod, declared in a joyous voice; "then I'll do what I want."

Sasuke didn't reply, making her laugh again.