By the end of the day, just as the classroom was emptying and it looked like everyone but she and Sasuke were leaving, she approached him.

"You fought with Naruto-kun again today" she started, her eyes fixed on the bandages pressed against his brow and chin. Sasuke turned to her, an eyebrow raised as he absentmindedly continued shoving his stuff in his backpack. "Look at you… you are hurt…" she continued, her voice trembling a little. Her hands were itching to reach out to him, but she stilled them, knowing Sasuke didn't like to be touched so casually.

She hated it, honestly, how the two would hurt each other over and over. She loved them both, and didn't want to see them like this. Was there a way for them to stop fighting and become friends? In reality, they had so much in common… if only they could see that and…

"Yes, it happens when you fight" Sasuke answered her worries with a dismissive shrug, turning his face away and closing his backpack.

Hinata pouted. Clenching her fists close to her chest, she tried again; "fighting's not good. You and Naruto…"

"What, are you going to complain because your beloved idiot keeps provoking me into fights and I have to beat him up for it?" he asked roughly, once again looking at her but this time with more emotion. Hinata stared at him in shock.

"W-What? No, I…"

"Then what?" he huffed impatiently, brows furrowed in evident annoyance.

Hinata bit her lip, unsure of where this sudden hostility had come from. There was one time, last year, when Sasuke and Naruto had fought as well, and she had talked to him afterwards… he was just as aggressive back then…

"I just… I don't understand why it has to be this way…" she started while glancing down, unclenching her fists and playing with her fingers in nervousness. "Whatever's going on with you two… surely you can just talk instead of…?"

"You don't need to tell me that" Sasuke interrupted, taking a step closer to her. "As I've been saying, I'm not the one who starts these stupid fights. Do you really think I have the time or the energy to do something so assiduous?"

"…" Hinata looked up, finding him so very close to her, to the point their noses were almost touching. She gasped, taking a step back, glancing around as she felt warmth filling her face. "I-I didn't say that you started anything, Sasuke-kun… it was not my i-intention to…!"

"Stop. I didn't want to scare you" the boy sighed, relaxing his posture that had tensed during their conversation. "I don't know what you want me to do Hinata. Naruto's the one who's always…" he stopped, wincing a little as if he had thought of something unpleasant.

Hinata bit her lip, wondering about his expression. It was probably the wrong thing to say, but… "Naruto-kun might be the one to start… but you don't exactly discourage him…"

She was not surprised when his eyes snapped towards her, reflecting incredulity as well as anger. "Excuse me?"

"Are… are you going to deny it?" she asked, remembering quite well the few times she caught them before starting a fight, when moods were tense and sparks were about to fly. "You taunt him as well… even when he looks like he might back away you sometimes still goad him by… by calling him a loser… and that he will never reach your level" she did her best to maintain eye contact with Sasuke while she said this. She knew it would get him angry, she knew, but still, she had to say it. Because Sasuke might be right in that, more often than not, Naruto started, but he also contributed to worsening the situation with his thoughtless words.

And angry he got, his fists closing by his sides, trembling despite his efforts to keep himself composed.

"Am I saying anything false? When I call him a loser or tell him he won't ever reach my level?" he asked with gritted teeth.

"You don't know that… Naruto-kun works harder than anyone else, so…"

"Harder than anyone else?" he snorted, turning towards his backpack and roughly picking it up. He pushed past Hinata, who took a step back at this, before she decidedly started following him. "Of course you would say that. Of course you would, again, take that idiot's side."

"This isn't about sides, Sasuke-kun…" she pleaded, but was stopped when, suddenly, he turned around, almost causing her to collide with his chest.

"Then how come you're always defending him?" he spat, for once allowing his voice to reach a new level it usually didn't. "How come he's allowed all this free passes with you, and I'm not? How come he can be seen in public with you, while you're always so careful not to let anyone know we even talk to each other?"

"I… what?" Hinata blinked, utterly lost at Sasuke's words. Where did they even come from? Why was he asking about…?

The boy scoffed.

"I know you're in love with him, but can't you have a little more dignity? Like this, you're really no different from all my stupid fangirls" he hissed with venom, darting out of the classroom before Hinata could even understand what had just taken place.